Review of Alaska Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Washington in Domestic First

Report No: 2021-402

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Welcome to this brand new series where I would present Alaska Airlines for the first time. Alaska Airlines has recently joined the oneworld alliance and had a 30% off sale that was valid on all their flights in December 2020 so I decided to try them on one of my US domestic trips.

So, in the second and last episode of this series, I would try the Alaska Airlines Domestic First product from Los Angeles to Washington National on their A321neo with recliner seats. Before this flight, I had the opportunity to visit the Alaska Airlines Lounge in Los Angeles Terminal 6 and you would be able to see a brief review of that in this report.

Here is the routing for this series;

Loads for this flight

Domestic First: 100%
Premium Class: 95-100%
Main Cabin: 95-100% 

ONLINE CHECK-IN

I have checked-in to this flight about 24 hours before departure and I kept my pre-assigned seat which was seat 4F

Los Angeles AIRPORT - LAX

About 1h40 minutes before departure, I have arrived at Los Angeles Airport's Terminal 6 where Alaska Airlines flight operate from

There were only one Priority check-in desk open at that time, although the wait was minimal so I was quickly checked-in by a friendly agent and dropped my checked baggage.

Here are the FIDS for Terminal 6 departures, the majority of the flights operating from this terminal are Alaska Airlines flights

There wasn't any priority security lane offered by Alaska so I needed to use the regular lane which meant that I waited 5-10 minutes to be screened. TSA Pre and Clear passengers had a dedicated lane if they have the respective memberships.

Hand sanitizers were widely available throughout the terminal

ALASKA LOUNGE - Los Angeles AIRPORT

As I had time before boarding I decided to visit the Alaska Lounge at Terminal 6. Unlike other US domestic carriers an Alaska Airlines Domestic First ticket would give you free lounge access, however, you must be on a revenue First Class ticket and upgrades/non-revenue passengers still require a membership.

However, if Alaska didn't offer free lounge access to their Domestic First passengers, I would have able to access the lounge by my British Airways Executive Club Gold status as non-AAdvantage and non-MileagePlan oneworld elites could still access oneworld lounges before oneworld flights even if they are flying on a US domestic flight despite their travel class.

After being welcomed by one of the lounge agents at the entry, I glimpsed around and realized the lounge was very crowded and it was difficult to find a seat due to social distancing requirements and blocked seats. However, there was a circulation going on with passengers leaving and entering so I was able to find an open seat in a minute.

So, due to local restrictions at Los Angeles, all food and beverages must be served by someone so the self-service buffet was closed. Here is the menu for the day.

I have opted for the soup and the pancakes which were served with real silverware.

The lounge also has a bar where you could get alcoholic beverages and tea/coffee. There are some complimentary drinks, however, you must pay for most of the alcoholic beverages. 

Closer to boarding I have left the lounge and headed to the boarding gate.

GATE AREA & BOARDING

The gate area was crowded even 1h30 minutes before departure ( I took this photo before heading to the lounge ). It was going to be a full flight this day.

Photos of N921VA would be the bird operating today's flight. This bird was the first A321neo that was delivered for Virgin America and after the merger, it was obviously transferred to the Alaska Airline fleet.

Before boarding, the gate area was crowded.

Boarding started on time, however, with a few active US military members and passengers requiring extra assistance, it took a while for First Class passengers to be invited.

Also, the barcode reader tablet was slow at scanning boarding passes and that was another reason that the boarding process was a bit slow.

AS 6 Los Angeles AIRPORT TO WASHINGTON REAGAN AIRPORT

After being welcomed by the crew, I have headed to my seat 4F. ( As my neighbor in 4D has boarded before me, I took this photo after our arrival at DCA in order not to disturb him )

Here is the legroom which is decent

The seats were familiar to me as they were the same exact seats that you could find on a Turkish Airlines A321neo or Boeing 737MAX in Business Class.

As you might realize, there wasn't any written literature other than the inflight guide and the safety card.

Our neighbor was this SkyWest Embraer

The overhead panel

All seats in the Domestic First Cabin already had a bottle of water and an hand sanitizer wipe in the armrest ready.

Each seat in the Domestic First cabin had USB ports and power outlets

While boarding was going on, our neighbor had changed as another Alaska SkyWest Embraer had parked at gate 65A.

After boarding was completed, the cabin crew performed the safety demo and we have started our pushback.

On the way to the runway, I did a decent amount of spotting starting with this American Airlines A321neo

JetBlue A321

Kalitta Air 747F

Viva Aerobus A320 which had recently landed ( presumably from Mexico )

Emirates SkyCargo 777F

DHL aircraft at the freight terminal

And after a 5-10 minute taxi, it was our time to takeoff and here is a JetBlue A321 taxiing

Japan Airlines 777-300ER in front of Terminal 4

Tom Bradley International Terminal where it's possible to spot European and Asian carriers

The Midfield Satellite Concourse that should be opening in the next few months

Some wide-bodies at remote stands

Some Qantas A380's at remote stands

And we were over the Pacific Ocean

After a slight turn towards the east, the lead cabin crew introduced herself and verified my pre-ordered food option. She also asked my drink choice and shortly later the service had begun.

As a beverage, I have opted for some red-wine which was drinkable but not that perfect.

Today's meal options were the Ham & Cheese sandwich and the Fruit&Cheese Plate. As the latter wouldn't count as a lunch option, I had pre-ordered the sandwich.

By the way, Alaska Airlines have already restored hot meals on their transcontinental flights, and I missed the return of the hot meals on these routes by a few days.

The sandwich was served with some sauce which I don't remember and a small chocolate. Although, I am not a fan of pre-packaged food on premium cabins, the sandwich was tasty and decent. Compared to American's Turkey & Havarti sandwich that I had multiple times, this sandwich is certainly much better.

This flight was also equipped with Wi-Fi and personal device entertainment.
Here are the package options for this flight. 

The mobile IFE menu

Route map

On this flight, I have watched a movie to entertain myself and midway on the flight, the lead flight attendant appeared with the snack basket and offered drinks as well.

A view at that time

If we look at the seatback pocket content, as I mentioned before, it is limited to the inflight guide and the safety card

Information about the drink choices and entertainment options was available at the inflight guide.

On the back, there was a credit card advertisement.

Somewhere where I was enjoying my movie, I have hit the call button to request some mint tea, however, one of the FA's that was mostly serving Economy Class ignored the call button even when I came face to face with her, however, another FA came seconds later and shortly, my mint tea was served. Other than the weird action ( ignoring my call button signal ) by that specific crew, all the crew were totally perfect and that is the reason why I wouldn't give 10/10 for the crew in the ratings.

After I finished my movie, I have checked the route map and we had about 1h13 minutes to landing

I decided to visit the lavatory which was clean at that time

On the way back to my seat, I have grabbed some candy and a bottle of water from the snack basket which was available at the front galley. At that time, the lead FA asked how was the flight going so far and I thanked her for the excellent service at that time.

About 45 minutes before landing, the cabin crew appeared one more time, this time for the cookie service.

The cookie was a Chocolate Chip cookie and was delicious.

The cabin crew, also asked if the passengers would like any drinks and I have opted for a mint tea.

Later on, the preparations for landing has started and trash was collected

National Harbor, MD

MGM Casino at National Harbor, MD

Shortly later, we have landed at DCA

After a short taxi, we were going to park at gate 18.

Shortly later the seatbelt signs have been switched off and after gathering my belongings and saying goodbye to the crew, I have left the aircraft.

WASHINGTON REAGAN AIRPORT - DCA

Last shot of N921VA from the terminal

That evening, the terminal was deserted and the only passengers were those arriving from our flight

Arrival FIDS

Bags were going to arrive at Carousel 3. After a 10-15 minute wait, bags have arrived with the respect of priorities and my bags were one of the first ones to arrive.

After picking up my checked baggage, I have headed to the metro station and luckily the train was arriving at that time so I didn't wait over there.

And this journey has come to an end.
A more exclusive series would be coming up soon so stay tuned with Flight-Report.
Once again, thanks for reading and hope to see you in another report.