Why I love Alaska in 2018
 

I really love Alaska Airlines even in 2018. I have always gotten excellent Customer Service from the friendly team in Boise Reservations, at the airport, onboard and in the lounge and on the ground!

This past year I booked 3 First Class Tickets from SJC-LAX one a round trip and the other a One Way to make an International Flight at LAX and now I have another roundtrip in First Class from SJC-LAX.

Alaska gives me the little extras that I am looking for. When Horizon Air had their Q400s from SJC-LAX I would fly them because they offered complimentary Craft Beers and Wine. Then I switched to Delta Comfort+ but then they cut back their offerings.

So I figured out that I could fly Alaska in First Class with Lounge Access at LAX for just a bit more than Delta Comfort+.

On my last trip to LAX to connect with an International Flight I spent 6 Hours in the Lounge before I could check in to the International Flight. I was in the Lounge two weeks before when I was in LA visiting my Grandfather and I mentioned to the Front Desk Agent who I made friends with from frequenting the lounge and she made sure the Baggage Office would hold my bags.

On the ERJ flight I like Seat 1A not only for accessibility due to my low-vision and Neuropathy but also because it has the extra legroom. When this was not available on the flight I selected the Boise Agent switched me to the earlier flight for no extra charge as it was more than 24 hours after I booked it. I have always had great conversations with the Boise Team.

Onboard the small snack they serve to and from LAX is better than just getting Biscoffs. The Pita and Hummus, Cheese Plates and Breakfast Items hit the spot along with the Craft Beers, Spirits and Wines. I enjoy the Crater Lake Espresso Vodka!

The small touches that Alaska offers extending to the lounge makes me enjoy Alaska even more. They know how to offer good Customer Service.

Alaska Listens is a great resource! I look forward to frequenting Alaska wherever my travels take me!

Bicycles counting as regular bags is a really nice feature - It's really nice to roll into the airport with a bike bag, go up to bag check and just have them either take it, or say "roll it over to the oversized counter there" and be done. No $175 each way or jedi mind tricks ("these aren't the bikes you're looking for..." really does sometimes work).

I fly just enough in a year for it to be annoying but not enough to get any kind of tier status on any airline (for example, I'm just under a thousand miles short of MVP this year) and the bulk of it is leisure or self-paid travel. The main concession I have to loyalty with Alaska is that I have the branded credit card. I have it half because I like to check a bag (heresy!, but I do it often enough to more than make up the annual fee) and half because Costco changed to taking VISA and I don't want to deal with Citibank. While I'm not traveling without really looking at the price, like a lot of business travelers do, I've also made the conscious choice to not be too price sensitive and mainly go on Alaska. This baffles the people I know since they tend to go to Kayak or Expedia or some other site and sort by "Price (lowest to highest)" and pick whatever is at the top of the list. So, why do I bother?

Because, with Alaska, I know the product I'm getting and I'm pretty fine with it. The experience at the airport (Seattle-Tacoma, which helps since it's their "flagship base"), with customer service, and in the air in "self-loading cargo class" are all consistently good enough of the time that a bad experience is the glaring exception instead of the 50/50 split I feel like I get with other airlines (particularly Delta). I've had a pleasant experience every time I've called customer care or reservations. They're efficient, nice without going over the top, and usually flexible about not sticking me with too much of the bill if I made an error that wasn't their fault. Besides, I like the Premium Economy seating because it's a nice middle between the staggering (for me) cost of sitting up front and the base fare of sitting in the rest of the plane.

My experience might be different or my priorities might rearrange if I was a frequent flier who spent a lot of miles in an airplane and valued the perks that come with elite status, like lounges or bonus miles or free-but-not-guaranteed upgrades. But my point is that Alaska gets me where I'm going for a price I'm happy to pay in a way that's comfortable, consistent, and on a schedule that works for me. And that's good enough for me.

Oh, and I love how they do pets in cargo. That little slip of paper is neat. No idea if any other carriers do that as I've only taken my dog on Alaska but it's still cool.

(Still not gonna fly out of Paine Field, though it's closer to home, until someone gets some transit up there.)

We have a month and a half, you have to fix this!

yeah, you can do 1000 miles for about $100 (any short haul round trip will get you 1000 miles).

If you fly 19k miles / year on AS, it's hard to see MVP status not being worth $100. That's a lot of premium seats and checked bags.

I'm going to (barely) earn MVP for the first time at the end of this year, is MVP really worth much outside of the bonus miles earned? Especially being SEA based, I'm expecting 1, maybe 2 upgrades all of next year. Granted, I only average 1 RT/month.

If you don't have the credit card and check a bag in each direction, that's $720 in checked bag fees.

I guess I should have mentioned that I rarely, if ever, check a bag.

You may not wind up in F a whole lot, but I've still scored a few upgrades while living here and on connecting flights from SEA while I was PDX-based. And I've never missed a Premium upgrade when I didn't get F.

The best part about not ever having status before is that I'm not picky about my upgrades. :) I'll happily take a few extra inches of leg room when I can get it!

Boarding group B makes it easier to stow your carry-on without a hassle
You might still have a good shot at premium class seats for no extra cost (though SEA seems to be the toughest place to get any on-board benefits, so maybe even PC is tough there).

Hahaha. Really? OK, maybe EK F redemptions.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...KTA2SfWeElbpf5