Finkface

Once you fly VX F, you’ll never go back. AS pales in comparison. Trust me. You should have tried it at least once before it goes away. It is head and shoulders above AS F. I am flying as much VX F as I can before it is gone. Flew SFO-HNL on Saturday. It is heavenly. That seat. The food. The pillow and duvet. So, so much better than AS.

nomiiiii

9pm LAX to Seattle daiy flight cut

Now for a weekend trip from seattle to los angeles you either come back 7pm (too early), or at the ungodly hour of 11:35pm (too late). What happened to sensible times.

rustykettel

PV_Premier

Random July Sunday search shows 6:50 and 7:45pm departures offered on AS and an 8:05pm on AA and an 8:45pm on DL.

TheDudeAbides

Lolz.

eponymous_coward

In one of my cases, my flight was completely cancelled (AS 907 LAS-SEA) so I got to pick another flight on the same day (I picked one I was going to try and SDC to anyway ). In the other it was almost a three hour change on a 1x daily flight (IAD-SEA) on Memorial Day (already upgraded to F using a GGU), so it's not like I had a ton of great choices (I didn't want to push to an IAD-SFO/LAX-SEA itinerary because I had plans that afternoon/early evening) other than to accept getting up at stupid early o'clock (on the East Coast without really adjusting to time on a short trip, so it's REALLY stupid early o'clock West Coast time).

The schedule got fixed up over the phone. I haven't seen the discount codes yet (I was told it might take a few days). I appreciated the consideration.

lalala

I dunno. I would rather have a non-vx seat from SEA-IAD and a shot at an upgrade than not.

ashill

OK, but that's mostly irrelevant to @Eujeanie (and me) because they're paying for coach. VX by and large doesn't offer upgrades. (There will be a temporary window in which VX's product -- hard at least -- will remain on planes and available for upgrades, but that's not the product that's designed to have reasonable upgrade availability. And with only eight seats, I don't imagine even GGU upgrades will clear terribly often.)

When paying for coach, I too prefer the AS product to the VX product (based on limited experience with VX).

Eujeanie

Actually, my ticket was for F...they (AS CS) would not switch to a favorable time for me VX flight because there was no U space available (dark F). I'm actually ok with the AS flights I got changed to...they were not as bad as I originally thought.

I would like to try VX some day, but they don't seem to go anyplace I'm going.

ashill

So had you purchased F or coach and upgraded? Your mention of U space makes it sound like you purchased coach and upgraded. (I specifically said you were "paying for coach"; I chose those words carefully.)

My main point is that the VX F cabin is what it is because it's intended to be sold with any empty seats flown empty, not filled with upgraders. It's not a product that is likely to stick around fleetwide on an airline with complimentary upgrades, as there are relatively few narrowbody routes where 16 seats of such a cabin are sustainable. So that's why I say that the quality is fairly irrelevant to someone who's purchasing coach, even if they're hoping to upgrade. Not to say upgrades to such a cabin will never happen, just that it's not likely to be a fleetwide product on an airline with a significant number of upgrades.

Eujeanie

It was GGU's on a companion fare, so I do understand why they would not let me have those flights. On the other hand, it was their schedule change, so they might have seen fit to accommodate us on the most convenient alternative (which was VX).

CDKing

Damn ANC/ADK was changed to a day earlier. It was the end of a complex multi ticket milk run booking was able to add on for 2.5K points (thanks to hop skip jump) now it doesn't work with my earlier legs.

ashill

In this case, I think that AS absolutely should put you on any AS or VX flight that meets your needs and in any unsold F (not just U) seats because you were confirmed in first class (whether U or not) and it was their schedule change. I'm actually surprised they're not doing that. But it was the bolded part I was mostly replying to, and if you make a general strategy of flying VX on a companion fare, you'll be in coach most or all of the time, which is why I said the VX F product is mostly irrelevant to those paying for coach.

NoLaGent

Boy, am I glad I saw this thread.

Traveling in late June SFO-SEA-GTF.

I booked the 5p from SFO as it was a VX plane (I'm in F) with a longer connection than the 630p departure (AS737) as I figured I'd just grab a drink in the new C club in SEA and not be rushed connecting.

The schedule change hit SEA-GTF pushing that flight further back, but it also wiped my airbus from the 5p (now AS737) and made the 630p a VXA320. I looked online and the 630p had 4 F seats, so I figured it wouldn't be that difficult to be rebooked on it. I was wrong.

When I explained the 3 points (GTF later arrival, 3 hour SEA connection and VX vs. AS F hard product) to the Boise based agent, she was having none of it and refused to change me to the VX metal. She then decided it would be fun to argue with me about the actual times involved, as I guess she assumed I wasn't looking at my original confirmation and the new times online. When I had to correct her three times, I realized this was going nowhere fast. I politely told her I would consider other options and call back at a later time to confirm the schedule change.

The next Seattle based agent was a testimony to true customer service and happily made the change. All's well that ends well (at least for the moment...) and I've already received the new confirmation email w/ticket #'s.

*** Edited to add, as I know it will be asked, paid F, originally ticketed as P, new flight shows D.

bobbybrown

Cancellation of SFO-MSP might have allowed ABQ schedule change. But that was a drastic schedule change for flights only two months away. And not an optimal schedule for those in ABQ.. but we have 3 UA nonstop flights to SFO. When AS launched this route, UA operated only 1. Now:2, soon:3.