UAPremierExec

And its a bad move, because Alaska elites like me are booking away because American gives us better benefits than we get on Virgin. Baggage fees, seat fees, and paying for movies & whatnot on VX make VX/AS price higher than AA.

I fly frequently between the "two" Orange Counties - and lost my AS codeshare on AA because VX flies once a day.

dayone

"Mileage Plan elite members traveling on both Alaska Airlines and Virgin America now receive two free checked bags for themselves and for up to 6 additional guests booked on the same reservation."

Coming in September:

• Complimentary access to preferred Main Cabin seating.
• Eligibility for Main Cabin Select upgrades.
• An advance purchase window to buy First Class upgrades.

UAPremierExec

And I'm in Airline IT (Alaska already knows who I am, so I don't care anymore about "hiding" annonymously). The fact its taking them almost 17 months after the announcement of the merger is horse ..... Even American got USAirway's lousy backend systems more functional than 17 months. Prior to the official close date, the Sabre back-end is one area they could discuss and plan. Unless Alaska is also using a super archaic version of Sabre (VX is already using a lower-end version), this shouldn't take that long. Sabre's Emergo products can even do better than this.

AS was focused on keeping VX people happy, but forgot to realize that the AS people would like to fly on VX now. I really really would. Trust me. But when AS/VX is $177 MCO/LAX, and so is AA - yet on AA I get access to the club (when it opens in MCO), 2 free bags now, *and* Main Cabin Extra - it adds up. My last experience on VX was OK - but I put down close to $35 in onboard spending (food, movies, etc) plus bag fees and another 25 minutes on hold trying to get a non-middle seat - an expense that would have been significantly less on my pocket on AS or AA.

sorry vx, didn't mean to take over the thread.

pcoll

I appreciate the additional insight into this.
Many of us AS elites feel the same.

UAPremierExec

I have found a lot of cool things on VX that Alaska could easily integrate into AS Sabre. I like the functionality of booking on VX, and the icons are super cool and different. The layout of the plane CLEARLY shows fees and the value of each.

While I can imagine why RED would go away, I think something can be worked out with Gogo to still offer in-seat ordering from your tablet... such as signing in to Alaskaair.com/virginamerica.com and recognizing your seat, etc.

I hope that with the removal of seatback IFE, VX starts using the tablets - the are a great value in my mind as you pay for $10 for unlimited movies and whatnot, while keeping your own device free for work or whatnot.

but anyway, sorry to hijack the thread! It really shouldn't have taken this long for a frequent flyer link between the two. Even my status shows up on American:

(native sabre)
XFF AS 123456789 NN/HK AA -EXEC/premier
AA1024S 1*MAY LAXMIA
* G75 *

and this above was a simple teletype message between the systems. so, there's no reason AS / VX couldn't have had a recognition in place by now of either airlines elites.

anc-ord772

I appreciate that VX has come into the fold. It works for me as a cross country premium cabin traveler.

• F award availability is plentiful
• F snacks are awesome. Swedish fish!
• F meals are better than AS
• I like having in seat IFE, even though the screen is crap

VX pricing is wonky, but otherwise it's been fine. If I can't at least go MCE, I prefer to go AA for now.

jimmygottfredson

Totally agree on this. We took a VX transcon for the first time last month, and I loved the on demand food ordering on RED. It was my first long VX Y flight and being able to order something without having to time the cart coming by is brilliant.

I know a lot of long time VX flyers have been doing this, but as a relatively new VX flyer what an innovation. This is such a better setup than Delta/United/AA/Southwest/Alaska. Alaska would be foolish not to integrate this into their onboard product.

anc-ord772

AS said they want to do on demand food ordering, but they are running into catering/on board space issues and not sure how to work through them.

Time will tell.

UAPremierExec

Well it is possible if you are a FQTV - you can sign into Gogo / your airline and they could work with GoGo for online ordering... just a matter of that info being zapped to the flight crew.

Air New Zealand also has onboard ordering and its fantastic, but I never got to use it since the FA's were always super attentive.

Madiah

I had heard from people in the SFO office that VX was the way to go so I bought an F ticket for BOS to SFO. When I tried to check in I got a message that there was a problem and to call. The rep said I had no seat and now first was sold out.
Only when I read to her from my printed itinerary did she further consult a supervisor. After an hour of back and forth I got my seat back.
The seat was not as comfortable as the United pod I flew out there and the IFE did not work at all- the whole 6 hours.
I do not know how good the VX experience was before, but from my perspective it is now not worth what I paid for that ticket.

sfozrhfco

Unless you get a free ticket for 25,000 AS points, it is not worth it to fly transcon on VX. JetBlue Mint is a much better experience at a generally lower price point. DL will also be in the market soon and UA has upped their game due to the introduction of Mint, so VX is now one of the weakest products on that route--and often more expensive.

NoLaGent

Use the web form to contact customer service with a concise summary of your issues. They responded within 6 days of my initial complaint and issued travel bank credits to me and my partner for their service/equipment failures.

QXflyer

It would even be cool if they just thought up a messaging feature where you could use the app (or GoGo website) to message one of the FA's iPhones on the flight. It would reduce the "ding">Walk up>order>walk back>retrieve>walk up sequence.

Madiah

NoLaGent,
What is the usual compensation offered by VX? Cash? Credit? And how much?
Thanks
(I am a United 1k and their comp is all over the place.)

NoLaGent

My flight was 3.5 hours and they offered a travel bank credit of $75/each.

I would hope that they would increase that amount given the length of BOS-SFO, but who knows.