kokonutz

Well there is a certain amount of cred for a blogger (or any FlyerTalker!) that comes with status.

Then again, my travel motto for the past couple years has been: 'When you buy a premium seat/luxury room you get treated like an elite anyway.'

Not ENTIRELY true, of course...in some ways you get treated better. @:-)
And, on occasion, worse.

But it works pretty well as a general rule!

PWMTrav

Domestically, I've been disappointed enough with service when upgraded that I would pretty much never buy a domestic premium cabin seat with my own money unless I just wanted the space.

I've noticed consistently with US that when their agents are getting slammed, they ignore the F checkin line. It's like they're taught to pretend they can't see you.

International is a different story - I only really have experience with the European carriers, but I'd put out real money for AF J (if I could afford it!)

kokonutz

I haven't bought a coach ticket in 2 years. And I don't miss them.

On Sunday we were on AA in paid F (A). Our flight LAS-DFW was delayed on a mechanical. We landed about 5 minutes before departure of our connection to DCA. After the trek from A28 to D29 (so lets call it 10-12 minutes moving at full speed) we arrived to find that they were waiting for us. We got on and they closed the door behind us and the two pax who were standing at the counter when we arrived at the gate.

In the past, even as a 1k on UA, even on a FC upgrade, my seat and that plane in that situation was 100% of the time gone at even a whiff of a mis-connect.

Now it may well be that it's an AA/UA thing. Maybe it was a nice GA. But then again, maybe having to re-accommodate a couple of paid F customers made it worth holding their seats and the plane for 10 or 15 minutes... @:-)^



The best/worst part of the story: the look on the faces of the 2 people standing at the counter clearly waiting/hoping for the upgrade if we misconnected. 'No offense, but I'm sure sorry to see you guys,' one said as we all walked down the jetway...

TheBOSman

You'll note the instant a particularly valuable part of Lifemiles went away, he switched to Aeroplan Miles. That was one way he could fly LH F frequently, it was relatively cheap to do so until the valuable part went away.

PWMTrav

That's a good story and certainly a counterexample to mine.

However, 2 weeks ago at PWM of all places, the 4 GAs were slammed checking people in and collecting bag fees due to the weather the previous day. I'm a US elite and was flying F (upgraded) that day, so either way I was entitled to use the F checkin. I was ignored for a good 10 minutes before I walked up to an agent and asked them to help out with the F line that was forming behind me. They told me to come up to the counter, which was great, except that we were ignored again for another 15 minutes. AFAIK, these are not contractors at PWM, but mainline staff.

At PHL, I had a car seat base to check. I was at the counter right next to oversize baggage. The GA told me I needed to bring it to oversize. I pointed right next to her and said, "Right there, next to you?" she didn't make eye contact and affirmed.

Mind you, US is not every airline, but the domestic carriers really aren't too different from one another.

84fiero

That's pretty funny about the car seat base! Well,kinda sad it came to that too. I'd never pay for domestic F either at this point, gone downhill too much. I only barely miss the occasional upgrades when I used to have status.

PWMTrav

It's more of a PHL thing than a US thing. I've run into more employees there with bad attitudes than anywhere else, and I really don't try to interact that much with airport staff to begin with. Then again, I grew up in Philly and never cared much for the local attitude.

PWM was a shocker, but it was because 3 of the 4 GAs were newer employees running around trying to help people (and not really knowing how to do it - they were relying on the kiosks to print bag tags and the kiosks started to crash). One GA told me she couldn't print tags from the terminal, so I don't think training was complete at that point. The one guy who I recognize from the past few years that I've lived up here was just heads down, and he's always been that way. The real fault I found was that they weren't just waiving fees and tagging everything, when half the crowd was in danger of missing their flight out, but I can't ask these people to jeopardize their jobs when it's clearly a management issue.

kokonutz

Oh, don't get me wrong, I've had infinity bad experiences in premium cabins or booked into premium class on upgrades as well. And even sometimes on paid F tickets.

My point is simply that it is marginally better to be on a paid F ticket than an upgraded F ticket on domestic flights or as an elite flying in coach, IME. Irrops are less stressful because upgrades are not lost because re-accommodations result in upgraders being downgraded so I can sit in the type of seat I paid for. And best of all, no sweating upgrades.

Is it 'worth' it? Hm. Well. It beats the hell out of sitting in coach! ^

And that's something I do wonder about: if I am a P&M blogger making six figures...why would I ever buy a coach ticket? Priorities, I suppose.

TheBOSman

Because you are doing it for the reader, whom you consider to be like friends and family! And no friends and family like it when their friends and family have more money than they do and rub it in your face .

sbm12

And I wonder why, regardless of income, anyone would ever pay for a premium fare on domestic travel, save for the $600 Mint seats (and that's even a stretch) or a mistake fare.

Priorities, indeed.

oliver2002

Well, I was researching domestic fares today and saw that AS and DL were offering a flight that costs 89$ in economy in F for 189 and 202$ respectively. If you have no status on AS & DL like me and travelling with about 3-4 pieces of luggage and family (I know, not very FT like), it really makes sense to book one of us in F to make use of the free luggage allowance (3 pieces on DL, 2 on AS) and use the priority lane. AS even throws in club access.

A similar situation came up on UA: eco fares range around 220 to 400$, the P fare is 290. No luggage, club and priority lane issues here because of my *G, but the connections offered for the P fare are better.

Just saying.

kokonutz

Yep. Domestic F can be very affordable.

Sure, on coast to coast and premium routes F is going to cost 3 to 4 times coach. But my typical markup is 50% or so.

Plus I have learned to play the TOD game. I may have already told this story, but a few weeks ago I was looking at a one way SBN-DCA. $441 in coach. $920 in F on Smisek Air. So I booked the coach ticket just to see what kind of upgrade offer I would get, and it offered me F for $92 more, so $533 all-in (vs. $920!).

In the end I canceled the reservation took the DL flight through DTW in F for $520.

That's the beauty of being an airline agnostic! ^
It may be heresy around here to say, but I submit that the problem with domestic F is....upgrades! People are so used to sitting in F for 'free' that they no longer place a value on it. And since people no longer place a value on it service is reduced. It's a vicious cycle.

...and part of the reason I feel less and less like a real FlyerTalker every day.

sbm12

I rarely need to check 4 bags and the increased space for 3-5 hours isn't worth much to me. I can have as many drinks as I want at $7 each and still come out ahead versus buying the F seat.

There are always going to be times where there is such a small price difference that it might be tempting, but the vast majority of the time all I need is the commodity product of getting from A to B. And saving $100 per trip means a lot more trips in the end.

oliver2002

Well, you don't mind coach on longhaul either

gpapadop

Say what? This is the FT Moderator Police! I would like to report oliver2002 to the FT Mod Supreme Court and challenge his FT Mod Qualifications because no FT Mod should ever travel with 1 (or 2 in limited cases) pieces of luggage, like, ever!