gkbiiii

The one new thing you will get with a First Class ticket, is domestic lounge access.
Only Alaska & Hawaiian offer this, for premium, non-transcon products.

shza

Blah. Get this already via Priority Pass.

tphuang

not the same as seat back obviously, but southwest does I think
https://www.southwest.com/html/air/p...-PRODUCTS-WIFI
Jetblue also flies to a lot more locations out of LGB, which I would imagine is a far better airport experience than LAX.
Austin, Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Las Vegas, New York–JFK, Oakland, Portland, Reno/Tahoe, Sacramento, Salt Lake City, San Francisco, San Jose (CA), Seattle/Tacoma

shza

Southwest offers only a very limited number of channels though (fewer than VX, way fewer than B9).

pcoll

PP has become almost useless for AS lounges. See related thread on AS forum.
No PP admitted signs have become the norm at PDX, SEA, LAX etc, Lounges.

selkirks

Let's not pretend that Alaska is some sort of corporate monolith. It only had around 150 planes, pre-merger. It's not like some monster like Delta or (shudder) United. To most of us in the PNW, Alaska is seen as the "little guy."

I think people are going to be pleasantly surprised. Obviously, I'm coming to this from the perspective of a longtime AS flyer, but I've also flown VX and I feel like I got the sense of why it's has such a following. If I were an AS executive, after this decision, I'd expect to see a small (but vocal) group of people leave out of distaste for the merger or other ill-will. But I'd also expect a healthy number of former VX people to try an Alaska flight, maybe be pleasantly surprised, and stick with it either out of convenience or route network or whatever else. Over time the growth from the merger will outweigh the loss of that vocal minority.

What's that about promises? Underpromise and overdeliver?

sfozrhfco

Seeing that AS is taking nothing from the VX brand and is just following through on the plan AS had for its own brand, VX continues to be dying a slow and painful death. One benefit to me is that with every announcement, it is easier and easier to not bother to achieve any status with the new airline. While silver and gold for many of the years since the start up, I have spent $96 so far this year--just to use up one of my 25% off coupons and my remaining travel bank.

Mint has really changed the game and I will just about requalify for Mosaic status upon my return from Colombia via the East Coast with a Mint this week.

VX was good while it lasted but honestly there are other options out there better than AS.

Boyan Biandov

so clearly Virgin brand and quality is out the window, then the question is what's left? What airline would you say comes close to their brand new planes and quality of travel?

I'm puzzled as to what airline to switch to since there aren't any new players in the market -- just the old airlines which I've flown on many years ago and can't stand to give them a dollar?

Virgin was different; I never even looked at the dollars; it was an easy decision every time. Now it's back to the status quo -- or could there be another airline startup that I don't know about?

Oh and being a pilot myself I will never set foot on Alaska -- most have forgotten the jack screw sadness over LA.. come on it wasn't that long ago. Cheap fleet and bad maintenance may be fixable over time but I'm making it clear that I'm not just another dissatisfied VX traveler; there's more to the story than that

SFO777

JetBlue. And welcome to FT!

shza

I really wish it were a more viable option from SFO. The only airlines that offer real ease of schedule for SFO routes will be AS and UA -- and AS is probably the lesser of two evils there, given that UA is as bad as it gets.

dayone

What airport has more than two "viable option[s]"?

Colin

LAX has 5

dayone

Since no airline has a dominant share or destination portfolio, that is very much debatable.

JClasstraveller

To the person trying to compare VA business class to VX F or AS F, VA business is 38" pitch.

At least you guys get 41"...

QF 737's get 37"...

Boyan Biandov

Wow I'm so glad I flew on their Airbus route to Cairns -- I'm 6'2" and the A320 had plenty of leg room (no Internet though if one has to complain but that's not a real complaint);

Sure I didn't pull a tape measure to get some empirical evidence but I would've squealed at 37" for sure

And yes that's before they started using 737-800 on that route...