Originally Posted by
sdix
Super bummed about loosing SJC-LHR. Prices in Business were reasonable and the schedule was great. That and the 5 minutes from parking to gate in SJC were a clear advantage to SFO.
I always thought it was super weird when at LHR to see San Jose on the destination boards.
I don't remember AA itself flying SJC-LHR. My recollection was that BA was there to do the route. Our Mayor, Sam Liccardo, pitched in and helped us get the route. I took BA to LHR many times from SJC. Was a good fit for me.
The worst insult is losing SJC-LAX (non-stop). When they abandoned the SJC hub they said LA was to be their "focus city" and we would all do fine connecting there. Well, LAX, with the miserable terminal for the short hall flights, was never anything I could like. Now, if you want to fly SJC to LAX on AA, you fly over to PHX and connect. That one is, to me as low as it gets.
AA doing its hub in SJC got me to buy a Lifetime Airpass. I still have it. I don't us it that much because my wife refuses to make connections to most anywhere. So, we fly just about anyone who can get us where we want to go, with reasonable F class fare (typically discounted), and generally out our of SFO. The parking rates out of ParkSFO at SFO are generally quite competitive compared with SJC.
AS now flies to all 4 major Hawaiian islands, usually with one early departure per day. The prices are substantially competitive with UA's service from SFO. I can generally go RT SJC-HNL for about $1,000 in F class. (Ok, sometimes goes up to around $1,100.). If I go from SFO, the fare is frequently over $2,000 RT, and more. I don't fly in a Polaris type cabin on their 777's, but the service is fine (food questionable) and reliable. AM currently a huge fan of AS. They are one of the few things keeping UA in line at SFO. It's great that they have taken over AA's lounge. Spacious and never crowded (wasn't that much when AA had it.
Another ditty is that wife and I fly out of SFO a lot still, using both UA and AS. We have the AS club card. AS MVP Gold, it is only $300/yr. We frequently use the AS club when flying form the D gates out of SFO on UA because we can't get in to their horribly crowded club by the E concourse. Not many extra steps. I know of other UA/AS flyers who have been doing the same. Oh well, this is not a UA/AS forum.
I have a lot more memory (was on the inaugural SJC-CDG flight in F, with the aircraft sprayed with champagne) but will shut up.
I miss the hub, but AA made its decisions, and we all are living with the aftermath. Air service on AA out of SJC, and the whole Bay Area for that matter, simply sucks. The worst dagger was losing the SFO-HNL flight. There are others, but that one was the worst.