internationalblvd

The issue for me next year is going to be keeping MVP Gold. I got 15,000 of the 50,000 this year from partner flights; most of that on AA. Most of this probably goes away, leaving me pretty much SOL.

AS does not have enough flights to the east coast for business travel; adding hours to relay through SFO is not an option, neither is that ridiculous ORD that leaves at 00:15 (I've tried it, talk about having absolutely no ability to function the following day).

AS needs to get its game going to east coast / midwest destinations, or it needs to abandon my kind of flier - the 50,000 Seattle based person who goes all over the continental USA, not just the west coast or SFO to NY area.

s0ssos

AS actually is able to serve you. For the type of flier who doesn't fly solely east-west, AS has absolutely nothing. It has no flights up and down the east coast, or midwest. Everything connects back in the west.

Orwaid

Hi -

My solution to this is have a combination of As + B6. This way I get North-South on the West Coast (AS) + East Coast (B6). I also get West Coast - Midcon (AS) and East Coast-Midcon (B6) covered. On all of my flights I can either get a decent fare on a MINT seat (transcons) or save some $$ and get an EMS/Premium Class seat (with upgrade roulette on AS if you a G/G75).

For the rare midcon-midcon (2-3x a year max), I throw in WN as needed.

brizone

Though not on the E75s, sadly. Only in F (at least AS beats DL there).

One of my pet peeves with AS. This is 2017, we need power at the seat.

91foxbody

I've been watching a lot of Hulu Live lately, and AS is advertising a ton on there. They brag about power in every seat, and it chaps my ... a little knowing that it's not true on anything other than a 737. Fortunately most of my flights are on them, but the 4 hour MKE-SEA on an E75 wasn't as nice w/o power.

ucdtim17

And not even every 737 has power

TProphet

I'm sticking with Alaska for paid flights. However, Delta just gave me a ton of free miles, so I'll be flying them more than usual (where I can do so for free).

bobbysfca

I'm out of SFO, so the transcon options are better on AS/VX than from SEA ....
That said, there are two things yet to be mentioned so far that are worth noting.
1. T7 is by far the easiest to use at JFK. It is the smallest of the JFK terminals, so this means faster baggage handling, and far less walking pre/post flight. I have literally walked well over 1/2 mile from a Delta gate to the exit, T7 might be 500 feet or less. Look it up on GoogEarth, it is really eye catching. With Delta, you could be walking 20% of the way to Rockaway!
2. AS has a 5000 mile short haul award, making one transcon RT yield a full RT short award. If you go to relatively near but expensive places like PSP or RDM, there's no contest. It might take 4-6 DLs to yield the same.

eponymous_coward

I didn't quite get a ton, but I am getting 12Status miles + Lyft + their up to 25k for each new partner targeted promo; it will be enough that I'll get a couple of West Coast domestic flights out of it. Given their lack of a chart and the multi-year grind it would be to get to any premium cabins TATL/TPAC, I'm cashing in now rather than "well, if I pile up miles for a couple of years...". Already did a 7.5k award for a one way flight that cost $225, which is not terrible value, at times I want (leaving LAS midday on a Monday during a close to peak travel time).

It won't change my desire or plans to requalify on AS for MVP in 2018, but it's nice to have another widget (ha-ha) in the toolbox available for low cost travel.

xliioper

Er, you might want to read the T&C's more carefully. It's 1K miles per new partner (not 25K!), with a max earnings of 25K miles. Also, Skymiles Shopping is considered to be a single partner (you don't get 1K each per vendor in the mall).

jiburi

Inflight on board DL nonstop flight between JFK and SEA, even Y gets free meal.

DL is bringing back “no medallion upgrade” policy to this route. Elite members flying this route can best hope for upgrade to C+ as Delta One returns to this route (unless u have upgrade certs). D1 is lie-flat however but ofteb priced higher than F.

Essentially, with DL, pay for your flight experience.

D1 will come with skyclub lounge access at both ports. That experience is superior to AS but be warned, DL is known to taking and adding benefits to meeting their bottom line. An example is the recent policy change for entry into its own skyclub. Under the proposed entry rule, even skyclub members will need to provide a proof of flight segment on DL or its partner.

Jiburi

xliioper

JFK-SEA going Delta One is still just a rumor at this point. DL has not confirmed it. They are still selling seats on this route as FC after the rumored start date. They are also still running some non-lieflat equipment on the route.

Okay, well I guess they confirmed it today. However, they are not guaranteeing D1 on every flight. And, as of right now, they are still selling the D1 equipped flights as "First Class", not "Delta One".

Orwaid

Hi -

internationalblvd, if you flew 35K on AS this year (15K on AA), then clearly one TCON mileage run is in order to maintain MVPG. Knock out one or two in January when fares are cheap and you will be set.

eponymous_coward

Noted and corrected to read "up to 25k". I know that Skymiles shopping is "one partner". It's still a pretty valuable promo given that there isn't a lot of difficulty to achieve some of the bonuses (shopping, dining, rental cars, hotel chain transfers- 2000 Club Carlson yields 1200 Skymiles, for instance).

jiburi

Previous was the 11/17 dated press release, but three days later on 11/20 a new press release announced a more comprehensive D1 plans, and change to the previously announced upgrade policy allowing Medallion Upgrade to D1 on all Domestic 50 Market beginning April 1, 2018. So odd that contradicting details of upgrade policy was announced three days apart.

Not all flights are going to be D1 equipped flights however, as some flights will still be flown with F. Currently that is expected to be 2 lie-flats birds daily, supplemented with domestic birds for the remainder.

Jiburi