Chugach

Likewise. I value my time and won’t connect if I don’t need to. Plus the $ value on AS via SEA compared to other carriers is often horrendous, especially going east.

I will still get on AS if the timing/duration/value are there but if there’s a connect involved DL has quickly become my preferred carrier.

dliesse

I understand both sides of the issue, but tend to side more with the passenger (I don't have a dog in this particular fight, being SEA-based). An additional part of the problem -- and this is common to all airlines -- is that the marketing folks think they have a partnership with other airlines so that's just as good. Um, nope. I'm just one data source, but I have never had a good or even above average flight on AA. Average and below average only. And I did concentrate on them for a few years since they were our corporate mandate.

I also understand the desire to avoid the connections. I come from a UA family, but in the 90s they got so bad that I turned to DL. The problem was that I lived in the Chicago area, meaning a connection was needed to go anywhere, and they usually weren't exactly close to a straight line. Going to SEA, I'd connect in either CVG or SLC -- usually CVG because I got tired of descending over Wyoming in a 732 while some invisible gods were pounding the plane with pummel sticks. But this turned a 4-hour flight into a 7-hour journey, and that eventually got old, as did connecting through ATL to get to the UK (my attempted CVG connections almost always had weather issues).

For the sake of the PDX and other OR travelers, I hope the service at PDX is beefed up sooner rather than later!

B787938

As a PDX based flyer, the reduction in service from AS and QX are frustrating. However, this thread is inflammatory and not accurate. PDX - BUR, for instance, never drops below 14 flights per week or 2 times daily. AS is also not the only airline to reduce service in the winter. Look at UA's schedule to PDX: DEN, SFO, EWR and ORD reduce frequencies in the winter and IAD disappears. AS and QX are adding planes and by the end of 2023 will have 19 more mainline aircraft and 20 more E-175s, respectively, than they did at the end of 2022 (https://alaskaairgroupinc.gcs-web.co...a-6d4d96bfdd1c). AS management has publicly said they will rebuild the PDX schedule as the new aircraft are delivered. I have no doubt that as business conditions improve (that is, more travelers want to fly to/from PDX) we will see AS rebound as well. Looking at the 9/23 schedules many daily non-stops are back like PDX-KOA/LIH.

mildfrequence

Yea, I wouldn't mind bouncing through SEA for everything if there wasn't a significant upcharge associated with it. Really frustrating.

Eastbay1K

Not to be Negative Nancy here (ok, I guess I am) - any schedule that far out is wishful thinking and once AS has enough money selling these flights, it will be able to keep most of it should it decide to route you via SEA after the route is suspended yet again. Not to say that it will happen, but if the trajectory of advance sales are X instead of Y, and the aircraft could be deployed to a route that makes more $, my crystal balls are saying that this is exactly what will occur.

More aircraft and crew make the negative scenario less likely.

maradori

OMG YES I noticed the same thing happening maybe 2 or 3 years ago. Really frustrating because I remember when I started flying AS in 2016, everything worked out so .... amazingly. I would book SFO-PDX-SEA-sleep on the redeye-JFK, land at 6am and turn right around - JFK-SEA-SFO or JFK-SEA-PDX-SFO. And then a few years ago suddenly all the PDX connections disappeared And then the only options became either SFO-JFK nonstop or pay a non-trivial amount more to route through SEA

I hope whatever is going on, it's just a temporary thing (maybe things will get better once all the Q400s are replaced with E75/737s???). Sadly, I have a feeling things won't return back to the good ol' days

mfolf

So.... how about SFO and all the routes AS launched shortly after buying VX?

mtofell

For as long as I can remember the PDX>SEA (and back) route has been a mixture of 737s, E175s and Q400. The random-ness has often intrigued me but I'm sure some bean counter has their reasons.

psychtobe

I find the longstanding absence of a nonstop to BLI as well as the pandemic era loss of flights to PAE very painful. I can practically drive to BLI faster than flying but it's just so painful with the traffic. A one day business trip now requires an overnight and significant chunks of two days just traveling. Once I took the train and got in at a similar time, but the train is slow as molasses.

The lack of a redeye to NYC is a competitive disadvantage compared to UA, AA, B6, and DL (though DL's is connecting). You can force a connection through SEA but that adds on the price of the PDX-SEA leg and then AS isn't competitive with the market.

Kind of a mess.

UAPremierExec

Not gonna pull out a "oh, woe is me" card here - but living in Southeast Alaska we get hosed quite a bit. This winter, Delta has maintained weekend service with a very attractive flight time to Seattle - 3PM - vs 525AM, 715AM 1 stop, 820AM nonstop, 135PM milkrun, and 840PM nonstop. I'd love to fly Delta more, but they and Alaska both make our connections super hard - I'll probably make IHG Kryptonium this year from staying at the SeaTac Crowne Plaza so much.

We've got a joint love/hate relationship. I want to get somewhere, FAST, and EASY. I cringe when I have to book my flying as an AA codeshare just to get somewhere east coast same day (Alaska makes us overnight, we miss their connections all the time - just not possible via their schedule, but we can with the AA codeshare and connect in DFW/CLT (not so much ORD because AA *dismantled SEA/ORD this winter).

And as someone that DOES try to fly to MCI/STL, I've constantly checked flights & fares to both cities and even flew over PDX once just so I didn't have to overnight in SEA. So I totally feel your pain, but sadly, network planning seems to have less and less concern for local traffic nowadays and focuses on the network revenue/traffic instead of point-to-point or local flows (which is why there's hardly any more PDX - PacNW flying like there used to be..)

WebTraveler

This is not really true. Alaska has schedules up well into the future wih more flights. The closer we get a lot of those flights get reduced, some altogether. It's basically Alaska saying we have plans to serve, but when it gets down to it there's simply not enough airplanes or staff to do it, and they start cutting back and they disappear. So it may lookl like there are 14 weekfly flights, but they won't operate them - watch how the schedule changes as it gets closer. We buy ticketrs and are re-routed to LAX or via SEA. This is just one example.

I get it - a lack of pilots, and a lack of airplanes. The lack of airplanes is man made - they returned more aircraft at an accelerated rate because they don't have pilots to operate them.

Hoping Alaska gets this figured out - and I think they will - in time. RIght now just tough.

And Delta vis SLC is getting a lot of my work now, as well as Southwest. At least with Delta going to SLC, I am headed off the right direction.

chrisl137

And if you need the EQM you can sometimes exploit that by getting a low cost ticket on a flight that's routinely cancelled and then call them and pick whatever flight (with or without extra connection) from whichever coterminal you want, which often would have cost hundreds of dollars more if you'd booked it initially.

PDXPremier

Great point--I would say AS schedule changes usually lead to better itineraries (more EQM/RDM, better times, etc.) than worse.

PDXPremier

Connecting in places like SLC or DEN when you are heading east doesn't really help with increasing EQMs--honestly that's what I like about connecting in SEA or another west coast city when going east because it actually does increase your EQMs at least by 500 miles and as a side benefit, you get to stop by the N lounge in SEA .

mtofell

You and I are on the same page.... I almost prefer going through SEA. The daily nonstop from PDX > OGG is at the bright and early hour of 7AM which means getting up at a pretty ridiculous time. I usually catch a mid-afternoon up to SEA and still make it to OGG around 9 or 10 with time for a couple drinks at the N lounge. Just a better all around experience.