Hello from Seattle, as I’ve kicked off my review trip to South Korea and Japan! I just flew Alaska’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 first class, on the 5hr50min flight from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Seattle (SEA).
Continue reading: Alaska 737 MAX First Class: A Cut Above The Competition
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
Great that you could finally snag the AS 737 MAX 9, like on CM, though I will say no more on that matter, seeing as my previous comment on a 737 MAX 9 resulted in a certain bloodhound baying for my blood.
All I can say is that I’m very much looking forward to your experience on Korean Air’s 787-10 and A321neo, and how it’s trying to keep up with other Northeast Asian airlines — especially as it and Asiana have been more or less been left in the dust by Taiwanese (EVA and Starlux) and Japanese (ANA and JAL) airlines. Especially, to fly KE right before JAL will be a study in contrasts between how Korean airlines nowadays are great-but-not-stellar in comparison to JAL’s A350-1000 perfection, as well as others like NH, BR, CX and SQ.
That said, for all its soft-product perks, AS does have one shortcoming that those in the Middle East and Southeast Asia will likely scoff at (haha): the lack of seatback IFE on any kind throughout its fleet, though it does have extensive streaming IFE. Makes one think of the Virgin America days, but at least JetBlue is still around!
As an Alaska 75K I’ve flown this product ad nauseum, including on redeyes which seem to be 50-50 on whether I get quality sleep or not
And, never feel bad about not saying No to ice cream, especially Salt & Straw!
Ben, are you ever going to block crap like this? It’s only hurting your website.
It looks like a downright awful experience for a 6 hours flight - seats that look like premium economy, only worse as they have no screens(!!), the food looks awful and there's no main after the pasta disk, and the wine, oh my gosh, the Gen5 "wines" rate around the same as petrol (no, I've never had them, and after reading the reviews I hope I never will.
Ben, your reviews used to be accurate - what's going on here? This is no premium cabin for such a long flight - it is pure subpar junk.
@ Jake -- I'm comparing Alaska first class to first class on other US airlines. As I state in the post, this pales in comparison to what you'd get on airlines in other parts of the globe. But that's not a useful comparison.
I can assure you that American isn't serving Dom Perignon and caviar in first class on the same route. 😉 Consider yourself lucky if you don't have to fly much in the United States, but this is an above average first class experience in the country.
What airline does have a "premium cabin" between MIA/FLL and SEA? I'll answer the question for you... none. Ben compared what AS offers to the AA or DL experience (the other two airlines that offer nonstop flights to SEA). The AS 737 Max 9 offers more legroom. While AS doesn't have seat back screens, neither does AA. DL does, but the last time I flew between Florida and SEA on DL, the seat back screens in row 1 were about the size of an iPhone 15 Pro Max screen. I would rather watch whatever entertainment is offered on my tablet or computer.
As for the food and wine, the AS offerings are on par with, if not better than, what the competition offers. I haven't tried Gen5 wines either, but Wine Enthusiast's reviews of them seem to differ from the ones you are reading.
What is it specifically that makes this review inaccurate, in your opinion? It seems to be a spot-on comparison of the AS 737 Max 9 to other AS 737s and what AA and DL offer.
Context is important. In this case the context is the competition is the other major airlines flying transcon routes
Seems like you're always looking for a chance to make anything related to Korea sound bad.
Ford have a life insurance policy on you? Ever wonder why AS is constantly (at least in my experience recently) swapping out Maxs for 900/900ERs? How was the ventilation in F btw?
I wish all US carriers have those small lips at the back of the armrests in FC to stop items from rolling off the back of them into the row of seats behind. American used to have those (not sure if they still do, haven't flown AA in a couple of years), and they were great.
Alaska first introduced this product on the a321s they inherited from VX. It was great when they also put them on the 737max9s - certainly my favorite recliner style F product in the US. The 41” pitch really makes a difference compared to AA, Delta and United. It also doesn’t hurt that Alaska’s soft product is generally very good.
Ben, were you aware that AA is taking the old a321s from Alaska and keeping that seating (for now) in place? Fingers crossed it’s on my next AA F flight.
So by "transcon" do you mean "NYC-SFO/LAX (and maybe BOS and MIA/ATL-LAX or IAD-SFO, sometimes if a carrier puts a widebody between hubs)"?
Because that's the thing, this is definitely a transcon but it's also not those markets. SEA-FLL has zero chance of supporting fare and operations premiums for lie-flats, just like SEA-TPA or PDX-ATL, or SAN-BWI. Which is why AS doesn't have them- their network doesn't really support having a subfleet with IFE and lie-flats, and certainly not an entire fleet of narrowbody super-premium F (they would know, they took over VX).
AS doesn't really fight over NYC-California premium travel the way other airlines do...
Am I the only person thinking that this extra pitch in F came at the expense of Y losing the lavatory that most carriers have just past F class…??? I’m just asking, I am not familiar w/ Alaska’s product, but if that’s the case and there are only 2 lavatories in Y, that’s downright awful…
Agreed. AS blows away Delta and this moron dares to talk about standards. Long past time to cut him off.
"I was dreading the thought of landing in Vancouver at 12AM PT. That’s roughly when I ordinarily wake up"
I think Ben was 22 when I first started reading OMAAT. We've all grown since then...
Alaska’s MVPG 100K here. I don’t fly much on other US airlines’ domestic products, so it is good to see product comparison by a pro.
I have flown Alaska’s 737MAX First many times, either paid or upgraded. It is good enough, but I already see inconsistency:
Pre-departure drink was missing from your flight; ice-cream has been missing from at least 10-15 of my AS F flights this year; blankets were missing on some of my flights; seems that the snack basket was missing from your flight; if you were able to snap a F seat two hours before departure, that means the upgrade Professor failed to upgrade elites at T-120 or T-23 (first world problem).
I got lucky back in May, and my Alaska flight from SEA to HNL on which I'd purchased a first class ticket, was finally operated by the MAX 9, so I could try out the footrest! The food was great, too, and since it was a flight to Hawaii, the trays were decorated with purple orchids. Then in September, I flew first class on a United 737 MAX 9, EWR - SEA. I wanted to compare, as this year I also flew in first on Delta and American! One thing about United-- the aircraft shown at the time of booking is the one you fly on--they don't switch between their MAX and NG 737s. United's first class seats are nice, but there is no footrest, and the legroom is slightly less because there are 5 rows instead of 4 in the first class cabin. I'm not tall, just 5'5", so I have a hard time reaching anything under the seat in front of me--on Alaska I have to unbuckle my seatbelt to retrieve my personal item! Also, United put a lav on their MAX 9's just behind row 5 on the left! Super convenient for those in the extra legroom section, which Alaska calls "Premium;" don't recall what United calls that section...maybe just "extra" or something. Now for the best part: United's seatback screens are outstanding, plus they have Bluetooth so you can pair your own Bluetooth headphones/earbuds with them! (The food was good, too.)
I think Ben was only 18 or 19 when I flew with him and a bunch of others to a free weekend in Paris on a now-defunct airline ... definitely a college kid.
No worries, Alaska has 3 lavs in the aft for Y on all of their 737-900ERs and 737 MAX 9s. Most of their 737-800s and all of their MAX 8s have 3 lavs for Y in the aft as well.
Alaska is by far the most generous airline in the US when it comes to seat pitch(except Jetblue) and lavs.
S_LEE is right there are 3 lavs, but nothing beats the convenience of that mid-cabin lav that United installed. Both AS and DL opted for 3 lavs at the rear. If you’re seated towards the front of the plane, whether in F or Y+ it’s nice to not have to traverse two dozen rows of seats to use the loo. Also very convenient if you’re in F and the forward lav is occupied or blocked for the flight crew. I believe the added weight of the lav being forward of the wing helps slightly with the “tipping” issue on the ground, although it can happen regardless.
S_LEE is right there are 3 lavs, but nothing beats the convenience of that mid-cabin lav that United installed. Both AS and DL opted for 3 lavs at the rear. If you’re seated towards the front of the plane, whether in F or Y+ it’s nice to not have to traverse two dozen rows of seats to use the loo. Also very convenient if you’re in F and the forward lav is occupied or blocked for the flight crew. I believe the added weight of the lav being forward of the wing helps slightly with the “tipping” issue on the ground, although it can happen regardless
@redacted & @cairns This 'Tim Dunn' is not the registered member, Delta junkie and superspammer. Apparently OMAAT can have guests using existing registered account names to react, so this could be anyone. That's definitely something Lucky should look into, although I fully understand why this name was chosen for such a reaction. The whole Tim Dunn thing makes the level here sink worse than the Titanic ever did.
The Alaska first class cookie is top notch. I like the Max9 Alaska seats because they have cup holders (it’s the little things). The lack of seat back entertainment and not so free Wi-Fi are the only downsides. Alaska FC is pretty good.
There are pros and cons to have a mid-cabin lav.. It's right behind first class cabin, which means the last row of first class will be disturbed by the noise, traffic and odor from the lavatory. It definitely is more accessible but I prefer the long journey to aft lavs than being disturbed by the mid-cabin lav.
I flew AS First recently from BNA to PDX. They forgot to cater anything for First Class - no meals. Their apologies were weak and meaningless. First time. Last time
Thanks guys I get it. I just hate to see that a website that someone puts so much effort into is allowed to be dissed by those with so little respect or even less knowledge...
Alaska is my favorite choice for Washington DC to LAX. Here's something for pet owners to consider. You cannot take an in cabin pet in first class if the seats are pods. Some IAD-LAX United flights are such seats. So even if the flight is a good price for first class, I can't take it. Since Alaska doesn't have pods, I can fly on any aircraft in first class with my dog. And I definitely find Alaska first class more comfortable than United first class in non-pod seats. The extra legroom makes a big difference! And the food is good and, yes, the Salt and Straw ice cream is divine.
This not true Alaska is a horrible airline. I will never fly it ever. They have old and dirty planes , poo service and lazy employees. It really is an inferior airline.
I’ve fortunately never experienced their “poo service.” Maybe it’s only on select flights? Must be what they load in the down line carts for round-trip catered flights.
Thanks for the review of Alaska Max-9. The seats are somewhat stiff on their new planes because they are brand new seats and haven’t been softened by repeated usage yet.
You wrote "I had initially pre-order something different"
I believe you want to say "pre-ordered"
We love flying Alaska and find that they are the only airline that consistently really "gets it" when it comes to service recovery should a controllable problem arise. There's a lot of empty apathy we've experienced from other carriers when they've dropped the ball. Have to agree 100% that the food served in the F cabin is enjoyable and staff is generally engaged and strive to offer good service. We've notice the seats are a bit hard on the newer equipment but hopefully just because it's new.
Personally, my experience has been that Delta does a better job at service recovery. A couple of weeks ago, I had a flight from ANC to BNA via SEA and one of our bags didn't make the connection (something that has never happened to me for non-delayed flights out of hundreds of trips on DL.) AS doesn't have a baggage office at BNA and there was only one person working the check-in desk, which had long queues. We were in First and I'm also 100K, but the one person working the desk was taking people from the bag drop line instead of the First queue. Overall, it took us about an extra hour just to arrange to get our bag delivered due to understaffing by AS.
AS also requires you to go by the bag desk to claim the miles when bags don't show up within 20 minutes. Delta has a form you can fill out on their website, which instantly deposits the miles in your account, even at 21 minutes after the aircraft door opened.
Agree on the cookie. Lack of IFE is unfortunate coming from Delta, though, where even Main Cabin has it at every seat on nearly their entire mainline fleet.
Sounds like you got one of the old config 737-800s. Most of Delta's mainline fleet actually has pretty nice IFE, even in economy, but there are still some 737-800s and I think a small handful of 757s that still have the old interior with ancient IFE.
As a long-time DL frequent flyer, I recently tried AS for a trip to Alaska, in First thanks to that status match offer last fall. My thoughts:
Lack of IFE is unfortunate. I'd normally watch a movie or two on such long flights (BNA to ANC via SEA and return.)
The foot rest is probably nice for shorter people, though it was useless for me as a 6' tall guy. It was much too close to use comfortably for average or above-average height guys.
The burger and the breakfasts were good. Unfortunately, however, all of the other meal options on our flights were full of peppers, onions, and/or curry. Which seemed really weird for 4 out of 5 meal options on an airplane of all places. And it was that way on both of our lunch/supper flights. Different 4 other options each time, but all 8 of them filled with peppers, onions, and/or curry. I couldn't eat those at all due to some GI issues (I would get extremely sick if I tried,) but even without those issues, who wants to eat a bunch of spicy food while on an airplane for 5 hours? Or wants their neighbor for those 5 hours to do so... Seemed like a really bizarre menu for a flight. Thankfully, the burger was there and was good, as it was literally the only thing on the menu I could eat.
The padding on the seats was comfortable. Seat comfort definitely doesn't compare to a widebody with flat-bed seats, but it was good for domestic F.
Lounge at ANC was ok, but not as nice as an average Sky Club and food options were slightly more than non-existent. Even the DL pop-up Sky Club at ANC had better food the previous time I was there. I didn't get a chance to try the lounges at SEA, due to relatively short connections and having to take a bunch of trains between concourses, so can't compare those. Of course, AS doesn't have a lounge at BNA and the AS 75k lounge day passes don't grant access to AA lounges.
Overall, the flights were ok for domestic F, but I definitely wouldn't rate them as "a cut above" DL. I'd still pick DL of the two for such trips if all else were equal. The only things that I would say were notably better on AS are the seat padding and pitch.
AS also had one of our bags disconnected at SEA on the return. Not a huge deal, but not something I've ever had happen when the inbound flight wasn't delayed out of hundreds of trips on DL. This was made a bit more annoying by AS not having a baggage office at BNA, instead having to go to the check-in counters, where a single person was trying to work every line and was not prioritizing the First Class line. This ended up taking about an extra hour, which is not super fun after getting off of a red eye after 9+ hours of flying. They did give us a code for $75 off of a future flight as compensation for the delayed bag (without being asked,) though.
Thankfully, we were not on the flight that had the tires deflate after the rejected takeoff, though we were on the exact same flight 2 days later. That wasn't Alaska's fault, though. That was on the FAA for clearing another aircraft (on a different frequency) to cross the runway while AS was taking off. I'm not sure if the BNA Ground controller somehow didn't know rwy 13 was in use at the time (it normally isn't) or how that happened.
Booked Alaska twice, both in F. First time the food was inedible and the service was standard apathetic US airline service, definitely nothing like the Virgin America days at all.
Second trip they couldn’t even get us out of LA and booked us onto United…
I don’t understand at all why people gush about this airline? It’s like the Shein version of JetBlue. Gonna stick to Delta over AS every time.
Definitely agree! Salt & Straw ice cream is amazing. And while in the air, you don't have to wait in queue for 30 minutes like at most of their brick and mortar locations. 😉
In my opinion, an airline that doesn't offer onboard entertainment on a transcontinental flight, should not be calling it's product "First Class". It's an oxymoron.
Thank you for all this information. First time for Wifey and myself flying first-class, and your review really helps us in knowing what to expect. Very well done sir.