• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Ask Scott
Travel Codex

Travel Codex

Your Resource for Better Travel

  • Subscribe
  • Credit Cards
  • Reviews
  • Guides & Tips
  • Award Travel

Alaska Airlines Unveils New First Class Enhancements

by Rohan Anand
Last updated September 23, 2018

Seattle-based Alaska Airlines is working to make “First Class flights better” with various upgrades over the coming months. The changes are intended to impact all stages of the customer journey lifecycle, including pre-flight activities such as meal orders taken in advance, all the way to in-flight WiFi.

Alaska is undergoing a merger with Virgin America, and the two carriers obtained a Single Operating Certificate (SOC) earlier this year. In late April 2018, the two airlines will combine to a single IT platform, or Passenger Services System (PSS), upon which the carriers will be considered, “fully integrated,” from a reservations and operations perspective. Certain nuances will remain different, however, such as cabin interiors from each respective airline, as well as crews operating specific routes. Those combinations, however, are expected to come over time.

The Alaska Airlines First Class and Virgin America First Class products are vastly different in their pre-merger states, from both a hard-and-soft perspective. Virgin America, for one, offers recliner-style First Class seats on its Airbus aircraft, arranged in two rows as a 2×2 configuration, whereas Alaska offers a greater number of seats, but with a smaller pitch, in its First Class cabin. From a soft product perspective, Alaska often does not offer a choice for its First Class passengers, whereas Virgin America does. Even upgrade policies are different between the two carriers: Virgin does not offer complimentary upgrades for its elite customers, whereas Alaska does.

a plate of food on a tray
Alaska First Class Meal from DFW to PDX: Risotto with Asparagus, side salad, breadstick and brownie crunch
Virgin Lunch
Virgin America First Class Meal from Seattle to Dallas Love Field (read Rocky’s review of this flight here).

In an effort to streamline the products to feature blended attributes from both carriers, Alaska’s new First Class will have changes to the following customer touchpoints:

Huge Sale: Lindblad Expeditions Galápagos Cruise From $5,000
Trending
Huge Sale: Lindblad Expeditions Galápagos Cruise From $5,000

  • Catering: new seasonal menus, featuring local delights from the west coast (food and beverage), including new dishware, and the ability to pre-order meals (available today)
  • Seats: custom seats and interiors
  • Lounges: “Re-imagined”
  • WiFi

New Catering Changes on Alaska Flights

In First Class, Alaska serves meals in all three dining windows on flights over 675 miles departing between 5 AM and 8 PM. Fresh snacks are offered on all flights over 250 miles. On its website, Alaska has provided some sample menus of new items that customers can expect to try on future flights, such as:

  • A breakfast protein plate with coconut-mango overnight oats, Greek yogurt, hard-boiled egg, grapes, orange segments, baby carrots, strawberries, and grilled pita bread
  • Mexican Street Fruit plate with watermelon, pineapple, cucumber, and mango seasoned with chili-lime salt
  • Espresso-rubbed beef shoulder braised in chipotle paste, dark rum, balsamic vinegar, and fresh herbs
  • Breakfast smoothie shots, Teavana leaf teas, and Starbucks coffee

Some of these snack items appear to be similar to some of the buy-on-board products that Virgin America currently offers in the Main Cabin, such as the Protein Power Plate.

a tray of food with a keyboard
Virgin America Protein Pack – Buy On Board

Alaska has also extended First Class Pre-Select, also known as its pre-order meal service, which was introduced last year, to over 100 daily flights. The meal service reservations can be made anywhere between two weeks and up to 24 hours prior to departure time, using the Alaska Airlines mobile app. First Class Pre-Select is currently offered on all cross-country and Hawaii flights, but Alaska hopes to expand it to all flights by early 2019.

a map of the united states
Alaska Airlines First Class Pre-Select Routes, as of March 2018

Currently, most Alaska Airlines flights do not offer a choice in First Class. With these changes, there will now be a choice, with one vegetarian option.

Seats

Alaska is re-configuring its First Class seats with a custom-designed Recaro leather seat product. Each seat will have power outlets, footrests, tablet holders, cup holders, and 40″ of seat pitch. The changes are expected to debut this fall, and half of the mainline fleet is expected to be retrofitted by the end of 2019.

The carrier will also add quilted throws, starting this spring, and enhanced entertainment tablets in their First Class cabins.

a plane with seats and windows
Alaska Airlines new First Class seat, coming this fall. Image courtesy of Alaska Airlines

Lounges

Alaska currently has six lounges across its stations. Three are located in its Seattle/Tacoma hub, in Concourse C, Concourse D, and the North Satellite terminal, and the remaining three are located in Anchorage, Portland, and Los Angeles. Alaska has partnerships with other lounges in various cities/airports, depending on the class of service traveled that day or membership type for its travelers.

Alaska lounges, which were formally called, “Board Rooms,” offer pancakes for breakfast, as well as soups, salads, and a “variety of snacks,” throughout the day. There are also complimentary beverages, including wine, beer, and liquor, along with free wifi, quiet workstations, conference rooms, and concierge service.

There is a seventh lounge opening up at New York JFK next month, which will be located in Terminal 7, where both Virgin and Alaska are currently housed. It is also in the process of re-vamping the Concourse C lounge at SeaTac, which can be viewed on a video here, which will be its Flagship Lounge when it opens in 2019.

WiFi and Entertainment

Alaska offers Gogo Inflight Internet on all of its Boeing 737s and Embraer 175s, while Virgin America also offers Gogo Wifi on all of its Airbus aircraft as well. In August 2017, Alaska announced that it will install Gogo’s 2KU satellite-based service on all Boeing and Airbus aircraft starting this year. This is a huge improvement over the Gogo ATG and ATG4 services that Alaska offers on its flights, as it will deliver up to 70 megabits per second to the aircraft (nearly 20x as fast as Gogo’s original ATG service).

It will also be usable from gate-to-gate, rather than above 10,000 feet, and allow customers to download streaming media such as Hulu, Netflix, and HBO Go. Alaska anticipates there will be 40-50 planes configured with these changes by the end of the year, the entire fleet will be satellite-WiFi equipped by early 2020. Regional jets on Horizon Air and SkyWest will continue to use the Gogo ATG4 internet service.

WiFi coverage on Alaska’s flight network is currently restricted to the lower-48 United States, most of southern Canada, and most of Southern Alaska. Hawaii and Mexico are not part of the coverage areas.

All customers on Alaska flights can enjoy free in-flight testing with Free Chat on Alaska flights, which enables them to use iMessage, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger, at no cost.

Alaska currently offers its Beyond Entertainment programming on flights over 3.5 hours to customers who are using a Wi-Fi enabled computer, tablet, or smartphone. The in-flight entertainment tablets are available for rent for customers who do not have such devices and are pre-loaded with the newest movies, tv shows, games, and digital magazines. These devices are offered for free in First Class, or for MVP Gold 75K customers in the Main Cabin.

Alaska First Class Enhancements: Bottom Line

Alaska’s service enhancements are long overdue for an airline that is vying for customers in a fiercely competitive market on the U.S. West Coast, as well as on transcontinental flights. Alaska will be the only major U.S. carrier that does not offer a lie-flat seat in First Class on flights between the East and West Coasts, which is something that JetBlue, American, Delta, and United have been offering for several years, if not decades. At the very least, comfortable seats, increased pitch, and extended meal choices are necessary upgrades.

The satellite WiFi connectivity will be a decent competitive advantage for them, and adding lounges in New York will also be a welcomed addition. However, it is critical for Alaska to invest in a San Francisco lounge as well, which they closed recently, in order to offer a lounge experience across its primary West Coast focus cities.

  • 14shares
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • Email

Read This Next

  • Alaska Airlines 737-800 Premium Class Configuration.
    Alaska Airlines Premium Class - Find Routes With Premium Class
  • a group of airplanes with a face on the tail fin
    Alaska Airlines Unveils New Rules for First Class Upgrades
  • Alaska'a new First Class
    Several Major Enhancements for Alaska Airlines and Virgin America

About Rohan Anand

Rohan has been writing about airlines and aviation since 2008. He has been writing for Travel Codex since 2013, and co-founded and launched the Airways Podcast with Vinay Bhaskara in 2016. He is a self-proclaimed #AvGeek, but is also fascinated by the evolving world of airline and aviation technology, data, tools, developments, models and disruption. Aside from his full-time day job as a Technical Project Manager, Rohan lifts weights, practices and teaches Yoga, cooks, listens to all varieties of music, is the captain of a rec volleyball team, and loves exploring the nightlife in his current home, Chicago. Rohan also likes to S.C.U.B.A. dive, ski, bike, and sing #KARAOKE. His perfect day is on a beach, with commercial wide-body planes fying overhead, and good jams with good company. Rohan's favorite airline, airport, and aircraft are KLM, Amsterdam Schiphol and the McDonnell-Douglas MD-11.

Primary Sidebar

Over 100K+ Followers

Subscribe to updates from Travel Codex

none

Learn to how to find the cheapest awards.

Search Now

none

Transfer points to get more value.

See Options

none

Compare credit cards to earn more miles.

Explore Offers

Contact

If you have a question or would like to make a press inquiry, please contact:

Scott Mackenzie
Editor in Chief
scott@travelcodex.com

For updates:
Subscribe to RSS
Subscribe to Apple News

Privacy Policy


© Travel Codex, LLC All Rights Reserved.


Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this site’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to Travel Codex with appropriate and specific directions to the original content.