GaryZ

Just please tell us all this is not part of some cruel April fools joke

gizmo78

I hope the new salt and pepper sachets are a little more generous.

I always marvel at how someone managed to design the current sachets to dispense one grain of salt at a time!

ramolnar

Inside the US, once Gogo is set up, why not just set up something through flightaware (http://flightaware.com/live/) or another service? You can see position, speed, estimated arrival, and so forth, which is what I recall on the moving map. Even better, you can follow other flights. And there would be no extra server.

honeytoes

Indeed!! ^^

apeortdz

+1
This is funny ... and so true!

PWMFlyer19

OT Question: Do people need full power outlets, or would they people be ok with just USB ports to charge ipods, ipads, etc ? Just a curiosity of mine.

I realize for a laptop you need a socket, but would a USB be okay especially on the A321 which have wifi ?

Cheers.

uva185

USB would be nice but why limit people? Frankly the USB devices like iPads and iPods have better battery life than a laptop anyways and dont need to be charged to last for an entire transcon. I wish they would just put standard outlets at each seat. Until they do I'm content using the vacuum cleaner outlet.

brobab

Does GOGO differ by carrier? I was just on an AA flight that had a built in "Track this flight" option on the GOGO sign in page. You could enter any flight you wanted. It was off by about 15 - 20 minutes though. I could look out the window and see that we ere flying over specific city and the map would show us about 200 miles further East.

mrredskin

100% agree

brobab

Clearly we all have different preferences. On a flight less than 3.5 hours, there is absolutely nothing about these downgrades that would cause me to want to pay for F. No IFE, no power ports, no snack basket, can't mix my own drink and have to rely on the attentiveness/work ethic of the FA for re-fills, I get a bag of pretzels. Sounds like an exit row seat that is about 4" wider.

How about this instead?

• Consistently enforced F class priority boarding with protected O/H space
• Clean cabins
• Uniformly attentive FC FA's
• Consistent PDB service
• FC lav for FC pax only - (I know many think this is elitist, but we are talking about a "buy up" FC product here - it is supposed to be more elite than Y
• Catered food options on flights longer than 2 hours
• Premium snack offerings, (note the use of the plural) on non-meal flights
• Branded glassware
• IFE on flights in excess of 2.5 hours
• FC power ports
• Complimentary newspapers

If you want me to consider it a first Class travel experience worthy of paying extra, then I have to get more value for my money than what I could get on another carrier.

formeraa

Based on the number of posts criticizing the use of plastic in F, I think it's a VERY important issue to US FFers.

JanePond

I always have extra salt and pepper tucked away, usually from McDonald's. I don'r even waste time in using the current ones. Could put out one's seat mate's eye while shaking them. Now, I would like an extra pat of butter. Is that too much to ask?

Beckles

Your statement is an oxymoron, if the use of plastic insted of glass in FC was very important to a frequent flyer, they wouldn't be a US FF'er in the first place since US has used plastic for several years.

The amount of complaints you read here on FT does not necessarilly directly correlate to what actually impacts a flyer's choice of airlines, an analgous example is Delta's fake cheese, you'd think that fake vs. real cheese in the club was the critical factor in choosing ones airline from the discussions on that board in the past few years.

Glassware in FC on US and fake cheese in the DL clubs are issues that FT'ers like to talk about ... a lot ... but ultimately they have no real impact on whether someone flies the airline or not.

GotCalcio4

This comment is really stretching it... Glassware is likely a very important issue for some, however it is likely not the MOST important deciding factor when choosing what airline they fly. I'm sure schedule, convenience, and price probably are the bigger deciding factors, hence they end up flying US.

Now if glassware in F (or the lack thereof) is someone's #1 priority when flying, then I'd imagine they are certainly in the minority.

HBart

Someone, somewhere, once, might have decided to opt against US FC because they use plastic, but if they did, that would have been the only time I'm sure. The reality of it is that service is an additive impression of lots of little details. And a plastic cup not a detail that reflects a luxury experience which is what FC is supposed to be.

Malcom Forbes once said the food in a restaurant always seems better when the bread in the basket is warm. Little details add up...

So while I personally don't really care at all what my drink is served in (although wine from a plastic cup never seems right) glassware in FC is a positive step IMHO because, along with the other little details, it shows US is actually attempting to field a competitive product which conveys a luxury experience. Most FFs I know don't consider the current US FC to be a "real" FC - an upgrade over coach to be sure - but not FC. And there's no way on earth anyone would choose the current US FC product over a competitive one based on the amenities. So good for US!

Except, as others have noted, the pre-packed snack basket sounds like a probable downgrade (if you're in row 3 anyway).