Review - Alaska Airlines First Class A321 Washington National to Los Angeles
AS5 DCA-LAX
December 17, 2019
Check-in:
I had some Alaska miles expiring by the end of the year, so I redeemed them for this direct flight to LA from DCA, as the departure time worked out perfectly for me. I’m not a frequent Alaska flyer, as a matter of fact, this would be my second ever flight on AS, and the first time on a plane with Alaska interior - Alaska is in the process of retrofitting ex-Virgin America planes. I had already checked in on the app so headed straight to security.
Lounge:
SYKE! There’s no lounge access for domestic first class passengers in the US. Not that there’s much appeal to those cubed cheeses or baby carrots to begin with…
Boarding:
Many of you big city queens don’t understand how nice it is to sleep until the absolute last minute and leave for the airport 30mins before boarding… and that’s what I did. The Uber ride took me exactly 7 minutes from my apartment in DC to the airport.
The new first class cabin onboard Alaska’s A321 is pretty massive, with all 16 seats taken. Being the last one to board, I couldn’t snap pictures of the refurbished cabin. Nothing exciting here anyways - Alaska somehow still decided not to install lie-flat seats for planes operating transcontinental flights. I mean, it’s almost 2020. We board the damn planes through facial recognition and you’re putting me in a recliner on a 6hr flight???
Alaska also joins those airlines who’s too good for some pre-departure beverages. I looked around, trust me, nobody got any.
Apart from just me being grumpy in the morning (actually I’m grumpy like, all the time), awaiting at my seat were a small bottle of Dasani and a decent enough blanket. There’s no pillows. The first class flight attendant was this girl with pink hair, who kind of reminded me of Billie Eilish. She was very nice, and I don’t personally think her pink hair was impertinent on an airline like Alaska, just don’t try this on Lufthansa or anything…
Another thing to mention about the seats is that there’s no footrest in row 1.
Inflight:
We pushed back on schedule and were airborne shortly after. Given we were leaving at 9AM, I had reserved my main course for breakfast, which the FA proactively confirmed with me. The menu otherwise reads as follows:
Alaska Airlines First Class Menu DCA-LAX
The breakfast service started with a round of cranberry apple orange smoothie, and a drink of choice. I love airlines who serve smoothies. Can you believe how much those hipster yoga moms are charging for a kale avocado cleanser nowadays? The audacity.
Alaska Airlines First Class Breakfast Smoothie DCA-LAX
Everything else was served on one tray, including a greek yogurt, served with house-made granola, mandarin orange and spiced pomegranate seeds, and a winter breakfast bowl, which came with roasted sweet potatoes, creamy scrambled eggs and chorizo chicken sausage, topped with cherry tomatoes and avocado crema.
Alaska Airlines First Class Breakfast DCA-LAX
I didn’t know what to expect from Alaska’s catering, but the meal ended up being delicious. The brekkie hit the spot without being either too greasy or too bland. The presentation was also cute - the curved wooden tray resembled those on Delta.
Flying into the third hour I was starting to lose my (already non-existent) sanity. I checked out the reading materials in the seat pocket and found a pamphlet detailing offerings in first class, which read as follows:
Alaska Airlines First Class Brochure DCA-LAX
Alaska Airlines First Class Brochure DCA-LAX
Alaska Airlines First Class Brochure DCA-LAX
Strictly for review purposes, I asked for a glass of the Browne Family 2017 Cabernet at like, not even 10AM. The Washington state focused wine selection seemed appropriate for Alaska as Pacific Northwest is home to its operations. The Cab was good, but I don’t know if I’d pay $37 for it…
The plane also featured Gogo 2KU satellite wifi, which is supposed to be good for streaming services. The speed was good for the first couple hours of the flight, but as we were passing over the Rocky Mountains the speed got noticeably slower…
On Arrival:
Soon enough we were descending into LAX airport, almost 30 minutes ahead of schedule. During descent, the FA came out to offer some snacks from a basket, which were the normal items like granola bars, chips and chocolates.
The Alaska transcontinental experience was average. Even though DC is not really a premium transcontinental market like New York, not that Alaska elevates its offerings in the premium markets anyways. The soft product is nicer than the hard product, with food and beverage being the best part. Flying domestically in the US is generally lackluster in present days, so Alaska conforms itself nicely into the crowd.