I have long been an American Airlines elite member. In 2016-2018, I was a Platinum or Gold, and then re-earned Gold status towards the tail end of 2019 taking part in a status challenge. I have generally held it ever since then using a variety of tricks. I currently hold Platinum status.
This past weekend, I attended Frequent Traveler University in Seattle. While I had just been to Frequent Traveler University in February in DC, I really used this as an opportunity to hang out with my dad, who has always had an interest in getting more into points & miles and also has a best friend who currently lives in Seattle.
When looking through flights for this weekend, I found a great cash fare between DC and Seattle flying Alaska Airlines. Given that they are now fully in the Oneworld alliance, I figured I would give them a try for the first time and experience this airline that I’ve read a ton of great things about.
I really enjoyed my flights. Furthermore, if available, I’ll fly them when flying to the West Coast from DC, even if it’s a bit more than American Airlines directly or with Delta or United.
I’ll go over what I see are the pros and cons for flying via Alaska now.
Pros of Flying Alaska Airlines
The Frontline Employees Provide Great Service
I think this should honestly be a non-negotiable for airlines as they negotiate with their flight attendant unions. Obviously, this is much easier said than done. However, no one actually believes they are there “primarily for your safety.” Flying is so incredibly safe, so, given that they rarely have to do safety things, airlines should compete on service.
I’ve flown many different airlines over the past few years. Amongst the US airlines, I think that Alaska flight attendants are up there with Southwest for providing great service. You don’t have to go far to see people complain about service by other airlines. On the three flights that I had, as well as the 3 lounges that I was in, I generally had great interactions with employees.
It wasn’t perfect (it rarely is), but, for a US airline, I was very happy with the service.
They Make Elites Feel Special
Like I said earlier, I hold elite status with American Airlines, who is an Alaska Oneworld partner. On all three flights, I was thanked for being a Oneworld elite, as were Alaska elites. I’ve only ever been thanked for being an airline elite by Qatar Airways & British Airways. That really means a lot to me, because I go out of my way generally to fly with Oneworld.
Additionally, Alaska gave me a chocolate as a thank you for being a Sapphire elite member.
WiFi is Great
On a flight of less than 3 hours, I don’t need wifi. I’m not important enough to be needed all the time. However, over 3 hours, I like the ability to use wifi to help stay entertained and somewhat productive.
American Airlines charges over $20 for a full flight pass, regardless of whether it’s a quick flight up to Boston or across the ocean to London and beyond. Other airlines, including Etihad and Qatar, charge a bit more.
On both of my cross-country Alaska flights, I was able to buy a wifi pass for $8, which was fast enough to even stream Netflix. I used it as a time to work on the blog, even writing this exact post, as well as do some back-end work on the site. It was high-speed, and I never had a bad connection.
I’m not naive enough to declare that Alaska will always have working wifi, but the quality of it was great for my flights!
Exit Rows were Easy to Buy & Extend Forever
For both of my flights to Seattle, I was in an exit row, free courtesy of my Oneworld elite status. First of all, Alaska’s website recognized my Oneworld status earned with American Airlines and made everything easy to use. I have flown British Airways, Iberia, and JetBlue (when they were an American partner) as an elite. All 3 made doing pretty much anything or getting any of my benefits difficult. The experience booking exit row seats was seamless with Alaska. (I didn’t get an exit row on my flight home due to my same-day flight change, which was free of charge, causing me to get in much earlier. I’ll take that over getting an exit row, but arriving at midnight.)
Additionally, for an exit row, other than the window seat behind the exit row on Southwest, legroom was fantastic.
I’m quite tall. I believe that American Airlines gives an extra 3 or 4 inches in exit rows, making those free to elites. Delta requires using an upgrade to get extra legroom seats.
Alaska Airlines exit row seats had an extra eight inches of legroom. Holy moly, I put my bag under the seat in front of me, and I still didn’t feel cramped at all! That was an absolutely great experience!
Cons for Flying Alaska Airlines
Small Network
I’m not going to lie: Alaska Airlines is definitely much more focused on the West Coast, Alaska, and Hawaii. If you live in these areas, you will probably benefit the most from being able to use Alaska Airlines. If you are in the middle of the US, the East Coast, or flying internationally, you’ll have to rely on Alaska Airline’s partners (which they have a unique set of).
Power Can be an Issue on Long-Haul Flights
This is definitely a criticism that probably affects those who fly between the East and West coasts more regularly, but I find that the electrical outlets are not great. For example, my power block for both my phone and laptop refused to hold in the outlet. This was because of two reasons.
First, the outlet points down. If you have an Apple power block for your laptop, it could be an issue, as the power plug holds all that weight.
Second of all, if your plug has any sort of width whatsoever, you likely won’t be able to plug it in. My phone has a super-fast charger, with the block holding the plug being a big bigger than most other chargers. Unfortunately, it’s too wide for the electrical outlet for Alaska’s seatback charging in coach (I can’t speak to first class), so I basically couldn’t use the charger on my 5+ hour flight.
American Airlines Earning is Lower
This is a very niche issue. I’m also not sure if this is an Alaska Airlines or an American Airlines issue. However, even thought I flew between DC and Seattle (roundtrip of ~5,000 miles), I only got ~2,000 million miler miles. I’m not sure how that was calculated.
Again, very niche, but useful to know.
Conclusion
I enjoyed my first few flights on Alaska Airlines, and I plan on incorporating them into my flying when I fly to the West Coast. I wouldn’t go out of my way to fly them, but they should absolutely be considered if you are flying with Alaska Airlines as an option.
Have you ever flown Alaska Airlines? What did you think about that experience?
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