Alaska Airlines elevates First Class menu and experience, with a West Coast twist
Mar 19, 2018, 11:43 am
#76
Join Date: Apr 2003
Location: SEA, NW/DL 1.6Million Miler
Programs: DL 1MM Annual Silver,AS 100K 22-24, AS 75K 15-21
Posts: 4,278
BWI SEA F selections
Flew BWI to SEA on 3/18 and were offered these two choices:
MOLE BRAISED BEEF: Tender braised beef shoulder with traditional mole sauce. Served with a savory corn flour pancake, jicama-pineapple slaw, and lime-cilantro crema; garnished with grated Cottija cheese.
FARRO FAVA BEAN PILAF: Farroand orzo pasta cooked with herbs and aromatics in a savory broth. Served with grilled asparagus, fava beans, green peas, sauteed rainbow chard, roasted tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts. Accompanied by a sumac and lemon yogurt sauce on the side.
Service also included a warm mixed nuts, small salad, and a bourbon vanilla ice cream dessert.
Jiburi
PS: My red-eye from SEA to EWR was a veggie and hummus dip plate. Veggie plate had cucumber, carrots, and the small pita bread.
MOLE BRAISED BEEF: Tender braised beef shoulder with traditional mole sauce. Served with a savory corn flour pancake, jicama-pineapple slaw, and lime-cilantro crema; garnished with grated Cottija cheese.
FARRO FAVA BEAN PILAF: Farroand orzo pasta cooked with herbs and aromatics in a savory broth. Served with grilled asparagus, fava beans, green peas, sauteed rainbow chard, roasted tomatoes, and toasted pine nuts. Accompanied by a sumac and lemon yogurt sauce on the side.
Service also included a warm mixed nuts, small salad, and a bourbon vanilla ice cream dessert.
Jiburi
PS: My red-eye from SEA to EWR was a veggie and hummus dip plate. Veggie plate had cucumber, carrots, and the small pita bread.
Mar 19, 2018, 12:37 pm
#77
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Anchorage, AK
Programs: CO - Onepass Gold Elite--> UA - MileagePlus Gold Premier--> Silver --> AS - MileagePlan MVPGOLD!
Posts: 735
So, what I'm seeing looks like a SIGNIFICANT step up.
BTW, who in their right mind wants to know what brand of crystal an airline is using for mayonnaise???
BTW, who in their right mind wants to know what brand of crystal an airline is using for mayonnaise???
Mar 19, 2018, 1:42 pm
#78
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: West Hollywood
Programs: Hyatt Globalist, Hilton Diamond, Alaska MVP, Delta Gold, AA Gold
Posts: 173
It's a move in the right direction. AS knows they're in trouble with the SF market. The SF Biz Journal story included this quote:
The new menu, which will always include a vegetarian option, included a lot of input from Bay Area travelers, Brett Catlin, managing director of guest products, told the San Francisco Business Times.
Alaska (NYSE: ALK), led by CEO Brad Tilden, is eager to keep Virgin America fans on board once it is integrated into the Seattle-based carrier, but that won’t be easy. Loyal Virgin America first-class passengers are already lamenting the eventual loss of that carrier’s very generous seating and other amenities and ambience for which the carrier is known. Some San Francisco travelers say they have already noticed first-class service on Virgin America deteriorating.
So loyal are Virgin America flyers that a gate agent recently had to reassure that airline’s travelers who were surprised to see an Alaska plane at the end of the boarding ramp: “Don’t worry. The plane is painted Alaska Airlines but inside it’s Virgin America.”
Alaska (NYSE: ALK), led by CEO Brad Tilden, is eager to keep Virgin America fans on board once it is integrated into the Seattle-based carrier, but that won’t be easy. Loyal Virgin America first-class passengers are already lamenting the eventual loss of that carrier’s very generous seating and other amenities and ambience for which the carrier is known. Some San Francisco travelers say they have already noticed first-class service on Virgin America deteriorating.
So loyal are Virgin America flyers that a gate agent recently had to reassure that airline’s travelers who were surprised to see an Alaska plane at the end of the boarding ramp: “Don’t worry. The plane is painted Alaska Airlines but inside it’s Virgin America.”
Mar 19, 2018, 2:07 pm
#79
Join Date: May 2003
Location: SFO, mostly
Posts: 2,204
It's a move in the right direction. AS knows they're in trouble with the SF market. The SF Biz Journal story included this quote:
The article mentions "loss of very generous seating," which I assume refers to 55" F seats. As others have mentioned, these F seats really weren't competitive in any market segment since they aren't lie flat, and also aren't open to comp upgrades. I do think fliers will be able to get on board with instead having 50% more F seats with 41" pitch and a chance of a complimentary upgrade.
Last edited by sltlyamusd; Mar 19, 2018 at 2:14 pm
Mar 19, 2018, 2:25 pm
#80
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: SEA, but up and down the coast a lot
Programs: Oceanic Airlines Gold Elite
Posts: 20,395
I hope AS is wiling to consider retaining more of the VX inflight amenities. They must know they are playing to a hostile crowd in SFO who is on edge about any changes to the VX product. I fear that as soon as AS starts ripping out the better padded seats and seatback IFE screens on the Airbus fleet, there will be a litany of defections to B6 and DL. Bay Area travelers are a savvy crowd and can see beyond marketing BS and window dressing.
Mar 19, 2018, 2:31 pm
#81
Join Date: Apr 2003
Programs: B6 Mosaic, Bonvoy LT Titanium (x SPG LT), IHG Spire, UA Silver
Posts: 5,848
"Retaining more of the VX inflight amenties" is problematic because AS wants to swap in 737s on transcon routes (a 16 F/24 Y+/138 Y plane on a number of transcon routes makes more sense than a 8 F/12 Y+/126 Y plane, or even a 12 F/18 Y+/126 Y plane). So "retaining more of the VX inflight amenties" means adding on IFE and changing the AS fleet at significant expense.
Mar 19, 2018, 2:47 pm
#82
Join Date: Jun 2012
Location: SEA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, Marriott Lifetime Platinum
Posts: 200
This.
I think I've seen the new mini-humus plate.
Flew SEA-BOI AS 590 yesterday (Fri 16 Mar) on a 737 with 3 rows of F.
Snack was a micro plate containing:
I think I've seen the new mini-humus plate.
Flew SEA-BOI AS 590 yesterday (Fri 16 Mar) on a 737 with 3 rows of F.
Snack was a micro plate containing:
- a tiny portion of hummus. the container was maybe an inch on a side. Hummus was maybe a teaspoon or two.
- 3 little pita rounds, maybe 2 inches in diameter
- 2 cucumber sticks, both of which when put together were approximately 2/3 of a full slice
Mar 19, 2018, 4:08 pm
#83
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA, USA
Programs: AS MVP Gold 75K, Marriott Lifetime Titanium
Posts: 1,598
Minus the suboptimal micro-pita, which was quite dry and stale, I could eat this every day of the week. But that’s based on my personal preferences. The non-hummus-loving population may think otherwise.
Mar 19, 2018, 4:23 pm
#84
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Northern Calif./Eastern Ida.
Programs: Amethyst Premier Plutonium Medallion
Posts: 20,646
I think AS should just switch to a snack basket on flights like this. While mostly junk food, it’s got more variety and would be sufficient for a one-ish hour flight. Maybe they perceive the hummus as fresh or superior or “West Coast” or maybe it’s cheaper (though I doubt it).
Mar 19, 2018, 8:40 pm
#85
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,644
Agree, on a 90 minute flight, I rarely need more than the snack basket can provide. I'd also surmise that the snack basket is more amenable to more regular rotation of items since the shelf life on all the packaged stuff is nearly infinite. I would love to see a better variety of fresh fruit in the basket...oranges, apples, pears, in addition to the seemingly ubiquitous bananas.
Mar 20, 2018, 7:39 am
#86
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Snohomish, WA
Programs: AS MVP Gold, HHonors Diamond
Posts: 2,793
Here's the link to Alaska's new non-press-release page about the changes: https://www.alaskaair.com/content/tr...ce/first-class
Mar 20, 2018, 1:01 pm
#87
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Apr 2001
Location: East Ester, Alaska
Programs: Alaska Million Miler, United Million Miler, Wyndham Rewards Diamond, Choice Hotels Diamond
Posts: 12,148
"We’ve filled our new First Class menu with a whole range of refreshing, bright flavors inspired by the West Coast food scene."
Can't help but wonder - what's the East Coast food scene like by comparison? Pizza and beer?
Can't help but wonder - what's the East Coast food scene like by comparison? Pizza and beer?
Mar 20, 2018, 2:17 pm
#88
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: PDX
Programs: AS 75K, BW Plat, Marriott Gold, IHG Plat, Hilton Gold
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Mar 20, 2018, 5:38 pm
#90
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: NYC
Programs: AA ExecPlat; AF Gold; UA GS; Hyatt L. Globalist; Marriott Plat; Hilton Diamond; National EE
Posts: 6,165