We returned to the Hawaiian Islands by taking a flight from Seattle to Maui. We’ve been fortunate to experience Alaska Airlines Hawaiian service many times before. However, this was the first flight that we’ve taken on their new First Class product on their Beoing 737-9 Max product. Alaska Airlines offers reliable and frequent service from the mainland to the Hawaiian Islands. Read on to see what the service looks like as they forge ahead with their merger with Hawaiian Airlines.

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Review: Alaska Airlines First Class B737-9: Kahului Maui International Airport – San Diego International Airport

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Our series of flights today had us travelling from Maui, Hawaii, United States of America back to Vancouver, BC Canada the long way. Our flight pattern took us from Maui to San Diego, San Diego to Seattle and Seattle to Vancouver.

The reasons for the round about routing was a lack of upgrade space on the Maui to Seattle routes, with only the morning Maui – San Diego flights offering upgrade space.

This flight was purchased this flight paying cash. We credited these flights to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan.

After a brief lounge visit to the Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club (North) Maui, we located our connecting gate. The Alaska Airlines First Class experience did not include access to the lounge with our international ticket.

We were departing from Gate 15, which was located a short walk away from the Hawaiian Airlines Premier Club after an agricultural screening.

Our Alaska Airlines Boeing 737-900 was parked at the gate getting loaded up.

The flight ended up having quite a number of elite travellers on the wait list. As a result, I was really happy that I didn’t end up as number nine on the wait list and

The boarding process was a little chaotic with limited space around the boarding gates. First Class was given the opportunity to board after members of the military and those that needed a little extra time to board.

Alaska Airlines
AS 806 – First Class (U)
OGG – SAN (Kahului Maui International Airport – San Diego International Airport)
December 8, 2024
10:35 AM – 5:54 PM
Booked: Boeing 737-900
Flown: Boeing 737-900

On Board Alaska Airlines First Class:

Our Alaska Airlines First Class flight ended up being on Alaska Airlines traditional First Class product on their Boeing 737-900 product. Alaska Airlines files a Boeing 737-900, a Boeing 737-900 ER and a Boeing 737-9 Max product; all of which can be used interchangeably with a similar seat configuration.

Alaska Airlines First Class was configured in a 2 – 2 configuration across four rows of First Class seating. While it is not as comfortable as the United Airlines Polaris First Class product that occasionally flies from the mainland to Honolulu and back, the Alaska Airlines narrowbody product is “as good as it gets” for narrow body aircraft heading to the Hawaiian Islands.

The space of the Alaska Airlines First Class seat itself offers a fairly large amount of leg room, with a class leading 31 – 32 inches of space among domestic carriers.

We located our pair of seats in 4A and 4C, which were located at the rear of the Alaska Airlines First Class cabin. Alaska Airlines does not provide in flight monitors for entertainment purposes in their seat backs. We ended up packing our tablets with us, which took care of the lack of entertainment.

Alaska Airlines First Class offers in seat power along with a USB C power connection at every First Class seat. The outlets are rather inconveniently located in the arm rest console, making it difficult to see when plugging in your device.

While the older Alaska Airlines First Class seats aren’t as firm as the new Alaska Airlines First Class slim line seats, they still do the trick for up to a five hour flight. While they don’t lie perfectly flat, they recline just enough to a relaxing posture, for a day time flight.

Along with all Boeing 737 products, Alaska Airlines offers individual air nozzles over the seat. This makes for a comfortable ride, with temperature control at your fingertips.

Pre-Departure Services:

It’s a bit hit or miss on whether you get a pre-departure service on Alaska Airlines. Today, we were lucky enough to get an offer of a payaya – orange – guava juice mixed with sparking wine.

We had a pilot announcement of a flight time of four hours and forty five minutes from Maui to San Diego. There were also apologies from the in charge flight attendent that ground crew had forgotten to load the blankets.

Departing Maui Kahului International Airport:

We departed Maui Kahului International Airport witha push back without any delay. With a bright and sunny morning, it was a great day for flying.

We headed out for a northerly departure over Runway Two. Runway two leads on a track over the North Shore, which has the best possible view for departing Maui.

As we got underway, I started to peek into Alaska’s in flight entertainment.

In Flight Entertainment:

Alaska Airlines offers in flight entertainment on your phone or tablet. This is accessed through the Alaska Airlines home page on the wifi sign in screen. After signing in, it is relatively easy to access the entertainment.

More recently during my travels, I’ve ended up bringing an iPad along as it’s much easier on the eyes than a small iPhone screen.

Alaska Airlines offered a reasonable selection of films available for the trip. There was also a rudimentary flight tracker available, which was more oriented towards checking your location versus any actual entertainment function.

For people who need to stay in touch with friends and family, Alaska Airlines provides complimentary texting and messaging in addition to the free movies. Additionally, Alaska Airlines provides $8 Wi-Fi for passengers who need to stay connected during a flight.

The free tablets that were formerly offered in First Class have been discontinued by Alaska Airlines. You won’t have any video entertainment throughout the flight if you don’t bring your own tablet.

The Meal: A Dinner

As I normally do, I ended up doing the food pre-order for my meal for this flight. Alaska Airlines offers First Class travellers the option to pre-order for their flight.

I’ve often found that Alaska Airlines tends to run out of your preferred choice of meal when travelling in First Class. Their menu options can be “a little out there” at the best of times.

As a result, I ended up with a pre-order of Ginger BBQ Chicken, with a flavorful sweet potato gratin and crisp green beans.

After about seventy five minutes, supper service started. A drink service was presented, in a proper high ball glass with ice. I ended up with a rum and papaya – orange – guava juice, served with assorted almonds and salty snacks.

MrsWT73 enjoyed her usual favourite; the signature cheese and fruit plate, with Beechers Flagship Cheese, Tillamook Sharp Cheddar Cheese, brie and Partners Crackers.

My pre-order got a little screwed up and I ended up instead with a Beef Short Rib, served with roasted carrots, golden beets and a side of parsnip puree. Dessert was presented on the same tray as a crumbly cake with brown sugar sprinkels.

The Beef Short Rib wasn’t the best version of this dish that I’d ever tasted. The beef rib itself was a little dry, and short on sauce. However, it was a break from the usual forms of chicken found in most first and business class domestic cabins.

Alaska Airlines also offered an in seat back pocket menu that outlined all the drinks and wines on offer.

The wine list featured wines by Airfield Estates from Yakima Valley in Washington State. The spirit menu offered Aviation Gin and Tito’s Handmade Vodka. Alaska Airlines also offered Straightaway canned cocktails, which I found to be quite sweet for my tastes.

Given an early morning, I ended up napping a little bit as we flew towards San Diego.

The Second Service:

While we didn’t get a full second service on our flight, we got access to a snack basket at about ninety minutes prior to landing in San Diego, California, USA.

Alaska Airlines tends to have really small snack items in the basket. I enjoyed a small bag of Pacific Popcorn in Cascade Ranch flavouring at a small 22 g size.

Landing in San Diego:

We had a quick arrival into San Diego, descending through a major suburban metropolis. It marked my first arrival into San Diego.

We deplaned at Gate 30 at San Diego International Airport. We went to locate our connecting gate for our Alaska Airlines First Class San Diego – Seattle flight.

Overall, the flight was a pretty smooth day time way to get from the Hawaiian Islands back to the mainland.

My Thoughts on Alaska Airlines Hawaiian First Class Service:

I can’t complain about the Alaska Airlines First Class service from Hawaii. While the Alaska Airlines seat is not the most state of the art, the service was pleasant and the meals were interesting (if not a little small portioned).

While Alaska Airlines doesn’t (yet) offer a fully flat product between the mainland and Hawaii, I expect we will see this evolve with their acquisition of Hawaiian Airlines.

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If you travel on Alaska Airlines, is it your first choice when flying to and from the Hawaiian Airlines ?

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