World Traveller 73 
Review: Alaska Airlines First Class B737-8, Fairbanks – Anchorage
The start of today’s flight would offer a short haul connecting flight from Fairbanks to Anchorage on Alaska Airlines. There are multiple frequencies of this flight on a daily basis connecting Alaska’s largest cities. Our flight departing Fairbanks International Airport would take us over Denali National Park. The experience was pleasant and quiet journey, lasting only an hour and two minutes. Read on to see how our first flight of the day went.
This post is one chapter on a winter trip to Alaska, United States. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status, Alaska Mileage Plan and Hertz Gold Plus Rewards. For parts of the trip, please see this index.
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✈️ Read more from this trip:
- Trip Introduction: Skiing Aleyska, Alaskan Railroad and Dog Sledding in Alaska
- Springhill Suites Bellingham, Washington, USA
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Bellingham – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Seattle – Anchorage
- My Experience as a Hertz President’s Circle renter in Anchorage, Alaska, USA
- Aloft Anchorage, Alaska, USA
- A Cold War Secret: Visiting Whittier, Alaska
- The Alyeska Hotel, Girdwood, Alaska, USA
- Three Days at Alyeska Mountain Resort, USA
- Marriott Anchorage Downtown, Alaska, USA
- The Alaska Railroad Aurora Winter Train: Anchorage – Fairbanks
- Springhill Suites Fairbanks, Alaska, USA
- Dog Sledding in Fairbanks with Rod’s Alaskan Guide Service, North Pole, USA
- Visiting the North Pole, Alaska
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Fairbanks – Anchorage
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Anchorage – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Seattle – Bellingham
Review: Alaska Airlines First Class B737-8: Fairbanks International Airport – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport
Much like my other leisure flights with Alaska, this flight was purchased through an Alaska Airlines Famous 2 for 1 Companion Fare. We purchased this flight in upgradable space and received an upgrade to First Class at the time of booking. We credited these flights to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.
Checking into Alaska Airlines:
Our mid morning flight had us leaving from Fairbanks International International Airport at 10 AM. After arriving into town on the Alaska Railroad Aurora Winter Train, a visit to Rod’s Alaska Guide Service for Dog Sledding, and a visit to the North Pole, it was sadly time to leave Alaska.
We departed the Springhill Suites Fairbanks and self drove in our rental car to the Fairbanks International Airport. The Fairbanks International Airport was a much nicer facility than I was expecting. I had something of a lousy airport in mind. However, the Fairbanks International Airport was much nicer than I was expecting with a bright clean and new facility.
It’s cold enough up in Fairbanks – Alaska that even on March 30, in late spring, there is a fully formed ice sculpture sitting outside the airport, waiting for people to appreciate it. I expect to see ice sculptures in Eastern Canada in January, but I never would’ve expected them in Alaska in late March.
Checking Into Alaska Airlines First Class:
We had a typically Alaska airlines friendly check in at Fairbanks International Airport. Our check and host “Gary” was personable, friendly and enthusiastic. Our bags and ski gear luggage were checked from Fairbanks to Anchorage to Seattle to Bellingham.
I personally love a smaller airport and Fairbanks fit this description nicely. With a small format and size of airport, we headed upstairs to TSA Precheck screening.
We had minimal wait with TSA pre-check. Before we knew it, we are on the secure side of the Fairbanks International Airport departure concourse.
There is no Alaska Lounge or any Priority Pass lounge at the Fairbanks international airport. Instead, there’s a bright departure concourse with lots of natural daylight and a regional North Pole Coffee outlet.
There were limited flights departing Fairbanks international airport today. Alaska Airlines took up most of the board with four frequencies to anchorage and two frequencies to Seattle.
With only a limited handful of gates, it wasn’t very hard to find gate number two. We ended up locating it after about 25 paces, and awaited boarding.
While I had some time to kill, I checked the upgrade list through the Alaska App for iPhone. We had seven in first class on the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan MVP Upgrade list today for this short flight. While I am usually successful at getting the short upgrades on Alaska short haul, I would have missed out today if I was flying economy class.
Alaska Airlines
First Class (U)
FAI – ANC (Fairbanks International Airport – Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport)
AS 279
March 30, 2024
Booked: Boeing 737-8
Flown: Boeing 737-8
Departure: 10:00 AM
Arrival: 11:04 AM
On Board Alaska Airlines First Class:
Alaska Airlines offers pre-boarding to serving and retired members of the military. Given that Fairbanks is home to Eielson Air Force base, we had about a dozen passengers that were permitted to pre-board. After that was completed, First Class was given the opportunity to board.
We settled in into the usual Alaska Airlines puffy First Class leather recliner seat. We were in seats 2A and 2C today. Unfortunately, my mind wasn’t working accurately when I did the seat selection. If you’re flying on this flight, try aiming to sit on the right hand side of the aircraft in order to get the best possible view of Denali National Park and Mount McKinley.
Pre-Departure Services:
Alaska Airlines is hit or miss when it comes to a pre-departure beverage service. We were on the brighter side of life today, as we were offered a small cup of orange juice to start off our flight.
Departing Fairbanks International Airport:
It is always a delight to depart from an airport that you don’t usually get the opportunity to fly from. In our case, departing from Fairbanks International Airport meant that we had a chance to look at some of the other hangars and relics lying around the airport.
We passed by a Everts Air Fuel Curtiss Wright C-46; a relic from the 1940’s that served in almost every commonwealth air force.
We also passed by some old British Aeropsace B142’s that were wrapped up waiting for service.
Once we got to the runway, we got up to cruising altitude. The landscape around Fairbanks was spectacular and snowy; perfectly flat for the dog sledding conditions.
As our flight approached Denali National Park, the mountains started to get more pronounced. The mountains looked incredibly white and snow filled. However, the visibility was not on our side today and the visibility got pretty obscured quite quickly.
Food and Beverage:
We don’t normally get much service on Alaska Airlines flights under an hour. We were again lucky today with a full beverage service. I opted for apple juice with ice, and MrsWT73 opted for a coffee with Baileys.
I don’t expect too much on a short one hour flight but I have to say it was nice to actually enjoy a beverage service in an actual glass, as opposed to in a plastic cup. My hats off to Alaska for offering this service.
In Flight Entertainment:
Alaska Airlines offers no in seat television screens. As a result, your entertainment is going to be on your smart phone. Alaska Airlines offers some Wi-Fi options for approximately eight dollars in addition to some movies available online and a very primitive in-flight map.
Arriving into Anchorage International Airport:
Our flight had a beautiful approaching to Anchorage International Airport. As can be expected, there was a lot of cargo aircraft on the runway when we approached.
We had great plane spotting opportunities including seeing Cathay Pacific Canada Ticketing 47 and National Air Cargo 747.
We ended up parking at the gate next to other Alaska Airlines aircraft. This was totally expected given Anchorage International Airport serves as an Alaska Airlines hub.
We disembarked into Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. The airport is decorated with lots of plane themes and is actually a pleasant place, just like Fairbanks International Airport.
There was an interesting flight board that connected most of Anchorage towards the lower United States. Despite its Northerly and Westerly position, there was hardly any passenger flights headed towards Asia.
We connected onto Alaska Airlines First Class Anchorage – Seattle, followed by Alaska Airlines First Class Seattle – Bellingham.
My Thoughts on Alaska Airlines First Class:
it was unusual to take an Alaska airlines short hop flight with in Alaska. Most of my short hoplites on Alaska Airlines are between Vancouver in Seattle, or Seattle and Portland in the lower 48. There is definitely pride in the Alaska Airlines Customer Care within their home state.
We had a short beverage service on this flight. Unfortunately we didn’t get any great views of Denali National Park as a result of the cloudy weather. Alaska Mileage Plan MVP First Class Upgrades are hard to come by. If you’re looking for that first class experience on this route, it’s better to book it in advance.
World Traveller 73 
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