Review: Alaska Air First Class Seattle to Kauai
After leaving the lounge, we caught the train to the N Gates for a flight departing from Gate N6. Arrived at the gate about 15 minutes before boarding. When our flights were switched because of the new schedule, we were assigned seats in different rows (2D & 3A). I wasn’t able to change the seats online or by calling in, as the cabin was full. So, being able to sit next to each other for the flight would be dependent on whether another passenger would be willing to switch seats.
While waiting in line to board the plane, we started chatting with an older gentleman in line behind us. Once on the plane, we found out that he was actually sitting next to me. We asked if he would be willing to switch seats with Randy so we could sit together and he agreed.
Alaska has 2 different versions of their 737-800. One version has 4 rows of business class (with a 36 inch pitch), and one version has 3 rows of business class (with a 41 inch pitch). Luckily we were on the version with the 3 rows/41 inch pitch.
The seats were your typical domestic first class seats, but with the 41 inch pitch, there was lots of leg room.
There was a tray that folded out from the left armrest.
There was another little drink tray that slid out from the armrest. Waiting at our seat was also two bottles of water. On the side of the center armrest was a button for reclining the seat.
On the front side of the middle armrest was a power outlet and a USB slot.
There is no in-seat entertainment, but they do have free streaming entertainment (using your own tablet or phone) as well as free chat and texting. They also have pre-loaded Windows tablets for rent in economy, or for free in first class.
During boarding, there was an announcement that Alaska Air no longer carries pillows and blankets on this flight, and they suggested that a person might want to keep a sweater or jacket available in case the plane was cold. I ended up wearing my light jacket the entire flight, and I was perfectly comfortable.
One thing that I found interesting was that before takeoff, the pilot came out to chat with the passengers about some expected turbulence and the route that they were planning to take (over Anchorage and then back down to the islands). He figured that if we ended up with the same winds as he encountered last week, we would end up arriving into Kauai early. He stopped to chat with us and we mentioned the flower design we saw on the plane. He told us that there had been a design contest, and a 16-year-old won . Unfortunately, from the gate and from on the plane, we could only see the design on the wingtips. But they did have a little article about it on a wall near the entrance of the plane.
After most of the passengers had boarded, the flight attendant came around with a drink of sparkling wine and POG (passion orange guava juice). it was fine, but a little sweet. I wouldn’t want to drink a lot of them. But I appreciate the effort of getting people into the Hawaiian mood.
The flight pushed back from the gate on time, and we were soon in the air.
About 20 minutes after takeoff, the flight attendants came around with entertainment tablets. There was a pretty good selection of movies and TV shows on the tablet.
Immediately after getting our entertainment tablets, they came by with a warm towel.
The menus were then handed out, and they came by to take orders shortly after. We were in the last row of first class, so by the time they got to us, they only had 1 of each meal left. I ordered the pasta and Randy went with the chicken.
They also took our drink orders at the same time. I went with a vodka and cranberry – which was served with warm nuts.
Randy went with the Kona Brewing longboard beer.
During the meal service, I noticed a number of economy passengers coming forward to use the bathroom in the first class cabin. On other flights, I have seen the flight attendants be very strict with not allowing the economy passengers use the first class bathroom. But when I asked the flight attendant about this, she said that they will allow passengers to come forward – as the meal service usually lasts 2 hours, and it would be unreasonable to have people wait that long if there is a cart blocking access to the rear bathroom.
About 1 hour and 15 minutes into flight we were served salad course – which came on a tray. A whole wheat bun was also served with the salad. The salad was actually pretty tasty, and I appreciate that the dish wasn’t just your usual round bowl.
The main course came about 20 minutes later. My pasta was fine – but nothing overly exciting.
Randy’s chicken dish was a little tasteless, but not actively bad.
The dessert was served about 20 minutes after finishing the main course. It was the best part of the meal. In fact, I think it might have been the best dessert I’ve ever had on a plane. The chocolate brownie was delicious with a melted center. The picture doesn’t do it any justice – it was better than it looks.
After the meal service was completed, there were still a couple of hours left in the flight. During the meal service I watched the Wonder Woman movie. After the meal, I watched Girls Trip.
The one issue I found with the entertainment tablet is that there isn’t a lot of room to have both the tablet and the meal tray on the table at the same time. I ended up accidentally knocking the tablet off the table during one point of my meal.
About an hour and 45 minutes before arrival, it was announced that Alaska Air provides free mai tais to everyone on the plane to get them in the aloha spirit. If you didn’t want a mai tai, they also offered guava juice. At this point, I didn’t really need any more alcohol, but I ordered one to see what it was like. When the drink arrived, it was rather clear – and didn’t look like any mai tai I’ve had before. After tasting it, it seemed like it was mostly just alcohol. I’m not sure if there was an juice in there at all. I think this is a nice gesture of Alaska Air. Unfortunately I just wasn’t in the mood to have any more alcohol – so I just had a few sips of the drink and at the cherry and pineapple.
A while later, the flight attendant also came by with a snack basket of chips and chocolate bars.
As the captain had predicted, we ended up arriving into Lihue half an hour early.
Overall, it was a very comfortable flight. The seats had lots of room, and the meals served were decent (with an excellent dessert). And it is a nice touch for them to offer the pre-departure sparkling wine/POG drink and the pre-arrival mai tai. It’s definitely a solid option for flying from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii.
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