First Class with Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines Lounge, Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA)
Our Holiday Travel Experience 2021:
Airport Chaos with a First Class Twist!
Dec. 17-Dec. 30, 2021
You can also find the Vlog on YouTube (see below!).
Traveling during the holiday season is always a busy time of year, but the 2021-2022 holiday travel season felt like it was on another level of chaos this year. Thousands of flights were canceled per day (starting the week prior to Christmas, and affecting flights through the first week of January). Not only were there just more passengers traveling than usual, but flight crews were calling out sick due to Covid-19 exposures, and snow and ice created even more delays and cancellations in many parts of the country - including SeaTac!
Of course, flying home to see family is always worth the stress that can come with traveling. And flying in general (especially during the holiday season!), just requires you to prepare for the unexpected and to stay flexible. With that in mind, we also believe that exercising empathy was the key to us surviving a holiday travel season as chaotic as 2021’s, and we believe that our patience was rewarded with good karma this year – landing us our very first, first-class experience with Alaska Airlines!
(Yes - even our cat, Sherbert, flew first class with us!)
Flying to Seattle: Why We Fly Alaska Airlines
Before I jump into how we found ourselves holding two first-class tickets when we originally paid for economy, let me start from the beginning…
I have been a loyal Alaska Airlines passenger for years now. They’ve always been my number one airline every time, so whenever we fly back to Washington from Boston, we’ve only ever flown with Alaska Airlines. So much so, that we ended up earning MVP status in 2022 after flying 20,000+ miles in 2021!
There are many reasons why we love flying with Alaska Airlines (i.e. their commitment to the environment, a Seattle-based business, etc.) but the biggest reason is the customer-focused experience we always get.
Their mobile app makes booking and canceling flights extremely easy, and accessing our boarding pass on their user-friendly interface makes day-of travel seamless. Making changes and keeping up with flight updates can be handled via their mobile app, but when handling things that require a phone call to an Alaska Airlines agent (like making a pet reservation), the customer service experience is always 10/10!
For example, for our trip from Boston to Seattle, we wanted to rebook our flight 1-day earlier. Snow was predicted for our original departure date, so instead of waiting to see if our morning flight was going to get delayed, we decided to be proactive and fly out a day early.
The customer service agent I spoke to over the phone made the change super easy for us - ensuring that Sherbert’s pet reservation was transferred successfully, confirming that there were no change fees (we even got credit back since our new flight was cheaper than our original!), and even giving us advice on how to get seated together.
Since it was a last minute flight change (we flew out within 24 hours after making the switch), there were only single seats available for pre-selection. The agent advised us to arrive at the gate early, in order to request for seats together towards the back of the plane - which worked! Normally we wouldn’t mind sitting separately on the flight, but given that it was a 5+ hour flight with Sherbert, I hope you’d understand why it’s a little more convenient for us to sit together, even if it was the very last row. ;)
Compensation for Delayed Luggage
We’ve flown with other airlines in the past who have lost our luggage (and don’t get me wrong - it happens), but we’ve flown with Alaska Airlines for yeaaaaars, and this was only the very first time we’ve encountered trouble with our checked-in luggage.
Once we arrived to SeaTac’s baggage claim, and realized one of our bags was missing, we stood in line at their customer service desk, conveniently placed right next to the carousel. Once it was our turn, the team explained to us that our bag wasn’t lost, it was randomly selected to be withheld from the plane due to weight distribution concerns for the aircraft. It was scheduled to be placed on the next flight out to Seattle, and we were assured that it will likely arrive at our doorstep this evening. Sure, it somewhat delayed our day waiting in line to get things sorted, but the customer service team took great care of us and gave us a phone number to call if we experienced further issues with receiving our bag.
The great customer service continued when our bag’s arrival was delayed even longer. We called the number given to us the following morning asking if there was an ETA on when our bag would arrive at SeaTac and when it would arrive at our door. Our bag had all of our toiletries and shoes, so although we had our clothing, we didn't have any shoes to wear to our dinner plans with family that afternoon.
We were met with great empathy and the team offered to send us a digital voucher to cover the costs for replacement items. The reimbursement process was extremely easy - we were sent an email that listed out all the steps on how to link our credit card. Once we were all set, we went shopping at Target to replace our toiletries and a pair of shoes for each of us, and were then reimbursed immediately after payment.
Our bag arrived late that evening, with a note that said, “Have fun at your party! Happy Holidays!” Although our start to the trip had an unexpected bump, the extra thought and care from the Alaska Airlines Team was consistent throughout!
Travel Attempt #1: Exercising Patience
One missing bag was nothing compared to the journey we had trying to get back to Boston… lol. As soon as we landed in Washington, there was nonstop news about delayed flights and cancellations due to flight crews calling out sick due to Covid-19 exposures. And on top of that, it also decided to snow the day before our flight.
After a week’s worth of delays and cancellations, all of the flight changes started to create a domino effect. We ended up standing in line for 2 hours with other passengers who missed their flights the days prior. Instead of rebooking their flights online or over the phone, we heard stories from passengers who had been waiting 10+ hours for a call back to rebook their flight, so instead of waiting even longer, some drove to the airport to figure out their flights with customer service in-person.
So even though we arrived at the airport 2.5-hours before our flight, we ended up spending 2 hours waiting in line. Was it frustrating? I’d be lying if I said no, but we kept reminding ourselves that there was nothing that the Customer Service agents could do to change the situation. They were doing their best, and going as fast as they could. It was sad to see that other people standing in line with us didn’t give them that same grace.
In theory, we could’ve expedited the process by getting our checked bags tagged and paid for ahead of time, but at the end of the day, we were flying with Sherbert, so we couldn’t even pick up our boarding passes without verifying Sherbert and paying for his pet fee with an Alaska Airlines agent.
So we waited… and waited… and we were right at the half-hour mark when it was finally our turn at the Assistance desk. We had our licenses and credit card out, ready to throw our bags onto the scale, and prepared to make a run for it. If we didn’t have TSA pre-check, we definitely wouldn’t have made it, but with expedited security screening, we were hopeful!
Hopeful until we were told that it was just too late to check our bags onto the flight, so we’d have to be rebooked. Whomp, whomp…
To fly out the next day, we would’ve been on separate flights, and there wasn’t a guarantee at the time if there would be room for Sherbert (flights limit how many pets can be on an aircraft). To fly together, we were looking at flights 3-4 days out in the main cabin. That was until our customer service agent found a flight for 2 days later… FIRST CLASS.
I was so surprised about the unexpected upgrade that I asked if we had to pay the difference (we didn’t lol).
That Flight Wasn't Meant to Be
We walked away feeling extremely lucky. Instead of grouching about things that were out of our control, we chose to feel like valued customers and stayed empathetic to the situation. Everyone was just trying to get home after Christmas - we just had to wait our turn (and it helped that “our turn” meant first class haha!).
We called my parents to swing back around and pick us up, but as luck would have it, my godmother was having dinner right by the airport when I texted her that we missed our flight. She lives 5-minutes away from my parents’ place, so she ended up offering us a ride home! Instead of waiting another hour for my parents to get us from the airport, our wait went down to 15 minutes. And trust me - by that point, to get 45 minutes back was very much appreciated.
During our drive back to my parents’ house, we got a call from my mom who realized that we really weren’t meant to fly on that plane tonight. I was confused with what she meant until she told me that we had accidentally left our car keys on the kitchen counter… the car keys we would need in order to pick up our car from the park and ride at the Boston Airport… If we had made it to our flight on-time, we would’ve found ourselves digging through all of our bags looking for keys that would’ve been sitting 3000 miles away.
THANK GOD we missed that flight!
Travel Attempt #2: Still Exercising Patience
We made it back to the SeaTac airport on Wednesday, and this time, we were 3-hours early. Even with the expected shorter line for First Class passengers, and even with TSA pre-check, it still felt better to get to the airport with plenty of time after our recent experience.
The First Class check-in line took us about 10 minutes total. There was even an Alaska Airlines team member handing out bottled water, snacks, and coffee to those waiting in line (Was this a typical service, or exclusive to First Class? No idea, but it was the first time I’ve seen it happen!). We checked-in our luggage, verified Sherbert, and before we knew it, we were walking to a TSA gate.
This was only our second time using TSA pre-check, but so far, it has been SO worth it. I typically fly with Sherbert and with two laptops (one for personal use and one for work), so going through security screenings was always a little hectic. This time, we kept our shoes on, left all of our laptops in our bags, and all I had to worry about was taking Sherbert in and out of his carrier. This only took us 15 minutes tops.
We went from waiting 2 hours just to get to the check-in desk, to 30 minutes total to get past security. Our travel day was going without any hurdles to jump through this time… until our flight got delayed. Instead of 3:45pm our flight was pushed to 5pm.
But truthfully, the delay wasn’t that big of a deal because along with our first class tickets, we had access to the newly-built (2019) Alaska Airlines Lounge!
A First Class Experience: Alaska Airlines Lounge (Sea-Tac Airport)
What an absolute treat it was to experience the Alaska Airlines Lounge while we waited for our delayed flight. We picked a peaceful corner for Sherbert to nap in, which also had comfy chairs for us, and a killer view of airplanes taking off. On top of the great ambiance and amazing views, we also had tons of snacks and beverages to choose from (chowders/soups, fruit, a salad bar, pastries, waffles/pancakes, coffee, even alcoholic drinks!) - all unlimited and complimentary!
The lounge also provided faster wifi, TVs, a cozy fireplace, and plenty of outlets to charge all of our devices. The bathrooms were spotless, the bussing service was top-notch, and the ceilings were so high that you really didn’t feel like you were stuck waiting at a stuffy airport.
I ended up doing some work, so the time passed rather quickly. I only started to get restless when our already delayed flight was delayed again – 6:15PM.
Once it was 5:30pm, Lucas and I decided to head towards our terminal to wait. We soon discovered that our flight was to get delayed even further (~7pm), due to a lack of pilots. We were waiting for new pilots to arrive and fly us out to Boston since our original pilots were stuck in LA. After exercising even more patience, the pilots finally walked up to our gate with much-deserved cheers and applause from us passengers.
From the Last Row, to the Second Row
We were assigned Row #2… it was crazy! Although we were used to boarding early due to Lucas being active duty military (thank you Alaska Airlines for honoring our service members!), it was so strange taking only 5 steps onto the plane and then we were already in our seats!
We had boxed water and hand wipes waiting for us, and were met with the friendliest flight attendant. Once we were in the skies, I ordered a hot tea (which came in a real mug!), and a complimentary cheese board, which came with Beecher’s cheese (my fave!), crackers, grapes, apples, a side salad, a pastry, and bread with butter. Of course, I also ordered a glass of Cabernet to go with it (which came in a real glass!). ;)
I was able to get some editing done, and 4.5 hours later, we landed safely in Boston! And with no lost luggage this time ;). After such a long travel day, we were happy to be home!
Alaska Airlines knew what they were doing by giving us a taste of what traveling first class was like.. Lol! After an experience like ours, I think we’ll think twice about rejecting the “upgrade” deals for future flights. ;)
If you’re ever flying home for the holiday season, it’s safe to expect some twists and turns, but remember that customer service agents, flight attendants, and pilots are all human too. Unexpected obstacles may initially be frustrating (valid!), but things always find a way of working out in the end. For this travel story, we are feeling incredibly blessed, because for us, things worked out by giving us our very first, first-class experience! :)
Cheers to Alaska Airlines!
Gen
P.S. For tips and tricks on how to fly with a cat in-cabin with you, stay tuned!
