Originally written way back in 2006, I was pretty pleased to upgrade to First Class on the Alaska Airlines MD-83 for the bargain price of US$50. This is the only time I flew with Alaska and I have a very favourable impression of the airline as a result.
AS692 – Vancouver to Los Angeles (YVR-LAX)
14 February 2006
McDonnell Douglas MD-83
Seat: First 1A – paid upgrade
I arrived at Vancouver airport well in time for AS632 as I had to check out of my hotel at midday. Once at the counters, I asked the check-in lady if she could check my bags through to Sydney with Qantas. She said it was no problem and even had Qantas Priority Baggage tags for me, which was great!
Upgrading My Ticket
Happily, when I asked about paying for an upgrade with Alaska, she said that was fine, swiped my credit card for the US$50 and we were all set. At this point she asked if I wanted to get to Los Angeles earlier as there was space on the flight leaving beforehand – AS692 – and I had no issues with that.
Breezed through US immigration pre-clearance (something all countries should have!), and soon arrived in the lounge. I asked the lady at the gate if there was a meal service and was told no! Quite frankly, I was pretty shocked by that, because even American Airlines has meal service in First for flights of this duration (two and a half hours).
On Board The Alaska Airlines MD-83
I took myself off to a bagel place and had something to eat, and then immediately boarding was called and to seat 1A I went. The seats are standard domestic First Class seats, in line with those on American Airlines. In front of me was a wonderful beige tapestry with some inlaid patterns in dark blue. Quite nice!
Overall Thoughts
I will certainly fly Alaska Airlines again in the future. Regardless of the lack of a meal (which really should be rectified, like seriously), the quality of the staff (both check-in and on board), seat comfort and the fact that you can upgrade for US$50 really makes it all worthwhile.
—
So that was the state of play in 2006. Since then, the Alaska Airlines MD-80 fleet has been retired. They purchased Virgin America and from all reports still have a quality operation. I still consider them for travel when I am in the states, but as yet haven’t been on board again.
Have you flown with Alaska Airlines before? What do you think of them? Thank you for reading and if you have any comments or questions, please leave them below.
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Cabin image by LAX2CGKx5 on Twitter.
I’m really surprised Alaska didn’t serve you at least a snack on an LAX-YVR flight. Maybe it was a late night flight?
Anyway, thought I’d attach a trip report I did back in 2002. Lots of Alaska and Northwest First Class, and lots of pretty good meal service – at least on Alaska.
https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-reports/181262-road-again-2-weeks-23-flights-19790-miles-around-america-alaska.html?referrerid=6135
As for my report, I include it for entertainment purposes only. I’ve written dozens of trip reports over at FlyerTalk, where thankfully writing ability is of no regard – a good thing since I have no more writing ability than a drunk third grader. I’ve flown over 6 million miles on 208 airlines though, and it is fun to write about – even if, like me, your writing skills are minimal.
Anyway, thanks for your fine reports and here’s hoping you get some good meals on future Slaska flights.
Happy Contrails!
Hahaha – I think someone is being a bit self-deprecating regarding their writing ability there! I just checked out that review of many flights and enjoyed the read. Shocked by the shout out to the RJ-85 and pretty amused by the older Alaska crew member interactions. A very enjoyable read – love your style, so thanks for linking me to that!
Take care and thanks for taking the time to read and comment!