A Look At Alaska Airlines' New First Class Summer Menu

My last two Alaska F transcons out of SFO (one plane VA, the other Alaska) were missing pillows and blankets.

My recent Virgin flight had a a broken seat (meaning the the FA had to push it up from behind every time I needed to adjust it).

The weirdest part was after the meal service, all trays were placed on the floor next to the exit, including the pilots' trays. Imagine 10 trays piled up on the floor for over an hour, blocking access to lav and emergency exit. Later, I saw the FA scraping the each dish individually into the trash before storing the trays in the cart. I snapped a pic, it was so unexpected!!!

The pillow/blanket thing has been present on 2/3 of the last transcons for me this year (though this was prior to them rolling out the 'new' blanket service.) Grrrr, c'mon Alaska.

My guess is they are easier upgrades because anyone whose paying for J on LAX/SFO-JFK is going for AA, B6, or DL also I think a lot of AS elite flyers are more regional in the PNW, a SEA-JFK flight for instance would have a mile long upgrade list

I am actually not surprised on how easy upgrades are on these previously VX routes. First, AS has really priced those LAX-JFK flights extraordinarily. With a much watered down product, no one in their right mind will pay for that first class product, if they can get JetBlue Mint or Delta One! I really think AS needs to price those flights correctly.
Second, thanks for sharing the meals. They look okay. It is actually about the same portion as before but now they served in two courses, instead of three courses. Plus many lazy VX F/As have been serving the meal in one full course before. But I am happy to see the snack basket back.

Is AVOD still enabled on these planes, or has Alaska disabled them?

Lived in the SF area for 20 years and never heard of Salt and Straw

Alaska has an excellent frequent flyer program -- perhaps the best in the United States -- but its product isn't competitive, especially on legacy Alaska aircraft, despite the high prices. I'm not saying they need lie-flat seats. I actually don't think they do. There's a market for a good domestic first-class product with good recliner seats. But Alaska's product isn't much better than Hawaiian, except better food. And even Hawaiian now has lie-flat seats on its longest domestic flights. I would consider switching to Alaska in a minute IF they had an East Coast presence.

@FNT Delta Diamond ---> I agree. For ME -- as I've said before -- I see (virtually) NO REASON for lie-flat seats on transcontinental flights, UNLESS it's a red-eye and you're actually, *seriously* trying to sleep. I am perfectly happy with angle-flat recliners when I'm watching IFE/movies on my laptop; otherwise, I'm sitting relatively upright, eating/drinking/working.

@Andrew ---> Every flight I've taken on former VX flights still has the IFE system in place and active.

@Scott ---> Salt & Straw was founded in 2011, so you've only missed hearing about it for 7 years, not 20. ;^) It began in Portland, and while Lucky is right when he writes, "Salt & Straw is a popular west coast brand," but they only recently opened stores in the City: 2201 Fillmore and 586 Hayes.

@Lucky ---> I haven't run into the "pillow & blanket" thing on AS, but I *have* noticed a consistent difference between the flights on Boeings versus Airbuses (i.e.: between AS planes and crews and ex-VX planes and crews). Flying on an AS Airbus, while not quite the same as flying Virgin America, is a far more enjoyable experience than on an AS Boeing. Chiefly it comes down to the in-flight crew and service, which is still superior to AS on board. (FWIW, I have NO complaints whatsoever with AS customer service or their ticket-counter or gate agents; it's only the AS FAs on board AS "legacy" aircraft.)

"there’s no appetizer. I was served a single tray with the appetizer, main course, and bread." So was there an appetizer or wasnt there?

They need to have healthier mains

@N1120A ---> I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Dr. Charles Platkin, the director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, regularly looks at the snack and meal options for 12 airlines — all located in North America. has studied and ranked the 12 biggest airlines from best to worst based on which carrier serves the healthiest food options on a 1-to-5 star rating, 5 being the best. Dr. Platkin publishes the report on a website entitled dietdetective.com.

The most recent results, for 2017-2018, are as follows:
1. TIE: Delta and Virgin America (4 stars)
3. TIE: Air Canada and JetBlue (3.75 stars)
5. Alaska (3.5 stars)
6. United (2.75 stars)
7. American (2.5 stars)
8. Frontier (2.25 stars)
9. Southwest (2 stars)
10. TIE: Allegiant and Spirit (1.75 stars)
12. Hawaiian Airlines (1 star)

The report also states:
"Comments: The airline [Virgin America] has been purchased Alaska Air, and eventually the Virgin name will be disappear. The good news is that Alaska Air is committed to adopting the healthy food options (and transparency) of Virgin America."

See http://www.dietdetective.com/annual-airline-food-investigation-2017-18/

@N1120A ---> I'm not sure what you're talking about.

Dr. Charles Platkin, a professor at New York’s Hunter College has studied and ranked the 12 biggest North American airlines from best to worst based on which carrier serves the healthiest food options for years. His scores range from zero to five based on a variety of factors such as calorie levels, healthy nutrients, clarity of nutritional information, menu innovation and more. Platkin is the director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center and the editor of the Diet Detective website. scored airlines. His latest report (2017-2018) results are as follows:

1. TIE -- Delta and Virgin America (4 stars)
3. TIE -- Air Canada and JetBlue (3.75 stars)
5. Alaska (3.5 stars)
6. United (2.75 stars)
7. American (2.5 stars)
8. Frontier (2.25 stars)
9. Southwest (2 stars)
10. TIE -- Allegiant and Spirit (1.75 stars)
12. Hawaiian (1 star)

In re: VX/AS, Dr. Platkin makes the following comment: "The airline has been purchased Alaska Air, and eventually the Virgin name will be disappear. The good news is that Alaska Air is committed to adopting the healthy food options (and transparency) of Virgin America."

@Scott - Salt and Straw is from Portland, OR. There are two shops in San Francisco now, one just a few blocks from where I live, and they always have a line!

Either a red meat or fat+carb option. That's not healthy mains.

Unlike AA/DL/UA, AS doesn't seem to differentiate between "premium" and "non-premium" transcon routes. In fact, AS even offered this same menu on longer mid-con flights like SEA-ORD flight.

@N1120A —> Not trying to argue with you, but my last few flights¹ on AS featured Thai chicken salad, a Chicken Bahn Mi, a fruit and cheese plate, a Mediterranean "tapas" plate, and a beef-and-bean burrito that I'm pretty sure contained no beef. On former VX metal, the food offered really hasn't changed that much.

_______________
¹ FWIW, I've flown AS/VX 26 times in the last 12 months, 8 times since January 1st.

@Chuck ---> That's probably true when it comes to mainland flights on Boeings (i.e.: legacy AS fleet), but it's not the case on Airbuses (legacy VX fleet). Alaska's website clearly lists different menus for Main Cabin food offered on flights <1.5 hours, versus <2.5 hours. Also, menus are different on legacy VX flights from Nashville and from Mexico. Legacy AS flights have different offerings for flights to/from Hawai'i and Mexico/Costa Rica.

This info comes from the Alaska website: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/travel-info/flight-experience/main-cabin/food-and-drink and from my personal experience onboard both Alaska's Boeing and Airbus flights.

@Jason, yes all of my experience has been on AS operated 737s, so there may well be additional differences on Airbus operated flights. And come to think of it, the dessert and salad on my SEA-ORD F flights may have been slightly simpler, but it was the same basic format of salad, roll, choice of two entrees and a dessert.

Reading this article on IAD-SFO. FA prvided an excellent meal service. No trays -- served the meal in two courses directly on the tray table. However, she did bring the snack basket and the warm towels out very shortly after the meal. It seemed like she wanted to finish service and disappear, but she didn't. She wasn't terribly proactive, but she did take care of us throughout the flight. We also had pillows and blankets (thankfully, as the cabin was COLD). However, I have to say that the eastbound meal looked better than the westbound meal and the Virgin snack basket was better than this one. All in all though, the best ride available from the DC market to the bay area.