Hi everyone, welcome back to another flight review! Today I’ll be doing the return leg from my DFW to YVR journey (in a sense), returning back to STL through SEA. I experience this product once before and didn’t consider there’d be enough to cover with a full review, but this time around I also had the chance to check out Alaska’s signature lounge in Seattle, which I felt was well worth the content! A slightly shorter review this time, I hope everyone enjoys!
I arrived at the C gates in SEA off my 32-minute flight from YVR, it’s always a fun time on that flight… descent announced 5 minutes after take-off. There is a lounge at the C gates, and my arrival gate happened to be adjacent to my departure one to STL. However, the C gates lounge is far smaller, and inferior compared to the signature one at the N gates. The trip over was quick, just two stops on the tram located right below my arrival gate.
The N gates lounge is located on the second floor. If you find yourself coming across a P.F. Chang’s, you’re in the right place.
My memory from 2 years ago was being turned away from lounge access since SEA-STL was less than 2500 miles, the requirement to enter. I recall receiving the offer to pay and enter, but back then I passed. I’m unsure if the policies have changed, but no one mentioned distance being an issue today, but I still needed to drop 35 dollars for access.
With a 3 hour layover, and the elegant lounge exterior, I thought it’d be worth it. Inside, I immediately noticed two things: 1. How packed it was, 2. How beautiful the views were. I was beyond lucky to walk in just as a group were leaving their table, there were multiple people during my time there that struggled to find a seat. Although not right up against the glass, this table provided an excellent view (and I was spoiled with the various widebodies I saw from across the world!)
There’s a general food station located in the center with different options on each side of the rectangle. More on that in a bit.
I was quite jealous I didn’t get one of those seats right up front, would never get old of that view!
There’s more seating space over on my right side, it was also quite full.
And also some lounging space over on the left side. Just think of the food station as the lounge’s center, both sides open up to more seating and equally gorgeous tarmac views.
Back to the main event, the food station.
There were ups and downs to this, let’s dig in. In terms of hot food options, it was quite basic and what you can see here was literally everything. There was macaroni, chicken/meatballs, and either marinara or alfredo sauce. There were also cheesy flatbread. Essentially more-so a “make your own pasta station.”
Some extra variety of other options would have been great, but for what’s essentially a domestic US airline lounge, not bad. The tarmac views alone give it a foot up over most United Clubs or Delta Sky Clubs.
There’s also a salad bar next to the hot food space, and two soups on offer in the center.
On the other side of the food station, was the highlight for me with a barista manned coffee station. All the drinks were free of charge and freshly made. The only other domestic lounge I’ve experienced with made-to-order fresh coffee is China Eastern’s main lounge over at Shanghai Hongqiao.
Some more gorgeous views of the tarmac.
On another side of the food station we had a dessert (or rather, cookie) bar.
I grabbed a bit of everything on offer. The meatballs were rather dry but the chicken was surprisingly good. I’m unsure if being starving contributed to my generally positive impressions of the taste. An iced americano from the coffee station and a chocolate chip cookie were also great.
At the drinks area, there were more coffee options but I’d struggle to see why anyone would utilize them with a barista making fresh caffeine nearby.
One of the many widebodies that just casually passed us by!
An hour or so later, I returned for seconds and opted this time for alfredo along with some mushroom wild rice soup. The soup was far too diluted, but the pasta was good. There may not be a plethora of options when it came to the hot food, but I must admit the flavors were on point.
Air Transport
I was quite surprised to see an EK bird pass by, as this was still during a time many couldn’t return home. I wasn’t sure what was going on since there was indication of a flight to Dubai on the airport big screen, but flightradar and flightly both didn’t register a trip that day.
This was my first encounter with an Alaska widebody wince the merger, the aurora tail is an upgrade to their old design.
Hawaiian
The final widebody I saw, a little glimpse of home. I wonder if and when MU might operate passenger flights to SEA one day.
Before heading back to the C gates, I checked out the restrooms. These were gorgeous, on par with many international F lounge restrooms.
Overall, I found the lounge to be one of the nicer ones I’ve been to. Yes it may have been slightly overpacked, but the tarmac views alone is enough to win me over. Definitely worth the tram journey over. Some extra hot food options would enhance the experience, but not something that’s make or break.
Back on the tram, I headed back to the C gates, right up to where I disembarked from YVR a few hours earlier. The first look at our bird tonight.
Boarding soon commenced with F being up first.
Here’s the first look at our cabin today, nothing special just the regular 2-2 recliners in domestic US carriers. Sitting down, there’s decent leg space and enough distance away from the passenger ahead of you so you don’t really feel it when they recline.
There is no IFE, as the norm on Alaskan, but the fast WiFi speeds more than made up for it. I did pay 8 dollars for the full flight. I’m unsure if there was an option for free internet, perhaps if you were enrolled in the loyalty program.
I had the aisle seat, and there’s some shared table space with my neighbor.
There are charging ports available, one for each passenger, in the center. Charging was available upon embarking which was nice. The “pull” sign opens up to some extra table space.
Overhead air nozzles are always appreciated, a total of three to share between two passengers!
Unfortunately, there was a dirty napkin left in the seatback. Considering this is technically a premium cabin, this shouldn’t be the case. I was glad the drinks menu wasn’t touching the napkin, that would’ve been quite disgusting.
The drinks menu, as instructed by the crew, features everything that’s available for F passengers free of charge. I noticed they do in fact change up the two cocktails, with an espresso martini being offered on my flight last year, now replaced with two different options. A very extensive drinks menu for a domestic hop.
Welcome drinks were offered in paper cups, either water or sparkling wine, I went with the former.
Looking back at the entertainment guide, I guess I didn’t make a mistake paying the 8 dollars. I must admit no false advertising, the WiFi was indeed very quick.
All full today in the F cabin.
Before takeoff, the crew came by to take dinner orders. The options were either a cheeseburger, lemon pasta, or a vegetarian option. I asked for her favorite between the two non-vegetarian options, to which she responded that both were great but the pasta does come with a hearty chicken breast, which won me over.
After a good four hours here in Seattle, I was glad we were finally on our way back to STL. Not too busy today at Tacoma, and we took off at 18:08, one minute behind schedule.
As soon as we reached cruising altitude, the crew came by with pre-packaged salt & stone wet towels. These smelled very nice, and sure beats out AA’s tiny towels.
Before the meal began, I checked out the restroom which was very clean. Of course, quite small as all narrowbodies are. The second visit a few hours later was also very clean, so props to the crew for keeping an eye on that.
Back at my seat, beverage service commenced with a diet coke and the old fashioned cocktail. When I ordered the espresso martini last year, I was served the can too which was nice given the cool design. A shame that wasn’t offered today. Regardless, this tasted exactly like a bartender mixed one for me in the galley.
Some warm trail mix and nuts then came around. I’ve never been a huge fan of nuts themselves since they’re usually more bland than I enjoy, so it was nice Alaksa also offered some mini salted pretzels mixed within.
Finally, the main meal arrived. This was quite a hearty portion of pasta. The hummus and white chocolate cake were fine, nothing too special. The pasta itself didn’t have much flavor but again that may be down to my preference for a stronger and saltier palette.
It really just resembled what I had earlier in the lounge, pasta with chicken. It got me very full, though.
Looking back, I missed what AA did by offering a separate dessert course with two options. Although it wasn’t a big deal, AA’s act elevates the dinner experience just a tad.
Nothing much of interest occurred throughout the remainder of this flight. I should note the crew came around with snack baskets, which is something that I’ve not experienced on any other US carrier that also offers dinner. Usually its either dinner or snack baskets on shorter flights, this was my first time experiencing both, which was a nice touch.
We landed a good 21 minutes early into St. Louis which was nice. Sometimes it can be difficult finding a ride nearing midnight from Lambert back downtown.
