What can you expect from Alaska Airlines First Class in 2023?

Alaska Airlines is one of the major airlines in the United States with its headquarters in SeaTac, Washington. It is recognized as the sixth-largest airline in North America in terms of passengers flown, fleet capacity and the number of destinations covered.

At present, Alaska operates from five major hubs including Los Angeles, Anchorage, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle/Tacoma. Furthermore, San Diego and San Jose are the focus cities for the airlines.

Talking about the fleet capacity, Alaska Airlines currently owns over 329 aircraft consisting of Airbus A320 family, Boeing 737-9 MAX, Boeing 737-900ER, Boeing 737-900. Boeing 737-800, Boeing 737-700, Bombardier Q400 and Embraer 175.

There are four types of cabin services offered by Alaska and they are Saver Fare, Main Cabin, Premium Class and First Class. Today, we will discover Alaska Airlines First Class with its features, seating experience, baggage allowance, in-flight entertainment, food and much more.

About Alaska Airlines First Class

Alaska Airlines First Class is the top most fare class offered by the airlines and is famous for providing a luxurious travel experience to the valued customers. Spacious seats with enhanced legroom, priority boarding and dedicated flight attendant services are the major attractions of the First Class Cabin service.

With Alaska First Class, passengers will board and deplane with first priority, receive complimentary food and beverages and also access Alaska Premium Lounges. 

With this short introduction, let’s explore more about the First Class beginning with its perks and amenities.

Alaska Airlines First Class Benefits

Being the most luxurious among the Alaska Fare classes, the First Class cabin service offers various perks and benefits. Some key benefits are listed below.

Spacious and Custom-designed Seats

First Class passengers can stretch out comfortably and travel with enhanced comfort with spacious and custom-designed seats.

Complimentary Bags

Passengers can carry two checked bags for free with Alaska Airlines First Class.

Complimentary Food and Beverages

First Class customers get complimentary food and beverages including free beer, wine and cocktails.

Pre-order Food

First Class passengers can also pre-order food up to 20 hours before their flight.

Priority Boarding

Passengers on Alaska First Class board and deplane quickly due to expedited check-in, security screening and priority boarding facilities.

Alaska Lounge Access

First Class passengers get complimentary access to the Alaska Airlines Lounge facility at available locations.

Dedicated Flight Attendant

As an Alaska First Class passenger, you receive personalised service via a dedicated flight attendant.

Alaska Airlines First Class Amenity Kit

Alaska Airlines doesn’t offer an amenity kit on any of its flights however, passengers may be provided with blankets.

Alaska Airlines First Class Seats

The major talking point of Alaska Airlines First Class is its seating experience as it offers more spacious, custom-designed and luxurious seats with extended legroom. The custom-designed sets are built with Recaro Leather.

The First Class seats feature a pitch of 41 inches and non-lie flat with generous recline only. Every seat is equipped with power outlets, tablet holders, cup holders and footrests.

First Class passengers enjoy a luxurious seating experience with personalized service from a dedicated flight attendant.

Alaska Airlines First Class Seating Chart

The seating chart or arrangement depends upon the aircraft type and requirements of airlines. Alaska Airlines operates a fleet manufactured by Airbus, Boeing, Bombardier and Embraer. So, the seating arrangement is different on various aircraft models.

Let’s look at the seating chart of the Boeing 737-800.

Alaska Airlines B737-800 series aircraft is equipped with 147 Recaro leather seats with added personal space, Boeing’s award-winning Sky interior, in-flight internet, power outlets and so on. Talking about the seating arrangement, it features 12 First Class seats, 30 Premium Class seats and 117 Main Cabin Seats.

First Class seats on B737-800 are arranged in 2-2 configurations as you can see in the seating layout in the image above.

Likewise, if you observe the Alaska Airlines Airbus A320-214 (Sharklet) seating configuration you will find 12 First Class, 24 Premium Class and 114 Main Cabin seats. The First Class seating configuration is 2-2.

Alaska Airlines First Class Baggage Allowance

If you are travelling with the state of Alaska, you can carry 3 checked bags for free with a weight limitation of 50 lbs (23 kgs) and a maximum dimension of 62 inches (157 cms) including Length+Width+Height as per the airline’s baggage policy.

Alaska Airlines First Class Checked Bags

As a First Class passenger, you can carry two complimentary checked bags for free to any destination. Each bag must not weigh more than 50 lbs (23 kgs) and not exceed the maximum dimensions of 62 inches (157 cms) including Length+width+height.

The passengers are required to pay an additional charge of US$100 per bag if they carry more than 2 checked bags. Also, US$100 applies to passengers carrying overweight bags (51-100 lbs) and US$100 for bags with linear dimensions of 63 inches to 115 inches. 

{If a checked bag falls into more than one fee category (piece number, oversize, overweight), only the higher, single fee is charged.}

Alaska Airlines doesn’t accept baggage exceeding 100 pounds and/or 115 linear inches (Length+Width+Height) on passenger flights. In that case, customers are required to contact Alaska Air Cargo for assistance.

Alaska Airlines First Class Carry on Luggage

Alaska Airlines passengers are allowed to bring one carry-on bag and one personal item (a laptop bag, briefcase or purse) for free. The size or dimension limits of the carry-on bag are 22 inches by 14 inches by 9 inches including the wheels and handles.

Passengers are required to measure their carry-on bag carefully before flying with Alaska and this can be done by using bag sizers at the airport locations. Also, they must ensure prohibited and restricted items are not included in the carry-on bag.

Alaska Airlines First Class Entertainment

First Class passengers on Alaska Flights can enjoy free in-flight entertainment with the availability of free movies, TV shows and online streaming. They can connect to the onboard Wi-Fi network and visit AlaskaWiFi.com to get access to the extensive library of entertainment.

Passengers can use their own digital devices to watch over 800 free movies and TV episodes included in the entertainment library.

Alaska Airlines First Class Free Wifi

There is in-flight WiFi available on Alaska Airlines flights however, passengers are required to pay some applicable charges for using this feature. There are two types of Wi-Fi service available on Alaska flights which are streaming-fast satellite Wi-Fi and Basic Wi-Fi.

Almost all aircraft feature satellite Wi-Fi that allows faster browsing, streaming and chatting. Likewise, basic Wi-Fi with basic connectivity is available, especially on Embraer E175 and select B737 aircraft. Aircraft used on shorter flights including select Boeing 737-9 MAX and all Bombardier Q400 aircraft isn’t equipped with in-flight Wi-Fi.

Talking about the applicable Wi-Fi fee, the streaming-fast Wi-Fi is available on board for only $8. Likewise, Basic Wi-Fi is also available for $8 on Embraer E175 aircraft whereas the price of Basic Wi-Fi on B737 jets varies by flight.

Passengers can use Alaska Airlines Wi-Fi for free texting without paying data charges. For that, they need to connect to the Alaska Wi-Fi, access AlaskaWiFi.com and choose the ‘Free Texting’ option. This feature works on popular apps including Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp and iMessage. 

As a free texting service, only texts and emojis are supported whereas photos, videos or SMS messages are not supported.

Alaska Airlines First Class Food Menu

Alaska Airlines First Class customers enjoy complimentary food and beverages. Local ingredients inspired by the West Coast, healthy and freshly prepared meals, snacks, breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert are the available food options.

The food options depend on flight distance and are illustrated in the table below.

FLIGHT DISTANCE	FOOD MENU
Flights above 670 miles including flights between PDX and SFO, SJC, OAK, LAS	Cold entree or Fruit & Cheese Platter Lunch and Dinner meals including Dessert
Flights above 1,100 miles	Fruit Bowl or Appetizer Salad Hot Entree or Fruit & Cheese Platter Entrees include Autumn Squash, Ancient Grain Bowl, Creamy Ricotta, Sauteed Zucchini and Yellow Squash Lunch and Dinner options with Mixed nuts and dessert
Flights above 2,140 miles (Hawaii and Coast-to-coast)	An Appetizer, Bread & Butter and choice of Hot Entree or the Fruit & Cheese Platter Regional food including Kalbi Short Ribs on Hawaiian flights House-made desserts

Alaska Airlines First Class Drinks

First Class passengers on Alaska flights can pair their meal with premium beverages including the West Coast winemaker program and a selection of local brews and drinks. They can choose from hot, non-alcoholic and alcoholic beverages available on flights over 350 miles.

The available drink menus are listed in the table below.

HOT BEVERAGES	NON-ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES	ALCOHOLIC BEVERAGES
Starbucks Pike Place Roast Coffee Starbucks Decaf Via Teavana Royal English Breakfast Tea Teavana Mint Majesty Herbal Tea	Boxed Water Seltzer Coca-Cola Diet Coke Sprite Ginger Ale Orange Juice Cranberry Juice Bloody Mary Mix Tonic Water Passion Orange Guava Juice (Available on Flights to/from Hawaii)	Anchor Brewing West Coast IPA Full Sail Brewing Session Cerveza Lager Intrinsic Columbia Valley Cabernet Sauvignon Intrinsic Columbia Valley Sauvignon Blanc Domaine St. Vincent Sparkling Wine JD Whiskey Woodford Reserve Bourbon Scotch Whisky Cruzan Rum GinTito’s Vodka Five Farms Irish Cream

In addition to the available food options, First Class passengers can pre-order to choose their entree or other food options up to 20 hours before the flight. This feature is available on almost all flights over 670 miles operated by most Boeing and Airbus aircraft.

Alaska Airlines First Class Lounge Access

Passengers on Alaska First class flights get complimentary access to the Alaska Lounge at various locations. 

Alaska Lounge offers various perks and amenities on the ground including food and snacks, beverages and cocktails, productivity tools, concierge service, a luxurious lounge and much more.

If you are a First Class passenger, don’t forget to enjoy the amenities offered by the Alaska Lounge.

Alaska Airlines First Class vs Premium

First Class and Premium Class cabin services offered by Alaska Airlines are the luxurious fare classes. First Class is the top-most fare class whereas Premium Class Cabin holds the second position.

First Class passengers get access to Alaska Lounge and are served by dedicated flight attendants but Premium Class passengers are not provided with these facilities. Talking about the baggage allowance, First Class passengers can carry up to 2 checked bags for free whereas Premium Class passengers are required to pay $30 for the first bag, $40 for the second bag and $100 for the third bag.

Food and Beverages offerings are almost similar in both the fare classes as passengers get complimentary snacks, meals including breakfast, lunch, dinner and beverages including alcohol, hot drinks and non-alcoholic drinks. The only difference is First Class passengers get complimentary food and drinks whereas Premium Class passengers get complimentary drinks only (they can purchase food via pre-ordering).

Conclusion

We are almost at the end of this article where we explore Alaska Airlines First Class cabin service with its features, amenities, seating arrangement & experience, baggage allowance, food and beverages and so on.

In a nutshell, Alaska First Class is the highest level of cabin service featuring a luxurious seating experience, priority boarding, complimentary food & beverages, complimentary baggage, Alaska Lounge Access, dedicated flight attendant and various other premium services.

Some Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)