Current state of F snack service?
 

I'm flying to SeaDOO this month, using extra award miles to fly F between SFO/YYC/SEA. What should I expect for the snack (or breakfast) service? Need guidance on whether to bring more food, or grab a bite elsewhere.

It isn't really a state, it is more like a territory. If you are going to be hungry, bring food.

Flew F SEA-SAN about two weeks ago and breakfast was a slice of warm Spanish egg custard with a large strawberry, an orange slice, and two pineapple chunks. No breads.

I give it a solid 7 (which for airline food, and especially breakfast, is a pretty good review).

Thanks everyone, I might accept the breakfast but bring a real lunch for later. My normal traffic is limited to SFO/SJC-SEA, so I don't fly up front on the short trips.

If snack service is more than AA's current "tiny U.S. possession in the Pacific" -- count me happy.

It is a different route, but I sure don't care for the spicy pink mush served with crackers during nonmeal flights in First. I got it on Sunday and again on Monday flying SEA-SMF and return.

I guess it isn't as bad ad 68 bags of sour cream and onion potato chips on Horizon a couple of months ago :rolleyes:

Shame on you. You are only encouraging AS to go skimpy on the food.

Here is an interesting article on what happened to Alaskan Airlines:

"So whatever happened to Alaska Airlines? It went from first to worst. Alaska used to serve the best food too. It was actually edible. On the West Coast they used to run lots of TV commercials ridiculing the other airlines and the crap they served . Then one day a bean-counter didn't like what he saw and that was the end of the food."

http://www.dvorak.org/blog/?p=2327

I found this quote amusing: "I loved the MD-80, especially when equipped with those silent P&W engines. It was the smoothest quietest ride in the sky."

I hear a loud rumble. Think it's a 777 or 747. I look up. It's an AS MD-80. That plane might be quiet on the inside, but it sure isn't on the outside! :p

That article was a joke. It was riddled with inaccurate statements.

It mentions that PSA was doing just fine without US Air. While the end result of the buy out by US Air was not what people were hoping for, it kept PSA out of the bankruptcy courts at the time. PSA was bleeding red ink and would have been out of business soon had it not been for US Air. They were a fun airline but not a profitable one.

We don't pass out "a box of snacks" to replace the "once decent meal". He claims to get a prayer card in this box but if he's getting a box of snacks then I want to know whos serving them because I've never seen them.

He talks about Horizon's "cozy fleet of Metros". RJ's got nothing on those Metros as far as being uncomfortable goes. Those planes were tiny little planes that a claustrophobic person would be well advised to avoid at all costs. The ONLY good thing they had going for them was that there was one seat on each side. They also carried 19 passengers, not "10-12 people".

I especially like the part where he criticizes Alaska for spreading east. He says "the rich west coast wasn't good enough". Apparently he's not aware that revenues going east are typically better. Even his beloved PSA flew to Denver at one time and was trying to fly into Dallas and Houston. Had PSA survived they surely would be flying east as well. Businesses don't prosper by remaining stagnant these days.

Articles like these just frustrate me. Someone with no concept of the airline business other than getting on a plane and getting from point A to point B and getting a meal on the way. While I'll agree (how could I not?!?!) that our on time record is nothing short of embarassing these days, he couldn't be more wrong about much of the rest of his article.

He apparently never sat in row 32 of the MD80.

SEA-YYC is only an hour and a half flight... you'll be there before lunchtime.

Not to mention that he seems to think "Alaskan" no longer operates MD-80s. Also, I was unaware Horizon ever operated a Dash-80. Quite a large aircraft for a regional airline. As far as the short-lived "hot looking prop jobs" from "Bombardier", I think he must be thinking of the Dornier 328s which Horizon briefly operated in the mid-90s.

In response to the OP, if you are on a flight departing prior to 10:30 AM on SFO/SEA, you can expect fruit and a pastry in F.

Td
 

The food is still edible, but it is not a reason to fly up front. The food is OK, but not very substantial, at best. I certainly would not pay to fly F on AS & would only use miles on a long flight (if that rare option might be available). Short flights, not a chance of paying extra.

The extra seat room is the one still great advantage to F

What was interesting about the article is they mention the old commercials about their food. Those are still ingrained in my head from when I was growing up. I still meet people who think that AS serves halibut dinners and dessert from SFO to SEA.
BUT So many things good with AS I hate to complain. Look at all the other problems with all other airlines:
1) NW change their flight schedules and threaten to charge a PAX $100 plus fare difference to correct it and tells the PAX to "Deal With It!"
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...chedule+change
2) BA forces PAX to buy expensive replacement tickets when they miss flights do to delays caused by UAL flight that are booked on the same ITN.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ghlight=united
3) UAL IDB's two children due to weight and balances and forces them to spend the night on floor mats at the airport with no facilities since they are too young for a hotel room.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=456520
4) Air France tells their PAX that they cannot gate check strollers or wheelchairs.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=457904
5) US Air FA's allows racist to attack black couple in First Class for 5 1/2 hours straight.
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=458647

So many bad things at the other airlines I hate to complain but I really miss the food...

I don't fly AS anywhere nearly as much as I used to. Nothing against the airline (where service always remains friendly and professional), I just enjoy Exit Rows and Economy Plus on UA.

That being said, I do applaud AS for keeping paid F fares so reasonable. I used to fly AS because the 5K upgrade and non-stop flight was a no-brainer. When upgrades went to 10K, that negated the reason to fly them and so I moved all my business to UA for E+.

But now that AS has returned F fares along the west coast to what I was paying fifteen years ago, well that swings the pendulum back in their favor compared to having to connect in F with UA (whose deeply-restricted F fares are the same as or more then AS' unrestricted F) or get F only part way (like SFO/LAX-LAS on TED). So I am back on AS planes a few times a year now, all in paid F, and the front-cabin experience on them for shorthaul is as good as UA, though I admit I do miss Channel 9...