Review of Alaska Airlines flight from San Diego to New York in Domestic First

introduction

Hello and welcome to this new series of Flight-Reports. Yes, we're starting out with yet another Alaska Airlines Domestic First class review, but it's part of a larger Transatlantic itinerary this time. Like every summer, we were headed back to Europe for a few months. We'd planned a few days' stop in New York on the way as my 5-year-old son really wanted to visit the Statue of Liberty. Funny enough, I'd never actually seen the Statue of Liberty up close despite having been to NYC many times over the years. 

I normally hate taking short Transcon red-eye flights and avoid them like the plague. Unfortunately, because of a last-minute scheduling conflict, I had to change the day flight I'd originally booked to a red-eye…Ugh. Had I know I'd need to take a red-eye when I first booked the flights, I would have probably opted for JetBlue Mint for the lie-flat seats. 

Routing

check-in & lounge

We arrived to the airport a little over two hours prior to departure as we had bags to check.

The Alaska Airlines ticket counters were very quiet and it only took a few minutes to drop off our checked baggage.

Normally, the late-night red-eye bank of departures is one of the busiest times at San Diego airport, but it was quiet going through the TSA Pre-Check lanes since it was a Saturday evening with essentially no business travel. 

We headed to the Aspire Lounge, where there was a few minutes' wait to enter as it was full to capacity. 

It was crowded, but I've definitely seen it worse. 

Food is nothing special, but decent by US domestic lounge standard with lots of fresh options, though essentially no hot options aside from soups. 

The Aspire Lounge was originally an Admirals Club years ago, and is located by the AA gates. 

The lounge emptied out rather quickly as the first red-eyes began to depart. 

There were still several dozen flights leaving before midnight. 

boarding

We left the lounge about 5 minutes before boarding time. The gate was located on the same concourse as the lounge, but was way on the other end. 

I'm not a fan of Gate 30 as it's on the end of the concourse and just feels claustrophobic. Boarding can be messy from this gate, in my experience, as it's a narrow space. 

First class boarding was called after pre-boarding and active military personnel. These cabins are getting old and looking rough, but the seats are still very cushy and comfortable—though, of course, not nearly as comfortable as a lie-flat seat for a red-eye. The 737-800 and 900 fleets are due to receive much-needed updated cabins between 2024 and 2026. The new cabins will have new Recaro seats with calf-rests, which will make night flights a little more restful with the cradle position. 

There were blankets on each seat and again, no pillows. Being that this was a redeye confirmed they've disappeared altogether.

Taking a look at the Economy cabin right behind our row, the tired looking seats contrast with the modern mood lighting and sculpted ceilings of the Boeing Sky Interior cabin. 

When Alaska first installed these cabins over a decade ago, they had the foresight to offer multiple sources of in-seat power. The new cabins will feature USB-C ports in addition to AC power. 

Although a standard Domestic First Recliner seat isn't ideal for a red-eye transcontinental flight, at least the seats are very well padded and offer the most legroom of any Domestic First class cabin in the US with a 40" seat pitch (typical is 36-38" for AA/DL/UA). 

All Alaska aircraft are fitted with Wi-Fi and complimentary streaming entertainment to personal devices. 

The Wi-Fi and Entertainment are usually available gate-to-gate and accessed through the same portal at AlaskaWiFi.com

All passengers get free messaging and Wi-Fi for the whole flight costs $8. T-Mobile customers enjoy unlimited Wi-Fi for free on all Alaska Airlines flights. 

There's a ton of content in the entertainment library. Alaska claim to have over 800 movies and TV shows—I can't say I counted to verify. 

Aside from movies and TV series, there are documentaries, audio content, and children's programming. 

Boarding wrapped up early and we were set to depart early. Every seat in First was full and there were only a few empty seats in Economy. 

the flight

After the safety briefing, lights were dimmed for taxi and takeoff as we pushed back from the gate early. 

Taxi time was quick despite the busy departure bank and we were off. 

Beautiful views of the city lights and bay on the climb out. 

Once we were up at cruising altitude, I tested the Wi-Fi speed, which was quite decent by plane Wi-Fi standards. 

Shortly after takeoff there was a light meal service. Normally I don't expect anything more than snacks on a red-eye flight so it was nice to see fresh food of which one was a hot option. The choices were either a hot pastrami sandwich or a cheese and charcuterie plate. 

I went for the pastrami, which was served with chips and a warm chocolate chip cookie. It was nothing fancy, but it hit the spot as I hadn't eaten dinner. 

My son had already fallen asleep; however, the very nice flight attendant offered to hold his meal and bring it later if he woke up. He did wake up hungry a little later and she brought out his tray right away. 

I kind of slept on and off for 2 or 3 hours and woke up over the border or Pennsylvania and New York. We had made good time and it looked like we'd be landing about a half hour early. 

It was mostly cloudy over the city, but there were just enough breaks in the clouds to catch a glimpse of Manhattan as we made our descent.

More specifically Midtown and Central Park. 

As we got above the coast of Long Island, we were still too high to land at JFK so I figured they were putting us into a holding pattern during the busy early morning arrivals bank. 

Yup, we were going well out over the Atlantic…

And then surprisingly we made a turn north and ended up over Long Island Sounds, on the opposite side of Long Island from JFK. 

After that scenic detour. we finally made our final descent.

Despite the holding, we still make it to the gate well ahead of schedule. 

Thanks to Alaska Airlines' baggage delivery guarantee within 20 minutes of arrival, our checked baggage came out quickly and we were on our way to the hotel to catch up on sleep!