Review of Alaska Airlines flight Seattle Kailua in Domestic First

Airline Alaska Airlines
Flight AS 875
Seat 02A
Aircraft Boeing 737-800
Flight time 06:30
Take-off 11 Jan 15, 17:25
Arrival at 11 Jan 15, 21:55
AS   #60 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 84 reviews
Esteban
By GOLD 2887
Published on 16th January 2015
    Take us to Seattle:
  • BSL - AMS KL J / E190: HERE
  • AMS - SEA DL J / A330-300: HERE
  • Fly us to the snow:
  • SEA - ANC AS F / B737-900ER: HERE
  • ANC - FAI AS Y / B737-400: HERE
  • FAI - ANC AS Y / DH8Q-400: HERE
  • Sea Sand and Sun:
  • ANC - SEA AS F / B737-800: HERE
  • SEA - KOA AS F / B737-800: That's now.
  • All good things come to and end:
  • ??? - ??? ?? ? / ??: Later.
  • ??? - ??? ?? ? / ??: Later.
  • ??? - ??? ?? ? / ??: Later.


Last flight before the sun :)

As we landed in Seattle I saw a blue bird with three engines on the ground. What is this MD11 doing there?? (For information, it is not fog outside but condensation on the windows).



PH-KCD, named Florence Nightingale, was KL's last MD11 to leave Amsterdam on January 11th. She made a stop in Seattle before heading to Mojave to be parted out. I hopped that the stop in Seattle would mean preservation at the Boeing Museum, but no. The last KLM ship is going to be recycled in cans. Sad ending. At least I was able to see her again.

Two shoots of our ride from SEA:

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Then we went to the Alaska Board Room, still very nice but I wasn't that hungry:

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Nice special livery:

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FIDS:

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Shortly before official boarding gate we went to gate D10 where our plane greeted us:

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On time boarding according to Alaska's boarding rules, here's the cabin, identical to the one from the former leg.



Mimosa like cocktail (sparkling wine plus passion fruit juice, not to my liking…) and the menu that my mother held again:



Nuts are being handed out (special mix for Hawaiian flights)



Hot towel:

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I did not get why we received the snacks first, then the hot towels. Especially that it took forever for the crew to come with the drinks. It took them a good 15 minutes to arrive after the snacks. We were seated on row 2, that's not really first class :(

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Mai Tai for me, but it wasn't a real mai tai, as it was far too clear to be a mai tai ^^:

Then the starter arrives, it was fresh and crisp. Really nice:

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Unfortunately for Flight Report, we both three have the same tastes, and we all took the shrimps :(
They were really good, well-seasoned, very good taste.

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After the entree, nothing happens anymore for a good half an hour. Where's the dessert? I ask the purser and he explains that the first class hostess was in training to be a purser and thus, was not very used to F/C service. I understood it well, people need to learn. He apologized and told us the wait should not be any longer.

Unfortunately just after he said that a cabin crew, take your seats was announced from the flight deck as we were heading towards a turbulent area. Which were really hard and lasted for another 30 minutes. The dessert will then arrive an hour after we finished the entrees.

But the wait was worth it as I got the best dessert ever on a plane. It was served luke warm, had lots of taste, wonderful

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We ended eating 02H30 minutes after the take-off which is pretty long. But, in contrary of Europe where dishes are all pre-plated on trays for short/medium haul flights, here, everything needs to be plated, and for a full 16 pax First class cabin, working alone, it can be pretty though.

I watched a movie, slept a bit and one hour before landing, hot nuts are being served:

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We landed half an hour early in Kona, with a beautiful 25°, big change from Fairbanks. But I am already thinking about my next adventure in Alaska, maybe to Barrow. Bags arrived 10 minutes within our arrival, we took our car and headed to Waikoloa for 11 days of beach / sun / sightseeing.

To conclude this report, some pictures from Fairbanks and your writer, warmly dressed ^^

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Northern lights displays and Fairbanks by night:



Wonderful dog-mushing by night:



And an ice fishing afternoon on a frozen lake. The ice is really thick and no need to be afraid even if there are cracks on it. (Depth is around 1M50). We stopped with a 12 people van on top of such crack and nothing happened. ^^

You could fish either inside or outside a cabin (we took the inside option) but first, you need to prepare the holes. My father did the job with the guide. He loved his day fishing, as he is a fisher and this was his birthday gift from my brother. But my Mom and I did not like it at all. Was cold, boring, and ways too long for us. After the first hour, we were nearly in a frozen state ^^


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Verdict

Alaska Airlines

8.8/10
Cabin8.0
Cabin crew9.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering9.0

Alaska Lounge - Concourse C

10.0/10
Comfort10.0
Meal/catering10.0
Entertainment/wifi10.0
Services10.0

Seattle - SEA

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Kailua - KOA

10.0/10
Efficiency10.0
Access10.0
Services10.0
Cleanliness10.0

Conclusion

That was a very food flight, not exceptional but very good. The cabin was comfortable enough for me to sleep a bit, and the crew was friendly. Nevertheless I deduct one point for the slow service. The food was really nice, the best I had so far in domestic first.

Information on the route Seattle (SEA) Kailua (KOA)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 3 avis concernant 1 compagnies sur la ligne Seattle (SEA) → Kailua (KOA).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est Alaska Airlines avec 7.0/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 6 heures et 23 minutes.

  More information

2 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 127270 by
    NGO85 SILVER 1955 Comments
    Thanks for the report and it's good to see you are swapping -25C weather for +25C weather!

    They must be pushing the 737 to it's range limit on this flight considering the strong Pacific headwinds; 6+ hours on a 737 is a long flight.

    That catering looks really good for domestic F, it's hard to believe it came from the same airline that served you a warm sandwich for lunch twice.
  • Comment 127410 by
    KévinDC TEAM SILVER 6658 Comments
    Now there's a contrast, from the arctic circle to the tropics in a few hours...and the beauty of modern aviation! Service seems decent with good meal options despite the slowness due to the trainee. That mai tai is definitely some kind of fake mix, LOL.
    I flew out of SEA just a few hours before you!

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