Review: Alaska Airlines E175 Premium Class San Francisco to Los Angeles

Background & Booking

I needed to book an extra repositioning flight from San Francisco to Los Angeles as my EVA Air flight from Taipei didn’t have award space directly to Los Angeles, so I flew into San Francisco instead. I had booked a ticket on the Alaska Airlines E175 in First Class, as it was only $30 more than the Main Cabin. Turns out, I probably should have kept the $30 and just booked a Main Cabin ticket, since I’d already get elite benefits (Premium Class seat at check-in, First Class seat upgrade eligible) on Alaska with my American AAdvantage Gold Status. Plus, I ended up switching flights to avoid a delay and voluntarily gave up my First Class seat.

Flight Details

Alaska Airlines Flight 3391 (Operated by Skywest)
San Francisco (SFO) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Date: March 2024
Departure: 5:41 PM (Originally 5:15 PM)
Arrival: 7:14 PM (Originally 6:47 PM)
Duration: 1 hour and 33 minutes
Aircraft: Embraer 175
Cabin: Premium Class
Seat: 8B

Same-Day Flight Change

Alaska Airlines has a solid same-day flight change policy. If traveling on shuttle flights (flights between Anchorage and Fairbanks, Seattle and Portland, Seattle, and Spokane) and on flights entirely within the state of California, same-day confirmed changes cost $25. For all other flights, same-day confirmed changes cost $50.

I had originally booked a later flight to give myself wiggle room in case my international flight was late. I ended up landing on time, and Global Entry was super quick. So on the way to clear security at the new terminal, I decided to open up the app and see if there were seats left on an earlier flight. Sure enough there were, but only in the Main Cabin.

I was debating staying on my originally booked flight, but it was already delayed an hour, and I didn’t want to risk an even heavier delay. So, I decided to switch to a 5:15 pm flight that seemed to be leaving on time. While at the checkout screen, I chose a standard Main Cabin seat, and shortly after payment, I was immediately bumped up to Premium Class. This was due to my American AAdvantage Gold Status, which was nice.

Heading to the Gate

There was a bit of a wait for TSA Pre, so I quickly rushed to the gate. I got there right before 5 pm, and the aircraft wasn’t even there yet. I should have checked on FlightAware on what the inbound aircraft was going to be, so I didn’t have to run. Right after I got to the gate, the gate agent announced the flight would be delayed to 5:45 pm as we had to wait for the inbound aircraft which was landing shortly. I’m not sure why they waited until the last minute to formally announce the delay. 

By the way, the weather in SFO was quite good, and both Delta and American did not have any delays. So, not quite sure why each SFO-LAX flight on Alaska was delayed.

So, I had about 25 minutes give or take before boarding, and decided to pop into the Centurion Lounge for a quick visit and bite. I haven’t visited the SFO AMEX Centurion Lounge since they opened the expansion, and it was interesting to see. The lounge was packed and it was really hard to find a place to sit, even with the expanded footprint.

The Flight and Alaska Airlines E175 Seat

I got back to the gate at 5:30 pm and quickly boarded. The captain announced it would be a 55-minute flight in the air.

The Embraer 175 is my favorite regional jet, as it feels more spacious both in seat width and headspace than other regional jets like the CRJ-900 which feel quite cramped. The E175 is also smoother and more comfortable during the flight.

My Alaska Airlines E175 was quite new having been delivered in 2022. It has 4 rows of First Class in a 1-2 configuration for a total of 12 seats, and there were 16 Premium Class Seats and 48 Main Cabin Seats. aeroLOPA says that the seat width on both Premium Class and the Main Cabin is 18.2″ wide. But, Premium Class has 33.8″ of pitch versus 30.3″ of pitch in the Main Cabin.

I found the seat to be quite comfortable, and the legroom was good. The only annoying aspect is that there are no charging capabilities at the seat.

Shortly after reaching cruising altitude, they came through the cabin with a beverage and snack service, which was appreciated for a short flight.

However, the flight attendant handing out snacks skipped my entire row which was annoying, so we only got beverages.

Wi-Fi and IFE

Wi-Fi is available on the flight and was $8 for the flight, or free for T-Mobile customers. If you didn’t want to pay for WiFi, you could use certain messaging apps for free to stay connected. Also, you could stream movies and TV shows to your device for free.

The flight went by quite quickly, and we were on the ground right before 7 pm and got to the gate about 15 minutes later. Our gate was under construction, so we didn’t have a jetbridge, but rather went down a ramp outside, then walked into the terminal.

Credit/Refund

The next day, I went onto the chat function on Alaska’s website and asked if they could waive the same-day change fee since my original flight was delayed and I voluntarily downgraded from First, and they said they would issue me a $25 travel credit. That credit never came 3 weeks later, so I called customer service to ask for the $25 travel credit, and a friendly agent actually processed a $40 refund for the trouble. It seems that customer service over the phone has more power than chat associates. One thing I do like about Alaska Airlines is their call center customer service, as they are generally friendlier than other US carriers, and the hold times are much shorter.

The Verdict

Overall, I’m happy that it all worked out that I did the same-day flight change and was able to get to Los Angeles early. The Alaska Airlines E175 jets are quite comfortable, and working with Alaska Airlines customer service over the phone is better than other airlines.

 

Have you flown on Alaska Airlines’ E175 in Premium Class? How was your experience? Comment below!

 

Cheers,

Ty

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Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. I’ve also started working with a travel agency, Fora Travel, and can assist in booking hotel stays or planning trips. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!