eponymous_coward

pcoll

CalanMan

Not to come off as one of the AS-lifer/homer/fans that @n7371f mentions (I think that in many ways the old VX, prior to the circa-2012-cutbacks, compares quite favorably to the old AS), but I think that a lot of the "small touches" mentioned above is a matter of overall perception, not consistent brand standard.

The last Alaska flight I flew on, they kept the partition closed (if not actually snapped) the whole time:


And the last Virgin flight I flew on, that rope was open at least half the time:


Two of the last three AS flights I've been on, the captain has come out and welcomed everyone while standing in front of the passenger cabin, looking at us. Zero of the last three VX flights I've been on has that happened. (Sorry, no pictures of that one. Seemed very inappropriate to try to get one.)

Yes! I absolutely have, though I'm no gourmet cook myself. In F, this quinoa with chicken was delicious and tender in a way that airline chicken rarely is, and on the way back from MEX, they had tamales in coach. They may not have been the most amazing, street-vendor-quality tamales, but they were as good as any tamal I've had that was created in a corporate kitchen. (The churro was okay at best.)



Someone in a different thread (sorry, can't find it now) mentioned that that the special, smaller boarding passes showed an amazing attention to detail. And yet, almost every time I've ever flown VX out of SFO (their biggest hub and headquarters), if I've had a physical boarding pass, it's had regular, big dimensions:


I'm not in any way saying that VX doesn't/didn't have it's charm and fun details, just that I think this perception that they're great at the little things, while AS is not, is misplaced and based on moments of surprise/delight, rather than on them consistently offering any particular thing. I've had delicious food on both airlines, and I've seen some wonderful little details from both. I love that VX named their planes and wish that AS would have kept that going forward, and I love that AS incorporates native Alaskan designs in their cabin decor and always has signs that welcome you to the city you're arriving at.

As @beckoa mentions, Alaska has already adopted the "guest" terminology, and I'm now seeing more mood-lit AS 737s than not. (For the record, I hate the mood lighting, but that's just my own preference. If I have to pick between complementary F upgrades and a warm, well-lit cabin that doesn't feel like a W Hotel bar at 7am while on a business trip, I'll take the upgrades.) The VX fleet has already gotten free chat and movies. There's still well over a year left in this merger, so I'd urge anybody who sees a detail or two missed to remember that plenty of stuff is being brought into the AS brand, and that VX didn't deliver on these details 100% of the time to begin with.

I think both AS and VX were really special airlines and will continue to be post-merger, though different than what came before.

rustykettel

I believe the small compact VX boarding passes only came out of the kiosk printers. In my limited experience, counter & gate printed BPs were normal size, sometimes on plain white stock depending on the location.

CalanMan

That makes sense. I would never have used a kiosk. The only reason I wouldn't be using a mobile/digital boarding pass would be because I needed human assistance.

beckoa

That's assuming your kiosk was working

They were cute, in the JL kinda way.

dayone

The form factor of the traditional boarding pass was designed to match the now-almost extinct paper ticket, which was required for travel and collected at boarding.

I believe the size and shape of the paper ticket were intended so it would fit into a dress shirt pocket or an inside suit jacket pocket. In the days of red carbon tickets, the rookie mistake was pocketing a ticket without a ticket envelope. A red stain on a white shirt or suit lining was the tell.

VegasGambler

I'm currently in AS F on a 737-800. It's ok, I guess, but man am i going to miss VX. These seats suck and they barely recline.

At least I'm in VX for the return (red-eye) flight. i can't imagine trying to sleep in this seat.

Also for some reason there are rugs on the wall. I don't particularly care about decor but it seems a little odd. Soviet Russia?

pcoll

Viewing CALANMAN post reminded me of one question regarding VX F experience. Boarding pass has PRIORITY boldly printed on BP. Have they discontinued tagging bags with PRIORITY bag tags??

northwesterner

I basically agree with this. I would say that DL crews are better, by far than UA and AA crews and more similar to what you get with AS.

Basically, the variance between crews and individual flight attendants at UA and AA is very large. You can have a great FA or two but most often they are indifferent, and sometimes they are actively hostile to passengers.

DL crews tend to be better on a whole (the worst DL crews aren't as bad as the worst at UA and AA).

I've been flying AS mostly intra-west coast the last few years, so the flights are all less than 3 hours long, and some of the younger crews flying these turns tend to be a bit mechanical ... get the cart out, get it done, and it's over with. But you will occasionally get a senior crew that puts in an extra effort (had a pretty good SEA-based crew on BUR-SEA the other night; three senior flight attendants including a very Russian purser named Olga). The last time I flew a mid-con, ORD-SEA, I had a very good crew that was out a visible through most the flight either with the cart or trays of water and juice. You wouldn't get that on AA or UA, though DL would be on par.

jsguyrus

But...there are far fewer F seats in the old VX and they didn't upgrade anyone...ever. You know what first class seats are the best....the free ones!

CalanMan

pcoll

We have received the 20 min guarantee on VX flights. This was last fall and the $25 was put in Elevate which we transferred it to AS MP. Rep asked for our email address and checked our boarding passes.
Since VX Elevate no longer exists , I would think AS would just apply directly. It would seem easy to argue policy now that they are operating under AS ownership.

eponymous_coward

channa

Was there not enough demand or was pricing off? If anything, AS is adding more first class. They just have a different pricing and upgrade structure.