What's Alaska Airlines First Class Like?

What the hell is up with that glittery Inuit prayer rug thing mounted at the front of the cabin? Anyone?

What happened to that power port? It looks disgusting!!!! I also don't get why airlines insist to offer Dasani water. Yes, I know it is a contract with Coca-Cola but that water is simply tap water in a bottle with a bunch of bad stuff added to it. It is not a mineral water and it tastes terrible in my opinion.

Santastico,

I've noticed you've written about Dasani water a number of times. It's not spring water, but Dasani gets the job done IMO. Neutral tasting and hydrating. I would rather have Dasani in cabin than Evian if only one choice was available. Fiji or Voss would be great but is unrealistic to expect on US domestic flights.

The Browne wines are very nice; much better than what is typically served in domestic first class of other airlines.

You are lucky to have gotten a pre departure beverage service; in the past year I have only gotten this on one out of 10 flights with Alaska.

Ben,

The increase of pitch results in a loss of 4 first class seats on the -800 (which is already complete). -900's will retain 16 seats, which will soon represent half of the fleet.

I recently flew LAX-PDX and back in AS first. On the outbound, the crew seemed very disorganized, although they were extremely pleasant. Drink orders were taken before takeoff and promptly delivered once airborne, but on this ~105min segment, I didn't receive my meal until around top of descent and I was in row 3 on the 739ER, so it was a few minutes after that when the last row got their meals. My tray was collected just after we passed through 10,000 feet. Again, the crew was extremely friendly and they were working hard, it just seemed they didn't have all their ducks in a row. It's not like I had anything else to do or somewhere to be!

On the return the following day the equipment was swapped from the 739 to 738 with only 12 F seats, which caused some confusion at the gate when folks hadn't updated their mobile boarding passes. With a different crew but equally friendly FA, the meal service was just as slow.

Now, the food was decent tasting and decidedly edible. The same meal was offered in both directions (no choices). Both FAs described it as "Parmesan rice with vegetables" which I suppose is technically correct but it was in fact risotto. Based on the time it took again between each set of trays leaving the galley, I think the meal and plating were simply too complicated for such a short flight. As nice as it is to have a hot meal in cold weather, perhaps a nice cold salad with warm garlic bread or soup would be more appropriate for the short block time. That would be my only real complaint about AS in general - I think they do a nice job overall but maybe try too hard on these short flights. I don't think they should go cutting meal service since it really sets them apart from everyone else on these shorter flights, but they should rethink what they are offering if it is causing the crew undue grief.

@Tony: I don't recall writing about Dasani water before but I probably mentioned about in previous posts since I find it terrible. You can search online and see what is inside that bottle. I am not at all for fancy mineral waters and agree you cannot serve imported mineral water in a domestic flight in the US. However, we have great spring water brands here that cost the same as a purified water.

Santastico and Tony - I would never buy filtered tap water like Dasani but I'll drink it if offered. "Pure spring water" is the thing to look for on the bottle, and two of the cheapest brands (Arrowhead on west coast and Poland Spring on east coast) are both pure spring water and both have zero taste IMO. Same with Ice Mountain. Those I'll buy. Fiji or Voss are fine too, but a rip-off. Evian? Don't get me started...

Do you know what Evian spells backwards?

Compared with other legacy non-premium First Class, Alaska stacks up well. Their weakness, imo, is that there's never been and probably will never be a "wow" factor to the airline the same way Virgin America strived for. Simply put, they do things very boring but they do it very well.

Nice trip report. I had no idea that Alaska served pre-departure beverages - and I am a AS MVP75k - who has had quite a few flights on AS. Mind you i generally fly the shorter or mid-con flights.

This all just reinforces my sadness at VX being acquired.

@Charlie McMillan: Totally agree with you. Yes, if I am thirsty and the only available water is Dasani, Aquafina or any other purified water I will drink it. But it will never be my option if I have a choice. I live in the Midwest and I can get a box with 40 16.9oz bottles of Ice Mountain water at Costco for $4. I am not a big fan of Fiji water taste but nothing that I would not drink it. As for Evian, they have a very strong brand. I've been to the town of Evian in France and the water is great. Yes, I know the brand id owned by Danone and they add a price to it but at least it is natural spring water. I would not buy here in the US but if in France and Switzerland I drink it and it is fine.

Lucky, I am surprised to hear you say that they serve pre-departure beverages of your choice as I've always been told that I can get it after we take off. I've only received an alcoholic beverage on flights to Hawaii (POG mimosa). I normally fly them first class when I fly with them (transcon and shorter flights) and have only received water as a pre-departure beverage. Maybe because it was a trip to Mexico you got a drink?

Also, my experience with Alaska has been that when I ask for a refill of my beverage when I receive my meal, I'm always told to wait until they are finished serving the meals to the whole cabin. I find that to be poor service as United, American, Delta, and Virgin will always give you a refill when served a meal.

I find their first class product to be subpar, but agree that the flight attendants are always king and friendly. I feel sorry for the Virgin America loyalists.

@Lucky,

Just a heads up, there is built-in entertainment on Alaska, just no seat-back screens. They have some interesting content from the Seattle Film Festival and some other videos that are no charge. They also include access to messaging apps on your phone when you're flying within the Gogo air-to-ground service area for no charge.

I can't even recall a time when I was offered a pre-flight beverage on Alaska. Harumph.

I've taken this flight a bunch of times and it always makes me sad that they don't have margaritas. United usually has a few bottles of margarita mix on board their mexico flights so order early 🙂

Also, those Alaska First Class seats recline so far that I honestly think you have less room than in Economy if the person in front of you leans all the way back.

No lounge access in PVR for Alaska First, either, but the lounge is actually kind of sad there anyway. And the duty free lets you do free tequila tasting.

The Alaska FA's seem to be big fans of letting the whole plane use the First Class lav (I actually have no problem with it, everyone's gotta go, y'know), but man the FA's love to let the whole plane queue up in the front of the plane so your whole flight is spent staring at people's butts.

Dumbasses complaining about bottled water should be given pond water to drink.

Fresh, straight-out-of-nature pond water.

In the next couple of weeks I will be flying Alaska's new premium economy and first class. It will be interesting to see what differences (if any) there are between the new and old. Your description of Alaska's first class is very accurate, though I find it to be a huge upgrade over their economy seats. The pricing difference between first and economy seems fair enough most times unlike what I see from other brands but I cannot compare between legacy airlines because I have never flown AA or Delta.

My girlfriend doesn't like spring water because it takes like dirt.
She does prefer Aquafina and Dasani bigger brands.
However, she does like Fiji water, mostly because of the shape of the bottle.

I'm flying Alaska F tomorrow from SEA-LAX on a new (Oct 2016) 737-9. First time trying the product, and my expectations are pretty much in line with this review. Any chance this flight will have the increased pitch or were they still taking delivery of them with the old configuration a few months ago?

I assume you redeemed miles for this flight? I rarely find it worth it to redeem miles for such a short flight, especially since flights to Mexico cost more than domestic flights. Did you find it worth the miles you spent?

100K miles on Alaska so far and never a pre-departure beverage for me. This was clearly an aberration.
Big BOO on no meal selection for mid-cons. That's my biggest pet peeve with them.
Best part of Alaska is the mileage earning, great FAs, and NO DRAMA operations... any delay is always rare and out of their control. They actually act like they know how to get a plane out on time, unlike the big carriers.
In DFW, after a storm passed, I watched us get fast tracked around a 30 plane line up of AAs to take right off. I don't know how they make it happen but I could kiss their feet for pulling that off! (getting new flight plan filed before everyone else??)

I'm an Alaska MVP GOLD 75K, so I've spent a fair amount of time in Alaska's first and new premium classes. My experience has been a bit better than you and some of the comments have described.

Meal Service: I've never not had a choice of meals, although sometimes one choice is used to by the time they get to the back row.

Drinks: is been my experience that pre-takeoff drinks are completely at the discretion of the flight attendant. I would prefer more consistency. Having said this, it does seem to me more consistent on vacation destination flights. Also, I've never felt like the attendant didn't come back often enough for drinks.

Seats: OK, they may not be the best first class seats out there, but at least they're leather. Some of the nasty cloth first class seats the larger legacy carriers have are unacceptable (in my opinion)

Power in Seats: clearly you hadn't flown Alaska in a while, because they've had power in every flight I've been in for a couple years, more. More importantly, their power ports consistently work (I'm calling out American here, on which I've found more ports that don't work than actually work). As for the person who made the silly comment about how ugly the power ports are... really? That's high on my list of things I want airlines to spend time and money on (read sarcasm into this, for those of you who are literal). Besides, the ports are angled down or backwards (depending on seats) and actually not very visible.

Entertainment/Internet: I actually like the tablets, but wish they handed them out on shorter flights. My only complaint is that gogo has been really show, lately. Maybe a result of offering free movies and messaging on their network?!

Premium Class: I like this service, but I've found that the flight attendants are a little confused about how it works. Usually drinks are free and unlimited (not every crew member has gotten the memo, but I'm sure that's just growing pains and will be resolved). Improved pitch and removal of the first class bulkhead has made a big difference and caused me to move my preferred seats from the exit rows to row 6 (behind first class). There is a snack box, as well.

Overall, I really enjoy Alaska. No, they're not perfect, but they're better than most alternatives... not to mention the mileage plan is great. If they could only get their gate agents to board the same way every time... when half the flight is made up of elite travelers, boarding all mileage plan & partner elite members at once gets quite annoying. Alas, first world problems...

The problem with Nestle waters (Arrowhead and Poland Spring) is they have the "eco caps" which only cover about a millimeter of the top of the bottle, so you are making contact with part of the bottle which has been handled and exposed to the elements. The Dasani soda bottle is much more sanitary as it has a full-size cap.

I really like AS first class for short hops, having real food is so much better than what other airlines give you, plus lounge access is included.

I fly solely Alaska. Never once been offered a pre departure drink in about 100 first class flights. Delta does

Evian is the nicest, softest water I've tasted. Voss definitely not worth the expense - I'm still convinced it is treated tap water. Dasani is actively unpleasant. Too many brands to comment on; but in the end, we're lucky to be able to drink as much safe, drinkable water as we desire.

I've traveled in first on the reconfigured -800s and it makes a huge difference, so looking forward to when the rest are done. Having recently experienced AS & DL first transcontinental and recently Air Canada (business domestic transcontinental) - there is no comparison regarding food - AC his heads above US carriers in domestic food - however AS still wins with much higher odds of having a friendly crew. AC lives up to their motto 'if you're not happy, we're not happy' 9 times out of 10! So, AS remains my carrier of choice from YVR to the USA - especially with the new pitch and PY seats!

Just because other airlines SERVE you larger portions, Lucky, doesn't mean you have to clean your plate.

More often than not, one item included in the airline meal is inedible, so you fill up on the remainder of the meal.

75k Gold member and I have never received a pre-departure cocktail in first class. I flew almost 100k miles last year, 90% in F, and nada, zip, zero pre-departure drinks. It's actually the one thing I consistently give them negative marks for on their surveys.

@Lucky - Just to confirm as an AS Gold 75K in Seattle, that I only VERY rarely have gotten a pre-departure beverage. I sometimes get a chance to ORDER my drink pre-departure, but that's it. It's certainly the very infrequent exception, so you got...Lucky! And I also wish they'd make that more consistent too. It's a nice touch when it happens.

I'm in F about half the time with AS, and do definitely appreciate the free digi-players for entertainment when I'm not just working on my laptop the entire flight. It's been fairly well-known for a while now to avoid booking row 4 if possible, since you can get burned by IRROPS that way. This will become more important as the reconfig of certain planes from 16 to 12 proceeds apace...

(btw: I believe that's actually an 800 in your photo, not a 900...)

@Deb - The Premium Economy experience will only be in terms of an extra snack and [apparently?]-unlimited drinks. They started refitting the 737 fleet with the nicer seats (increased pitch) a couple years ago. For a while, it was a nice little secret that 6-9 were now as good as the exit rows for pitch. We knew they'd eventually begin up-selling them, and that moment arrived last month. 🙁

Not specifically about their First Class, but I like Alaska better now that they have an all 737 fleet. A few years back they were flying a lot of old rear-engined DC-9's and I'm glad to see the back of those. They even lost one off the coast of LA.

Pretty much only see them on Delta now, who never met an old plane they didn't like.

Hawaiian serves a meal on all flights.

I've found Delta and Hawaiian to be the most generous at making sure passengers in first-class never have an empty glass. I've had first-class flights on American at 7 a.m. on a Monday in which the flight attendant didn't serve coffee until 40 minutes after takeoff.

To quote the late Herb Caen, "Random thoughts and bon mots . . . "

@FNT Delta Diamond ---> 1) Yes, Hawaiian serves a meal on all flights FROM THE MAINLAND TO HAWAI'I, but not on inter-island flights. 2) But it remains completely inedible.

@Olorin ---> As a dedicated Virgin America customer with Gold status (and MVP Gold on Alaska because of it), I'm glad to hear your comments about Alaska. That said, I have no doubt that VX's First Class is far superior to what's found on AS. To start with, there are the seats: 55" of pitch/21" width, built-in IFE, and power ports; versus 36" of pitch/21" width, no IFE (some tablets), and power ports. The food appears better on VX (from what I've tasted and from what I've read). I'll give the flight attendants a tie . . . That said, I'm looking forward to experiencing AS First at some point, but probably not until I have to -- if there's a VX option, for now I'll take it.

Alaska "First Class" is actually every other US airline's lesser Business Class and to brand it as First Class is outrageous. Using BA points it is a two category upgrade (or perhaps that is old news). Nonsense.

Compare this product to Air Canada lie-flat business class and weep.

How low is low in the US airline business?

As I have said before, Alaska thinks they invented First Class.

Debating between premium economy and first class. Has anyone flown the new premium economy on Alaska? Thoughts? We've flown their first class before. I agree; it's nice, but not outstanding. The best part of Alaska is that the people are among the nicest we've met on any airline. The food on the last flight was a rubbery, sugary waffle that neither of us cared for. I've had much better food on other airlines. We also weren't offered much in the way of drinks. Both Sun Country and American offered better and more frequent drink service in first class. Our upcoming trip is a shorter one, so the free luggage isn't really a big deal. I don't think we will each check a bag just because it's a hassle carrying around extra bags.

Regularly upgraded to both FC and Premium Econ on Alaska as a Gold 75K member flying between 90-110k on Alaska on average the past few years. The new pitch in FC is MUCH appreciated. The food seems to have slipped a bit and I missed the test run of the tapas style 3 plate transcontinental meal choices they tried last year. It was too much food but fun to choose and the food was a step up.

Premium economy pitch is not as large as the exit row, but about what FC used to be, but with the 17.5 width Econ seats. The snack box is laughable. The no limit drinks is coming along as FAs get used to it.

I think the best perks are not the seats but the ones that come with 75k, including digiplayers on longer flights, carry on bags brought to the door of the plane vs the carousel, mileage bonuses, and no change fees

Also of note, Alaska seems to have the cheapest first-class upgrades of any airline (only $99 each way). I will be flying them from Minneapolis to Seattle in one month and can't wait!

Thanks for everything you do Lucky!

that american "first class" looks poor--why do american airlines have such poor offerings yet proclamate how "great" they are? cognitive dissonance.

@Sara N. ---> I'm presuming two things here, and I hope I am correct in both presumptions: 1) you are residing in a nation other than the USA; and 2) when you say "american airlines" above, you mean airlines based in the US and not specifically American Airlines, the specific airline.

Most US airlines have two different types of First Class -- one for long-haul and/or inter-continental flights; another for shorter and/or domestic flights. Many US-based carriers operate nothing larger than a Boeing 737 (e.g.: Alaska, Southwest) or Airbus 319/320/321 (e.g.: JetBlue, Virgin America). On these small(er) aircraft, some carriers may offer lie-flat seats on a few (but not all) of their planes; others offer seats with extra pitch, extra width, and extra recline. Intercontinental first class -- these airlines are just as likely to fly 737s/320s between the US and Canada, or the US and Mexico as they are from Los Angeles to Dallas, or San Francisco to Chicago -- is another story.

As to your larger question, why air carriers in the US proclaim how great they are, I'd say that everyone thinks they'er great; every company thinks its great; and so on. That said, I'd much rather fly, for example, Alaska or Virgin first class on reclining seats within the US than British Airways or AirFrance so-called "business" class on a flight of equal duration within continental Europe.

I have also flown a fair amount, and as also flown with Air Canada. (One of the worst airlines) And what people do not understand, is that the days of comfortably and courteous service is gone. Airlines today do not care about their passengers, they care only as far as the dollar. They give as little as possible and take as much possible in return, and they get away with this because there are very little in passengers rights.

North American airlines would do well to take a lesson from their European counter parts.

I find it amazing that people complain about first class being small on a 737. It's not a 777, and it's not Etihad's 25k apartment suite. What are you honestly expecting? Personally I think Alaska first class is worth it for the sole fact you don't have a third person crammed into the row with you.

Question about F seats - I just booked my first F fare on AS (first time on AS at all, actually, and figure what the heck, I'll burn my AA miles for F on a red-eye. Anyhow...). Can you speak to the space available in Row 1 vs 2 or 3? Of course the bulkhead can be in the way, but on some flights, it's a lot farther away from you than on others. Did you get enough of a look to decide if you think it'd be too cramped in row 1, or if it's a better choice than row 2/3? I'm about 5' 11" btw

Alaska airlines first class sucks! I asked for a blanket because I came from Hawaii and I landed in Seattle in January. Nope. No blanket or pillow. Totally lame! Only beverage offered was nasty coffee. Worst first class ever.

Agree honesty the lowest frills first class I’ve ever seen. Nothing provided - no headsets, no pillows, no blankets, poor seats, poor food, etc.

@Frank ---> This article, and my own post/reply above, date back to January 2017, some 22 months ago. I would only say that a) Lucky's review is of a 737-900 aircraft, and applies solely to that particular series; b) a significant majority of the flights I've taken since the review was published have been of Alaska's Airbus fleet (ex-Virgin America). Since Lucky originally published this review, I have flown on AS/VX a total of 58 times. Of those flights, four were on an E175 regional jet, and four were on a 737. Of those 58 flights, I've been upgraded to First Class 26 times; of those 26, three were on an E175, and NONE were on a Boeing...despite their only being eight total seats in F on an Airbus and 16 on a Boeing. (Go figure.). Each of my flights originated from SFO, and includes short-, medium-, and transcontinental flights.

Flights on an Alaska Airbus (319, 320, 321) are, so far¹, significantly better than what Lucky describes above. ALL of the Airbus series feature seats that remind one of a reclining lounge chair you'd find in someone's den, with 41" of pitch and 21" seat width. This is only matched by the Boeing 787-800 (Slimline) and 737-900 version 2(!) and actually exceeded by the E175 (42" and 21"). 737-900 version 1, and all other AS craft are 36" pitch and 21". Clearly Lucky was on a 737-900 v1.

FWIW, since January of 2017, I have noticed significant improvement in the food quality aboard AS 737's, coming significantly closer to what VX was offering. That said, there is no denying that AS has gutted the VX "RED" IFE system, dropping live TV, music, and food ordering. I'm sad to see that disappear. I don't miss the cheap headsets, the sound quality sucked! Besides, while no everyone has their own tablet, an overwhelming number of people -- at least on the flights I've taken -- have their own earphones/headsets, if not the (e.g.) Apple iPhone earbuds, then Bose (or other brand of) noise-cancelling ones.

Pillows and blankets have never been an issue for me personally, unless I'm on a red-eye, which -- domestically -- I'll avoid at all costs. But certainly they are amenities that some people expect.

In other words, I'm not totally disagreeing with you, just pointing out some changes (for the better, IMHO) since the review was initially written, as well as some points of agreement.

_______________
¹ AS has announced that, at some future date, they will be adding a third row of F seats on its Airbus fleet, so the 41" pitch is sure to be reduced.

You get what you pay for. Now there are no longer digi players. You have to download their app. Their list of movies suck. There are flights in First where there is only a snack and the snack sucks. How can they only serve a snack on a 6hr flight? I don't care if its a late night flight, serve a decent meal. Cabin crews are always nice and friendly but Alaska's First Class is more like any economy plus on Delta or United.

Wow, I have never been so underwhelmed in my life. This "first class" experience on Alaska between Honolulu and Portland OR was worse than most airlines economy plus.
Lets start out by their website clearly stating they "always have vegetarian options" then we find out, they don't, won't accomodate us and won't refund us.
Then the plane, the seats were so old, they had to be from an old People Express plane from the 70's, I am not sure there was any cushion left in any of them. They barely recline as well.
The Digi players we received were about 18 months behind the times when it came to titles available and their streaming app didn't work for owned devices. When we received the digi players, they were both at 20% battery and lasted about 90 minutes.
Once in Portland, I spoke with customer "service" 3 times and was actually told "we got you there, that's what you paid us for" So thats how they treat First Class Customers. I know who I won't be flying anymore. Fly Hawaiian Air where they treat you like humans and take care of their fleet of planes!

Alaska air has the worst first class seats of any airline. The pitch does not even allow you to sleep because you head keeps popping forward. I only fly Alaska because of the lack of options. Whenever I have a choice I will fly Delta or United.