The Virgin America Elevate Program Will Be Discontinued As Of January 1, 2018

Presented in the FWIW Dept. . . . Much has been made of the lack of lie-flat seats between the coasts. Well, neither VX nor AS has them, so that in and of itself is no different. A few planes *do* have them, including AA, Delta, and JetBlue, but not on every flight. Personally, unless it's a red-eye, I don't have much use for a lie-flat seat between the West and East Coast, but that's just me; obviously it matters to a good number of other passengers. That said, another source of disappointment/discontent is the 41" pitch of AS's FC cabin versus VX's more generous 55 inches. (Both are 21" wide.) Fourteen inches is a lot, though I have a difficult time imagining it in my head, to be honest. I don't think 41" will feel cramped, but then again I'm 5'11" and it may to those over 6' tall. But it might be useful to compare that 41" to other offerings. With the EXCEPTION of those lie-flat seats, the 737s and/or Airbus 320 family offer the following seat pitch on airlines with a First Class cabin: AA 37-41"; DL 36-38"; UA 37-38". I don't know, but 41" seems to be at the very top of the offerings --- only VX @ 55" beat it with a non-lie-flat seat. So, yes, it's a comedown, but I (personally) don't see it as horrific. Still better than anything in the sky, tied only with AA's 737-800s. What IS disappointing -- indeed, the biggest disappointment for me (and for those FA's I've spoken with) -- is the demise of RED (IFE system), and its on demand food ordering menu.

@Lucky ---> You make a great point. The ability to use VX points on VS has already vanished, and no doubt the ability to use them on VA is counting down. But the counter to that is, as you said, " . . . the good news at least is that Mileage Plan is a rewarding frequent flyer program. Elite members can look forward to unlimited complimentary upgrades, earning miles based on distance flown rather than dollars spent, and some amazing award redemption opportunities." AS is partners with 18 different airlines (soon to be 17). OK, two are Alaska-based (PennAir and Raven), and -- at least in my mind -- don't really count for much. The remaining 16, on the other hand, provide connections into two of the three major alliances: OneWorld via American, British Airways, Cathay Pacific, JAL, Latam, and Qantas; and -- even though Delta will no longer be a partner as of 30 April 2017 -- SkyTeam, via Alaska's on-going partnerships with Air France/KLM, Korean Air, and AeroMexico. Only StarAlliance is out in the cold, so to speak. Then, there are the other independent carriers: Condor, Emirates, Fiji, Hainan, and Iceland. Singapore Airlines is a loss; Emirates is a partner with both VX and AS. But in the end, there are more than enough opportunities for travel wherever you want to go.

@X ---> One thing that @shza fails to mention is that you should also take into account that 1.3 conversion rate when deciding which airline to credit your points/miles to. AS is one of the last that credits actual miles flown, whereas VX awards points based upon ticket price (as do the vast majority of carriers). Take the VX points, multiply them by 1.3, and THEN see which number is greater: the AS miles, or the Elevate points.

@DKim and @Bob ---> Yes, that's how I took it as well: only the Elevate points YOU convert will be worth 1.3 AS miles. If AS does it, it will [probably] be at a 1:1 ratio. I've already moved the bulk of my points over, and will move the rest (plus those accrued through the rest of my flights and credit card spend) no later than 12/15/2017, to make sure I get the 1.3 conversion.

@Jimmy Gottfredson ---> I agree with your take above. I suspect that no new applications will be accepted for the VX credit card. In terms of my own personal status, I typically make status on flight segments, rather than on status points or spend, and so far am about 2/3 of the way to Gold between what I've already flown and have already booked. I expect to make it by 12/31. I especially want to repeat something you said above: "Alaska’s treatment of Virgin American Elevate members has been exemplary so far." As a VX customer, I have zero complaints so far in terms of steps actually taken. Of course I'm concerned about the changes to come, but I'm taking a wait-and-see attitude towards what's coming rather than pre-judging events still in the future (as of this writing). I've also made it a point to always ask several employees -- from the ticket counter and gate staff, to the flight attendants and crew -- how Alaska (the company itself) is treating *them* and so far, the response has been 100% positive and, IMHO, credible/believable. There have been some reports of "attitude" from some individual AS employees towards those working for VX, but that may be just a personal beef, a misunderstanding, or someone having a bad hair day -- who knows.