Review: Alaska Airlines 737 Max 9 Domestic First San Diego-New York
Intro
Welcome to the first report of the series: 5 Nights on a Plane. After finding a sweet Aeroplan redemption out of New York, this flight would see me positioning from Southern California over to New York (JFK) with Alaska Airlines. Interestingly, before this report, I had never flown Alaska Airlines in Domestic First, so I figured it was time to give it a try on their “nicest” aircraft.
In all honesty, this was a fantastic flight onboard Alaska Airlines, minus one aspect. The soft product is where the airline truly shines, with lounge access being offered for transcon flights, being addressed by last name every time I went to the bathroom, a decent late-night snack, and a good on-time performance made for an exceptional flight. Let’s get into it!
Route- San Diego (SAN)-New York (JFK)
Seat- 4F
Flight Number- AS36
Aircraft- Boeing 737 Max 9
Date- August 14th 2024
Flight Time- 5 Hours 24 Minutes
Price Paid- 562$ (credit)
How I Booked
Cross-country fares tend to be quite a bit more expensive than regular domestic hops in Business Class, primarily due to the elevated experiences. However, when flying out of San Diego instead of LAX, fares seem to be about 2-300$ lower in premium cabins. With an expiring credit on Alaska for about 500$, I ended up paying an additional 52$ to secure my ticket from SAN-JFK.
Check-In
Following a long summer semester at college, the next adventure was ready to begin. An Uber driver from Belgium picked me up from Newport, and we made our way down to San Diego. In all honesty, it might be further than LAX, but you don’t have to deal with the traffic jams at night getting into LAX… The drive was very pleasant as we talked about some really interesting aspects of life. A really kind man.
Arriving at the quaint airport of San Diego, I was pleasantly surprised to see how quick the process for check-in was at Terminal 2. Customers with elite status or flying Domestic First/Business Class are welcome to use the priority lane and within minutes, my boarding pass was printed.
Around San Diego Airport
While I have flown Jetblue Mint into San Diego, this would actually be my first time flying out of San Diego! The airport is well-designed, not too busy, and has a couple of lounges on offer.
Alaska is one of the few airlines in the US that offers lounge access to customers in Domestic First but with a single condition: the flight must be over 2100 miles. The San Diego to New York flight is over 2100 miles, but unfortunately, Alaska doesn’t operate a lounge at the airport… Panda Express, it was for me!
Boarding
Twiddling my thumbs, waiting to board this beautiful Max 9, I overheard the gate agents attempting to sell upgrades for under 100. Only 6/16 seats had been booked, and there were no elites or standbys on the list. Practically unheard of.
10 o’clock came around, and it was soon time to get on board. As I mentioned in the intro, this trip series is one I took very seriously in terms of reviewing; hence, I was the first one on board.
Strolling down the jetbridge, the lovely cabin crew were waiting to greet me on board.
The Seat/Cabin
Most of Alaska’s fleet features old recliner chairs, minus one aircraft type: the 737 Max 9. Domestic First Class seats are laid out in a 2-2 configuration across 4 rows totaling 16 seats. These seats are designed extremely well, with plenty of legroom, in-seat power, good recline, and even a little optional footrest if that is your thing. The drinks table in the middle with actual cup holders is fantastic!
However, for some reason, I just could not get comfortable in the seat when it came time to sleep. I’m not sure exactly what it was.
Departure
Due to such a light load (8 people in business, 50 in economy), boarding was wrapped up by 10:20, at which point the cabin crew came around to welcome us onboard with a pre-departure beverage consisting of juice or water.
A couple of moments later, the flight deck came on to announce our flight time of 4 hours and 48 mins. Captain Ivory and First Officer Luke were fantastic, mentioning that there were some thunderstorms in the area and that we would head south before climbing up, eventually expecting a 04R landing into JFK.
At 10:29, we pushed back from the gate (11 minutes early).
21 minutes later, we were wheels up out of runway 27, departing right after the BA flight to London!
Amenities/IFE
All snuggled up in the comfortable blanket that Alaska provides for these red eyes, I decided to check out the IFE. Unfortunately, no pillow was offered, which might have been one of the reasons I couldn’t get comfy.
The IFE system is relatively good. Passengers have the option to stream a selection of movies and TV shows from the Alaska Airlines IFE, in addition to being able to purchase a full flight wifi pass for 8$. Exactly the same cost as United. Yes, if you have T-Mobile, Free wifi!
Meal Service
Alaska Airlines follows a similar concept to most of the airlines in the USA, in which you have the ability to pre-order your meal. Unfortunately, unlike United, Alaska only offers a snack on these later redeye flights, so a cheese platter was for me (with cold cuts). It was actually quite good and paired nicely with a glass of red wine.
To finish off the meal, the cabin crew came around offering warm cookies. Oh my gosh, sensational! More crisp than the American Airlines cookies 😉.
Overall Service
This is the main part of the flight that stood out to me. In the past, Alaska has been known for providing better service than the main US3 carriers. However, the service I experienced on the flight today was nothing short of unbelievable for a Domestic First Class flight.
Every time they interacted with me it was by “Mr Tillman.”
When I went up to the bathroom, they said to me, “Let me check if it is clean for you first, Mr Tillman.”
I was constantly checked in on me in a warm and friendly way. It was not over the top, but it was enough to show that they cared about the customers.
It got to the point where I thought I was flying Qatar First Class it was that good. Obviously, I wouldn’t expect this level for every flight (or maybe?), but this left a very good impression on me about the airline.
Arrival
Somehow managing to fall asleep for an hour and a half, I woke up as we were getting ready to land in New York JFK on a beautiful morning. I have fond memories of all the landings in JFK, but 4R, where you pass over the water, then buildings, then water again, is pretty deja vu.
By 6:57 am, we had pulled into gate 8 at Terminal 7, and the cabin crew bid us farewell!
Night one complete on the plane, now to kill a day in New York before flying to Warsaw that night!
Final Thoughts
Flying Domestic First on Alaska on the 737 Max 9 was an absolute treat for this cross-country leg. Having a half-full domestic first cabin, being addressed by last name, enjoying a decent cheese platter, and a glass of red wine made for a decent flight. The one thing I would like to see is Alaska serving pillows on this route, as I did find it a bit tricky to get some rest.
With that being said, would I choose this Alaska Domestic First over Jetblue Mint or United Lie flats on the 757-200? It would certainly depend on the cost for me. If Mint was the same as this flight, I would choose a lie-flat seat in a heartbeat. However, Alaska on this flight provided some of the best service I have come across in the US, so there is that angle.
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