ND76

A couple of weeks ago I was invited to a business meeting on Maui in early January and wanted to fly there on the Big D DCA-ATL-LAX-OGG and back. After fooling around on delta.com and finding that there were no RT coach fares under $1,400.00, I contemplated biting the bullet and buying an F ticket.

I actually found a discounted F fare for about $2,100.00; I left the page on delta.com to check something else out, and, when I returned to that page, the $2,100.00 fare was gone and replaced by a fare north of $2,500.00.
Frustrated, I contemplated my options and realized that Alaska Airlines flies to OGG, and in fact has significantly more Maui service than Delta. I went over to alaskaair.com and found that while their coach fares were in the $1,500 range, their full fare F price was only $1,900.00. AS gets good marks from frequent flyers generally, so they won our business on this trip. To get the F price, our itinerary on the outbound was DCA-PDX-OGG, with a 15 hour layover/overnight stay in Portland; homebound it was OGG-SEA-DCA with a 10 hour layover/overnight stay in Sea-Tac.

We departed DCA in the 5 pm hour on New Year’s Day, arriving at PDX on time just before 8 pm EST; we departed PDX the next morning in the 11 am hour, reaching OGG at about 3 pm HST (5 hours behind Washington). Homebound we departed OGG in the 2 pm hour on Tuesday, January 7, reaching SEA on the stroke of 10 pm PST; and we left SEA on Wednesday 1/8 in the 8 am hour and arrived at DCA at 4 pm EST.

Here is what Alaska is like to fly on in the F cabin, and where appropriate a comparison with Delta.

ON-LINE CHECK-IN: Check-in is available on-line 24 hours prior to departure on AS, just like on DL. When my wife and I put our Delta SkyMiles account numbers in the AS system, AS recognized us as elites and indicated “DL Gold” on our boarding passes. For the DCA-PDX segment, both of us were granted TSA Pre-Check privileges. During our trip we learned that, for some reason, TSA Pre-Check only shows up on BPs printed by means of a personal computer; we were not granted TSA Pre-Check on BPs obtained at the airport.

AIRPORT BAGGAGE DROP: AS does not have a SkyCap drop-off area at DCA similar to what United and Delta have (all three use the same security entrance at DCA). Luggage drop is inside the third level of the DCA north terminal. AS does have a priority counter for First Class, MVP Gold 75k and MVP Gold. On the day of our departure from DCA, we arrived at the airport 2 hours early and were the only ones in line. We received prompt, friendly service. AS does not put priority tags on bags for elites; they stress that they have a 20 minute guarantee for all luggage for all passengers on a given flight. We did have to wheel our checked suitcases over to the TSA x-ray machine at the neighboring United counter, where AS (or perhaps more precisely its contractor Worldwide Flight Services) collected them after inspection and took them to the airplane.

TSA PRE-CHECK: As noted above, our GM status on Delta got a pre-check designation on our BPs printed at home; we whisked through TSA at DCA. At PDX the next morning, we obtained our BPs at the airport and headed for TSA Pre-check. For some reason, the female TSA inspector did not look closely at my wife’s BP, even though it did not cause the three beeps, and my wife got into the pre-check line. She did look closely at my BP after it did not cause the three beeps, and she sent me into the general security line, which meant having to take my laptop out of the bag, take my shoes off and pass through the TSA nude-o-scope. On the way home at OGG, we obtained our BPs at the counter, and the TSA BP checker sent us into the general line, but my wife persuaded another TSA worker to let us into the pre-check line as our flight was leaving in less than 45 minutes. We got smart and printed out the BPs at the hotel in Sea-Tac and had no problems with pre-check at SEA.

AIRLINE CLUBS: As we belong to the SkyClub, we had no problems being admitted to the DCA SkyClub or to the PDX and SEA Board Rooms. There is no airline lounge at OGG to the best of my knowledge. AS Board Room members have privileges at the DCA SkyClub. The PDX Board Room does not serve hard liquor, but has a number of beer and wine choices; I’m a beer drinker and I went with a Kona Longboard Lager. The SEA Board Room had hard liquor in addition to beer and wine; they had a sign posted indicating that guests were limited to 3 complimentary drinks. The SEA club also had a premium bar menu (for example, they were charging for Crater Lake super premium Vodka). I ordered a bloody mary; I believe they were pouring Smirnoff vodka as the complimentary choice. My favorite thing in both the PDX and SEA clubs was the automated pancake making machine. You press a button, place a plate at the business end of the machine, and, within a minute or so, two hot fresh pancakes emerge from the machine.

BOARDING PROCEDURES: AS really, really tries hard to achieve quick turns of their aircraft. On the day of our first flight, the inbound airplane came from SEA, with a scheduled arrival time of about 1610, and the departure for PDX was scheduled for 1710, allowing for catering, cleaning and lav service. Boarding started with pre-boards at 1640 (there were only a couple), and then F class. I didn’t hang around to see how the rest of the boarding went, but I was under the impression that AS’s elites and DL and AA elites in Y got on next, followed by general boarding of all rows. AS’s GA’s recognized both my wife and me by our names, which was nice.

PRE-FLIGHT: One of the four FAs passed out plastic cups of water. No Delta-style PDBs on any of AS’s flights in F on this itinerary.

SEATS: We flew on Boeing 737-800 aircraft on all segments. The AS F cabin has 16 “slimline” seats (I’m not sure who the seat manufacturer is) (there are 150 Y seats). Each seat has been reported by seatguru.com to be 21” wide with 36” of pitch—from my experience this appeared to be accurate. There is an armrest between the pairs of seats of about 6” width, and there is a visible gap between the seats (which there does not tend to be on DL). There is an adjustable headrest. The seat cushions were not consistent in terms of comfort (my cushion on the DCA-PDX leg was somewhat uncomfortable, although my cushion today SEA-DCA was comfortable). The tray table is located in one of the armrests; it was at a distance making it easy for horizontally challenged passengers such as yours truly to use it either to work or to eat. There is no in seat power. There are no permanently installed AVOD screens; AS passes out to F pax complimentary “DigEplayers” that are pre-loaded with a fairly impressive amount of movies and TV shows as well as some music (these rent for $10 in coach). The seats are lettered A-C and D-F.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS: AS uses 4 FAs on the 737-800. One stays permanently with the F cabin, and is from time to time assisted by one or more of the others. All of the FAs we encountered worked hard and were generally visible throughout the flight. At the start of the flight it was announced that passengers were expected to use the lavatory in their respective cabins. This seemed to be fairly well observed/enforced on our DCA-PDX and PDX-OGG segments. This was not enforced on the SEA-DCA segment, as we had a steady stream of Y pax emerging from behind the curtain when the forward lav was unoccupied. Also, the FAs on the SEA-DCA did not prevent Y pax from putting their carry-ons in the overhead bins in F, which caused some problems for the last two F pax to board.

MENUS: AS provides first-class passengers with a printed menu. DL does not do this in domestic F.

BEVERAGES: AS has better in-flight beverages than DL. I did not try the wines on any of the four segments and cannot comment on them (AS indicates that they only serve California and Pacific Northwest wines). However, AS offered Alaskan Amber on mainland flights and Kona Longboard lager on the Hawaii flights, which are better beers than Delta offers. With respect to hard liquor, Delta still has Woodford Reserve for now, but AS offers some dynamite vodka, gin and rum produced by Seattle microdistillery Sun Liquor. I really enjoyed the bloody marys prepared with the Sun Liquor vodka. Further, AS offers Courvoisier cognac, Bailey’s Irish Cream and Crater Lake hazelnut espresso vodka (50 proof), which simply blows Kahlua away. Also, on the flight to Hawaii, a Mimosa using POG (passion fruit-orange-guava) juice was offered; and, in both cabins, mai tais were served about an hour from landing (the drinks in F were served with a large pineapple cube and a maraschino cherry).

MEALS: We flew two dinner flights (DCA-PDX and OGG-SEA), one lunch flight (PDX-OGG) and one breakfast flight (SEA-DCA).

Service included glassware and ceramic plates. When food was served, it was presented on a black plastic tray sized to fit on the tray table, covered with a blue napkin. A rolled up linen napkin contained the metal utensils.

On the DCA-PDX segment on 1/1/14 departing in the 5 pm hour, plastic ramekins with unheated mixed nuts were passed out along with the initial beverage service. The first dinner course was a salad comprising mostly of watermelon chunks and arugula. The entree was a choice of Alaska cod in a lemon sauce with Yukon gold roast potatoes and chopped broccoli or cheese ravioli. The dessert was a peach parfait.

On the PDX-OGG segment on 1/2/14 departing in the 11 am hour, catering put breakfast menus and lunch food on board. The first course was a mixed green salad with pieces of an orange colored tropical fruit, macadamia nuts and feta cheese (which was quite good). The entrees were either a chicken with curry sauce plate (which ran out before the FA reached us in row 4) or boneless kalbi beef rib pieces in a teriyaki-type sauce with white rice and an oriental vegetable (possibly bok choy). My wife thought the beef was tough but I thought it was really delicious. I cleaned my plate. The dessert was a crème with chocolate and coconut flavors served in a small ceramic cup which was really good and left you wanting more.

On the OGG-SEA segment on 1/7/14 departing in the 2 pm hour: (1) first course, olive oil poached mahi mahi on top of lettuce leaves assembled in a pinwheel pattern with bleu cheese crumbles; (2) entrees, either boneless pork chop with a gravy enhanced with Hana Bay rum and raisin flavors, with fingerling potatoes, carrots and asparagus, or a chicken breast in a pineapple sauce with a yam puree; and (3) dessert, chocolate cake with a dollop of raspberry jam on the side. Dinner was not until two hours after departure because of considerable clear air turbulence.

On the SEA-DCA segment on 1/8/14 departing in the 8 am hour, the F breakfast offerings were: (1) first course, fresh fruit plate with pineapple, grapes and orange slices; (2) main course, choice of bacon and swiss chard quiche pie accompanied by asparagus spears and a stewed cherry tomato, or british beef hash. I ate the quiche, which turned out to be quite delicious. The FA served us ceramic ramekins of warm mixed nuts about an hour from landing.

SNACKS: On AS, the mixed nuts and small packages of party mix. Delta’s snack basket is much better than AS; also, Delta F offers you as many snacks as you want; AS only offered one serving of nuts and one pack of party mix and didn’t solicit requests for seconds. AS could improve here.

HOT TOWELS: Towels were distributed shortly before landing on AS (DL passes these out early in the flight). These were of varying wetness and temperatures. This is another area where AS could improve.

OVERALL VERDICT ON ON-BOARD SERVICE: Food and beverages were better on AS than on domestic Delta F. Delta has the edge over AS when it comes to pre-departure beverage service and also Delta’s FAs seem to be much better at providing refills on drinks than their AS counterparts. Delta has better snacks than AS, which are useful in the last couple of hours of a long flight.

BAGGAGE CLAIM: Our bags arrived in good shape and within the 20 minute guarantee, which the AS website represents as follows: If your baggage is not at baggage claim within 20 minutes of your plane parking at the gate, you're entitled to a $25 Discount Code for use on a future Alaska Airlines flight or 2,500 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan™ Bonus Miles.
The only glitch was experienced at PDX, where we were first directed to Carousel #3 (AS exclusively controls carousels 1-3), but then announcements indicated that the bags would appear on Carousel #10, which was then corrected to Carousel #6.

CONCLUSION: I’d definitely go on AS to Hawaii again; they have a number of routing options out of DCA via LAX, PDX or SEA, and they had fair F pricing and enjoyable food and beverage. The only issue was the 737-800 aircraft, which really bounced around on the OGG-SEA segment (we ran through clear air turbulence for at least 3 hours of the 5:20 flight duration). DL pilots really try different altitudes and tricks of the trade to produce a smooth ride. So far as I could tell the AS flyers stuck to the same altitude