San Francisco to IAD two ways

The next set of flights to discuss are not the most exciting flights, so I’ve combined them into one post.  A few months ago, I published a review of San Francisco to Washington DC (DCA) in two directions in coach. Now, I have a follow-on review of a very similar flight: San Francisco to Washington DC (IAD) in domestic first class.  SFO-IAD/DCA is, by far, my most frequent route so far this year.  The experience in coach vs first class should be very relevant to anyone wanting to take this route or any other Alaska Airlines transcontinental flight.  This is one of a few routes that I’ve now flown enough times to have some good statistics on how the route operates, but I will note that as of the posting of this article, Alaska has canceled its SFO-IAD route and only maintains its SFO-DCA route (which is much more consistently popular). 

Before canceling the route, Alaska offered a daily morning flight SFO-IAD and an overnight flight (most days of the week).  I took the overnight flight on the way to DC and the evening flight back for this report’s trip.  Flying Alaska Airlines on this route makes sense for me as a Oneworld frequent flyer, not just from the points earning perspective but also because American Airlines elites can get free upgrades on Alaska Airlines flights.  I cleared free upgrades in both directions, which was awesome.  At the time of this flight, I’d gotten upgraded 6/7 times in the past 12 months, where the only time I didn’t get upgraded was right before Christmas, and they flew a 737-800 with fewer premium seats as part of the reason.  For completeness, I’ve never cleared an upgrade when flying their SFO-DCA route. 

I cleared the outbound upgrade a few days in advance, so I was able to select my meal ahead of time:

Since the flight was an overnight, they offered only a light meal service, rather than the full meal service that they offer on a day-time flight of this length.  I selected the salad because my plan was to skip the initial meal service in favor of sleeping (and because I didn’t need food at 10 pm…) and instead requested the salad as breakfast.

SFO airport is a very efficiently airport and I understand its layout and quirks very well at this point, so I tend not to arrive early to the airport unless I have a specific reason to.  In this case, I didn’t, so I cleared security only a few minutes before the flight began boarding.  And actually got on the plane earlier than average for me because you can see that there is a seat behind me that is not yet occupied:

But luckily, I was in the bulkhead seat, so I didn’t have to go very far.  Even though this flight was operated by a 737-MAX9, the aircraft had just turned 6 years old, which I guess is enough time for the seat to already be a bit damaged.  

Upon boarding, the flight attendant confirmed that I had pre-ordered the salad, and I informed him of my plan to sleep immediately and requested the salad as “breakfast”.  He confirmed that it was no problem and I could have the salad whenever I wanted.  After takeoff, I managed to sleep for the better part of 3-3.5 hours.  Not that sleeping in a recliner chair is particularly restful sleep, but at least the time passed quickly.  I ended up waking up (and could tell I wasn’t going to sleep more) with enough time to have my salad before arrival, so I did:

It was perfectly fine.  It wasn’t an exciting meal (and was oddly room temperature), but it seemed appropriate for a light snack on an overnight flight, so no complaints from me.  Since I slept through the flight, there wasn’t a lot to write about, so let’s just skip straight to the return flight.

Heading the other direction, I similarly didn’t get to the airport particularly early, but IAD airport has a Capital One lounge (which offers great food), and it was close to dinner time.  So, I grabbed a small dinner/appetizer, just in case the meal on the plane wasn’t great.

Like my previous flight, I once again selected seat 1D, which is my preferred seat in domestic first class.  Sometimes, seat 1C extends past the bulkhead in the direction of the aisle and so you can get bumped.  That’s not the case with 1D.  I will also note that on these aircraft, the bulkhead seats have airbags in the seatbelt, which can be uncomfortable until you get used to them.

This time around, since the flight was an evening flight instead of an overnight flight, I was able to partake in the full service.  In this case, the meal I selected was the chicken option, which was served with potatoes au gratin and brussels sprout, a side salad, and a roll.  Though the presentation of the meal was far from the most premium, It was perfectly fine for an airplane meal. 

In both directions, the in-flight entertainment was the same: free video streaming and $8 for full WiFi.  On overnight flights, I don’t bother with the WiFi, but on non-sleeping flights, I often do. 

In summary, I’ve flown enough of these Alaska Airlines transcontinental flights to know what to expect, and they deliver it consistently (even if it’s not particularly exciting).  The ground experience in SFO for Alaska is decent with its lounge (3/5), but Alaska doesn’t have any lounge partners at IAD (but the Capital One lounge and other priority pass options can make up for it).  These first-class recliner seats are above average for domestic flights and are consistently comfortable for the 5-hour transcontinental flights (4/5).  The service on both flights was good but unmemorable (4/5). The food on both flights was similarly fine and appropriate for the timing of the flights (overnight/dinner, respectively) (3/5).  The IFE on Alaska Airlines flights is consistently fine and the same.  I’m looking forward to them adding free WiFi eventually though (3/5).  Overall, both these flights earn 17/25 (which continues to be the most common score I give on here).  The only thing that really would improve the flight for me would’ve been better food, since the outstation lounge situation is (largely) out of their control.

I paid 12 500 AA miles for the outbound leg and $350 for the return portion and cleared free upgrades in both directions, for an equivalent cost of $600 round-trip for a transcontinental first-class seat, which is a great deal.  I do, unfortunately, understand why they’ve cut this route when they’re giving away so many premium seats for free.  Paying for first class round-trip would’ve cost upwards of $1 200, so I got great value for my AA miles on the outbound (at least 4 ¢/pt) and earned 2 700 AA miles and 1750 Amex points, for a return of around 19% on the cash ticket, which is great, especially in the context of the first class ticket basically being half off.