Mike

I am about spend a few hundred dollars to upgrade my wife and I to fly first class on America West from the east coast to SFO with a connection in Phoenix. Anyone have experience with first class amenities/quality on AW? Thanks.

Jay

The only reason to pay FC is if you really need the extra leg room and/or it's a very long flight.
FC on AWA is the same as on most domestic flights....just coach with better seats and something to munch on.

The only times FC is genuinely worth the $$ is on overseas flights and the transcontinental flights with three class seating.
You may justify it in your case if the upgrade is $100-150 (my opinion).
But domestic FC is by and large a marginal improvement over coach on most (but not all) domestic planes.

Wm

My wife and I have both flown separate trips on America West in FC within the last year. Unless something has changed radically since then, I would rate their FC service as below their competitors. IMO, I would stick with coach on AW.

ttt

ttt

delayed

Why ever would anyone with a choice pick AW? I mean have you EVER not had a delayed flight? The fact that they were the first airline to belly up to the trough of government loans after 9/11 tells you how they have succeeded in alienating their customer base. Find another airline.

kkj

Actually America West has really improved their on time performance. Have flown them many times and usually go first class thanks to FF miles. First class is okay and better than coach but I wouldn't pay big bucks to fly this way. If it was a non-stop flight I might be more inclined. The only plus when you stop is you can board at your convenience and have a drink while waiting for others to board.

Personally I don't think it's worth a few hundred dollars.

Up To Date

To Delayed:

America West was number one in on-time performance in the USA as recently a couple months ago.

Don't say you haven't bee warned

I would fly cargo class on any other airline before I would ever fly AW again. Trust me, you will be spending the night is a cheap hotel in hotter than hell Phoenix when you miss your connection. I only travel nonstop and on any other airline.

Yadda

"I would fly cargo class on any other airline before I would ever fly (INSERT AIRLINE OF CHOICE HERE) again. Trust me".

If you search these boards you'll find this comment made by someone about every major US airline.

Everyone has an axe to grind.

I've read similar comments about the Four Seasons hotel in Maui, Bellagio in Las Vegas, the cities of New York and London and Paris, you name it and there's an axe-grinder out there.

Can't Bury The Facts With An Axe

All that is spoke is the truth and that you cannot deny. Good luck. I will not fly the most poorly managed airline, indeed the Enron of airlines again.

Cindy

I just flew on AW last weekend and thought they did great. The seats in coach were much roomier than I had expected so we were pretty comfortable. They were on time both flights, courteous, and outside of getting peanuts during a morning flight, I just didn't see a problem with them at all.

jorge

I agree with jay... Fist class is pointles for a 5 hour trip... I got bumped up on my return trip from Vages becouse got stock there durring 911. Well the seats are no big deal and the only difrence I noticed was that I got juice before take off..
As an airline AW is fine...

sneel

Check out airlinemeals.net and you can see what they're serving in first class. I think you made a good choice, otherwise, you'd get a lone biscotti the whole way to SFO.

xxx

HP (America West) is no different than any other airline; at least as of today.

Their problem was searching for what they wanted to be. When they started in the middle of the 80's, they were a Western regional carrier but needed to expand to the East Coast to make their frequent flyer programme worth something.

In those days, they had lower fares on the East Coast trans-continental flights (always to Phoeix), they served decent enough meals, all the booze was free, and they sold you headphones for the movies instead of renting you them. Their advertising spiel was that you could use the headsets for future HP flights. I still have those red ear phones. If you didn't want to pay for headsets, they didn't get stuffy like some of the airlines do about having the audacity to stick your own earphones into their holes.

Gradually, they took these little perks away. So of course, they started to lose market share to the point where they served no meals on the JFK-PHX route (a trans continental route) and began charging for drinks and renting headsets at $4 a pop. I am still waiting for some stewardess to tell me I can't use my old America West headsets on one of their flights when I was sold it and told I could use it on future HP flights.

Those were really bad times. Their fares became the same as other carriers. The redeeming feature is their frequent flyer programme allows you to use either BA or VS for flights to LHR among others.

Today they are just another airline. No better no worse than others. You can get a good flight, you can get a bad flight. My own pet peeve, and it is mine, is why they insist on serving pepsi products as I can't stand pepsi. Airlines should all serve coke products....

I will say this which are two irrefutable facts. HP has never had a fatal accident and is the only survivor of the era of de-regulation of the mid 80's.

Jamie

Author: sneel ([email protected])
Date: 07/31/2002, 09:51 am
Message: Check out airlinemeals.net and you can see what they're serving in first class. I think you made a good choice, otherwise, you'd get a lone biscotti the whole way to SFO.


So, sneel: you're the kind of person who pays $150 for some dry halibut and sauce and a couple glasses of wine since they're "free" in first class, but not available in coach?

If that's your ONLY rationale for flying FC, you need a financial advisor.

sneel

To Jaimie:

How do you know whether I need a financial advisor? Did you ever stop and think that some of us who ride in the front of the plane don't have the same financial concerns as you?

mari

i'm large to people who meet and like me or who are impressed by who i am or by my appearance, yadda yadda. i'm fat to people who don't give a crap who the hell i am who how well dressed i appear to be. through the years, when i've travelled coach with friends or associates, being large wasn't a concern because they're all slender and they actually find my soft abundance rather pleasant and even sensual. go figure. On the rare occasions when i have travelled alone in coach, i did inform reservations that i was big and that it would be a good idea to place me in the last row which usually is not fully booked. Now, it is time to address the question which was just posed by sneel and jamie, i.e., why do we pay for first class tickets? Is it worth the expense no matter how financially well-heeled we are? For me, the answer is a resounding "yes". If, indeed, the first class seats on a domestic flight are larger and more comfortable for a person like myself. Thanks for your input.

Jamie

My statement was that if the food is the ONLY reason someone flies first class (on a domestic flight) they need some help.
Why?
First off, the food isn't that good.
It's not even as good as it was 5 years ago, and it's declining steadily in quality.
Second, if you really love food, most major airports these days have some nice options in the terminal that are much better than what you'll get on the plane in FC.

Good reasons for flying domestic FC are:
*need the space for work
*need the extra seat room
*flying on someone else's dime or on an upgrade
*transcon flight and need the rest before or after work
*want to avoid all the hassle and cramping in coach

NOT a reason to pay your own $$ for FC:
*the excellent food

Again, if that's the ONLY reason someone pays for FC, that's just plain stupid....because the food isn't worth paying for.
You wouldn't pay for it in a restaurant so why would you pay for it on a plane?

mari

thanks jamie. loud and clear.

Cindy

I saw in our morning paper that Delta and America West are offering upgrades on some flights for between $40-$80. Maybe you could just wait and take a chance at the airport.