Review of Alaska Airlines flight Seattle Los Angeles in Domestic First

Airline Alaska Airlines
Flight AS480
Seat 1A
Aircraft Boeing 737-900
Flight time 02:35
Take-off 12 Apr 15, 12:10
Arrival at 12 Apr 15, 14:45
AS   #55 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 85 reviews
socalnow
By 2689
Published on 20th May 2015
Hi everyone. This is the final leg of a brief RTW trip in April of 2015. The trip started out with a desire to sample Turkish Airlines and visit the city of Istanbul. It grew from there. The final product came in the form of: SNA-DEN-FRA-LHR-IST-PVG-SEA-LAX. For this journey I utilized Southwest Airlines, Lufthansa, Turkish Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Alaska Airlines.

I will break the journey down as follows:
Planning and LH DEN-FRA http://flight-report.com/en/report-10178.html
FCT and LH FRA-LHR http://flight-report.com/en/report-10216.html
LHR Lounges and TK LHR-IST http://flight-report.com/en/report-10275.html
TK Lounge, Istanbul, and TK IST - PVG http://flight-report.com/en/report-10328.html
DL PVG - SEA http://flight-report.com/en/report-10331.html
AS SEA - LAX (This Report)

Let me preface this report by saying I didn't do a very thorough job of documenting this flight. My mind was tired and focused on getting home.

I could have continued home to LAX on Delta of course but I was keen on trying Alaska Airlines first class. They have a devout following in the Pacific Northwest I wanted to know what all the hype was about. Turns out my experience wasn't anything special and it was a very average US domestic first class flight.

I visited the Alaska Airlines Board Room as a Priority Pass member. It was crowded, cluttered, and badly in need of a refresh and expansion. The only redeeming quality is a G&T and a great view of the ramp. I snapped this picture of the 737 that will take me to LAX.

photo 20150412_112423

I booked this flight through American Airlines just a couple of hours before departure. When I presented myself at the check in gate at T-60 to activate on the airport list the agent offered me an exit row seat. I let her know that my understanding was I had booked first and I wasn't aware of any exit seats up front. She replied that first was full. Fortunately her colleague overheard our exchange and reminded her that due to some system glitch first was showing full but actually wasn't. I was assigned 1A. They were both very friendly and professional.

Boarding began with the call for people needing extra time and folks with kids and strollers/prams. This flight heading to Southern California at Spring Break had no shortage of kids heading to visit Mickey Mouse. Next up was first and I made it on board quickly.

I had the pleasure of meeting a celebrity of sorts, at least to me. I'm a big fan of the US network Discovery Channel and their show about crab fishing in the Behring Sea called Deadliest Catch. So I was excited to see one of the captains from the crab fleet was on board, Jonathan Hillstrand. He was in the aisle by row 1 waiting for the line to advance so I was able to chat with him. He was very friendly and outgoing. I think I was the only one how acknowledged his role on the show.

The rest of the flight was uneventful. The cabin was full of course and lunch was served.

I snapped this picture of Mt. Rainer.

photo 20150412_122252

I had dozed off with the FA had offered the initial drink so I had to go to the galley to place my order. A G&T please.

photo 20150412_125902

The lunch was some wretched chicken salad. I don't think I had more than a bite or two.

photo 20150412_130020

I slept most of the way and before I knew it we were safely deposited at LAX.

We landed in the north complex as would almost all flights coming from that direction and had to taxi to the south where Alaska resides in terminal 6.

Great lineup of A380s at TBIT.

photo 20150412_142714

Another one.

photo 20150412_142727

I travel carry on only so I was at the curb waiting for a parking lot shuttle in no time.
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Verdict

Alaska Airlines

4.1/10
Cabin6.5
Cabin crew5.0
Entertainment/wifi0.0
Meal/catering5.0

Alaska Lounge - Concourse C

5.5/10
Comfort6.0
Meal/catering6.0
Entertainment/wifi5.0
Services5.0

Seattle - SEA

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Los Angeles - LAX

5.0/10
Efficiency5.0
Access5.0
Services5.0
Cleanliness5.0

Conclusion

This was my first experience in an Alaska Airlines premium cabin. It's a useless sample size but I wasn't impressed with any aspect of the equipment or service. We arrived on time and in one piece so I have thankful for that.

Thank you for joining me on my first series of trip reports!

Information on the route Seattle (SEA) Los Angeles (LAX)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 10 avis concernant 3 compagnies sur la ligne Seattle (SEA) → Los Angeles (LAX).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Delta Air Lines avec 7.4/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 41 minutes.

  More information

6 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 136998 by
    hamiltus 31 Comments
    Thanks for the FR. Loved the shot at the end of all the different A380s lined up at TBIT. Can't wait to see that myself.
  • Comment 137022 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1963 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this FR, it's always nice to get a special livery

    My mind was tired and focused on getting home.
    - I always find the last report to be the weakest for the same reason.

    I've never flown AS, so can't really comment on what they offer or are really known for, it's mainly a West Coast niche market that is useless for someone coming from the South. I've heard their big black leather recliners are comfortable, but that's really it.

    The lunch was some wretched chicken salad.
    - Haha, you should have done the trip in reverse. Your meals slowly got worse during this series (LH F > TK J > DL, J > AS F). That doesn't look like a very good domestic lunch offering as far as portion-size or quality goes, no cookies were offered?

    And what on earth is Hedge Trimmer Gin? I've never heard of such a brand.

    Nice shot of Rainier and the tail lineup at TBIT.
  • Comment 137211 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6668 Comments
    Thanks for taking the time to post this whole series. What a whirlwind RTW trip!

    AS has a really good reputation, but their overall product is very average, or even below average on long transcons since they have no IFE. The service is usually really friendly, which must be their biggest selling point.

    I would've been pissed if I had bought a last minute F ticket and the agent told me if was full and I'd have to sit in coach. Oh hell no...bump a free upgrade back to coach before a paying pax! But it all worked out in the end so I guess it's cool.

    The meal is kind of lame for a 2.5h+ flight. And they don't even bother putting down linens on the tray table--kind of low-costish. Even US Airways have better catering on a flight of similar length...that's pretty sad.

    I've had great experiences on AF, mostly due to the friendliness of the employees, but this F experience seems very disappointing.

    LOVE the line up at TBIT! I have similar pics in some of my reports in and out of LAX.

    Looking forward to another series of reports!
    • Comment 316970 by
      socalnow AUTHOR 976 Comments
      Thank you for the comments Kevin DC.

      I would've been pissed if I had bought a last minute F ticket
      -It was an AA mileage ticket, but the point remains, I booked F so I expect a seat in F.

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