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

Introduction

Welcome to the 3rd and final review in this series bringing us back to San Diego after spending the summer in Europe. We took advantage of Iberia's new route to Washington, DC to take a few days to visit family and friends in the city we used to call home. After a few days in DC, it was time to head back home to California in time for the beginning of the school year. 

In this review we'll have a look at Alaska's newer cabins, which are mostly found on their 737 MAX fleet. Those who are familiar with my flight reviews know that I fly Alaska Airlines often, but have always gotten planes with the old cabins…until now!

After all the craziness with the diversion and cancellation on the flight from Madrid, a boring domestic flight wasn't sounding too bad! I admit it took a while after the "incident" with the plugged exit on the Alaska 737 MAX 9 to feel completely comfortable getting on a MAX 9, but I figured at this point those plugged exit doors have got to be super-duper-extra secured, right?

Routing

Reviews in this series:

Check-in

After dropping off the rental car, we arrived at the beautiful main terminal a little over 3 hours prior to departure. It was a gorgeous cloudless day, so we weren't expecting any weather related issues this time!

The new metro station across the parking lot is inspired by the architecture of the historic Saarinen terminal. 

My 5-year-old son loves Legos, so I figured he would get a kick out of the Lego reproduction of the terminal building. Yep, he loved it so much he didn't want to leave 🤣

It was really quiet in the terminal at this time of day. I've mostly seen it busy in the mornings and in the late afternoon/evening with the major transatlantic departure bank. 

Uh oh…there was no one at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter. 

Ah, not open yet…we just had about 20 minutes to wait until the counters opened, no big deal. Though I was slightly surprised the ticket counters opened only about 2 1/2 hours before our flight's departure.

Once we were able to check in our baggage, we breezed through security as there was no wait in the TSA Pre-check lanes. 

We then headed down to catch the underground train to Concourse A.

Lounge

Although the Alaska Airlines gates are in Concourse B, we had taken the train to Concourse A as the train station is right by the Chase Sapphire Etihad Lounge. We had plenty of time before our flight and it's only a few minutes' walk to the Alaska gates. 

As this is a joint Chase Sapphire and Etihad lounge, we had access through the Chase Sapphire Reserve card. 

I'd been once before a few months earlier in the early afternoon hours and it was just as quiet now as it was then, so it seems like this is a good time enjoy the lounge without crowds. 

The Lounge is beautiful and laid out on two levels and bathed in natural light with floor-to-ceiling windows.

We sat in the restaurant section to have a late lunch, starting with a selection of small plates from the buffet. As this is an Etihad lounge, there were several Middle-Eastern inspired dishes. 

Drinks and mains can be ordered through the online menu—there are QR codes at each table for ordering. 

There aren't many options, but there is something for all tastes and the dishes are of good quality in my experience. 

There are several items for children, which I really appreciated. 

There's a decent drinks menu for the adults, which includes real champagne—very rare for US domestic lounges, which tend to have California Sparkling or Prosecco. 

A decent selection of wines, including rosé! Again, rare in US lounges. In the summer I occasionally enjoy some #RoséAllDay 😉

Once the order was in, it only took a few minutes for drinks to come out, and a little over 10 minutes for the dishes. This is perfect for a lounge where some may be in a rush to catch a flight. 

The Piper-Heidsieck was nice and cold and the pour was quite generous.

For the main, I ordered the Sapphire noodles, a very tasty Asian inspired dish. 

The grilled cheese came with sliced apples, a good option for kids. 

Dessert was the least interesting part as I didn't see anything in the menu, and the buffet only had cookies and brownies from what I could see. 

Nice views from the lounge—love that ITA livery!

Boarding

We left the lounge about 10 minutes before boarding time as it was a bit of a walk from the end of the A concourse to the B concourse.

Boarding was just about to begin when we arrived at the gate. 

After pre-boarding and military personnel, First class was called to board. 

There are 4 rows of first class in a 2-2 configuration.

The 737 MAX cabins are much more modern than the old cabins on the 737NG fleet. Newly delivered 737 MAX from later this year will have even newer cabins with upgraded amenities, which will also be retrofitted on the 737NG fleet over the next few years.

All seats feature adjustable headrests…

As well as 110v AC Power and USB ports (The upcoming newest cabins will also have USB-C).

With 40 inches of seat pitch, the legroom is the most generous of any North American carrier for Domestic First class seats—typical seat pitch at the big "US3" is between 36 and 38 inches. 

These seats also have footrests, which is rare for Domestic First cabins. 

The central armrests have integrated cup-holders, which is convenient, especially during turbulence.

Another Alaska 737 MAX 9 at the next gate over. 

In the seat pocket, there is a booklet with information on the buy-on-board menu in Economy and how to access the Wi-Fi and streaming in-flight entertainment.

A look at the buy-on-board options in Economy—Note that there are better options available for pre-order, including fresh food and even hot meals. 

Information on the Wi-Fi, Entertainment, and the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan programme and oneworld Alliance

As usual, the First cabin was completely full.

There were a few empty seats in Economy, but a healthy load in general. 

The Flight

We pushed back from the gate on time with some nice views of international widebodies.

It had been a while since I'd seen an A340-600…looks good in the new Lufthansa livery. 

The Wi-Fi is available from gate-to-gate, which makes it a good value as you don't lose time on takeoff and landing. 

All passengers have access to free messaging and full streaming-capable Wi-Fi is available for $8, a decent price.

As a T-Mobile customer, I get free Wi-Fi on all Alaska flights.

There's also a rudimentary flight map on the Wi-Fi portal home page. 

Taxi time was short as there was little traffic at this time of the day.

Checking out the streaming IFE, there's plenty of content with something for all tastes and all ages. According to the IFE guide, there are more than 800 movies and TV shows available. 

Another upgraded feature of the newer cabins is that there are now integrated tablet holders, something sorely missing from the older cabins. 

Soon we were over the Appalachian Mountains. 

The in-flight service begins as we reached cruising altitude with pre-meal drinks, which are served with warm nuts. 

Meals came out a short time later as we were just south of Cincinnati. 

The cup-holders are convenient to make room for the meal trays on the tray table.

As it's not possible to order child meals on Alaska, and most US carriers on domestic flights, I pre-ordered him the fruit & cheese plate, which was the most kid-friendly of the options. 

For myself, I went with the Teriyaki chicken, which was quite tasty, and the portion was surprisingly big. 

Cabin crew were very friendly and attentive. They were out in the cabin regularly refilling drinks.

For dessert there was only one option, a lemon with blueberry jam frozen custard. I didn't really care for it, personally. The last few flights I've had with Alaska they've had some really odd ice cream flavours that I haven't liked. Even my 5-year-old wasn't a fan. I imagine they waste a lot of ice cream with these flavours—would make more sense to offer just vanilla or chocolate. 

Overflying the Lake of the Ozarks. The beautiful shapes reminded me of the dragon-shaped body of water from Disney's Raya and the Last Dragon.

Gotta have activities on those long day flights! 

After a few hours of endless flatness over the Midwest, landscapes got more interesting over the southern Rockies. 

It was a beautiful clear day for most of the way across the country. Flying over the Western US is always a treat on a clear day. 

Arrival

Soon we were making our descent over the Southern California desert, flying right over the Salton Sea as usual. 

Reaching the Laguna Mountains means we're almost to the coast. 

As usual, the approach into SAN takes us south around San Miguel Mountain right over my neighbourbood. 

Views of the San Diego Naval shipyard and Coronado Island as we turn back towards the north for landing. 

As always, when landing in San Diego, seats on the left side of the aircraft get amazing views of downtown. 

It's even more beautiful at the golden hour. 

We arrived at the gate a few minutes early. As usual, checked bags were delivered quickly thanks to Alaska Airlines' 20 minute baggage guarantee.