[Rant] AS First Class Is a Bad Joke
Apr 23, 2019, 4:08 pm
#91
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Join Date: Aug 2007
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Can we just end the Alaska F is crap and I want a VX F or lie flat seats threads please? While we all whine about the lack of PDB's or a missed blanket there are literately tens of thousands of people who have never flown first class and thinks anyone who does much be rich or a celebrity. For most people, flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat. Lets all think back to the first time we got to sit in the big seats and how it made you feel! Just trying to keep things in perspective.
Pretty sure someone has wonderful memories of Braniff or TWA out there...
Apr 23, 2019, 5:56 pm
#93
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Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
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The perspective I have is we're on FlyerTalk, where it's all #FirstWorldProblems, all the time, and when a merger kills off (INSERT_AIRLINE_NAME) because (INSERT_SECOND_AIRLINE_NAME) ends up being the survivor, (INSERT_AIRLINE_NAME)'s fans will say (INSERT_SECOND_AIRLINE_NAME) is the WORST AIRLINE EVER, straight out of Simpsons Comic Book Guy, and (INSERT_SECOND_AIRLINE_NAME)'s fans will simply not get what all the hubub is about, (INSERT_SECOND_AIRLINE_NAME) is just fine.
Pretty sure someone has wonderful memories of Braniff or TWA out there...
Pretty sure someone has wonderful memories of Braniff or TWA out there...
I do not have memories of Braniff, nor of TWA, except LAX T3, even long after TW was kaput, the TW decor and dust in the Bored Room lived on!
Apr 23, 2019, 6:50 pm
#96
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Home
Posts: 469
This is the most glaring problem, in my opinion (even more than the subpar interior maintenance). All it would take is improved training of FAs to improve service. There is no underlying cost to Alaska.
FAs sitting in the galley for three hours of a six-hour flight should not be SOP. Unfortunately, on the majority of transcons I've flown since the new training completed in Jan 2019, this is almost always the case. I've spoken with three FAs about this, two that came from VX and one from AS. All three said the newer training was less clear on proper etiquette in F cabin, with "if you have time" or "at your discretion" being common refrains from the trainer. The result: FAs feel they have wide latitude in how they offer First Class service which, in turn, is leading to frequent fliers and elites seeing wide disparities in service.
This is an entirely fixable problem by Alaska, but so far, there doesn't seem to be an interest in fixing it. Again, to those who will argue Alaska is trying to save pennies wherever possible, improving service minimum standards would not cost Alaska a dime.
FAs sitting in the galley for three hours of a six-hour flight should not be SOP. Unfortunately, on the majority of transcons I've flown since the new training completed in Jan 2019, this is almost always the case. I've spoken with three FAs about this, two that came from VX and one from AS. All three said the newer training was less clear on proper etiquette in F cabin, with "if you have time" or "at your discretion" being common refrains from the trainer. The result: FAs feel they have wide latitude in how they offer First Class service which, in turn, is leading to frequent fliers and elites seeing wide disparities in service.
This is an entirely fixable problem by Alaska, but so far, there doesn't seem to be an interest in fixing it. Again, to those who will argue Alaska is trying to save pennies wherever possible, improving service minimum standards would not cost Alaska a dime.
All this training leniency is firmly with one eye on the costs with the logic being lazy FAs will save costs.
Apr 23, 2019, 9:54 pm
#97
Join Date: Apr 2019
Posts: 165
Would you have accepted a 2-3 hour delay to address the other issues? I've probably had a good 25 Airbus flights just this year and the electric F seats seem to be an issue every couple flights and at least one of them has to be manually placed in an upright position. I'm glad to see the new F cabins coming, though it sounds like it's going to be at a glacial pace that will take us into 2020. Maybe come back and give Alaska a try next year.
Apr 24, 2019, 9:36 am
#98
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,040
Can we just end the Alaska F is crap and I want a VX F or lie flat seats threads please? While we all whine about the lack of PDB's or a missed blanket there are literately tens of thousands of people who have never flown first class and thinks anyone who does much be rich or a celebrity. For most people, flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat. Lets all think back to the first time we got to sit in the big seats and how it made you feel! Just trying to keep things in perspective.
This thread is literally prefaced with "[Rant]" That was sort of your first clue. Don't you think that perhaps it's easier to modify your own personal behavior than modify the behavior of large numbers of anonymous people on the internet?
Furthermore, your observation regarding "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" is ludicrous relative to this former. FlyerTalk, in general, is not a place where "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" kind of people tend to hang out. Their needs can likely be met elsewhere on the internet (e.g. TripAdvisor)
Regards
Apr 24, 2019, 10:11 am
#99
Join Date: May 2013
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 100K
Posts: 2,030
Or... and I'm just spit balling here... but another option might be for you to simply not read/ignore threads you don't like or are not interested in, yes?
This thread is literally prefaced with "[Rant]" That was sort of your first clue. Don't you think that perhaps it's easier to modify your own personal behavior than modify the behavior of large numbers of anonymous people on the internet?
Furthermore, your observation regarding "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" is ludicrous relative to this former. FlyerTalk, in general, is not a place where "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" kind of people tend to hang out. Their needs can likely be met elsewhere on the internet (e.g. TripAdvisor)
Regards
This thread is literally prefaced with "[Rant]" That was sort of your first clue. Don't you think that perhaps it's easier to modify your own personal behavior than modify the behavior of large numbers of anonymous people on the internet?
Furthermore, your observation regarding "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" is ludicrous relative to this former. FlyerTalk, in general, is not a place where "flying in first on any airline is a once in a lifetime treat" kind of people tend to hang out. Their needs can likely be met elsewhere on the internet (e.g. TripAdvisor)
Regards
Apr 24, 2019, 11:03 am
#100
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,040
Furthermore, you conveniently neglected to answer my main question, which is simply, whose behavior do you think it's easier to control, your own or all the rest of us? Given that, according to you, there are "dozens" of the same ongoing threads and this thread is currently at ~100 posts, the answer to that question should be abundantly obvious...
Enjoy your coach seat.
Regards
Last edited by scubadu; Apr 24, 2019 at 11:12 am
Apr 24, 2019, 11:53 am
#101
Join Date: Sep 2008
Location: AUS
Programs: BAEC Gold, AA PPro, Hyatt Globalist, Amex Plat
Posts: 7,040
Apr 24, 2019, 12:00 pm
#102
Join Date: Aug 2012
Posts: 6,752
In my view, absent another 08 type recession/depression, the SFO/LAX/NYC markets will have an ample supply of premium flyers, both business and leisure, to sustain some level of constant & stable demand.
Apr 24, 2019, 12:13 pm
#103
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jul 2002
Location: MCI
Programs: AA Gold 1MM, AS MVP, UA Silver, WN A-List, Marriott LT Titanium, HH Diamond
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Positive memories: my first TATL on a fairly new L-10-11 Tristar in the 70's. A very generous FFP in the 80's-90's, with enough promotions and bonuses to keep my mileage balance flush even when I was redeeming lots of awards. My awards were both long-haul premium cabin and last-minute short-haul Y, where 15,000 miles would often get me a "last seat on the plane" type of one-way award, easy 3-4 cents per mile in some cases. Towards their end of life, the promotions got even better (I was earning R/T flight certificates good for F travel, even though I was using them for cheap Y trips) and they started comping 6-month Ambassador club memberships to mid- and high-tier elites.
Negative memories: really just one category: in the final couple years, all kinds of operational problems. I usually had an STL/MCI segment in my itin, and that was delayed or canceled more than it flew. I had multiple occasions where I just gave up on TWA and either walked over to Southwest or got in a rental car. And that final merger with AA led to such an incredibly toxic customer service environment that I didn't want to fly them at all any more.
Only Braniff memory I can recall is that they operated the Concorde. Not a codeshare - they actually registered the airplane at IAD, slapped a Braniff registration on the side, took the keys, and operated it domestically with their own pilots and crews. I never got to ride it myself, but I always thought that arrangement was intriguing. I'm sure they lost a boatload of cash but probably just thought of it as a marketing expense. With 727's flying close to Mach .9, it wasn't like the Concorde was really much faster.
Apr 24, 2019, 12:52 pm
#104
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: SFO/SJC/OAK/STS
Programs: Alaska MVPG, Delta PM, AA EXP, Wannabe SkyWest 1K
Posts: 644
Well, I and most Virgin America customers weren't too thrilled when Alaska purchased VX, and I'm afraid it's worse than we ever anticipated. On a recent trip from Puerto Vallarta to Los Angeles where they fly the old VX Airbus with 2 rows of white seats, the flight was delayed almost an hour for 'lots of maintenance'. Only the maintenance to get us airborne was performed. First class seats were stuck in the upright position. No entertainment system. The food was inedible, and to top it off the First Class FA invited a parade of main cabin passengers to use the FC toilet, resulting in a foul smell as there are only 2 rows. In addition, there is no maintenance being performed on these once sparkling aircraft, paint peeling off partitions, carpets were filthy, this was once honored with best domestic airline every single year when operated by VX. When I protested to Alaska on my return that this was not the first class experience we paid for at $1000, they gave us '3000' award miles, yes you read that right, not enough to get you anywhere, not even in main cabin ... so goodbye AS, I gave you the benefit of proving you would uphold the standards of VX and you failed miserably.
Apr 24, 2019, 1:04 pm
#105
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That seems to be a good indication that VX's product wasn't actually competitive either in "lucrative tcon markets". That and how nobody, I mean NOBODY, is bothering to copy VX F like DL SkyPesos™ and NK/FR's ancillary revenue fees get copied.