AS Flyer

What about the myriad of other markets (the majority actually) of similar distance where every other legacy airline offers a similar hard product and markets it as First Class? Should they all change the way they market those routes to Business Class as well?

Eastbay1K

Behind the scenes, some have. VX F was always "J". Same with B6 Mint. AA changed the front cabin to J on everything but 3 cabin planes. DL (int'l) is all J up front, and J on select domestic routes. I don't know what UA is doing these days because, why would I want to? Nevertheless, the front cabin is still called First on pretty much every ghetto fabulous front cabin with 36" pitch, occasionally a video screen, pay for your wifi, and a craptastic meal served on elegant china.

Who knows. Maybe there's a union rule on maximum permitted syllables for boarding announcements, and to insure judicious usage of same, announcing the cabin as First Class is not only a syllable saver, it is a time saver, meaning those of you in a lesser boarding position will hear your zone called .005 seconds faster.

pcoll

agreed. 75% mileage makes this a fare worth considering when we book travel.

sfozrhfco

When you select it on the app and the website it clearly show United Business and it books into C class/other business class codes which is what it would show up as in the corporate booking sites.

Which is still a far cry from the rest of the competition in premium markets. It is always better to set lower expectations and exceed them than vice versa.

sfozrhfco

Why would they? It is all about setting expectations. In many cases the F product on AS would be better than other competitors on non-premium routes where the competition is also marketing the flights as F. For the premium transcons, it does not make sense to sell a class higher than B6/UA/AA/DL when the product is not even as good. Corporate travel portals may also exclude AS as many companies only allow business fares on these premium routes and the product is obviously not exceeding above all the other competitors premium product--in fact the hard product is much worse.

Don't forget as well that these routes are transitioning from 8 seat cabins to cabins twice as big. Presumably they are going to need to sell more than a couple seats a flight in that cabin to make it even remotely possible to make money on those routes--especially at the times of year when the Y cabin is selling at $119.

Tracer_SEA

Y'all are reading way too much into this. This is one of a thousand bugs with AS tech.

P is apparently improperly coded as Biz (probably because of partner awards). It should say First.

Whether they bother to fix it anytime soon is another question.

Eastbay1K

Except that we all have expectations about the AS F cabin, as does pretty much everyone flying AS in the F cabin. It isn't like we're going to be having some party in Mega Ultra Platinum First Class. We know we'll get a pat of regular butter, in an OK seat, non-heartburn-inducing wine, and perhaps a piece of meat that is edible enough that you're not left with enough stuck between your teeth for the next day's breakfast. All of this, usually served with a smile.

https://adland.tv/commercials/i-cant...s-2002-030-usa

I do not expect this on an AS F trip. Nor does anyone. Nor does anyone who is a former VX flyer that hasn't been living in a cave on another planet.

jinglish

P is not an award bucket.

TravelBrighter

AS Flyer

Yeah, I'm just trying to figure out why this one is always bashing AS and their "sub par" product when, on the majority of routes, is pretty competitive.

Biz-a-niss class is four syllables, while First Class is only two. Cut in 1/2. The efficiency experts all know that by cutting the syllables in half, boarding announcements will take significantly less time, thus boarding will also take significantly less time. Less time boarding = more time available for the planes to be in the air. Planes in the air = money. Planes boarding = no money. Airline economics. Oh, and yes, there is a union rule about how many syllables we have to say in one single announcement. Not only are the planes in the air longer, they can pay the FA's less by using words with less syllables.

tusphotog

Get used to it. If the WN-FL tie-up is a good approximation, we'll be inundated with the "jilted" VX-ers for years to come.

Is the credit card pitch exempt from this union rule?

sfozrhfco

This thread is specifically about JFK-LAX--not the majority of routes. AS clearly has the worst product on this premium route and have no interest in a sub fleet to compete.

sltlyamusd