Aliquot

You don't have to purchase through AS, but you have to purchase the AS flight number, not the AA flight number. You won't get miles if you buy the flight with an AA flight number just because AS sells tickets on the same flight.

notquiteaff

Wonder how much money they will have to spend on customer service responding to customers not paying attention to these details submitting their missing credit requests.

golfingboy

That is correct keep in mind with T1 is that it is only partially closed with WN and F9 utilizing the other half of T1 right now (9 gates). So when 17 gates open up, 9 is basically accounted for with WN/F9, then AA moves over probably taking around 8 gates for themselves (less than the 10 they currently have) swallowing up all 17.

AS will take over T2 but I am not confident they will be able to take the C gates when AA vacates as I think those will probably go to B6, Sun Country (domestic airlines currently stuck in boarding area A) and DL or some new domestic entrant that has been waiting to get gate space in SFO.

This will limit AS's growth until at least 2024 when T1 is complete, but remember with T1's current plan 3 or 4 gates will be mainly targeted as a pseudo expansion of boarding area A designed for widebodies.

At best I think AS will only have around 150-160 daily departures. Not something to sneeze at, but not enough to give UA a run for its money or to land large corporate contracts like they get in SEA.

WebTraveler

False. PDX-DFW is one flight plus a seasonal red-eye. It comes and it goes like the wind.

You'll note that on Jan 2nd, there is one flight a day from PDX-DFW.

The ONLY way anything like this works for connections is to maintain at least a morning AM flight and an afternoon PM flight between PDX-DFW and PDX-ORD and at least a once daily PDX-PHL flight, and hope that the connecting AA flight is included in the code-share.

And, for what it is worth the announcement on codeshares indicated no ability for codeshares in PHL. It cited ORD, DFW, and LAX.

Today I can fly PDX-PHL and then connect and book that entire trip to Alaska. I do not need to maintain a second AA account, or a Delta account. Starting Jan 1, Alaska is dumping me. Basically, Alaska does not want my business.

The problem can be solved easily by maintaining Alaska codeshares on pretty much all ORD/DFW/PHL connecting flights and charging a reasonable (competitive) fare for the 2nd leg codeshare. Many of the codeshares right now are priced so out of market it is not even funny.

Furthermore, as I am pushed out of the Alaska partner network, why stay locally with Alaska? Alaska was loyal to me, I was loyal to Alaska. But since Mileage Plan is worth less to me next time I might choose United on PDX-SFO because I am stucky flying United on PDX-Providence or something and I am building miles and status with United. So overall this weakens my drive to pledge loyalty to Alaska

WebTraveler

I disagree with your analogy. The relationship with Alaska brings AA a lot of business. If I didn't get Alaska miles I may not (probably not ) fly AA. That was the beauty. AA got me as a customer that they may not have ordinarily had. Bringing a huge stack of business was something Alaska provided to AA.

notquiteaff

I don't always fly AA, but when I do, the ability to earn AS miles and the elite benefits were a factor in choosing that flight.

I already have too many AA miles; unless the price is right or the routing perfect, I won't pick AA for revenue travel in the future.

WebTraveler

You get what I am saying exactly. For whatever reason we have been told by Alaska and AA (either together or separately) that my business is not valued.

dayone

Seasonal is a bit misleading. The second flight returns in March, so it seems that it will operate 10 months/year. That's hardly "comes and it goes like the wind." There also is the new PDX-DAL flight in that market.

WebTraveler

and a PDX-DAL flight does nothing for connections, which is the whole subject in the first place. It is a seasonal flight and it does come and go.

channa

True, though AA holds the card that it's not AS's destination. So, even after terminating the agreement, they have a ~33% chance that you're going to fly them anyway. In LAX there's a chance that you'll fly them anyway and then some.


Except they can't. They accepted as terms with DOJ that they would not codeshare to AA's hubs.


Yes. I'm sure United (SFO) and Delta (SEA) were very happy with this development. While I think AA stands to win some, UA and DL stand to win more.

dayone

As you wish.

ashill

Has AS put its code on many beyond-PHL AA flights since the AAUS merger? Obviously PHL wasn't an AS partner hub until the merger, unlike ORD, DFW, and LAX.

I agree, and I very much hope AS does this.

I read WebTraveler's comment as referring to AS*/AA codeshares beyond ORD/DFW/PHL, not on the SEA/PDX-ORD/DFW/PHL flights.

PVDtoDEL

There were at least a few. I know, for example, that I flew SEA-PHL-BNA with PHL-BNA on a codeshare just a few months ago.

Toshbaf

AS could start a STL hub itself. It could start out small, like connecting only the hub and focus cities on the West Coast with an equal number of cities east. For example, SEA PDX SFO SJC LAX SAN to STL then STL to 6 cities, like BDL HPN LGA DCA PIT PHL. It already has traffic from those 6 cities west of STL. From there, it can grow more, perhaps by adding 5 cities west and 5 cities east of STL using Skywest or Horizon.

The hard part would be WN competition at STL as well as DCA and LGA slots.

Toshbaf

It may be a rounding error for AA because the biggest effects on AA might be in two stations, SEA and PDX.

I've thought about it more and I don't intend to defect to DL. Instead, I plan to use very little AA and then divide up travel between AS and DL and the others.

For the SEA hub, AS is stronger than DL with some notable exceptions. To smaller places, like DAY or GSP as well as SEA-JFK, where AS has a terrible schedule of one red eye eastbound.