F Class Questions
 

Hi, I have two AS trips coming up in August. SEA-SJC on fl. 324 (Departs 6:53 PM) on a Sunday and SJC-SEA fl.93 (Departs 12:56 PM) on a Wednesday.

I was wondering a) what are the chances of getting a $50 at the airport (I have no status). In the reservations system, it says that "lunch" is served on the SJC-SEA, while on the SEA-SJC leg, it says "food served." Any idea of what to expect?

Also, does anyone have any suggestions for what to during a 3 1/2 hour layover in SEA on a Sunday afternoon? Is there any place to store/lock luggage if we decided to leave the airport?

[This message has been edited by sltlyamusd (edited 07-10-2003).]

While it is certainly worth asking for at the airport, I have to say that on most of the SJC flights that I've worked, First Class is usually full. There are a large number of business travelers in/out of SJC and the flights are often pretty full even in coach.

As far as the food goes, in First Class, PM food is generally a choice of an entree salad or a cold sandwich plate. Morning snacks generally are a continental breakfast with warm pastry. I would recommend the salad in almost any instance. The sandwiches seem to be a little on the dry side with too much bread, more often than not. In coach they serve just light snacks on PM mealtime flights to/from the bay area, including chips/salsa, apple slices w/ caramel dip, pita chips w/ hummous dip. On other flights it's just peanuts in coach and mixed nuts, honey roasted almonds or cashews in First.

Yes, finally the honey roast almonds have been showing their sweet nutty little faces again lately http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

While as AS Flyer properly described the PM food from SEA to/from the Bay Area, the difference when it said "food served" is it is published as a "R"(estricted) snack, which means you can't order a special meal on that flight.

I used to fly SEA-Bay Area frequently during the mid-to-late 90s, and I remember how on the lunch/dinner flights, the coach "sandwich basket" was often better than the First Class equivalent. In coach, the sandwich was usually almost as big, and would come with fresh fruit and cookie(s), while in First, the accompaniments were usually a minuscule portion of bland pasta salad and a microscopic piece of candy.

They seem to have solved that problem by downgrading the service in coach. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/wink.gif

Have not been to SEA in four weeks, but there have been threads here about some lenghty delays at the security lines of certain concourses. 3 1/2 hours is not that long of a wait but may be too short to try and leave the terminal for a little sightseeing. AS SEA has a nice Board Room if you can score a guest pass.

You can check with Ken's Baggage down in the baggage claim area for storage.

Be sure to have a boarding pass that shows orgination out of SEA to get back to the gates.

Dinner in F was always decent, but I admit those hot pastrami on rye sandwiches in Coach sometimes looked like a better option than the pizza or shrimp in F. http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

By lunch/dinner, I meant the salad and sandwich "snack" options. The Bay Area flights used to get a full three course dinner in F, but that was prior to the mid 90s.

Again, thanks for the helpful info AS Flyer. Sorry to bug you one more time, but it looks like I may also be taking an 8 AM flight from Seattle to LAX. What might be the service difference between First and coach? Thanks.

Hi sltlyamusd -

Sorry for the delay in answering -
it's no bother at all... glad I could help.

There isn't much of a difference in the food service on the morning flight between F and Y. F gets a hot breakfast snack, something like a wedge of quiche or a breakfast panini with a side fruit garnish. Y gets a hot breakfast sandwich or a breakfast tortilla. Basically, it's the presentation and the absence of fruit in Y that is the difference. You can have a mimosa in F, which you can't in Y. For something different and tasty have a champagne with a splash of cranberry if you sit in F. It's my "specialty", people generally like.

Hope you enjoy!

Too bad...the last time I flew that route two years ago, we were served a full, hot breakfast. Glad I asked, at any rate!

I fly on AS PHX-PDX 757 leaving PHX at 10 am very often, and I always get the same horrible "snack" in F Class, its a slice of canelope with a sad blueberry pastry. Will it ever change? There are so many other options AS could do, but this one is almost inedible. I am flying again this Tusday and dreading it.

On the return, Im always on AS 702, and that flight never has anything at all! 2 and a Half hours of nothing...unless you drink. It seems that AS (which I absolutely love on other routes and times) can do much better than that.