Anyone know what MVP and MVPG will be paying/not paying for DLs new EC seats?

Domestic- MVPGs and MVPG75Ks free at booking. MVPs 50% to reserve in advance or free at check-in.

International- MVPGs and MVPG75Ks receive 50% discount from the rack rate. I am not sure what is the discount for MVPs, 25% or 50%.

Based on the recent trends, I doubt AS will add E+ or anything anytime soon, because they have capacity issues. They simply do not have enough seats and with load factors at 87% they cannot afford to reduce the Y cabin by 6 seats or the F cabin by 4 seats. I am pretty sure there are some routes where they are absolutely not maximizing the profit potential, because they do not have the capacity to do so. They have cut profitable flights to put the bird on a different route that will yield a higher profit margin.

But yes, they are in a catch-22 situation and could potentially lose some elites for this very reason.

Right, exactly. For SEA-IAD/DCA, I've always flown UA knowing I'd almost certainly be upgraded and would have exit row and then E+ as fallbacks. I'm flying to EWR next week and chose CO because I knew I had exit row and figured I had a solid chance (60-80 percent) of an upgrade. There's no way I'd be upgraded to F on that AS flight and I'd be lucky just to score an exit row aisle or window. Same, of course, for ORD and IAH. BOS and MCO would be a tough call -- I flew AS on my last SEA-BOS-SEA trip, but that was as much to ensure I requalified as MVPG as it was because it was a nonstop.

An interesting perspective. You're right that they're caught between a rock and a hard place on this one. What you describe is the best argument for them not to emulate E+, and yet as you point out, if they don't, they could start losing elites. I seriously doubt it will be of the "I'm taking my football and going home" kind of loss, which I doubt works often in the real world anyway. It will be elites more frequently choosing alternatives, especially on long, hard-to-upgrade transcons.

I like AS in a way I never will with UA. They're my hometown airline, they're well-run, they've helped my 401(k) (thanks, AS!), and they do a lot of things right. But those are all small consolation when I'm sitting in a non-exit row coach seat for five and a half hours, knees jammed and hurting, thinking to myself that if I were on UA, I'd most likely be in F, legs stretched out, with my laptop open and getting some work done. More and more I find myself choosing UA as a result. Another year or two on my current trendline and I'll drop down to MVP, maybe even at the low end of MVP.

I don't know why anyone is making a big deal about VX MCS. It's basically selling the bulkheads and exit rows. AS could have a Main Cabin Select service too and screw the elites out of the best seats in coach.

Yup. This is why we should be careful what we wish for. Could easily turn into a chip chip chip™. (For instance, UA Premiers are losing E+ until checkin.)

AS is, at least, considering these new seats. I had the opportunity to test them recently and was amazed at how much more spacious they seemed, as the seats are thinner (increasing effective pitch) and the seat/thigh bar is moved forward, allowing even tall folk like me to completely stretch legs out under the seat in front.

It would be relatively simple for AS to add a "Economy Plus" section on the 737-800s and 737-400s without losing any seats. On the 734s, all they need to do is get rid of the hard bulkhead between F and Y and replace it with the curtain. That would allow them to expand the seat pitch in the first several rows of economy. On the 737-800s, it would be a little more complicated, but they could remove the closets on each side of the aisle in front of the F cabin, and just slide the F seats up (not reducing F pitch). They would then use the extra space to expand the seat pitch in first few rows of Y. E.g. if the closet is 16" across, they could increase seat pitch in the 8 rows of Y ahead of the exit rows from 32" to 34". Actually would be a bit more in the soft bulkhead since it already has a extra little space. Of course, getting rid of closets that people use to stow bags/coats etc. is not strictly a good thing either.

Also, the same approach would not work for the 737-700, since it already has a soft bulkhead and doesn't have extra galley/closet space like the 737-800 and it wouldn't work for the 737-900s with the mid-cabin lav.

"Main Cabin Select" on VX is just the bulkhead rows and exit rows with free drinks and snacks. I'd really prefer AS did NOT start charging extra for bulkheads and exit rows.

From the standpoint of UA Golds, Platinums, and 1Ks, this a good thing. And the Silvers still have it, but not until the 24-hour mark. As UA put it, "To ensure we have better seating options for our top premier levels..." -- I'm cool with that. And I would understand were I a Silver.

That said, the basic point about MCS is well-taken. I had thought it was the entire front of the cabin (my ignorance of VX is showing here). Charging elites for exit row seating is uncool, even if they're throwing in other benefits. So take VX out of my previous posts and leave it at UA/CO, DL, and B6.

Where did you have the opportunity to test them? I'd be interested in giving them a whirl myself.

I went through the first six pages of that thread (thanks for the link) and couldn't find a post from anyone who had actually sat in the new seat. The complaints were about things like removing closets and the like.

However, people who claimed to have sat in similar seats from other airlines liked them. And the one person on this thread who has tried the new LH seat liked it. Did I miss a first-hand report from later in that thread?

Nor would I. But I am pointing out exactly why AS is losing fares from time to time. For me and some others here, it would be when VX is selling MCS for a similar price (or less) than the available AS Y fare at time of booking, on a flight with little to no UG chance. "Similar" can even be a bit more. Free snacks and drinks, fun IFE, legroom.

If AS offered something like Economy Plus they would still lose fares from time to time. With load factors being what they are, removing a row of seats would likely mean many flights with 6 less passengers.

It was in June at the AS Flight Operations building near SEA, and only over a couple of days. The seats (different for First and coach, two different suppliers) were being considered for aircraft to be delivered in 2013, but I could see where they could be a benefit if retrofitted in existing planes.

Of the two types, my favorite for comfort were the visually slimmer, more European-style seats from a new supplier -- not the latest versions from AS' current seat supplier. I hope they go with the former.

If they do, it's conceivable they could do an E+ like product in some aircraft without losing any seats to sell due to the greater effective "pitch" of the seats themselves. If they don't simply add more seats, total.

Yes on Economy Plus - and Please Add Lumbar Support
 

To respond to the initial message: I almost never book AS for transcons because it is almost impossible to upgrade and AS coach seats have no legroom. When I book UA or CO, even with a connection, I have a much better chance for an upgrade, and often I can get a better schedule, or at least no worse than AS. I don't necessarily want to leave EWR at 7:30am, nor wait until 6:30pm.

But availabilty of Y+ would make AS more viable for transcon flights.

If AS is considering new seats, my number one request is to add some lumbar support - both in first and economy seats. For transcon and Hawaii flights this will make a huge improvement.