goldengate

Today I booked a flight SFO PDX on Alaska in Y one direction and F on the way back. I had forgotten to add my American # to the reservation so I could select premium seating on the coach leg, and tried calling their 800#. Oh my God, 4 hour wait, and no way to do this on the website without canceling the itinerary and rebooking. So I tweet them and after about 45 minutes an agent adds the mileage number to my reservation. While I'm waiting for this to happen, I check United (never fly them) and they have a R/T itinerary in F for less than my mixed class itinerary on AS, and they actually pick up the phone when you call them. Then I started thinking, AS pilots unhappy, lots of news coverage about potential strikes etc, and nothing I have read gives me any confidence that AS management is figuring this out. I've read on this forum that cancellations and long hold times are now the norm. Why do I risk this for a short flight?

On top of that, the Twitter agent told me that there's no way to add myself to the F wait list, that is done when I check in, but that's at 24 hours and I think as a One World Emerald I should clear before that time (potentially).

Yes even without the other stuff, a cheaper flight in F trumps a more expensive flight in F/Y, but I would have taken the latter, maybe cleared since F is almost empty, and enjoyed my AA status on AS and the wonderful service that AS provides (I know United will be a cluster).

It's really sad to see this happening to this wonderful airline and I hope that they can pull it together soon. Right now it's not tthe AS I have grown to love over the years.

VegasGambler

No reason UA service should be a cluster. The best service I've ever had on UA F is better then the best I've had on AS F. And I've definitely flown AS F more.

Like almost any other airline, there are good FAs and bad.

olouie

I had to fly UA when AS cancelled my Sfo - Ord flights last minute. It’s been years since I’ve flown them and I admit it was much better than I expected. Planes were cleaner than Alaska and service flow was efficient and standardized. Alaska FAs seen to just kind of make things up as they go along - sometimes it’s great but often it leads to very slow or uneven service.

Seeing as how Alaska is now on its 5th month of meltdowns this year there is no reason to think it’s going to get better. I’ve moved most of my summer flying away from them.

goldengate

I woke up this morning expecting some flames from AS loyalists... and not one so far! just cancelled the AS flight and will fly the friendly skies of United.

thatmikereed

The airlines have made it clear they don't value "loyalty" from folks that don't fly much. It sounds like you found a better product offering at a better price point - not many here will argue with that.

I travel for work, but even then I have some flexibility in choice of carrier (within certain bounds of the lowest price, using preferred airlines, etc.). For the first time in probably 10 years I'll be flying Delta this year - three times - out of AA and UA hubs - because they're cheaper, their product is at least on par with the other majors, and because they offered a stupid good status match to Amex holders (that figures in because otherwise I'd be paying for C+ on DL vs. getting it on AA/AS based on my OW status). I likely won't fly them again after my status expires, though (was only good for six months or so as a promo).

You gotta do what you gotta do.

Tim Fountain

As a PDX flier, my two airlines are AS and UA. I prefer UA....

RAD_PDX

AS>UA
It's not even close...

eponymous_coward

I neither see the point of flaming someone buying a fairly commoditized product that is essentially a service where “get me from point a to point b at the times I want” is the end goal, nor do I think there’s a ton of reasons to accept risk just so you maybe get more miles.

But I’m the sort of person who’s perfectly happy on WN, which gets far more flame and mockery about “kettles” than UA does.

Fly whoever you want. Be loyal to your wallet and schedule.

olouie

Pre 2022 would agree. This year dumpster fire operation makes flying AS for business (or important leisure trips) very difficult.

sfozrhfco

On a flight as short as SFO-PDX you are not getting much on any carrier to be honest so take the carrier with the best schedule and fare and be done with it.

Eastbay1K

I'd consider myself "ok enough," but not "perfectly happy" on WN. We'd (mostly) like our favo(u)rite airline to serve most, if not all, of our travel needs. But what is our favo(u)rite airline is also subject to change. Mine (for US carriers) has gone from Air Cal to United and Alaska, to Alaska mostly, to fairly agnostic with a slight nod to Alaska.

Back to the OP's general point, how long do you love someone that keeps standing you up, or canceling at the last minute? Or that you need to get in touch with, but have to wait four hours to find out what is wrong? How many "I'm sorries" or boxes of chocolates or bouquets of roses can make up for the tsuris? Certainly the one you love has no right to get upset when you start sampling others. But more importantly, you shouldn't get upset ... or feel like you're cheating.

Sometimes the grass is greener elsewhere, sometimes the grass is dead elsewhere, but mostly, everywhere the grass just isn't making a very nice lawn right now.

lhrsfo

Just don’t expect them to be friendly.

olouie

AS serves food in F now for SFO-PDX/SEA. Its a small meal but surprising as no other carrier does that for short flights. Thats kind of the only difference except for reliability.

VegasGambler

One thing about UA is that they seem to be cheaper than the competition on many domestic routes right now (though they are extremely expensive internationally).

As an example, I just went to New Orleans for a few days. My PHX-MSY round trip on UA was $335, which was significantly cheaper than even the cheapest one way on AA. I had to connect, but saving 70% on the ticket makes that worthwhile. And I got upgraded on both legs of my return, and had an upgrade on my first outbound leg until I SDCed out of it. And I'm only platinum with them.

The service in F was fine. Nothing special but perfectly adequate. PDB offered (from a tray) on both legs, a snack box on MSY-DEN, and a snack bag (which was not much... a very small bag of pretzels and a biscoff) on the short DEN-PHX leg. The differences with any other airlines on such short flights is too minor to really care about. I had a very cheap ticket and got upgraded to a comfortable seat for my flights home. This isn't JAL F to Tokyo.

NoLaGent

100%. And for a flight that’s around 1hr20min in the air, the cheaper F on UA rt is a no brainer.