naoh853

I had a flight reservation on AS medal travelling from LAX to EWR. First class was less than $600 and I thought it is a good deal, but it is not. I did not realise that:

Lounge at LAX closes at 21:30. My flight is at 23:30 so I will have NO quite place to chill before my flight.
Flights departing after 21:00 do NOT offer food on board.
I must bring my tablet or use my cellphone for music/ movies. I also need to bring my noise-cancelling headset.

Compared to UA's premium economy on 788 or 772, with less than $400, I have food and entertainment. I will just need to pay $50 for the United Club but my travel companion has two free club passes, so I will have all three that AS does not offer. AS first class is not worth extra $200 on a redeye.

Oh well, lessons learned...... if anyone knows where to go when lounge is closed at LAX, please share. Thanks!!

imaflyertalkuserwow

Lol where’s the clown emoji when you need it

philemer

Why not cancel and book with UA?

Red L

I'm assuming you mean you'll have no quiet place, but the terminal is generally pretty quiet at that time. It's usually easy to find a corner where no one will bother you.

naoh853

Due to another mistake I made: I made this reservation on Chase Travel Portal (but paid the fare with cash). CxLoyalty powers the Chase Travel Portal and they told me that since this is a non-refundable ticket, even if I cancel the booking, the fare will be forfeited. They will NOT offer me credits to the cancellation.

Another lesson learned: avoid OTAs including Chase Portal and book direct on airlines websites

sltlyamusd

No full meal service, but there will be a snack after takeoff (vegan salad or fruit and cheese plate).

RAD_PDX

Sounds like you want to avoid AS, however, you can cancel AS flights made through Chase and get a refund in the form of a credit certificate which can be deposited into your wallet. Just chat or call AS and they can do it. It takes up to 7 days for the certificate to come to your email.

Also, while not a substantial meal, there is a plated fruit and cheese platter offered on red eyes.

What food does UA offer in premium economy on red eyes?

PDXPremier

Maybe I'm just cheap but I don't think I would pay an extra $200 even if there was an open lounge or a full meal on the flight....was the economy fare really $400? Seems way higher than normal on an LAX transcon. I had to take a rare UA red-eye the other day from PDX-ORD and they served a full hot dinner in First...it was odd given how late it was but I of course ate it anyway.

naoh853

Will give it a try, thank you. The food on UA's premium eco was a fruit plate, one cheesecake, and macaroni w/ chicken (my travel companion). I don't eat meat so UA swapped the chicken mac with some veggie wrap. I am cheap too so even though it was a trans-con redeye flight, I ate it all anyway.

Kacee

This may be the first time I've ever seen anyone say they prefer UA's soft product to AS.

Intl359Widget

I’m a lifetime million miler gold on UA and subsequently prefer the soft product on Alaska. The meals are more fresh and tasty than any of the gulag style slop they serve on international Polaris.

anteater

A simple way to avoid being in any such situation in the future is to research and verify the breadth of benefits associated with a product prior to purchasing it (eg check what you plan to use on your trip such as lounge locations, hours; check inflight food offerings for your flight, etc).

🙌🏻🥃

sullim4

This is very good advice. For my wife and I, we'll take upgrades to Alaska F but it's almost never worth the cash for us over a seat in premium class unless it's some kind of screaming deal. We try to travel internationally once a year and after a few long haul trips in J with lie-flats where we get actual sleep versus staying awake in the back of the plane... we'd rather spend our money and miles on those flights. Access to high quality lounges on those tickets adds additional value.

That said, I do wish AS would improve the buy-on-board in Y. Remind me why the cheeseburgers went away? They always seemed to sell out on the transcons when they offered them back in the day.

AS Flyer

cheeseburgers went away because Airbus didn’t have ovens in main cabin and the first class oven wasn’t big enough to share. In order to ensure consistency of service offerings, they went with all cold options. I don’t know anything beyond what anyone else does but I suspect hot food in main cabin could come back once the Airbus are gone.

Gallibep

Since I didn't see it, here's a picture of the salad I had on the LAX EWR Red Eye last month. Def not a full meal, but it's what you'd get on a short FC leg.