Review of Alaska Airlines flight from Washington to Los Angeles in Economy

Hello and welcome to this new series of reports. This trip is my last, for a while, with Delta and its partners as I've decided to switch to American Airlines and AAdvantage miles with the advent of the new Revenue-based Skymiles 2015 program on the horizon. I've been a loyal Delta flyer for many years, but the new program no longer makes sense for someone like me who travels on his own dime mostly for leisure.
Here is the routing of reports to come:
Washington-Reagan DCA - Los Angeles LAX, Alaska Airlines, B737-800. Economy [THIS REPORT]
Los Angeles LAX - Honolulu HNL, Delta Air Lines, B757-300, First Class
Honolulu HNL - Kailua-Kona KOA, Hawaiian Airlines, B717-200, First Class
Kailua-Kona KOA - Los Angeles LAX, Delta Air Lines, B757-200, First Class [COMING SOON]
Los Angeles LAX - Detroit Metro DTW, Delta Air Lines, B757-200, First Class [COMING SOON]
Detroit Metro DTW - Washington-Reagan DCA, Delta Air Lines, MD88, First Class [NO REPORT]
So here I am at my home airport of Washington-Reagan for this first flight of three today. I was excited about getting to take Alaska on this DL codeshare, as it had been years since I'd flown AS and had fond memories of those flights. Let see if Alaska is still as good as I remember!

We get through security pretty quickly with the Sky Priority/Fast Track lane. Normally, we wouldn't have access. As many of you may be aware, relations between AS and DL have been getting a little icy since the start of the DL hub build-up at SEA. DL Elites used to have access to Priority security lanes, but that was taken away recently (less than a year ago?). DL Elites also lost the ability to check bags for free on AS. However, and this is probably the best reciprocal Elite benefit, AS has kept the complimentary upgrades for DL Elites. This AS leg was booked in coach, so I was hoping that the upgrades might clear, but knowing how tough those upgrades are on transcons, I made sure to get some good seats in the back. In the exit row to be precise.
Nice surprise for the big #AvGeek in me when we get to the gate. We are on AS' 75th Anniversary Retrojet. Ain't she a beauty!

When I checked with the gate agents, they told me that we were number 1 and 2 on the upgrade list, but that F checked in full. I wasn't expecting the seats to free up since DCA is a spoke and not a connecting hub for AS and there was no hope of passengers missing connections. But you never know…the very nice gate agent told me to go ahead and board when it starts and that she would come on board and get us if by any chance the seats opened up. How nice!
On DL if you board, you fall off the upgrade list.
Boarding time. What a great livery!

Great first impression of the cabin which seems fresh and modern.

Excellent legroom in the Exit Row of course.

The seats are modern and comfortable.

There are power outlets at every seat, which is awesome. Very convenient for this long 5 hour transcon.

Winglet

Southwest's new livery on a 73G…eh, I don't know how I feel about it.

AA's new livery, however…I love!

A cool thing about this retrojet is that there is information and pictures of Alaska's history on the overhead bin doors.

Despite a very full flight, the seat in the middle stays empty. Woo hoo! So we may have just barely missed the upgrade, but in the end we have even more room than in F.

This aircraft is equiped with WiFi, which is great. Unfortunately, there's no other kind of IFE. You could rent tables to watch movies, however, if you did not bring your own. It's a good option to have, but not as good as in-seat IFE.

We push back from the gate a few minutes early.

Takeoff facing north with views of DC and the Capitol, currently getting some work done.

Washington Monument and the National Mall

BYOIFE

Because we didn't have time to eat breakfast before leaving, let's test the Buy-on-board. The prices seem pretty reasonable.

A half-hour into the flight. The first service begins.
Fun coffee cup.

French Toast, bacon and eggs

Pretty decent for $6.
While we were eating, one of the flight attendants came by and asked if we has maple syrup with our meals. I said no, but I'm not worried about it. After our meal trays were picked up, she came back a few minutes later with a fruit and cheese plate to apologize for the lack of maple syrup. Wow, seriously? Honestly, I didn't even notice that we were supposed to have maple syrup, lol. That was very sweet and proactive of the FA.
Fruit and Cheese Plate

Over the Rockies.

The cabin in flight

Towards the middle of the flight, there is another beverage and snack service. I just got a coke as I was still full from earlier.

When you have this beautiful scenery out your window, do you really need IFE? :-)

Then came the best part of the flight. The flight deck announced that we were flying over the Grand Canyon and actually banked right so all the folks on the right side could see it, then banked left! As much as I fly, I can't remember anytime a crew has done something like that. It was like going back to the golden age of flying in the AS retrojet :-)
Just pure awesomeness

Las Vegas in the distance

Solar farm

As we get closer to L.A., the desert turns greener.

The smog/haze seems to be thick over the L.A. basin this morning.

Air-to-air with a Southwest 73G also landing at LAX

We land early

TBIT

And we pull up to the gate 10 minutes early.

Last view of our B738 retrojet

Thanks for reading and see you soon for the next flight in a newly retrofitted B757-300.