Good bye to the GEG-SEA 5am Latte Special?
May 31, 2025 | 3:22 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2005
Posts: 119
Good bye to the GEG-SEA 5am Latte Special?
Sorry for the localized thread, but it appears Alaska has quietly dropped its 5am GEG-SEA flight.
The 5am "latte special" and the midnight-arriving "midnight special" were Spokane's gateways to the world - 365 days a year for over 30 years.
This reliable first connection to Seattle will be missed!
The 5am "latte special" and the midnight-arriving "midnight special" were Spokane's gateways to the world - 365 days a year for over 30 years.
This reliable first connection to Seattle will be missed!
Jun 1, 2025 | 4:24 pm
#5
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Washington DC
Posts: 1,539
As a former Spokane resident, if you're going to get up extra early for a 5:00 am flight to SEA, you might as well fly in the night before and get a good sleep at the SeaTac Hilton (within walking distance) or another nearby airport hotel.
Jun 1, 2025 | 6:22 pm
#6
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Pacific Northwest
Programs: UA Gold 1MM, AS Plat, AA EP, Bonvoy Plat, Hilton Dia, Hyatt Glob, IHG Plat, ...
Posts: 21,432
I have done that before at times (from RDM, not GEG, which has similar early morning flights to hubs by all carriers). But it can add significantly to the trip cost, and of course add more time (currently the last flight of the day is 6pm, so leave house around 4:30pm). Not that I enjoy those very early morning trips to the airport, but that is life at an out station.
Jun 1, 2025 | 9:01 pm
#7
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Programs: AS Titanium / Marriott Plat / IHG Plat / HH Gold
Posts: 403
AS has gone back to a heavily banked structure in both SEA and PDX so the flights from the outstations are timed to feed those banks. SEA's first bank is in the 8:00 hour so most of the first arrivals from outstations are timed to arrive about an hour before (thus a 6am or so flight from GEG). Meanwhile PDX's first bank is in the 7:00 hour so the outstation flights to PDX leave earlier (just after 5am for GEG).