Review of Alaska Airlines flight Los Angeles → New York in Economy

Airline Alaska Airlines
Flight 1412
Class Economy
Seat 26A
Aircraft Airbus A321neo
Flight time 05:00
Take-off 03 Aug 18, 16:10
Arrival at 04 Aug 18, 00:10
AS   #54 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 85 reviews
Ge90man
By 4494
Published on 18th August 2018



Consider me super lucky to fly on the Virgin America a321neo More to love livery, reg N927VA. I was definitely super excited.

I had booked Alaska airlines, knowing they would fly the neo on this route.

On the day of the flight, we were delayed 3 hours due to weather in new york, and i had plenty of time to spot.

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Heh. That sticker has not aged well.

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Another NEO

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What a beauty


Alaska also let me board first to take photos of the cabin, lit in purple mood lighting, a signature Virgin America thing to do. However, the purple mood lighting and seats will be taken away soon to be replaced by Alaska's existing seats. The FAs I spoke to all said that they had formerly flown with Virgin, and still wore the Virgin uniforms, as well as the pilots. While Wifi should not have been free, i ended up not having to pay for wifi during the flight, which i found extremely odd. Additionally, even though the aircraft was just 4 years old at the time, my whole row of seats, as well as the one in front of me, had seats that were unable to recline.


Takeoff on runway 25R

During the flight, food and drinks were ordered from the seat. For the first two hours, the ordering system did not appear to be working, but afterwards, after ordering a drink, the flight attendants would hand-deliver it to you. While Virgin Alaska does not offer free snacks, the price of snacks and meals were quite high to me, and I resisted ordering anything to eat. The entertainment system was fast and responsive, and had tons of movies to choose from. The purple mood lighting remained on for the flight, and was a great touch. I also noticed how quiet the NEO is.

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Verdict

Alaska Airlines

8.3/10
Cabin8.5
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering6.5

Los Angeles - LAX

7.6/10
Efficiency7.5
Access7.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

New York - JFK

6.8/10
Efficiency6.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0

Conclusion

My whole takeaway from the flight is that the flight was more Virgin than Alaska. Save for the name on the side of the aircraft, everything inside was still of the Virgin brand, including the seats, fancy mood lighting, Flight attendants and even the safety cards. I really loved the atmosphere created by the purple mood lighting, and flying on the special livery aircraft that was so new made it even more special. However, the inability of my seat to recline was quite perplexing. Equally as perplexing was how I was able to access the wifi for free even though it should've been paid for. While jetblue offers free snacks and wifi, i was much more impressed with the fancy atmosphere created by the virgin aircraft, as well as the condition of the cabin. That said, i was dissapointed at the lack of free snacks on Virgin Alaska, as well as the prices. However, being able to order as many drinks as you could and had them delivered to you was a great feature. I did miss the VX safety video, and that seems to be the only thing that Alaska had put their mark on in the interior, as the entertainment system was the unchanged Virgin RED. RED was quick and responsive, and had a large selection of movies and TV shows to choose from. I also noticed how quiet the NEO is during climbout and cruise, although most of that can only be felt while sitting in front of the engine. The crew, all ex-VX crew, were nice, and allowed me to go the cockpit for a photo and a quick chat with the very welcoming pilots. Overall, I had a great experience with VX/AS, and will certainly miss it when Alaska firmly takes over.

Information on the route Los Angeles (LAX) → New York (JFK)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 19 avis concernant 5 compagnies sur la ligne Los Angeles (LAX) → New York (JFK).

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La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est JetBlue Airways avec 8.1/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 5 heures et 18 minutes.

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