Those same employees staff the gate and load the luggage on the plane.

If you're complaining because you can't arrive late and still get on the plane like you used to be able to, that's another story. I've seen many people miss their flight because they arrived late. You must have your boarding pass 40 minutes before departure, no exceptions. If less than 40 minutes before departure, you're not getting it from staff, kiosk, or mobile check-in.

It's the lounge access "built" in the fee, plus Pre CK, no foreign transaction fees etc. I like the idea of a card that I have lounge etc on, just saying with the BA like kissing my sister!

I think a great part of the "profitability " is within their international travel. I mean really DL

I honestly don't know what any of this means. Sorry.

Could Alaska not choose to up the annual fee in order to give more perks on the BofA card? (or even a new tier of BofA card?)

I think there is a lot of AS flyers that would pay a 375/ 425 fee for a solid AS branded CC that includes Board Room access plus plus

Thats what I am saying

Delta can check-in up to D-20 at most small airports where AS is D-40. It's just an observation working the Delta ticket counter that many AS customers freakout when they arrive late and see AS is the only unstaffed counter. Sometimes, they buy Delta tickets.

I'm not complaining about arriving late. I'm observing that AS leaves the counter at D-40, leaving unfamiliar passengers stranded for an hour, while Delta's cutoff is D-30/20, and Delta doesn't leave its counter unstaffed even in field stations with cross utilized employees. I've observed AS customers get very upset when they see their airline is nowhere to be seen but Delta doesn't even have a flight and there are employees in the lobby and behind the counter.

Which stations, outside of small QX stations, have you seen this at? Except in unusual circumstances, there should always be someone at an AS counter up to departure time. Even in stations with one flight a day where some agents can be cross utilized. Which airport are you not seeing this at? Looking at alaskaair.com, it clearly indicates the ticket counter hours for each location. You can see where the ticket counter may close down in small QX locations prior to departure, this is absolutely not the case at any Alaska mainline city, despite the number of departures. In fact, the counters are open until after the departure to assist customers that may have not made their flight for whatever reason. Moreover, many times, the agents need to be available to help any customers with baggage concerns from the inbound flights.

The 20+ small QX airports where employees leave the counter to work the flight. Some might be Yakima, Kalispell, Missoula, Great Falls, Bozeman, Billings, Helena, Pasco, etc. It's interesting to see how Delta staff mention to AS customers how AS leaves their counter to save money on labor while Delta is fully staffed and offers competitive fares in their particular market. ;)

Im sure it's very interesting. It's interesting to see AS agents helping out DL passengers stranded in KTN, SIT, JNU, FAI, etc when DL just can't help them out too. Edited to add the passive aggressive winking emoticon ;). Bless my little heart.

Does Delta not have employees at those airports?

Horizon doesn't staff the counter to save money (like they're not just as greedy as big bad Delta). Delta customers might be stranded in Alaska due to weather or Delta not operating better aircraft in winter weather airports. Either way, Delta employees are usually at least available to assist. Horizon doesn't even bother. Do you disagree?

Absolutely. You may not make your flight if you don't make the cutoff in small regional stations but they have an excellent reputation for taking good care of their customers. So yes, they "bother". It is, after all, a great deal of the reason Delta hasn't been able to get their hands on the JD Powers award, despite making it a corporate goal the last several years. The customer may not be happy that they didn't make the cutoff, but the recovery usually leaves them feeling okay about the situation. In any case, your talking about a very rare occurrence. People without bags to check that either print their own boarding pass or check in on their mobile device, have no trouble making their flight.

Without discounting the amazing customer service Alaska offers, it is less than 20% the size of Delta with most flights operating in the PNW. It's no surprise to me that the smallest airlines: AS, VX, B6 usually beat the largest airlines in customer service. There's a logistical difference between getting someone from SEA to ANC and getting them from SEA to JNB. I love Alaska. Big picture, Alaska employees are friendlier and more helpful than Delta people. However, I do get tired of being Alaska's free labor when they literally take longer than an hour to help customers at their ticket counter who either miss a flight or need baggage service.

Edit: By the way, the baggage service thing isn't rare at least where I work. Most days each week, Alaska customers come into my break room and (usually) politely ask for help. Sometimes I make them wait the 40 minutes for their bags that are already here, and sometimes I go get it for them. Either way, Horizon wouldn't piss off the customers that I make wait if they would just staff a single person at the baggage service office before 40 minutes after arrival.

Why are you trolling the AS forum anyway? Just curious. I don't go to the DL forum to complain about the things I dislike about DL. You're not even an AS customer, you're a DL (or DGS?) employee.

Using the size of your airline as a reason DL can't grab that golden ring is lame. Large airlines have done it in the past. NW is an ironic example. For whatever it's worth, I think DL does a good job and has a solid product.

Next time someone asks you to help them with their baggage service issue, page an AS rep. You really shouldn't be giving passengers bags that don't belong to your airline anyway. Problem solved. You don't have to be anyone's free labor.

I never complained about Alaska until someone made a dumb comment about an objective statement I made here. I like Alaska. I was just saying Delta promotes itself as Seattle's "global" airline.

The next time someone gets in my face telling me I can get their bag for them, I'll just call the airport police. Problem solved :rolleyes: