I would actually prefer the $200 voucher. At least that can be redeemed with no hassle. A free ticket is sometimes so difficult to redeem, it's just not worth the trouble.

Plus, if you buy a ticket with a $ voucher, I believe you still earn miles, too. That won't happen on a completely free ticket.

Give me the moo-lah any day.

OK, there is no way around asking these questions without sounding like a complete dork, but here it goes.

As a FTer who has attempted to re-create and track his past travels, I always have difficulty knowing when an airline officially disappears (e.g., America West, TWA, etc.). I'm having the same difficulty with YX now.

I have a long history of flying YX between MCI and LGA. My latest flight on this route in July (right or wrong) I classified as a flight on YX even though the metal was F9 because of the way it was marketed and purchased (YX website, flight numbers, historical routing, etc.).

However, I'm not sure my upcoming flights later in October between the two cities meets this rather "weak" criteria. Would those more knowledgeable than me please chime in and tell me whether they believe that these future flights would more properly be categorized as F9 flights rather than YX flights? What date is typically used as the official cut-over time?

Thanks in advance for any input.

I believe October 1st was the cutoff and now all flights are sold and flown under the F9 code. You may still see the YX code in the airports but I believe all of the flight numbers have been aligned between YX and F9. Also, you may continue to see YX as that is now Republic Airlines (the regional operator) official code.

Others can probably back me up or fix this if it is wrong.

Although the Midwest Airlines operating certificate went away not long after the last 717 flight, I don't think that break point is really what you want here. Well before the Midwest operating certificate went away you probably flew E170 or E190 on MCI-LGA, and that was still Midwest Airlines operated by Republic. Until recently, those flights were still Midwest Airlines operated by Republic even though there were no longer any midest Airlines operated by Midwest Airlines flights.

So....I think 10/1/10 is the real cutoff.

Prior to that, even though Frontier code-shared on all Midwest flights, the flights were primarily marketed and identified as Midwest Airlines flights.

Now, the Frontier code is the one in which flights like MCI-LGA are marketed and identified.

Unless you keep track by operating certificate (meaning you never flew Midwest unless you were on DC9/D9S/717/M80) then 10/1/10 is the cutoff.

End of Best Care in the Air
 

Fly Frontier 10/11 MKE/DFW and the BEST CARE IS GONE! The new "sign" is a small, poorly hung banner over the ticketing counter. Looks like a fly-by-night organization. No meals even carried on the flt (same coming up from DFW and that's a decrease from 1-3 carried before), just small snacks now. No longer 2 cookies, just "1" and they are definitely cold. What next, cutting back on the chocolate chips in the cookies? Have to have more segments/miles for Summit status and now no international partner. Like the larger seats, leg room, but need more reason to continue to fly Frontier (and it's my dollar, not a business traveler) as we have for the past 11 years as Executive. Very disappointed with new merger, just another low cost airline. Can't even hold tickets online w/o calling reservation center (and waiting...) to get a hold ticket. W/MKE being one of the fastest growing airports (must be a surprise to Rep CEO who stated why would anyone come to MKE), Frontier needs to go back to the best care in the air, or we, like others will chose AA w/more options for our dollars/miles.

I donated my Midwest miles - goodbye to a once proud airline.

That was certainly a very honorable thing to do, considering you were one of Midwest's most outspoken critics.

Enjoy flying on Big Daddy. :)

I don't recall posting on this forum for a long time but I wanted to share some recent experiences. I am a former YX customer. I am also a then and now F9 customer. My recent flights on the former YX now F9 were last week and I remembered the following:

The itinerary was DCA-MCI-DEN outbound; DEN-DCA inbound. I could not get a seat assignment when I booked online for the MCI-DEN segment. When I did OLCI, a window seat was assigned to me, fortunately. On the DCA-MCI segment, I flew on former YX metal, which was an E170. When I used to fly the former YX 3 years ago, it was Signature Service on the 717s. It had the 2+2 Recaro seating with more legroom, footrests, dark blue and tan colored upholstery, etc. I have not flown on the E170 before so when I boarded the plane, I had the former YX E170 cabin with grey on grey and white seats with the rounded headrests. The entire interior of the cabin was dull and lifeless. The reading light at my seat did not work. The legroom was adequate but overall, my impression was a total letdown. The FAs from Republic were young and cheerful. I bought a pumpkin muffin breakfast meal, which was okay. Then I started to reminisce the former YX Signature Service, with the best catering menu that included tapas, gaspacho soup and steaks that were served on board, and the two cc cookies freshly baked. The 717s did not have seatback IFE, but did offer Digiplayers. This flight had no IFE at all. I started to feel very sad.

When we arrived at MCI, I waited at the same gate for the connecting flight. The E170 that I was just on was doing a fast turnaround to New Orleans. I remembered on the former YX, the well-dressed FAs would pick up all of the trash in the cabin when on layover at MCI, while cleaning crews and the FAs would use dust busters and vacuums to clean the carpeting and seats. This time, there was practically no time to clean the cabin before the next flight went out. A few minutes later after the E170 left the gate, my next flight, which was on F9 metal pulled in. As our A319 pushed back from the gate and then taxiing out from the terminal, I was literally in tears, remembering the service and operations of the former YX 3 years ago.

On the DEN-DCA inbound flight, I had wonderful service from the senior FA F9 staff on an A320. The Classic Plus service F9 offers is fine for what it is. During the flight, the FAs passed out the one cc cookie to every passenger. The one cookie was served on YX napkins. I thought I was going to be in tears again when I saw that. Many other posts have repeatedly mentioned that they can't believe what happened to YX. I will echo the same opinions and experiences. The former YX in my opinion, was one of the best domestic carriers in the US. To see what it became, and now no more is probably for the best. But it still saddens me. :(

The E170s will soon all feature green seats, stretch, and Wifi service.

I flew a long MKE-MCI-SEA segment...and the cold cookies were almost an insult!

Message received today regarding Midwest website and transition to Frontier:

Updated message on FF integration:

Frequent Flyer Program Merger Update
One of the final stages in the integration of Midwest and Frontier Airlines is the merger of the Midwest Miles and EarlyReturns frequent flyer programs. We'll be completing this work October 28-30.

During that time, you can continue to book reservations. However, some frequent flyer program-related functions will be unavailable. Members will not be able to log in to their frequent flyer accounts to check their account balance, edit their profile, print a membership card or book award travel.

Beginning Oct. 31, you will be able to perform all of these functions on FrontierAirlines.com. Simply access your account using the same login and password you currently use. At that time, elite status will also begin to display accurately online and in your reservations for those who have achieved that level.

If you have both a Midwest Miles account and an EarlyReturns account, your accounts will be merged in full by the end of November. At that time, you'll be notified which account number you should use going forward. In the meantime, you can continue to use either account number

The latest
 

As part of the ongoing integration of Midwest and Frontier Airlines, this website will be shutdown at 2pm on Thursday, Oct. 28. Please visit us at frontierairlines.com and update your bookmarks. Thank you

Maybe I'll take a screenshot and keep it for posterity.

LOL...I made whole bunch, not so much for sentimental reasons but for chunks of information I don't want to lose. It will be odd to see it go, of course. But I remember when this major redesign came out and I didn't like the look and feel at first, but not long after I forgot about what the old design looked like.

Of course this is not just a redesign but an end of the brand. But eventually I'll know where everything is on the F9 site, too.