citrus jock
Advanced
I agree. I think it's because during the months/years that it takes to complete the merger, employees tend to focus on what they have lost or gained, while losing focus on what keeps them employed - the customer.
NYCDelta
Senior
Yeah, right. Maybe Leonard got his definition of the word deadline from Delta. They've met all their target deadlines while in bankruptcy.
Well, deadlines are made to be broken
On another note, my parents love AirTran. They fly them all of the time out of Flint. Even though DL is free for them-they hate flying stand-by. If it wasn't for AirTran, they probably wouldn't be able to afford to go anywhere, seeing they're on a fixed income (retired).
They've always had great things to say about AirTran.
Industry standard is 31. Let me know what carrier's have planes with that kind of pitch. All I can find on SeatGuru is NW's DC9s. To me that inch is a big deal, but then again I'm tall. If biz class were available for an extra $35 at time of purchase over the cheapest fare, that would be fine, but it's not. It is actually $40/60/80 more depending on flight distance more than the full Y. Sorry, I find other carriers products offer much more value for the money at time of booking. If I could be guaranteed the upgrade for $40/60/80 off of any fare, that would be worth my money, but I can't, and won't risk being stuck in 30 inch pitch.
QA4Jet-A
Veteran
I'll have to disagree with you on this one as I have witnessed folks that bought a ticket at Internet fare rate and got an upgrade to BC for $60 etc, depending on Flight distance. If they announce in the gate area before boarding there are upgrades available, it is possible. I can understand your issue with the 30 inch pitch and I'm not crazy about it either but, then again, I am not a tall person. I think for the $$$. it's not a bad deal. There are others that are higher. Just my two cents.
As for the Merger, I'm all for it, as many of my associates are. I see way more positive than negative but those are my own thoughts. I'll save arguement for later.
Cheers!
citrus jock
Advanced
I'm not that tall, so the inch doesn't matter to me. For you, I understand. If a business class seat was available for $35 over the cheapest fare, you'd be paying $134 for a business class seat from ATL-LAX. That's not going to happen on any airline. If you don't want to risk being stuck in a 30" pitch seat (my guess is that you're talking about waiting to see if an upgrade is available at departure time), book a business class seat in advance. IIRC, there's no price difference whether you book in advance or at the gate (you're going to pay highest coach fare + upgrade fee). What you'll wind up paying to upgrade will depend not only on length of flt.(the longer the flt., the higher the upgrade fee), but also what you originally paid for your ticket. If you paid highest coach fare, you're just paying the upgrade fee. If you bought 21-day advance, you pay the difference between 21-day advance and highest coach, plus upgrade fee. QA4Jet-A is correct in that sometimes CSRs will announce upgrades for just the upgrade fee, regardless of what you originally paid for your ticket. I think this is done very close to departure time when business class is wide open. Obviously, there's no way to predict when this will happen, unless you're going to Moline on a Tues. night.
Last time I looked, this (full coach + upgrade) was still around 50% less than the same product on the competition. Questionable as to whether it's worth it on an hour flt., but definitely worth it on longer flts.
