So have you taken an Alaska (AS) flight yet?
Feb 10, 2017, 8:52 am
#17
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), IHG Spire, UA Silver
Posts: 5,849
Feb 10, 2017, 10:14 am
#18
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
I find VX systems are crap. Hopefully we can get the good sides at the end of the merger but i doubt it.
Feb 20, 2017, 1:48 am
#19
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: BOS
Programs: B6/Mosaic/AF/VX/AS Gold Hertz PC HH Dia. AMEX Plat SPG/Marr Gold Nat. EE FPC Plat
Posts: 833
If you know the quirks of the VX systems, they are actually OK and I've never heard a VX elite complain about them. There are IT issues which come down to: Fix it at the airport. But at the airport, I've never had a bad result. Good karma ?
Feb 20, 2017, 9:14 pm
#20
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: BOS/ORH
Programs: AS 75K
Posts: 18,323
Guess I'll find out. I have a bunch of flights coming up next week. Not looking forward to the havoc if the California weather doesn't calm down.
Mar 12, 2017, 12:46 am
#21
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,631
How would AS be compared to VX for SFO/PDX in paid F? I know F is high for a 97-minute flight but I'll still have to pay for luggage and priority tsa queue at SFO if possible so may as well get a wider seat.
Mar 12, 2017, 10:52 am
#22
Join Date: Feb 2015
Location: Seattle
Programs: AS
Posts: 2,293
AS F has the wider seats. They do not offer the comfort(recline) of VX F.
AS F has two free checked bags, lounge access and priority boarding.( also class of service miles bonus in AS mileage program)
Depending on equipment , converted 800's offer great legroom with3 rows , 900's have 4 rows currently ( much less legroom).
AS F has two free checked bags, lounge access and priority boarding.( also class of service miles bonus in AS mileage program)
Depending on equipment , converted 800's offer great legroom with3 rows , 900's have 4 rows currently ( much less legroom).
Mar 13, 2017, 10:28 am
#23
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP, Bonvoy Plat, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Hyatt Disc
Posts: 217
Essentially, align your expectations with flying United/Delta/AA, not with flying VX, in terms of the seat.
Mar 13, 2017, 10:47 am
#24
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 756
Lack of IFE is the future imo. Most passengers don't use it and netflix allows you to download your shows anyway, so might as well just remove the screen and put that budget towards something else.
Mar 13, 2017, 12:47 pm
#25
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: SFO
Programs: UA 1K, AS MVP, Bonvoy Plat, IHG Plat, HH Gold, Hyatt Disc
Posts: 217
They should put part of the budget toward putting some kind of screen-fastener on the seat back so you can eat a meal and watch your screen at the same time. That, for me, is the main advantage to IFE -- freeing up tray/lap space.
Mar 14, 2017, 7:31 am
#26
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,485
Having free satellite TV is one of the major bonuses of flying VX (or B6). Using the "library of movies and tv" simply can't match that. After a RT transcon trip, I'm pretty much done watching everything I want to watch on an airline's catalog. And this includes so called skytrax 5 star airlines like Emirates where I went through everything i want to watch on one return trip. Having free and fast internet helps, but clearly AS doesn't have that.
And this is on top of the fact that watching on my small iphone screen is really annoying vs the large seatback IFE. There is a reason every international airline tout how large their seatback screens are.
Mar 14, 2017, 11:30 am
#27
Join Date: Sep 2001
Programs: Alaska Tanzanite 100K
Posts: 3,858
On AS, you can flip the digeplayer upside down and it will hang perfectly from the seatback in Y. In F it takes a bit of work but it will hang nicely (until there's some moderate turbulence). A buddy of mine designed them, and said that it was intentional that way.
Mar 14, 2017, 3:56 pm
#28
Join Date: Nov 2016
Location: SFO
Programs: Hilton Diamond, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat
Posts: 756
sorry this is one of my major pet peeves.
Having free satellite TV is one of the major bonuses of flying VX (or B6). Using the "library of movies and tv" simply can't match that. After a RT transcon trip, I'm pretty much done watching everything I want to watch on an airline's catalog. And this includes so called skytrax 5 star airlines like Emirates where I went through everything i want to watch on one return trip. Having free and fast internet helps, but clearly AS doesn't have that.
And this is on top of the fact that watching on my small iphone screen is really annoying vs the large seatback IFE. There is a reason every international airline tout how large their seatback screens are.
Having free satellite TV is one of the major bonuses of flying VX (or B6). Using the "library of movies and tv" simply can't match that. After a RT transcon trip, I'm pretty much done watching everything I want to watch on an airline's catalog. And this includes so called skytrax 5 star airlines like Emirates where I went through everything i want to watch on one return trip. Having free and fast internet helps, but clearly AS doesn't have that.
And this is on top of the fact that watching on my small iphone screen is really annoying vs the large seatback IFE. There is a reason every international airline tout how large their seatback screens are.
Mar 14, 2017, 5:46 pm
#29
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: May 2008
Location: San Francisco
Programs: GM on VX, UA, AA, HA, AS, SY; Budget Fastbreak
Posts: 27,631
It seems that AS gave me (all of us VX people??) the Mvp gold 75K status when I joined AS. Is this for all 2017?
Does that mean that we get priority tsa (I don't yet have precheck), even when flying Y?
And the free bag for flying Y?
Just checking - I'm looking at a summer trip for SFO/PDX, and it's hard to justify paying F if Y allows the same airport privileges. It's only 2 hours so very hard to justify F.
Does that mean that we get priority tsa (I don't yet have precheck), even when flying Y?
And the free bag for flying Y?
Just checking - I'm looking at a summer trip for SFO/PDX, and it's hard to justify paying F if Y allows the same airport privileges. It's only 2 hours so very hard to justify F.
Mar 15, 2017, 9:48 am
#30
Join Date: Dec 2016
Posts: 1,485
Each to their own I guess. As a "millennial", I usually have something already in mind that I want to watch rather than just randomly browsing until I find something good. Not to mention, I can never guarantee a particular show will be available. Plus, my laptop has a larger screen and supports higher resolution than most of these IFE screens. I do concede that on a domestic business flight with recline seats, I wouldn't be able to watch anything during meal service though, though not really an issue for me.