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

Introduction

Like every Holiday season, we first flew to the East coast to visit with family and friends prior to flying on to Europe. As usual, we flew Alaska Airlines from San Diego. 

I fly Alaska Airlines so often and have posted so many reviews in the past that I don't write up most flights these days–in fact, I'd flown on Alaska just a few days prior to this flight. However, I am posting this particular flight as it took place shortly after the new Chase Sapphire Lounge had opened in San Diego so this will be the site's first review of the new lounge.

Routing

Check-in & Lounge

We arrived at the airport about 2 1/2 hours prior to departure on a very foggy winter morning. There had been so much fog along the coast the last few days that several flights were unable to land the evening prior, including the British Airways flight, which had diverted to LAX. Luckily, our aircraft was already in San Diego. 

The regular check-in lane at the Alaska Airlines ticket counter was quite busy on this Friday before Christmas; however, the First class & Elite check-in was  empty. 

As there was no wait to drop bags we were on our way to the TSA Pre-check lane, which is literally right next to the Alaska ticket counter (you can see it to the left in the above photo). 

Again, the regular TSA lanes were quite busy, but there was no wait in the TSA Pre-check lane. 

The fun "Nightmare Before Christmas" decorations in the regular TSA lane made me think that domestic travel can often be a chaotic nightmare before Christmas. And I assume it was for many that day as there were many delays and cancellations due to the fog!

As usual, we were through TSA Pre-check in a few seconds. After security, we headed right for the Chase Sapphire lounge. 

Great first impression of the new lounge! Agents at the check-in desk were super friendly and welcoming and offered us some special San Diego themed bag tags. 

The lounge is beautiful…and huge! At least in comparison to existing lounges at SAN.

There's a large bar/restaurant area near the entrance

There are many different rooms and spaces with cool decor inspired by San Diego. 

Walls of surfboards–it doesn't get much more SoCal than that! It makes for some beautiful and interesting art pieces. 

There's even a small children's playroom, which is always convenient for those with small children. 

It just keeps going! So many different areas in this lounge. 

Oof, that fog is thick!

There's a very good selection of fresh and hot food options at the buffet. There are also several made-to-order options which can be ordered and delivered to the table through QR codes at every table throughout the lounge. 

We didn't have a ton of time before boarding, so we didn't order anything from the menu, especially given that the lounge is quite far from the Alaska Airlines gates. 

Boarding

The Chase lounge is located on the west side of Terminal 2, towards the international gates, which will be very convenient the next time we fly out on British Airways! In fact, it's much closer to the BA gate than the Aspire lounge that BA currently use. For today though, we're flying Alaska, whose gates are on the east end of the terminal, so we made sure to leave about 10 minutes before boarding. 

When we arrived at the gate, boarding had just begun so we were able to join the queue with Group 1. 

Every seat had a blanket pre-placed on it, but no pillows–those are very rare in Domestic First these days. 

I was slightly disappointed to see an old cabin again, but new cabins are still very rare. I'd been lucky with new cabins on both of my Alaska flights the week prior–can't win them all! Nevertheless, these old seats are still comfortable and spacious. In fact, they're generally better padded than the slimmer new seats. 

As usual, we selected seats in the last row. On eastbound daytime transcons, I prefer seats on the left side of the aircraft to avoid direct sun hitting the window and better views. 

Alaska Airlines First class seats have a 41" seat pitch, the most spacious of any US carrier in Domestic First, which generally have 36-38" seat pitch. 

While these cabins are about a decade old, Alaska were ahead of the curve at the time in installing combination 110v AC and USB power units at each seat. 

Shortly after settling in, friendly cabin crew come through the cabin offering pre-departure drinks. 

There's an informational pamphlet in the seatback pocket with information on the Wi-Fi, streaming entertainment, buy-on-board food and beverage for the Economy cabin, and information on the Alaska Mileage programme and oneworld alliance. 

The Wi-Fi and free streaming entertainment are available from gate-to-gate. 

Messaging is free, while the full flight Wi-Fi pass is reasonably priced at only $8. 

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

There a ton of content on the free wireless entertainment system with over 800 movies and TV shows to chose from. 

The Flight

Despite the thick fog, the flightdeck crew announced that our departure would not be delayed and we were ready to go on time. 

At the time the doors were closed, there were only about a dozen open seats on the flight. 

The fog looked to be lifting as we pushed back from the gate. 

Ah blue Sky!

Unfortunately, despite the fog lifting, or rather because of it, we ended up being delayed on the tarmac for more than a half-hour as there were several inbound aircraft that had been circling the airport unable to land in the thick fog.

Several of these flights had not been able to land the night prior, and were about to divert again! Luckily, the fog lifted just in time for them. 

Interesting, I didn't know FedEx had ATRs.

Being the nerd that I am, I watched on FR24 as the delayed flights landed. It gave me something to do as we sat there waiting for clearance—as you may be aware, there's only one runway at San Diego, so the smallest disturbances in air traffic can lead to delays piling up. 

I believe this one was about to turn around and go all the way back to Denver before it was allowed to land!

Finally it was out turn! Once the aircraft made the turn to line up, I could see the other end of the runway was still in fog. 

Just a little June Gloom…in December!? You'd think this was San Francisco!

As usual, we took off towards the Pacific Ocean and made a turn back inland. As we headed back towards the coast, the marine layer hanging along the coast was very distinct! Only the highest elevation of the Point Loma peninsula could be seen peaking above the fog. 

Funny to see half of the runway still in fog and the other half in beautiful sunshine. 

Downtown was just on the line. 

The fog layer extended to cover much of Coronado Island. 

Naval Base San Diego

In all we set on the tarmac for about 45 minutes which would delay out arrival by a little more than half an hour. 

Not a cloud in the sky anywhere else except right along the coast. 

Pretty soon we were over the desert. 

We took a more northerly route than usual. We normally don't get this close to Palm Springs in the many times I've take this flight. 

Lake Havasu City on the California-Arizona border. 

About a half hour into the flight, cabin crew came through with drink orders before the meal service. 

It was a beautiful clear day for flying throughout most of the flight and definitely got some great views of the beautiful landscapes over the Southwest. 

This was my first time seeing the San Francisco Volcanic Field in Arizona from the air–will have to make a trip out there in the future!

The beautiful scenery continued with some impressive canyons–not THE Grand Canyon, though.

The snow-capped southern Rocky Mountains in the distance…

And a giant field of Pacmans 

Meals were served about an hour into the flight. I'd pre-ordered for the family as usual. 

Autumn Apple Pancakes
Buttermilk & spiced-apple pancakes, served with salted caramel sauce, seared chicken-apple sausage, and cage-free creamy scrambled eggs

There were 5 options available for pre-order, but only two on board, so it's always a good idea to pre-order online or on the app to ensure you get your choice. 

There may be over 800 options to watch on the streaming IFE, but I didn't need it for most of the flight with amazing landscapes like this!

Cabin crew were attentive and friendly, checking on passengers in the cabin regularly and refilling drinks throughout the flight. 

Oh Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore…

Oh, wait, actually we are…
Flat farmland stretching to the horizon, yep, we're over the Midwest alright. 

It clouded over for much of the rest of the flight so I enjoyed some of the content on the streaming entertainment system. 

We'd made up quite a bit of that ground delay in flight and began making our descent over West Virginia. 

The Appalachian foothills of Virginia looked a bit like the European countryside in the wintertime with the irregular patterns. 

KIAD in sight. 

We landed in the beautiful light of the setting sun. 

Today was supposed to be the inaugural passenger flight of the brand new Aer Lingus A321neo XLR, so I was excited thinking I caught a glimpse of it!

But nope, that was just a regular A321neo LR. It turned out the XLR came in later that day operating a 2nd flight. 

As many times as I've been here (especially since this used to be my home airport) I will never tire of seeing this gorgeous terminal. 

Fun to see the new Austrian 787-9 too. I hope they get around to painting it soon–it had already been operating for OS for 6 months at that point. 

We ended up pulling into the gate 27 minutes behind schedule. Not too bad considering the fog and delays in San Diego.

Dulles Airport decorated for the Holidays. 

As usual, bags were delivered quickly. Alaska is one of the few airlines on which I don't mind checking bags because of their 20 minute guarantee. AA could never…I'm lucky if I get bags within 45 minutes on AA 😅