AS Transcon vs. UA Transcon???
 

I'd be curious to hear from other AS MVPG that are also UA 1K in terms of when they choose AS over UA & vice versa. If I fly AS transcon it's always in F. If it's on UA, then it's either C (3 class) & F (2 class).

Flew LAX to D.C. today & had a choice between both airlines. I choose UA since it was a 3 class 777. Upgraded to C. While the meal service wasn't as good as AS F class, there was NO comparison when it the seat comfort & pitch....

(If earning miles is taken out of the equation) I find the UA seats much more comfortable, even the 2 cabin F, and would most likely choose UA. However, the (...) part of the start of this thread is often part of the equation :p

If you don't mind a bit of drift, I've flown some AA transcon F (752) and AS transcon F (738) recently. Comparing the two, I don't see a dramatic difference in the soft or hard product (the AA attendants provided good service and their food was reasonable), though AS does have digEplayer IFE, and their 738 seating's more comfortable than AA's 757s.

Given that, and given that most of the time I'm flying out of SEA (the AA flights were a rare case where I needed to go SEA-BUR-18 hour layover-LAX-JFK-LAS), for me AS's frequency in SEA is going to be a winner. 60 inch pitch is not worth 3 or more hours of added flying/connection time.

You're much more likely to catch a 3-class international configuration bird out of LAX than SEA, though, no? That sort of makes a difference- AS is largely competing against carriers sending 738s and 757s to SEA with plain-jane domestic F, not against UA p.s, AA American Flagship Service, DL transcon Business Elite, and VX F.

For flying that particular route the non-stop service that AS offers from LAX-DCA can't be beat.

UA flies a bunch of 777s and 767s from LAX/SFO-IAD and AS cannot compete with UA in terms of seat comfort, however, they do have an edge over UA when travelers needs to fly from LA to go to Washington DC and do not want to put up with the hassle of having to hail a taxi or shuttle from IAD to downtown DC. The metro right across from the terminal at DCA is very convenient.

Ya...
 

I was really comparing AS LAX>DCA vs. UA LAX>IAD. Throw UA p.s. into the mix or AA Flagship, Delta Biz Elite as an example, & now you have a product that AS* simply cannot compete against.

The really issue for me is would I rather have a great F class meal & an okay seat, OR would I rather have an okay C meal & a GREAT seat??? I think I'm leaning towards the better seat option...

*I had this very conversation with Double R & Mike McQueen late last year. They know that they fight kind of a losing battle since we are talking about widebodies with 55" of seat pitch.

On that route, AS DCA for the convenience if my end point is DC. Not worth a better seat for the to/from IAD.

This is a no brainer for me...I hate IAD :td: & I love DCA ^ I would choose and I do) the AS DCA flight any day over the UA IAD flight.

Agree.

DCA has a schweet airport... and location location location. (although IAD is right next to the Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center. If one has only status on AS, then go for the upgrade, since the alternative is paying for C/F on UA.... :eek:

But for those of you preferring UA, thanks for keeping that U seat open for me :D

http://www.airandspace.si.edu/nasmic.../local_map.gif

I used to fly SFO(OAK) / ORD / DCA to avoid flying to IAD, even with the added connection time (prior to AS starting service). Not that I go there frequently anymore, but now, we've lost the LAX connection from SFO. :td:

Agreed. ^ Funny how the map depicts the location of all 3 major DC airports in terms of proximity to DC. BWI is the same distance to DC as IAD, but the map shows as if BWI is far away :p

A little OT [talking about the airports themselves :D]

I fly often between LA-DC, because DC is where I am from :)

[ranting]
Yeah, DCA is probably the best airport in the DC region. My choices normally are 1. DCA 2. BWI and distant 3. IAD :p...

UA's terminal at IAD flat out blows [it was originally built to be a temporary "mobile" terminal in the 80s] and the shuttle to the main terminal system sucks. Sometimes, I would get stranded having to wait 10 minutes for the shuttle to arrive and then it is another several minutes wait on the bus while they wait for more people to board. And oh don't forget the time it takes for the shuttle to drive to the main terminal. The security line at IAD is horrible [you can use the line downstairs, which is better but the walking time down probably evens out the time you save in a shorter line]. When travelers who never flew into IAD would probably begin to wonder why they do not see the Washington Monument and would be apalled to hear that the city is at least 30 minutes on a toll road or 45 mintues on a regular road. They are building a metro line to IAD now, but it won't open until *coughs* 2016 :o

The only ^ about IAD is terminal B and the check in area.....

Bottom line, IAD is an embarrassment, especially being the international gateway airport for the nation's capital.
[/ranting]

:D

Now if one offers me a free tix in AS F or UA C on a 777, I might go with AS F and the primary reason for not choosing UA C would be IAD.

A little off topic but, beckoa, where'd you get that map? I don't believe there is a U.S. Route 28...

That's from the National Air and Space Museum's website...

as alphaeagle pointed out, I thought it was appropriate to show the proximity of the various WAS airports... :cool:

As for US-28... not from the area, only familiar with the airport and public transit there :D

Fair enough- though the point still stands that LAX has birds with INTL J you can catch going to places like IAD, DFW, MIA and ORD. SEA, not so much.

That being said, I've snagged F on VX on occasion, and it's because of the F service, so I understand your argument (VX F is comparable to DL BE or UA p.s. J/F)- but most frequently, I'm flying SEA-LAS/LAS-SEA on AS, even at the risk of NO F seat (it's nearly impossible to snag an F seat LAS-SEA via the U bucket on a Sunday unless you bite the bullet and pay for F. It's actually harder than U space on transcons).

I'd go AS in coach before UA on any flight.