Logan Airport Flights and Airlines Discussion

What would you then do at South Station? Not sure what the point would be.

There are some late night/early AM intercity bus trips + at least one Amtrak trip out of SS. Not sure many people are really connecting from a flight to those services, but they do exist.
 
At the risk of veering off-topic (sorry):

The fact that the question is asked “what would you then do” about arriving in our downtown, highlights some adjacent problems:

1. Ideally there should be a “there” there. Housing, lodging, 24/7 dining options. It’s the “downtown” of a major city. If you squint, that does exist. Every year (or at least couple years) it does get a little closer to that target, but ultimately, for many travelers, arriving at South Station should put you within walking distance of a destination.

2. There should be at least some 24/7 bare-bones transit (at least a bus) options to/from the heart of our city and some high travel locations. Again, it’s the “downtown” of a major city and this is a standard that’s hit across much of the highly developed world. This is better now than it’s been at times, but worse than it’s been at other times. Every hour of every day there should be *some* transit option between Boston and Cambridge, for example.

These kinks notwithstanding, it is reasonable to expect some from of transit between downtown and the airport at least once an hour every hour of every day.
 
$120... ? Even $40 is too high, way too high, for an uber to Medford...

Boston is the definition of 3x the cost for 1/3 the quality. My Lyft XL was $50 from EWR Airport to near Red Bank NJ earlier this week.

Unbelievable. Boston just makes no sense.

Massachusetts banned surge pricing up until last month. That had the unintended effect of causing lots of drivers to quit.

At base rates, Uber is not profitable for drivers.

Also, you'll get cheaper Ubers from the airport during the day than you do late night. Late night there aren't as many drivers, and the ones out aren't willing to drive empty to the airport without some sort of surge.
 
Can't imagine the number of people who'd want to bike home at 2 am from Logan is very high.
When a Lyft to go 6 miles is @ $120, you start valuing redundancy. Also, picture a employee (with no bags), or a weekender with backpack not just heavy travelers
 
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Massachusetts banned surge pricing up until last month. That had the unintended effect of causing lots of drivers to quit.

At base rates, Uber is not profitable for drivers.

Also, you'll get cheaper Ubers from the airport during the day than you do late night. Late night there aren't as many drivers, and the ones out aren't willing to drive empty to the airport without some sort of surge.

Given the circumstance and very short distance... the price was still 3-4x what it should have been. Thast crazy... I think when I land in EWR late night, my uber home is no more than $30, usually around 1am
 
The cab stand is empty at nights, even the cab companies can't attract drivers to Logan. Every night is like this:
Yep. That tweet about the empty cab stand was happening at the exact same time as the $120 Lyfts (12:xx AM on Friday morning)

One reason for wanting to take the SL to South Station would have been in hopes of finding a medallion cab on the cityside of Massport's partial closure of the Sumner-Callahan (1-lane in each) for a bidder's inspection. Would have been really helpful to the airport if that'd have waited until 1am.

I can't explain why no SL trips appeared in either the Lyft app (which shows transit alternatives) nor the Transit app, but by midnight I'd ascertained that my best option was to wake up my wife and ask her to come get me.
 
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I mean... At that point, why not take an actual medallion cab? The meter isn't subject to surge pricing.

last time I flew into Boston i remember people waiting for cabs and the line was soo long. It was 6pm and not very busy. So i cant imagine a delayed night with 7-8 flights getting in after 12
 
What would you then do at South Station? Not sure what the point would be.

Theres like 15 different hotels along the SL Route. You dont think travelers are interested in that?

There are more taxis and Uber options downtown since there are both origin and destination trips. The problem with the airport is that flights arrive at 1am, but dont depart. Why would a taxi or Uber make an empty trip to the airport, for the hope of a good fare, when they can just do a bunch of short bar-related trips downtown?

Worst case scenario, there is bikeshare and walking. You can get to a whole lot more place on foot or bike from South Station than from the Airport.
 
I flew JetBlue last week for the first time since prior to the pandemic. I’ve loved them in the past, but as an AA/OW flyer, they were never an option unless I was buying a cash fare and they were significantly cheaper (and they often weren’t). But I’m really disappointed with how they’ve evolved.

Their newest “basic” product launched a month or so ago) now allows zero carry-on bag (not even for a few), and only the personal item. Checked bags were $35 each, each way. We traveled internationally and their handling of international documentation (inc. the Mexican security survey and the U.S. Covid attestation) was archaic and poorly communicated (attestation form was paper only and buried in an email that was sent 5 days prior to departure) which lead to mass confusion and delays screening passengers on arrival and departure. AA, by comparison, enables the attestation to be submitted electronically and provides a link to the online Mexico security survey so you can complete it on the way to the airport. JetBlue provided QR codes at the check-in counter in Mexico which lead to a cluster of JetBlue passengers scrambling to take the thing at the entrance to the security check point (it takes 10 minutes or so per person).

We did our homework and had the stuff prepped, but about 75% of passengers weren’t properly prepared and we were late boarding/departing as a result.

Still a great hard product and comfortable seats, but there were so many areas where B6 provided a better all-round experience and value, and those advantages don’t exist (at least in my eyes). AA and Delta allow carry-ons with basic fares. Delta’s IFE is on par (and AA is investing in it). On the tech front (digital forms, ability to track luggage in real time, etc) AA and Delta have an edge too.
 
I flew JetBlue last week for the first time since prior to the pandemic. I’ve loved them in the past, but as an AA/OW flyer, they were never an option unless I was buying a cash fare and they were significantly cheaper (and they often weren’t). But I’m really disappointed with how they’ve evolved.

Their newest “basic” product launched a month or so ago) now allows zero carry-on bag (not even for a few), and only the personal item. Checked bags were $35 each, each way. We traveled internationally and their handling of international documentation (inc. the Mexican security survey and the U.S. Covid attestation) was archaic and poorly communicated (attestation form was paper only and buried in an email that was sent 5 days prior to departure) which lead to mass confusion and delays screening passengers on arrival and departure. AA, by comparison, enables the attestation to be submitted electronically and provides a link to the online Mexico security survey so you can complete it on the way to the airport. JetBlue provided QR codes at the check-in counter in Mexico which lead to a cluster of JetBlue passengers scrambling to take the thing at the entrance to the security check point (it takes 10 minutes or so per person).

We did our homework and had the stuff prepped, but about 75% of passengers weren’t properly prepared and we were late boarding/departing as a result.

Still a great hard product and comfortable seats, but there were so many areas where B6 provided a better all-round experience and value, and those advantages don’t exist (at least in my eyes). AA and Delta allow carry-ons with basic fares. Delta’s IFE is on par (and AA is investing in it). On the tech front (digital forms, ability to track luggage in real time, etc) AA and Delta have an edge too.
I flew B6 BOS-SFO last month and it was my first flight since pre-pandemic. Most of my domestic flights are on JetBlue. The rest, along with most of my international ones are on Delta. For the money, JetBlue constantly provides the best value combined with nonstop availability. Plus, the free TV and wifi, especially on a transcon, is a huge plus in my book. I do have the JetBlue Plus MC, so baggage fees are waived and I don't feel as nickel and dimed as I do on say AA or UA.
 
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I believe AA has had a longstanding contract with GlaxoSmithKline to operate the route. Even still, the Triangle has a good concentration of high tech and biotech companies and offices - these business have a higher propensity to travel than say what you have across the state in Charlotte where a number of banks have their back offices and low level functions housed.


It would be nice to have as many carriers as possible on a route, but I cannot see United making a serious go of the route. They would be joining Delta, America, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic, plus JetBlue launching in 2022.

Technically its a revenue guarantee from the Research Triangle Partnership.
 
Well... It helps to have a partner hub on a end, ie BA in London for AA and Delta in Boston for Virgin respectively. Honestly, I think this London flight is going to be touch and go; I think there's too much competition on the route, too little feed. AA feeds their own and BA, DL feeds theirs and Virgin, JetBlue hubs here. The only visible competitive advantage / differentiating factor is that this is the only Star option.

That said, if AA can justify flying to London from Raleigh/Durham and the research triangle (though I'm given to understand that particular flight is really about cargo) UA should be able to justify Boston, but if I were UA management I would like to see load factors after about 3 months.

UA flew BOS-LHR until 2002 on 763/777. The loads and yields will likely be garbage but it’s an important link for their network and will be valuable in courting new corporate accounts. Not to mention synergies for the AC/LH ATI and the broader customer customer base of other Star carriers operating at Logan
 
DL back at ORH with 1x LGA:


JetBlue resumed flights to JFK yesterday.

 

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