Defection from Alaska to Delta
 

I’m curious about a few things... first off, considering my home state, I’ve been an AS flyer for decades due to the sheer number of flights ANC:SEA.



Now that I’m not traveling for business & I have no hope of status, Delta is looking better & better considering there will be international leisure travel.



Delta has much better prices on paid first for the routes I fly.



Currently I have trips planned for October, November & December (hoping to cancel the November trip!!). Normal travel will be 4-5 trips Outside & 1 international.



What is the current (covid) service in First btwn AK & the Lower 48?



I’m curious about the Sky Club. It appears paid First gets club access? Does it get Partner club access too? Particularly during these times of covid? Is there a participating partner in ANC?



Since I’m not terribly wide but I am taller than normal, if there’s not a SkyClub lounge in ANC, what’s the low down on premium class vs First (for the flights headed South)? I’m assuming more legroom & if they’re blocking the middle seat that seems like a nice option.. how much worse is the service?



I’ve tried to find the answer but their website wasn’t clear to me & a search here didn’t help.



Appreciate the help & I apologize for being too much of a Luddite to figure it out in a search.



Also... if there are any other tips please feel free to offer them!

All domestic flights in F receive a snag bag including a mini Dasani water, a single-use Purell, a mini bag of cheeze-its, and another mini snack like a Biscoff or similar. If you end up on a longer flight, you'll also get a BoB-style snack box like you would find in Y which contains other pre-packaged, shelf stable items. There is no meal service left on any domestic flights. In terms of beverages, you have two beer options, two wine options, (on flights over 500mi) and of course more Dasani. There are no soft drinks, no liquor, and no ice.

Domestic F does not receive SkyClub access, only Delta One on premium transcon flights (JFK-LAX/SFO) and international flights.

The difference between service in F and Comfort + is now minimal. On longer flights the former BoB snack box from Y is offered in F, otherwise that's the only difference.

Honestly, it's not a great time to be a premium cabin customer at DL. The service is bad and the pricing is pretty much the same as it always has been. For now, my personal opinion is that you'll be far better off on AS if you're buying F tickets. If you're buying Y tickets, then DL is one of the better options.

Paid First Class on Delta does not provide lounge access (unlike Alaska). Only paid Delta One tickets do (Delta One is long-haul international, east-coast to Hawaii, and a handful transcon routes). Likewise, Premium Economy is only offered on long-haul flights. Comfort+ is offered on domestic routes which is not really a premium economy product (they are just coach seats with some more leg room).

Upgraded (with instruments) D1 tickets should also get lounge access, including partner lounges and overseas contract lounges that D1 offers to passengers on paid D1 tickets. Of course, this assumes that the upgrade has been confirmed when the customer tries to enter the lounge and not just requested. (Normally you would show your qualifying boarding pass.)

I would assume that (free) OPUPs into D1 also qualify for lounge access, but these are unlikely to be confirmed/processed before boarding starts and are likely to be given first to those with high status.

This isn't even a matter of soft service - A (very fundamental) issue for you is that DL operates far fewer flights on SEA-ANC than AS does so the connection times might be less than ideal - I think there are days during the winter when DL runs only 3 flights a day (sometimes 2 IIRC) - there's a reason why AS has pricing power in this market. It's usually better during the summer, but it'll depend on whether cruises will happen next summer.

OTOH, preCovid-19, DL had seasonal flights from ANC to other hubs such as MSP. For the OP, this would add options for travel to the eastern half of the USA and to Europe. The two daily MSP nonstops in the summer (IIRC generally flown with 757s) seemed fairly conveniently timed, including redeyes. Depending on the route, avoiding SEA when traveling east from ANC could save some time, but people will have different opinions about trying to break up trips with a connection in the middle versus picking a shorter flight combined with a longer flight.

Alaska (followed by AA) has the best domestic FC service right now.....I wouldn’t even consider switching right now.

Would the OP make a different decision if AS initiates a new FF "junior elite" tier at 10,000 status miles per year? There's speculation about this in the AS forum and OP would seem to easily reach 10,000 status miles with one international and four or five domestic trips from ANC each year.

Note that with the exception of this year, DL doesn't permit rollover unless one reaches Silver (25,000 MQMs plus a revenue or spend requirement), so OP might or might not make DL's lowest elite tier. OTOH if OP were to get a Plat DL affiliated AmEx credit card and charge $25,000 per year, this would give an additional 10,000 MQMs, waive the MQD requirement, and give OP a few additional perks such as IIRC a free checked bag on most DL flights and the ability to pay to use the DL airport lounges (not partner or contract lounges in general, although IIRC this might be enough to be able to pay to enter AmEx lounges). The AmEx DL Reserve credit card would give the same benefits with 15,000 MQMs for $30,000 spend plus SC access when flying DL, all for a much higher annual fee.

At least pre-virus, MSP-ANC was year round.

What those complaining about poor service are not telling you is that DL blocks seats so that in F you never have a random stranger sitting 1 foot away. That’s better service during the pandemic than a soda, in my opinion. Others disagree.

So does AS.

MSPANC is operated 1x daily in the winter, scaling up to probably 3x in peak season (SEAANC tops out at around 7x daily for DL and there might be a couple seasonal SLCANC flights). I still think the OP might have issues with connection times. Objectively speaking, it's a hard sell when AS is running 3x more flights (during the summer cruise season it's basically operating SEAANC as a shuttle running 20x daily or more), but again, there's a reason why DL needs to undercut AS on price here. AS absolutely dominates the Alaska market.

I'm an "other". I'll take a drunk next to me leaning against a window if I can get ice in my drink along with a hot meal. Just like old times.

Good for you. I’d prefer reasonable steps that will make it less likely to get COVID-19. It’s not 2019 anymore.

Of course I’d rather have full service AND seat blocking, but that’s not a choice we have.

JetBlue does this on Mint transcons.