Airline Preference....

Hello all, I have a great TA helping with my flights for our Alaskan cruise next summer! Hoooray!!!

My question is, there are two (2) carriers from which to choose on my PHL-ANC & YVR-PHL legs, maybe a third if Alaska airlines operates metal from PHL instead of AA...

The two (2) carriers are Delta and United, which, in your personal opine, has the better FC product?

We also thought of doing DL's C+, but rather have meals on the way out and back.

TIA for your input on this..

bon voyage

Delta has a nicer first class. They also have a much better on-time record. Personally I would eat a (nicer) meal at the airport, and fly C+ on Delta, and save $$$.

I'd go with United...but I have a personal grudge against Delta that has nothing to do with Alaska so take that into consideration!

FYI Alaska Air has an outstanding reputation for service and was named one of the top lines for 2015 by WSJ.

Domestic first is a crap shoot with any US airline. I would choose based on price and schedule. Neither of those airlines have a substantial edge over the other.

I assume you would be on a mix of A320/B737 or maybe 757's. You can't pick based on aircraft because you never know what you will actually end up boarding, especially this far out.

All in all, I wouldn't expect much difference with any of your available options.

Alaska Airlines would be my airline of choice. I've never had a bad experience with them. Keep in mind you have to connect in SEA from YVR if you use Alaska. But if it's a clear sunny day it'll be worth it.

Hello all,

Thank you for your input. I thought this was being posted in the Choice Air forum, guess I was reading and typing two (2) different ones simultaneously..

A reason I have not made AS a main focus is that all of the flights I want to take to ANC is on AA metal between PHL-SEA and then AS metal SEA-ANC and this combination is more expensive than the others, as well. Currently by approx. $900 p/p for the FC product.

Thank you all for the input and your experiences and input are valuable for me - while I admit that we do not travel all that often, any FC product would pass muster... but, if there is a 'best' choice to include price considerations, I wish to consider that too...

TIA -bon voyage

Domestic first is a crap shoot with any US airline. I would choose based on price and schedule. Neither of those airlines have a substantial edge over the other.

 

I assume you would be on a mix of A320/B737 or maybe 757's. You can't pick based on aircraft because you never know what you will actually end up boarding, especially this far out.

 

All in all, I wouldn't expect much difference with any of your available options.

j1 - the metal on UA is a mix of A319's, B737 and A320's

Thank you and bon voyage

My choice would be Delta their miles never expire.

Delta has a nicer first class. They also have a much better on-time record. Personally I would eat a (nicer) meal at the airport, and fly C+ on Delta, and save $$$.

Thanks nd, we only have 45 minutes to connect between flights, so having a meal at the airport is near impossible.

Best case scenario is to try and order something from a quick food stand on the way to the next flight.

Thank you again and bon voyage

Hello all, I have a great TA helping with my flights for our Alaskan cruise next summer! Hoooray!!!

 

My question is, there are two (2) carriers from which to choose on my PHL-ANC & YVR-PHL legs, maybe a third if Alaska airlines operates metal from PHL instead of AA...

 

The two (2) carriers are Delta and United, which, in your personal opine, has the better FC product?

 

We also thought of doing DL's C+, but rather have meals on the way out and back.

 

TIA for your input on this..

 

bon voyage

We flew United FC from TPA to IAH, , then non-stop to ANC. Of course, domestic FC is nothing like international FC, but seats were comfortable and service was fine. Would choose it again.

I would also look at Air Canada. I'm sure they fly out of PHI ...their first class lounge was quite nice, not Lufthansa, but very comfortable; and their business class service was fine from Toronto to Vancouver...only down side is you have to take them from East Coast to Toronto or Montreal to pick up your flight to YVR, which means 2 plane changes instead of one....I guess that's not such a good plan....But I would still check out AC....very nice airline.

My preference is Delta, and I book them whenever I can for work and 100% personal. But for business travel due to our agreement with travel agency my company uses 7 out 10 times I am flying United/AA. I still prefer Delta, not to mention I like their sky miles program.

We live in Georgia and naturally take Delta (also for sky miles) whenever possible. However, we have flown on United three times in the past six years.

I am least fond of AA of the three major US carriers. I give the edge to Delta, but United is is a close second.

Recommend that price and booking connections may be factors to decide your pick.

They are all pretty similar, especially in FC. I used to be loyal to Delta, but won a free trip where I got to fly United and AA which were great. I'm actually using AA/OneWorld codeshare for my upcoming Med cruise as they had the best prices, seats(hopefully planes don't change), and routes so I'm happy with that choice.

I'd try and find a nonstop and book it as long as the price wasn't significantly more.

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We also thought of doing DL's C+, but rather have meals on the way out and back.

The difference you pay for F almost certainly won't be worth the meal you get. Book C+ and either bring something with you from home, pick up something at the airport, or buy one of the food options available for $ in C+ (and regular economy) on Delta transcons.

I wouldn't accept a 45 minute transfer (even FC to FC) minimum 60 preferably 90. Thunderstorms create havoc in spring & summer across the Rockies. My choice would be Delta Or Alaska no more getting stuck on United for me

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The difference you pay for F almost certainly won't be worth the meal you get. Book C+ and either bring something with you from home, pick up something at the airport, or buy one of the food options available for $ in C+ (and regular economy) on Delta transcons.

W1 - I did not see where you can purchase food in C+, that is good to know, I will check out the offerings there...

bon voyage

I would recommend buying food in airport rather than on board. And I would not accept a 45 minute layover from any airline anywhere or any time! I'm working i with Ashby on this one.

My first choice would be UA but I have status on UA so...

Otherwise I would choose AS if price was close, then probably Delta slightly ahead, though their skymiles are harder to use and worth less, their premium product is slightly better.

For us, the comfort of the pointy end is more than the (usually pretty bad) meal. The seat width and extra leg room is more comfortable than E+ as you're not rubbing shoulders and as likely to have someone in your lap or pushing you off the armrest (even if it is your travel mate next to you, all of these planes will be at least 3/3

Happy sailing,

Jenna

Delta has the better first class product.

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I second the vote to fly up to Canada either Montreal or Toronto and use Air Canada. We've always had a great business class experience with them and you can use their lounge pre flight and during layovers.

W1 - I did not see where you can purchase food in C+, that is good to know, I will check out the offerings there...

 

bon voyage

It's all of economy, not just C+, but only on flights over a certain length, but a transcontinental flight would certainly qualify. We've purchased food, for example, on flights between ATL and DEN, or ATL and SEA. The menu isn't extensive. For lunch service the choice is usually 2 sandwich/wrap options or a cheese plate, or one of their two snack boxes, and some a la carte items including mini cans of Pringles, M&M's and such. For breakfast it's similar but a little different; I can't recall exactly. Overpriced a bit for what you get, but it's certainly convenient. And if you have a DL Amex card and use it to pay I think you get 20% off.

I think they've revised it a little, but here's the link to the "Flight Fuel" menu. Website says it's available on all domestic (N. American/Central America/Caribbean/Mexico) flights over 900 miles; the actual menu page below says flights over 3 hours or 1400 miles plus select Carib/C.American markets, but either way your flights should qualify. Snack boxes are on page 2.

http://www.delta.com/content/dam/delta-www/pdfs/Flight%20Fuel_AUG-SEP16_FINAL.PDF

I wouldn't accept a 45 minute transfer (even FC to FC) minimum 60 preferably 90. Thunderstorms create havoc in spring & summer across the Rockies. My choice would be Delta Or Alaska no more getting stuck on United for me

 

 

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a - you do not think that we would not be protected in such a case?

Thank you for your input.

bon voyage

My choice for domestic is always Delta. nicer staff, more modern feel, flight attendants are not old mean hags. Plus I find their connecting airports (hubs) more appealing than the competition. Also, delta is nice about missing a flight, refunding a flight or changing your schedule, at least from my experience.

I would also look at Air Canada. I'm sure they fly out of PHI ...their first class lounge was quite nice, not Lufthansa, but very comfortable; and their business class service was fine from Toronto to Vancouver...only down side is you have to take them from East Coast to Toronto or Montreal to pick up your flight to YVR, which means 2 plane changes instead of one....I guess that's not such a good plan....But I would still check out AC....very nice airline.

hk - Thank you for the suggestion, methinks the time factor would be a bit longer than we would want in the overall travel scheme.

Currently, it is about 11 hours going and nine (9) hours returning, one stop in each direction.

I will have my TA look into this though.

Thank you,

bon voyage