NWplatinum

mfolf

It is in the back of my head, and I have noticed some apathy from pmVX crew on my 4/25 flight home. That said, I flew on a QX flight to San Jose yesterday and still had the good service - even on the phone the service is still good. I still don't see Alaska as a money vampire like the big three and personally considering that a ridiculous term (their Saver fares aren't all that restrictive compared to UA, and even then Virgin had more ancillary options that Alaska never brought on such as the Plans Change pass (waive all change fees with just $25), prepaid bags, or even priority/MCS/First Class buy-ups (these were disabled sometime in 2017 - as I recall you could change your VX seat to a premium one with just the difference in cost)). Hell, one can consider Southwest's Early bird check-in or A1-15 upgrade options similar money-sucking-for-convenience options but nobody does. Either that, or I really don't want to be left with the only option to be Southwest... it's depressing, as is the current state of the industry, but as far as my experience goes, we haven't sunk that far.

Then again, it's all a matter of perspective. I'm an MVP Gold, and the average passenger just wants a cheap ticket without fuss, and will ignore any fees presented.

sltlyamusd

Generally have good customer service from AS phone, gate agents and flight attendants. There are some stations where gate agents aren't as good, but flight crew and res center people are generally very good.

As for VX staff, I have found the gate agents and flight attendants to be anywhere from rude to helpful, but on the whole not as friendly as AS. They have their work cut out in that regard.

milypan

US3 are grouped together because of their size and network strength, not their (lack of) service. So no, there is no way that AS is anywhere close to qualifying as the last member of US4.

eponymous_coward

I haven’t had terrible, horrific experiences on DL, AA or UA, so I don’t get the fretting, but WN is just as big domestically as any of the “US3” are. They are moving towards identical products because it seems to work for making money. WN’s model seems to work for them. Pity that more don’t try things closer to WN’s model than copying DL.

danielonn

Lets just say I prefer Alaska over United and on some accounts Delta. With a First Class Ticket Alaska gives you access to the Boardroom which none of the other airlines do unless its a trans con or international flight. Also Alaska offers local liquors like Crater Lake Espresso Vodka, Local wines and beers(more options than just the Sweetwater IPA Delta serves) and their local wines. Alaska Flight Attendants are friendly and are very attentive whether in Coach or First Class.

I have had excellent service at their Checkin Counters at SJC and LAX and in their Boardrooms at SEA and LAX. To me when an airline treats you like family you feel valued. I do like Delta and I also love Alaska. It would be bad if Alaska tried to go the way of WN. They need to just keep doing what they are doing!

NWplatinum

currentjer

Ditto, I'm avoiding SFO from now on. My last experience there has been horrible - VX gate agent not only did not assign my pre-upgraded seat properly, but also lost it by assigning it to someone below me on the upgrade list, THEN lost my original exit row seat after assigning it to a deadhead pilot, AND I had to fly middle in the end.

He said something to the extent of I was not entitled to the upgraded seat AND my original seat - oh well, what to do - but he didn't have to be impolite about it.

sdsearch

Exactly.

And for that reason, if there was ever to be a US4, the 4th would be Southwest (because of its size), not Alaska.

But the whole points of ME3 and US3 is international airlines which span the globe, and how they compete or don't. Since Alaska doesn't fly internationally very far, it is not qualified to be lumped in with the US3. If Alaska starts flying a bunch to Asia and Europe, only then can we talk about whether it would considered one of the US4. But I've heard of no such plans at Alaska, has the OP?

eponymous_coward

I suppose they could make like WS and dip their toes into international, but it would likely kill their BA relationship (since SEA-LON would be the "duh" one to start, just like how WS started with LON), and it might eventually nuke their other partnerships.

I consider it a very low probability of happening. They could spend a decade duking it out in California and still have room to expand. WN has spent nearly 50 years flying only single aisle narrowbodies and staying away from TATL/TPAC, and shows no sign of wanting to fly the big jets...

NWplatinum

Let me just be clear in what context I am talking about: when I say Alaska might become the next US3, I mean they may become so large so quickly and lose their special place of good customer service, and the consistent delivery of an excellent product. Just like NW did when it merged with Delta, and just like CO did when it merged with UA.

We all know now that the US3 treat customers like cattle, turned their FF programs into useless points, and totally watered down elite benefits. These are my fears now that AS has merged, unfounded or not. I’m hoping they stay like a JetBlue type of airline (and don’t ruin their FF program).

diver858

From this perspective, I have some confidence in Tilden. AS is moving aggressively to eliminate LVX service that does not fit the AS model, not trying to be something they are not. Assuming they are able to effectively redeploy LVX resources while the economy is still good, it should be possible for AS to maintain most of its culture, identity as a niche player.
My bigger fear is what happens during the next downturn; US3 now appear to have the scale to weather most any storm, AS may be forced to get in bed with B6 to establish the scale necessary to compete, survive.

eponymous_coward

jrl767

frankly, it seems like a massive number of FTers don’t get this ... or if they DO get it, they continue to make a show of not getting it for purposes of keeping threads alive

84fiero

In fact by total number of passengers carried, WN is third among U.S. carriers, ahead of UA. AS is a distant 4th at about 1/3 of the pax UA carried in 2017. The positions shift if using other metrics like quantity of destinations, fleet size, revenue, etc. though WN is often still in the top 4 by some other measures. But in any case, the "Big 3" is really more like the Big 4 and WN doesn't seem to be emulating its 3 older cousins all that much.