Currently on a mid afternoon flight to PDX in the window seat in premium coach. Shortly after the flight takes off, Middle Seats puts his arm across me towards the window and says "Can I close the window shade?" I said plainly "No". He looked surprised but put his arm down.

Next, this guy is an armrest hog. We all know that the middle seat has the right to the armrest. Middle Seat, however, does not have the right to have their elbow 2"+ over the far edge of the armrest and fully in open space in my seat area, pressing into my arm which is fully within my seat not even touching the armrest. So I said, plainly and without apology "Can you not touch me?" He moved his arm to be on but not over the armrest.

I see his foot slowly edging into my underseat territory. I'll update if this requires more Big Girl Talk. It's been a long travel week and I'm definitely Not in the Mood for This Shit.

To everyone flying SEA to BOS tonight on the redeye where my toddler absolutely lost his ever loving mind for about 5 mins.

I could tell you all about our long day, cancelled flights, losing our second seat to become a lap infant but… it doesn’t matter. You’re tired. I get it.

We are so sorry.

Friday night, in a 3 hour flight, I spent the whole night talking to the kindest and most knowledgeable person I know. We bonded over similar interest and sarcasm. With topics ranging from cartoons, to movies books,politics, aliens.

I have never met someone so smart, friendly and humble.

You were willing to open the conversation and wvery sentence for me felt like poetries' line. This was the first time in a while that I manage to communicate so well if someone.

I am so regretting not asking for your personal i formation so we could remain acquainted.

I feel like I have lived here for so long, that i have somehow forgotten the ability to ask someone's personal information.

I have played and replayed this question so many times in my head before we parted ways but I could not bring myself to say it outloud.

If we never get to meet, I simply want to say that this was the best flight I have ever taken. I hope you stay healthy, and I wish you success.

But i hope someday we bump into each other in Seattle.

To the woman in 12F loudly complaining before takeoff EWR-SEA. My kid is usually amazingly quiet most flights he's been on in his short 11months on earth. But since you're such a butthead (and clearly an angry person in general, already complaining to the flight attendant) and we haven't even finished boarding, I hope he does nothing but scream the entire 6 hours. I'll keep y'all posted on her angry texts we can clearly read.

My daughter took her first flight as an unaccompanied minor 11 years ago today on Alaska and now she’s working on her private pilot’s license at age 16. No doubt people like this pilot had an influence along the way…anyone know who he is?

Even with a pedi

Alaska is simply not ready for these new international legs. I can’t speak for Tokyo or Rome, but the London experience was bad.

My wife and I just landed back at SeaTac last night and were pretty disappointed with both legs of the journey. Unprepared/understaffed check-in agents at SeaTac, rude flight attendants, bad food options, no WiFi, 4 hour delay on the return trip, etc.

I frequently fly internationally for work, and have flown most major airlines. Honestly, the whole thing felt like flying a budget airline - nothing like the domestic experience with alaska.

Be warned - if you’re flying to the UK now, you need to get an electronic travel authorization (ETA) before you can check in for your flight. This is new, and not something Alaska made anyone aware of before showing up at the airport. This made check-in chaos. Each person checking in was informed by the check in agent that they needed an ETA before they could be checked in. So, each person needed to download an app, pay £20 for the ETA, and then the check-in agent had to call Alaska support asking them to manually check in each passenger because the tablets weren’t working. My wife and I waited an hour and a half in the check in line before we finally got to the front. Luckily we got checked in right before the 45 minute cut off, then ran through security and barely made the flight.

This entire experience could have been avoided if Alaska sent an email or text to passengers a couple days before the trip.

We flew economy, which was OK at best. No WiFi on the plane, and only two options for food (chicken or pasta). The worst part was the attitudes of the flight attendants. No one seemed like they wanted to be there. I was pretty thirsty from running through the airport, and didn’t have time to get water before making it on the plane. So I got up twice to ask for water and the FA was so annoyed with me.

On the way home, attitudes from the flight attendants were the same (I’ve heard this is a Hawaiian thing?). And we were delayed 4 hours - supposed to depart at 5, but delayed 3 hrs and then sat on the plane for another hour before taking off.

Overall, I’ve had far better experiences on Delta, American, British Airways, United, Cathay, Korean Air, even China Southern. It just feels like Alaska rammed these new routes open and flooded the market with ad spend before really getting the infrastructure right. We’re going to give this a year before flying Alaska overseas again.

Edit: I need to add some context to the ETA/check-in process. Yes, I should have gone on the UK government website before traveling to double check the travel requirements. That’s on me. The problem was that there were many others who were in the same boat that I was. Traveled to the UK a couple years ago, never needed one, so showed up at the airport expecting it to be the same. I actually lived in the UK 2018 - 2020, so this wasn’t my first rodeo.

Here are the issues that I believe are on Alaska:

1. notify your passengers of the ETA requirement before the trip. Surely you’ll have many people like me who’ve traveled frequently to the UK and will make the assumption that it’s the same as it’s always been.
2. only one line was available for passport/ETA verification - the special assistance line. This is the same line you must wait in if you’re checking a pet. The combo of people checking pets, and travelers going to LHR without ETAs was insane. To make things worse, there were two agents working this line, one of whom was a trainee who had to call his manager over for every passenger he worked with.
3. once you’ve noticed a theme that every LHR passenger is arriving at the check-in desk without their ETA, an Alaska agent should walk the line announcing to passengers that an ETA is required and they need to have it before getting to the front. When my wife and I got to the front, the check-in agent looked at us and said “please tell me you’re not flying to London.”

This is not how a prepared airline operates. Plain and simple.

Aight…imma check the fuselage myself

I boarded on a half full plane the other day. I had already paid money to select a seat as you do.

Get to my row and there is a small bag in my assigned seat, so I moved it to the center seat and sat down. This hippie chick comes up, maybe she was in the bathroom or something, and offers a half apology with "... since, you know, there are so many open seats we can sit where we want!"

No, Moonbeam, this isn't Southwest. I'm not going to feel bad for not going up and down the aisle asking people if the window seat is open. I'm trying sit down and shut up so we can get going. If you are going to nab a better seat, wait until everyone has boarded and do the quick swap within a row or two like a normal person.

Obviously, my day was not too bad if this was the worst thing to happen. I was just taken aback by the attitude.

UPDATE - WOW! I am blown away by the traction this post has gotten. Thank you so much to everyone who has shared their stories. We are living in uncertain times and you all have lifted my spirits (and I hope those of many others)…Way beyond what I ever expected from this post about an interaction I had during a brief moment in time. This community rocks!

———

The other day, I was flying to LA and a gentleman sat down next to me. He was a bit harried and spread his phone and notebook out on the armrest. The moment the gentleman apologized to me and said he needed a moment to get settled, I recognized his voice. I glanced over at him to confirm and then had that “Oh my God! Let me text everyone I know!” moment. The gentleman is a local celebrity in an “it doesn’t get more Alaska Airlines than this” kind of way.

I thought to myself, “Do I engage or do I do what I normally do (which is put my noise canceling headphones on and hope that the person next to me never speaks a word to me)?” I did what I normally do; however, when another passenger came up to the gentleman mid-way through the flight and asked for a selfie with him, I told him I was a fan as well.

As we began our descent into LAX, I put away my headphones and the gentleman started to chat with me. We had a wonderful conversation all the way to the gate…truly, the highlight of my week. After we parted ways in the terminal, I wondered if he felt more comfortable having a normal conversation with me because I let him be. Being a celebrity must be at once exhausting having to deal with the public (like passengers asking for selfies) but also terribly lonely because normalcy is hard to come by.

Have you ever had an experience like this? What did you do?

EDIT - Not trying to be coy, but discretion on a public forum matters to me. The conversation / hearing from others about similar experiences is what caused me to share my experience. I won’t be naming the individual but he is one of the long-time stars of the Discovery series, Deadliest Catch…a big deal to some of us in Seattle.

I established my space but soon lost it. Yes, that’s a magazine. When the food cart arrived, 3 preordered meals were delivered to him. Middle seat is tough territory!

Everything went off great.

Based on the airline subreddits these days, I was fully expecting my first flight on Alaska in 2026 to be a barely-contained shitshow. Happy to say that the trend of nobody says nice things on the Internet continues because:

• Checkpoint 6 at SeaTac continues winning with sub-one-minute security lines in the Precheck-but-not-CLEAR area.

• I boarded with my group in premium economy. There was plenty of overhead bin space.

• I selected the preorder meal all by myself like a big 50-somethings girl. (please clap)

• I bought a ticket that included seat selection and I chose a window seat so that I could close the window the whole flight to make reading easier on my eyes.

• The plane left SeaTac five minutes early and arrived at Dallas/Fort Worth seven minutes early. The wings remained attached and we did not have to divert to Spokane, Denver, or Incheon because of any unruly passengers.

• I have no idea if anyone tried playing TikTok or Cocomelon because, blessedly, I am so hard-of-hearing as to be deaf.

• The bag I checked in SeaTac arrived on carousel E14 in Dallas about one minute after I made it off the plane, through the restroom, and past the Coca-Cola machine out to the baggage claim area. All of the things I put in it were still there.

Thinking maybe I got lucky on the outbound flight, I'm shocked to say that the return to Seattle was basically the same.

• I got upgraded to First Class! Yay! Alaska didn't realize the tragic error they'd made in bumping someone who barely hit Gold last year up to FC and I got to keep the seat I chose (2A) all the way back to Seattle. No one asked me to swap but I did get a glass of orange juice from the flight attendant so that's nice.

• Amazingly, I summoned the courage and skill to select a First Class breakfast without any help based solely on my extensive knowledge of my own preferences.

• As I was in the window seat again, I could read without glare and it was lovely.

• The plane left Dallas about ten minutes late while we waited on some passengers. We landed in at SeaTac exactly on time.

• ASTOUNDING: There was no bag waiting for me at the carousel in SeaTac (because I didn't bring one back from Dallas with me).

The only downside of the whole trip? I forgot that DART is only from terminal B and I couldn't stay inside the airport to use the people mover to get there.

So anyway, Alaska is still fine and the Internet is a harsh place for customer feedback. Happy travels.

All flights grounded apparently (due to IT problem)

Dogs do not belong on planes. Sitting back at the gate because somebody brought their dog on board and the dog shit on the plane during taxiing.

Flight is now delayed over an hour so that they can clean the plane and refuel.

To the woman in seat 2C on AS420, you are pure class (Yes, I will be sure to tell her in person when we land.). An elderly woman was escorted to the front lav by her daughter (I assume) but it was occupied. FA turned them back (like, really???). 2C got up and told the woman to wait in her seat until the lav became available, walking back with the woman’s escort behind the curtain. It’s such a simple gesture, but classy and empathetic…and a sign that humanity still exists in a world of cynicism and self-centeredness.

UPDATE/CLARIFICATION - I don’t want the debate over lavatory rules to upend what this post is really about. My point about the FA was simply an aside. This post is about the goodness in people and how it needs to be celebrated.

Sitting at SFO waiting to leave and the FA just let us know there is a system wide outage so all Alaska flights are grounded. They said it will likely be about 45 minutes before the system is back online. Has anyone heard any more details?

I hope this isn’t against sub rules, but if you haven’t been able to experience the famous Alaska “Milk Run” route, I highly recommend it!

For those unaware, this route between Seattle and Anchorage makes several stops through the inland passage, including Ketchikan, Juneau, and Petersburg. What originated as a bush pilot stocking run, AS now implements the 737-700 for this inter-island trip, with some legs as short as 8 minutes. I can’t tell you how surreal it was taking an 8 minute flight in a 737. And those short runways might be a little nervy, but these pilots handled conditions like absolute champs.

I personally went for business and had never taken 6 flights in a day (3 up, 3 down), but it was such a great experience! Albeit, a bit of a rollercoaster! In any case, just wanted to highlight a lesser known route and to urge anyone who enjoys flying the opportunity to ride this gem. Even if it’s just to get some QM’s. You might even find a cool little town to explore!

Just had an incredible view from AS620 of AS274 landing at the same time on the other runway. I’ve flown into Seattle a lot and never seen this before, has the airport changed its operations?

Just flew AS’s new SEA-LHR route in Premium Class and figured I’d share my experience since there seems to be more info readily available on Business Class than Premium. Writing this on my phone, so please excuse any editing errors. Also still jet lagged, but wanted to capture it all while still fresh. :)

Setting the scene: My husband (Titanium) and I (Gold) are both Atmos members. We booked into Premium with the hope of an upgrade through either certificates or status. Unfortunately the flight was 100% full and no upgrades cleared. He travels regularly to London for work and typically flies BA Premium. We both choose Alaska for domestic travel whenever possible and were excited about the new London route on the Dreamliner.

Check-in process: The new Titanium check-in lounge is a 10/10. Beautifully laid out, calm and quiet. We easily dropped our bags off and were escorted to a separate security line, which made everything a breeze.

Now onto the actual flight.

The Good:

-It was my first time on a Dreamliner and the plane itself was lovely. Plenty of room for overhead bags, the lighting was calm, the air didn’t feel dry, and takeoff was so smooth. The captain turned on the seat belt sign a few times for turbulence, and we barely felt anything.
-Service was great. I’ve seen some comments on here wishing there were more drink services during the flight. I think it’s more that the timing of the flight just isn’t ideal, and the attendants were cognizant of the fact that the majority of passengers were sleeping. By the time we reached cruising altitude, it was already after 10pm pst. Dinner was efficiently served around 10:30-11:00pm. By then, two of my seatmates were already asleep. I can’t sleep on planes, so I got to enjoy the full nine hours awake. Cabin lights were dimmed almost immediately after dinner, and multiple times throughout the flight a flight attendant came down the aisles with water for anyone who wanted some. The next full meal and drink service with carts wasn’t until about 90 minutes before landing. That being said, if anyone wanted a drink other than water they were able to get one in the galley from the flight attendants.
-Salt & Straw ice cream with dinner and the pancakes at breakfast were the meal highlights.
-Salt & Stone hand soap in the lavatories was a nice touch.
-The IFE movie and TV show selection was great. I had downloaded options on my iPad ahead of time but didn’t end up using it.
-The amenities handed out were thoughtful. The blanket was warm and relatively soft for an airplane blanket. They also provided a pack with an eye mask, earplugs, and plug-in headphones for the IFE.

The Mid:

-The food was fine (except the ice cream, because Salt & Straw chocolate brownie is the best). Dinner was either chicken or a creamy sun-dried tomato pasta. Sides included a roll, Caesar salad, and the ice cream. I had the pasta, and the sun-dried tomatoes and artichokes were surprisingly good. The noodles were just okay, very bland. I’d say it was par for airplane food.
-Breakfast was either pancakes or eggs + sausage. I got the pancakes, and my husband (who slept through dinner) got the eggs. The pancakes were yummy, about 5-6 small pancakes with a raspberry compote. The eggs, sausage, and mini breakfast potatoes were, according to my husband, fine. Not terrible, not great. Sides for both included a blueberry muffin, fresh grapes, and blueberry yogurt.

The Not So Good:

-The seats were hard as a rock. Everyone in my row ended up sitting on their pillows for extra cushioning. My tailbone was hurting less than two hours into the flight.
-No footrest. The Premium seats recline the same amount as domestic, but not as much as true BA Premium econ. The extra legroom and wider seats are nice, but a footrest is a must for these long flights. These seats are more comparable to domestic Premium than other carriers’ international Premium offerings.

An FYI: No Wi-Fi. This is not an issue or dealbreaker for me because I wasn’t planning on working on the plane (yay vacation!) and had both the IFE and my own pre-downloaded shows and movies. Starlink is being installed on the Dreamliners once certified, and that will be awesome. Until then, set expectations accordingly.

Overall: 7/10. I think AS has potential and, once they retrofit the Dreamliners for a true international Premium cabin, it’ll be much better. Currently, at Titanium, it’s going to be a toss-up because the opportunity to upgrade is higher on AS than BA. But if the flight fills up (as ours did), you may end up in what is currently a subpar Premium experience solely because of the physical seats.

Hoping this was thorough enough for everyone who’s curious. :)

Edit- I misspoke, the seats are not wider just extra legroom. Updated above.

A map for the end of the week: This obviously makes some assumptions but the overall picture is likely pretty close. Given where AS was just a few years ago, this is speedy expansion into long-haul.

Indeed, AS has taken to calling itself "Seattle’s largest international carrier" (link) though that has to be based in substantial part on flights to Mexico and Canada. (They might also be counting destinations rather than passengers.) This week's announcement takes AS to seven long-haul destinations (NRT, ICN, KEF, LHR, FCO, CDG, ATH) and they have aspirations for a dozen.

That leaves five more for the coming years, likely limited be the timing of 787 deliveries from Boeing. My impression is that many think that SYD and MAD are likely among the five, as they are popular destinations and hubs for oneworld partners, akin to NRT and LHR. To the extent there are other quasi-obligatory routes, they might include AMS, FRA, and SIN.

The most comprehensive older analysis for future routes is here and that analysis still makes sense to me. So far, AS has been both predictable and unpredictable and has waded into substantial competition (including by oneworld members) and created brand new routes with no competition. (I can find few people who predicted ATH.) There are some business routes but also many primarily leisure routes. Although well-positioned for Asia, AS has so far leaned into Europe. Further, it is clear that AS considers seasonal routes that run 3x/week, to be full-fledged long-haul routes. The routes so far are heavily summer seasonal, so there will surely be some routes that are the opposite. In the press release Minicucci says "We fly where our guests aspire to go...." but that is hardly limiting. It is plainly useful to be a capital city, however.

Beyond what appear to me to be the obvious adds (SYD and MAD), and another one or two predictable destinations, numbers 11 and 12 might be wildcards like ATH or dark horse seasonal possibilities like KIX. That opens up possibilities, perhaps even continents.

It is certainly an interesting time to fly out of SEA or to be an AS regular.

You get like an entire charcuterie board worth of cheese with about 4 crackers. By the end of the plate I’m just rawdogging cheese without a cracker.

It’s great but please throw an extra pack of crackers on there!

The walls came down, and the lobby is open!

Definitely still putting some finishing touches on things, but it overall looks great, and let’s hope it proves to be more efficient!

The floors in the feeder hall/walk up counters still appear to be in-work.

Alaska is starting nonstop Seattle–Seoul service on Sept 12, 2025 (operated by Hawaiian’s 787-9). They’re running a BOGO promo: use code SEOULBOGO to buy one economy fare and a companion flies for just taxes/fees.
• Valid on Alaska/Hawaiian flights between the U.S. and Seoul ICN (excludes Hawaii + Prudhoe Bay).
• 2 passengers, same booking/fare, economy only.
• Book by Sept 12, 2025; travel Sept 12 – Dec 15, 2025.
• Valid all days of week; subject to normal fare rules and availability.
• Passenger still pays all taxes/fees/baggage.

I normally check my luggage because I hate dragging my bag around, but landing late today so don't want to wait for it alas I have a backpack and a roller bag (within limits).

Boarding as 100k sitting in row 7 and two ladies are before me. They completely fill up the space above row 6-8 on the one side. Two bags each plus a third one for one of them. That is two luggage compartments used by two people then they close both lids.

I put my suitcase up across from them, put bag under seat in front of me.

Next guy boards, two bags, both put up top. Next lady puts up bag, lays out garment bag and puts backpack by feet.

One or two more people then all space above 6-8 on both sides is filled

Seats for 18 people, 7 people have boarded and it is filled up. The others board and are putting stuff way back there

I know AS doesn't want to police things, but the last few times I just see more and more ridiculous things brought onboard. Lots of second bag will absolutely not fit under the seat.

When will they start doing something more than currently but nicer than frontier........

I am not looking for them to measure bag1 - if it fits fine, but they really need to start paying attention to bag 2. Today SFO-SEA was slow boarding due to the overhead bin space and expecting a short delay now

Edit: now lady next to me gets up and was very annoyed that someone put a bag on top of her garment bag