Jen and I had the opportunity to stay at one of Cabo’s most exquisite properties a few weeks back in the Waldorf Astoria Los Cabo Pedregal. When planning our trip, I decided to fly us out on Alaska’s First Class. While their first class cabin is rather dated, the excellent staff and good amenities more than made up for it. Here’s the full review.
Pre-Departure
We had a 12:30 pm flight booked for our adventure to Cabo, but decided to head to the airport a little early to grab some food and relax. We arrived at the airport a little bit after 9:45am and had our passports checked to get our boarding passes. We also checked in our bag( we traveled very light and fit everything into one luggage). Within 10 minutes, we were well on our way through security.
Jen and I both have Global Entry which also gets you TSA pre. This only further expedited our journey and within 25 minutes of getting dropped off at the airport, we were on our way to explore a few lounges.
Lounges
The first lounge we visited has been a staple over the years. The American Express Centurion Lounge at San Francisco Airport has been a solid option of ours for the last 3-4 years. Unfortunately, the lounge was still undergoing renovations and was not open. The Centurion Lounge did offer grab and go sandwich boxes as well as canned cold brew(I’m a huge sucker for cold brew) so it’s nice to see limited take out offerings in place of the standard lounge.
The second and final lounge we visited was the Alaska Airlines Lounge in terminal 2 at SFO. Ironically, I have been to several Alaska Lounges over the years, but this was my first time visiting the one at my home airport. The lounge was pretty empty on a Tuesday morning, but food options were fairly limited. In terms of food and drinks, American Express and Delta Lounges come out far ahead of Alaska’s.
The Flight
Our flight was a quick direct to San Jose del Cabo Airport. Our plane for the trip was an Boeing 737-900 that had 16 seats in first class, 24 premium(extra legroom) seats, and 138 standard economy seats. The plane was fully packed, which was rather odd for a random Tuesday in October.
The Seat
Alaska only has domestic first class seats and currently do not operate any true long haul aircraft. Our seat was a large chair with adequate recline and plenty of leg room. Jen and I tend to love sitting in row 1 so as usual we were situated in row 1 with Jen taking the window seat.
Meal Service
I’ve gotten use to airlines giving out a small snacks on short flights, but Alaska allowed Jen and I to order meals ahead of time. Jen had the chicken risotto which she noted was very dry. I went with a cheese plate and what can I say? You can’t really go wrong with a cheese plate. I thought food was solid, but best off all we were given a sweet treat in the form of a hot chocolate chip cookie!
About 2/3 of the way through, the flight attendant came around and offered us drinks and an additional stack. For a flight under 3 hours, service was well done. Meal serviced was quick and wrapped up in under 30 minutes giving me plenty of time to sleep( for no apparent reason I always tend to sleep on planes).
Alaska Airlines Service
Overall, I think Alaska tends to be one of the best U.S. based carriers. The employees are always wonderful and service is typically great. Our flight attendant was was cheerful and we had a couple of great conversations. While the cabin was fairly small, taking card of 16 passengers is no easy task. I greatly appreciated the great service and I even got thanked for being a One World Emerald.
Final Thoughts
Alaska Airlines does have a hard product that’s noteworthy. The airline also only operates a couple of configurations on narrow body jets( Boeing 737 & Airbus A320 & Airbus A319). Where the airline truly stands out amongst its competitors is the excellent service and wonderful soft product. All first class passengers receive access to Alaska Airline Lounges
