Due personal reasons I needed to go to Dallas even though I had just arrived from Atlanta the night before. It felt like I was slowly turning into an airplane. This trip report is a hybrid of the same flight taken within a week of each other. Doing it this way will allow me to give you a better overview of the flight.
Please note these flights were taken in 2022. So this may not be reflected of Alaska current premium product.
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Background & Booking
At the time of this trip report two airlines operate Seattle to Dallas, American & Alaska. Delta started this route in Summer 2024 and then terminated during the pandemic. American typically flies their flights with connecting passengers while Alaska seems to do a mixture of both since Alaska is part of Oneworld. It will be interesting to see if DL can make the route work this time, and how Alaska & American respond to Delta.
Alaska’s booking website generally is adequate. The website has its problems from time to time. The app & website feels very slow and not as smooth as United or Delta. I’ve had various issues over the years with Alaska’s app, for example seats changing randomly several days before departure. Overall I feel Alaska techonology is below average compared to the other US airlines.
Since Alaska Airlines is part of Oneworld, passengers with certain elite tiers can select premium cabin seats for free at time of booking or check in. Again depending on the elite status tier.
Video Trip Report
Day of Travel
I arrived at Seattle Airport and checked in my bag. At the time this is how the check in area looked like this below. The Alaska Check in area is under several renovations.
One thing I like to do after checking in and clearing security is to check the airport screens to see if my flight status has changed. Sure enough there was a 25 min delay since the inbound was late.
I decided to make my way to the Alaska Lounge at the end of concourse C. Since the gate was close to this lounge.
Flight Plan / Routing
Seattle (SEA) – Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW)
Flight Time: 3 hours 25 mins
Alaska Lounge C Concourse
The Alaska lounge at C is one of the smaller lounges at Seattle Airport. The lounge is located at the end of concourse C and is on the upper level.
My favorite part about this lounge is the views in the picture above as you can see there is seating to the right. This seating area overlooks the runway and taxiway.
The lounge has some drinks and small snacks.
Overall I find this lounge to be adequate for a wait. It is smaller though than the other Alaska lounges at the airport.
Boarding
I got to the gate area. It was pretty hectic and I had to wait a while. There wasn’t really any updates to the flight delay it seems the gate agents were just trying to turn the plane around as fast as possible.
After some time boarding began for the flight.
Premium class boards with group B. However if you have elite status and its higher then you’ll board with the higher group number.
Flight Info
Flight No: AS 372
Route: Seattle (SEA) – Dallas Ft. Worth (DFW)
Plane: Boeing 737 – 990 ER (Did you know the 90 is Alaska’s Boeing customer code?)
Registration: N290AK
Flight Time: 3 hours 25 mins
There are a few differences on Alaska when compared with other US based airlines.
- Alaska locks the lavatory doors during critical phases of flight.
- More importantly Alaska Airlines prohibits charging your device using the USB ports during taxi, takeoff, & landing. I’ll speculate here they do that because they don’t want the cables to be a tripping hazard if a need arises to evacuate the airplane. The only other US airline I’ve seen enforce this is Jetblue. All the other US airlines don’t typically have this restriction.
Scheduled Departure: 6:10 pm
AS/BTS Departure: 6:35 pm
All times in local time zone
BTS stands for Bureau of Transportation statistics; their definition is used in most airlines apps in the USA to measure applicable times for airline operations & tracking.
Takeoff
We pushed back 25 mins late. After a few minutes of taxiing we took off heading towards DFW!
Alaska Airlines is headquartered in Seattle and operates one of its largest hubs.
Seattle’s S concourse where most of the international flights depart from.
Mt. Rainier
As we left Seattle we were treated to stunning views of Mt. Rainier. The crew pointed out the beautiful scenery. That was nice of them to do so. Enjoy the next few photos!
The views were just stunning.
I was impressed with the zoom on the iPhone.
Amenities, Seat, & Random Wi-Fi pricing
Amenities
Alaska’s Premium Class seat features an universal charging outlet and standard features like seat back pocket. Main cabin also features a universal outlet. Alaska Airline planes do not typically feature seat back tvs like Delta. I’ll discuss more about entertainment options under Random Wifi pricing.
One downside of the position of the outlet is that if you have a large or bulky charging brick it may fall out. My charger pictured below kept falling out.
Seat
I was seated in Alaska premium class (rows 6 – 9 of Economy on Alaska’s 737 – 990ER) which according to their website provides the following benefits
- 4 inches more legroom than standard Main cabin
- Enjoy complimentary premium beverages for some flights over 350 miles
- Priority Boarding
- Seat Pitch 35” Recline 3” (except for Row 16 which does not recline)
Seat Manufacturer: Recaro
I found the legroom to be excellent. However the seat width was standard. I’d much prefer more seat width as opposed to more legroom.
Upgrading from premium class to main cabin can cost anywhere from $15 – $100. If you hold elite status with a oneworld airline you may be able to get it for free depending on capacity and your tier. For my tier I didn’t have to pay for it. If I were to pay I would have just for the priority boarding as I don’t like checking in my carryon. However, I don’t think the price justifies upgrading from main cabin as the seat width doesn’t increase, only the legroom increases.
For standard main cabin the following seat pitch is provided 31 – 32” with 3” of recline. Unfortunately the Alaska airline fleet information web page does not break this down by aircraft. Instead they provide that information on a separate web page.
Random Wi-Fi Pricing
As mentioned before Alaska planes do not have seat back tvs. In lieu of personal TVs you can stream content to your personal device. Alaska also provides free messaging.
On Alaska Airlines usually Wi-Fi is $8 on some older models it maybe as high as $40.
The wi-fi performed much better than usual as I was able to update the trip report on instagram. Airline wifi typically fails this test as I have problems with video uploading infight, but not with this wifi! I’d say well worth the $8.
One feature I really like is Alaska provides a moving map on the Wi-Fi page. I wish more airlines would provide a flight map.
Service:
Typically on this route Alaska provides two snack services. One small snack and a complimentary drink. Alaska does allow you to preorder a small meal for a little extra money.
Can test passed — I use this as a service metric flight review, to compare different airlines. Even though this can is smaller than the regular size.
For the rest of the flight I was working on writing a flight review.
Arrival Into Dallas
We soon started our approach into DFW.
Welcome to Dallas Ft. Worth!
We landed a few mins behind schedule due to the earlier delay. The plane made its way to the gate arriving at 12:19 AM (our scheduled arrival was 11:59 pm). The flight was technically late in accordance with Bureau of Transport Statistics (BTS) definition of what it means to be ontime.
I’m working through my extensive backlog of flight reviews. These flight reviews will encompass several different airlines follow on Nerd Ka Travel social media channels as I’ll post about them there!
Parked next to a Delta A220. I have short flight review up of the Delta A220.
Scheduled Arrival: 11:59 pm
AS/BTS Arrival: 12:19 am next day
All times in local time zone
The premium class cabin.
I love this sign touch not many airlines have a sign welcoming you to the destination. It’s usually generic like “thanks for flying with us.”
Alaska’s Baggage Guarantee
Unfortunately my bag came out later than Alaska’s baggage guarantee. I went to the office and was disappointed.
Unfortunately, due to the lateness of the hour the baggage office was closed. I feel at a station Alaska Airlines should have made the option to contact customer support within 2 hours to honor this guarantee.
While I did not contact Alaska Airlines on this trip about the guarantee. On another trip the same thing happend I contacted them through social media Alaska Airlines honored the guarantee.
Alaska Airlines Premium Class Review Conclusion
Alaska flight in their premium class cabin was fine. As I mentioned above I’d prefer more seat width rather than more legroom. Overall I felt Alaska gives the impression it cares about its passengers. Alaska gives off a vibe of flying a hometown airline.
Key Takeaways
- Alaska Airlines does not have personal at seat TVs
- Alaska premium class features extra legroom which certain elite status frequent fliers maybe able to select for free
- If your bags come out past the 20 minute gurantee contact Alaska if the baggage office is closed.
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