Background:
I’ve never visited the Alaska Lounge Portland before so I was excited to see how it looked. I’ve visited one in Seattle and the one in Los Angeles. On this trip last week (June 2021), I booked a paid first class ticket which directly grants you lounge access. I think the $35 fare difference from Main Cabin to First Class was well worth it- because on top of getting a bigger seat, I could try out this lounge! On my outbound trip, I visited the Los Angeles lounge, and wrote about it here. At the Los Angeles lounge, I had to join a waitlist, but thankfully at Portland I didn’t have to. I visited the Portland lounge on two occasions this trip, once after landing from Los Angeles, and on my flight back to LA as well.
You can also check out my First Class flight review here if you would like.
Unlike the lounge in Los Angeles, the Portland lounge left the Priority Pass network which probably helped a lot with overcrowding. The Portland lounge is much smaller than the Los Angeles lounge, so it makes sense that they would leave Priority Pass. On my flight back to LA, when I visited on a Tuesday around 5pm, the lounge seemed to be near capacity.
Access:
The Alaska Lounge Portland (PDX) is located in Concourse C, right across Gate C5. The lounge is open Daily from 4:30 am – 9:00 pm.
You can gain access with:
- Alaska Membership or Admirals Club Membership
- Flying on paid Alaska First Class or an award (Passengers upgraded to First Class, (booked in U class of service) whether complimentary, paid, or using miles do not have complimentary access to the Alaska Lounge).
- Emerald and Sapphire members earned through Alaska or American Airlines are eligible for complimentary lounge access when they travel on an oneworld itinerary to Mexico City, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia or Australia. (Note: if you’ve earned Emerald or Sapphire status outside of Alaska or American, you can access the lounge even on domestic itineraries.)
- Active duty military travelling on orders
- Certain elites from (Hainan, Icelandair) can access the lounge when flying Alaska
- Day Pass ($50)
The Lounge:
Upon entry to the lounge, reception is on the right to quickly check in, and you can see the bar immediately on the left. Unlike the Los Angeles lounge, they don’t assign you seats at this lounge; you can find any spot you please and settle in. I think it’s because the lounge is less busy, so less coordination is needed.
There are some complimentary alcoholic beverages as well as premium spirits for purchase. I tried the free Cocktail of the Month and it was pretty decent! I think it’s cute that they have one.
Similar to the Los Angeles lounge, you can also order some meals for purchase if the buffet selection isn’t enough to fill you up. But the food selection at the Portland lounge is much better than LAX. There were some wrapped sandwiches, salads as well as packages chips and cookies. And, there were also mixed nuts, and the standard coke and coffee machine. And yes, the famous Alaska pancake machine was in operation too.
With seating, there’s hightop seating all down the windows with power plugs for charging. On both visits to the lounge my friend and I sat here as they were available. There are also some tables and some very relaxing looking lounger square chairs in the back of the lounge which my friend and I wanted to try. Sadly, most of the square loungers were always taken. But no worries- the hightops were just fine!
In terms of cleanliness, they did a good job at the lounge, and they have nice cards that show areas that are clean, and you flip it over when you’re leaving so an attendant can clean the area. One place where the Portland lounge can improve would be with the bathrooms. The LAX lounge had really nice bathrooms, but the Portland ones could really use an update.
Currently, similar to the LAX lounge, there is some construction happening outside the lounge so your views of the airport aren’t the prettiest at the moment.
The Verdict:
Overall, the Alaska Lounge at Portland is a great and peaceful lounge to stop by before a flight. A nice place to grab a drink, snack and relax. It’s quite a nice benefit that you can get lounge access with an Alaska Domestic First Class paid ticket.
Have you visited the Alaska Lounge at PDX recently? What were your thoughts? Comment below!
Cheers,
Ty
Have any questions? Comment below or email me at takeofftotravel@gmail.com. You can also view all my other posts here! Thanks for stopping by!
So no access for oneWorld elites?
So, if you earned Emerald and Sapphire through Alaska or American Airlines you have to be travelling on an oneworld itinerary to Mexico City, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Asia or Australia but if you’ve earned Emerald or Sapphire status outside of Alaska or American, you can access the lounge even on domestic itineraries. Thanks for reading!