Flight Review: Alaska Airlines New York (JFK) to Seattle (SEA) Business Class
Ready for take-off on the Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900 Max.
NOTEWORTHY DETAILS
Alaska Airlines Flight AS23
New York to Seattle
Boeing 737 Max
Basic First (business) class seat
High quality food served
Alaska Airlines is part of the global Oneworld alliance, which comprises of some of the absolute best airlines in the world, including Qatar, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, JAL, Finnair, American Airlines and British Airways along with many others. This flight from JFK to Seattle was my first experience with Alaska Airlines and I was very much looking forward to enjoying their hospitality.
The overall standard of domestic business class offerings amongst US carriers has, in my opinion and others, become quite underwhelming given the price you pay. Flat beds, even on transcontinental flights have mostly gone the way of the dinosaurs. American Airlines offer lie-flat beds on very select routes and times, on their A321T aircraft, which are being replaced with A321XLR planes. These new planes will still offer flat beds in business class, however, first class will not be offered.
Alaska certainly do not offer flat beds on their domestic routes, however, they are definitely at a more attractive price point and still allow Qantas Frequent Flyer members the ability to earn valuable points and status credits.
Please read on to see my first-hand review of this 6 hour flight, taken recently.
THE SEAT
Well, really its not the most amazing business class seat I’ve experienced, its very bare bones. Don’t get me wrong, its not uncomfortable, but its literally just a wide seat with 41 inch pitch, Alaska claim it to be the most spacious in terms of leg room in the US market domestically.
Certainly there was no issue of leg room, however, the seat features no in-flight entertainment and no phone or tablet holder to watch content on your own device. There is no coat hook, no foot rest, no adjustable headrest. A seat, tray table and that’s about it.
Ample leg room is provided in the otherwise stripped back Alaska 737-900 first class cabin.
I’d normally have a lot more detail about the seat provided but there really isn’t much more to say!. Individual air vents are located overhead, along with downlight which is standard. I should reiterate, the seat was not uncomfortable on the 6 hour journey, and as Alaska are cheaper, sometimes significantly cheaper than American Airlines and others, I guess you get what you pay for.
They are very well padded when you sit down, much like sitting in a small arm chair in your home which is certainly not a terrible thing. USB chargers are provided in each seat to charge your devices, and a small extendable serving table extends from the centre console between each seat pairing - big enough to place a drink or snack etc.
THE FLIGHT
With the seat information provided, its time to discuss the actual flight experience itself. The flight departed perfectly on schedule from JFK which was appreciated, given it was a very busy time of year for travel. There was no pre-flight offer of drinks provided on this flight which was a little disappointing, but not world ending. Pre-flight drinks appear to be very inconsistent with Alaska, I’m not entirely sure why that is.
Given there is no coat hook on the seat itself, it was disappointing that no one offered to store coats for the flight. Passengers were left to store wherever you could find a space; on your lap, on the floor, or overhead. By this point, I’d picked up that the service provided by the flight attendant in the business cabin was falling somewhat short. That is not to say service was at all rude, just not quite what you’d expect.
Approximately an hour into the flight, a drink and snack was offered which was well received. The drink menu was reasonable, but champagne is not served (boohoo). A wide range of beer and still wines and prosecco, as well as soft drinks and tea are provided inclusive of your ticket in the business class cabin.
Prosecco and snack provided on the mini extendable tray
Alaska allow you to pre-order your meal should you like to, which I do as it ensures you don’t miss out on the meal you really want. As a side note, if you are flying economy with Alaska, you have to pre-order meals should you want one (at a cost), as they no longer allow passengers to order mid-flight.
I selected a Birria beef dish marinated in black beans with rice and plantain which was very tasty. Though the service was not the best I’ve experienced, the quality of the food was certainly of a high standard.
The meal tasted fresh, and was a generous portion size. Once the dish was cleared, ice cream was offered as dessert.
With the meail service completed, I settled in to enjoy the next few hours onboard. Though, as mentioned earlier there is no in-flight entertainment screen, you can connect to the onboard wi-fi to watch an abundance to movies, tv shows, music and more for free. Please note however, if you wish to browse the internet or stream any content to your device you must pay for internet access, even in business class.
Without any tablet or phone holder you can sit your device on your tray table, or just hold on to it.
THE BOTTOM LINE
This flight was fine, without being brilliant. Something I should note is that Alaska Airlines boarding process for this flight was much better than that of say, American Airlines domestic, which I nearly always find to be chaotic in terms of boarding priority. Alaska clearly communicated which groups were boarding, and when, and went a long way to ensuring only those called were boarded as required.
I think for the price difference the Alaska Airlines business class offering is adequate. Just don’t expect any of the little extras on-board, which in my experience make a lot of difference. The seat is probably the biggest drawback, it seems quite strange to me that when designing them, they would not have thought to add small things like coat hooks or tablet holders, which make a big difference for such little cost.
I would fly Alaska again, however if American or other airlines offered a similar route with somewhat similar pricing, I’d likely go with them instead.
Thanks so much for reading, and I hope this review helps to inform your future travel plans!.
