First class on Alaska Airlines is dependably comfortable and often available for much less than competing airlines. This is especially true on transcontinental long-haul flights, where the larger airlines have lie-flat seats, while Alaska has reclining chairs. That said, Alaska is known for attentive service, Northwest-inspired meals that rotate relatively frequently, and lounge access for its longest flights.
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What to know about flying Alaska Airlines first class
Alaska’s first-class product is relatively standard across the fleet, but we’ve found the Boeing 737 MAX aircraft to consistently have the newest seats. These seats offer a good amount of legroom and recline, footrests, and sunken beverage holders to keep those drinks from spilling when the going gets rough.
We also like how wired Alaska is, with nicely integrated app technology that offers first-class upgrades for cash right in the seat selection window.
One general gripe from fliers is that meals, although tasty and inventive, tend to be portioned on the small side.
The best routes to fly in Alaska first class
Alaska’s hubs are West Coast all the way. The biggest is in Seattle/Tacoma (SEA), followed by sizable operations in Portland (PDX), San Francisco (SFO), Los Angeles (LAX), San Diego (SAN), and Anchorage (ANC).
There are three mileage thresholds to keep in mind when booking Alaska first class: 350 miles or more for beverage service (including alcohol); 670 miles for food service; and 2,000 miles for Alaska Lounge access.
We’ve also found some of the best upgrade pricing for flights within the State of Alaska – sometimes as little as a $30 fare difference between economy class and first class for flights around 90 minutes in duration.
What to expect when flying Alaska Airlines first class
Alaska is known for good legroom and personable service. Don’t be surprised if flight attendants mention your name and frequent flier status in their greeting. Alaska offers a fine selection of Northwest beverages and chef-curated meals on longer flights as well.
Check-in and security clearance
Alaska has a dedicated lane or counter for first-class passengers and Mileage Plan or Oneworld elite members. The airline largely assumes the majority of passengers will already have their boarding pass downloaded on their device, so it’s helpful to have that done.
Alaska also prefers to have passengers check in via the kiosk and drop bags at designated bag drop-off counters — this is often faster than waiting in the First Class line (particularly at Seattle/Tacoma), which is often full of passengers needing assistance with complicated issues.
Priority security clearance is available at most airports.
Luggage allowance
Alaska charges for checked bags in economy class, but first class passengers can check in two bags up to 50 lbs each. Carry-on allowances are the same for first-class passengers as they are in economy: one carry-on bag plus one personal item that fits under the seat.
Lounge access
First-class passengers have access to Alaska Lounge locations only if one of the flights in their itinerary is more than 2,000 miles in length, and they’re traveling on a paid or award fare. Upgraded fares don’t qualify for lounge access.
For example, if you’re flying from Anchorage to Seattle/Tacoma (1,448 miles), you won’t have lounge access. But if you’re continuing from Seattle/Tacoma to Atlanta (2,182 miles), you’ll be able to access the Alaska Lounge locations in Anchorage and Seattle/Tacoma with your boarding pass.
Alaska residents who are part of the airline’s Club 49 program (virtually everyone with an Alaska mailing address on their Mileage Plan account) can also access the Alaska lounge when traveling on a first-class ticket paid with points or cash to, through, or from Alaska.
Seats
Alaska’s first class seats are quite standard. The airline offers leather reclining seats on its 737 and Embraer 175 aircraft. On 737 MAX aircraft and some older 737s the airline has installed a slightly updated seat with footrests and sunken beverage holders.
All first-class seats have AC power outlets. The seats also have a generous 41” of pitch. Unlike the airline’s economy seats, there are no integral seat-back tablet holders, but they’re built into the tray tables on the newest generation of 737 seats.
Food and drink
Alaska serves complimentary snacks, meals, and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages on flights over 350 miles. However, Alaska disclaims that flights to or from Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico, and Colorado may have shortened or suspended onboard food and beverage service due to the likelihood of turbulence in that region.
Distinctive drink selections include canned cocktails from Straightaway, including espresso martini, old fashioned, and margarita (on flights to Hawaii and Latin America), beers from Firestone Walker and Fremont Brewing, wines from Waterbrook and Broken Earth, coffee from Portland’s Stumptown, Lagunitas non-alcoholic beer, Five Farms Irish Cream, and Crater Lake hazelnut espresso vodka.
On flights shorter than 670 miles, beverages and a snack basket are on offer. On flights over 670 miles (including flights between Seattle/Tacoma and San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose, and Las Vegas) light meals are offered. These include smoothie bowls, sandwiches, or salads. More substantial hot meals like pastas, chicken entrees, or hot breakfasts are served on flights over 1,100 miles.
On flights over 2,140 miles in distance, meals include an appetizer, Salt & Straw ice cream for dessert, plus a snack basket near the end of the flight. Flights to Hawaii have special island-themed entrees available.
On many flights, warmed cookies are served in paper bags either during or after the meal service.
Alaska cycles through the menus on a seasonal basis so frequent travelers won’t get bored with the same selections over and over. The menus tend to highlight ingredients based on the season (think strawberries and citrus during the summer months, and squashes and pumpkin spice in autumn).
First class passengers can pre-reserve their entree choice in the Alaska app on meal flights as far as two weeks or as little as 20 hours prior to departure.
Service, amenities, and in-flight entertainment
Alaska’s onboard service is roughly on par with other airlines. Time permitting, first class passengers are offered a pre-departure beverage selection of sparkling wine, water, or orange juice (flight attendants will gladly combine two cups to make a mimosa).
In addition to dehydrated TrueLime or TrueLemon packets, they also offer TrueGrapefruit – adding the same flavor to a drink as a wedge of grapefruit.
First-class passengers have access to the same streaming entertainment as passengers in economy.
First class passengers on Alaska also get a boost when earning elite qualifying miles in Alaska Mileage Plan, earning between 150% to 200% of the actual mileage flown. The exact percentage depends on the type of first-class fare booked.
How much it costs to fly first class on Alaska Airlines
Alaska Airlines has one of the most accessible first-class cabins, with fares from $159 each way on the airline’s shortest flights. Alaska also allows cash upgrades from most fares from ticket purchase until just before departure. While availability for point redemptions for first-class tickets is generally good, Alaska no longer allows upgrades from paid fares using miles
When paying in cash
First class tickets on Alaska’s shortest flights, like between Seattle/Tacoma (SEA) and Portland (PDX), start at $159 each way. Meanwhile, flights between Seattle/ and the Bay Area or Southern California start between $188 and $300 each way. Transcontinental flights, like Seattle/ to New York (JFK), start around $689 each way, while flights from the West Coast to Hawaii start around $671 each way.
When paying via points in a credit card portal
Many credit card points programs allow cardholders to book flights in their designated travel portal using points instead of transferring to an airline program for award redemption. Examples include travel portals offered by American Express, Capital One, Chase, and Citi.
These programs generally offer a value of 1 to 1.5 cents per point, which isn’t the greatest value for redemption compared to transferring points to loyalty programs, but they have their benefits.
This option works best when you have a lot of points to burn, want to book flights that don’t have award space, or if you need to book in a hurry and can’t depend on the points to transfer in time . At 1-1.5 cents per point, you can expect to spend at least 15,900 points on Alaska’s cheapest first-class fares.
When booking using miles
The Mileage Plan program has a single distance-based award chart for both Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines flights. The number of miles needed for a flight depends on how far you’re traveling. Here’s a look at the distance band and corresponding mileage requirements for first-class seats on flights within the contiguous U.S., Alaska, and Canada:
- Less than 700 miles distance = 15,000 Alaska miles each way
- 701-2,001 miles = 25,000 miles each way
- 2,001 miles and above = 30,000 miles each way
- Hawaii (all distances) = 40,000 miles each way
Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean = 30,000 miles each way
When booking via partner airlines
Alaska is a Oneworld alliance member, so members of most Oneworld member airline programs can redeem miles for Alaska’s first class.
We found pretty generous award availability when booking Alaska flights with American AAdvantage miles. Flights within the U.S. and Canada start as low as 25,000 points each way in first class.
This is fairly reasonable, considering The British Airways Club requires 32,000 Avios for the same award.
How much it costs to upgrade to first class on Alaska
As far as upgrades go, they’re only available in cash. Miles can only be used to book a full award in first class.
When paying in cash after booking
Alaska routinely offers first-class upgrades from the time of booking. In the app, the “Seat Assignment” tab will typically indicate with a disclaimer “Paid upgrade available” and the next screen will show the cost of the upgrade, which is typically the fare difference between the fare paid and the first class fare.
On this screen, upgrades are available by individual segment and can typically be less expensive than the cost of booking a first-class ticket outright – but not always.
On some shorter routes, like Intra-Alaska or short hops within the Northwest, we’ve seen fare differences as little as $30 – $50. The upgrade fees increase on longer flights.
When upgrading using miles
Although this used to be a popular option, Alaska has retired the ability to upgrade paid tickets using miles. Alaska only allows full award ticket redemptions for first class.
How to save on Alaska Airlines first-class tickets
For cash fares, Google Flight alerts are a good way to check for fare drops, which can be frequent. For award flights, point.me allows users to set up fare alerts. Flexibility is a key factor for both — sometimes changing your travel dates by even a few days can greatly reduce the cost
How to book Alaska first class with points
Alaska first class can be booked using Alaska Mileage Plan miles, Oneworld partner airlines, or by transferring Bilt or Marriott points. You can also redeem flexible currencies through a credit card travel portal. There are benefits and drawbacks to each.
Alaska has generally good availability of first-class award flights, but redeeming the full amount for an award ticket is the only way to use points for first class. Many of Alaska’s other promotions are similarly incompatible with first-class bookings, like the companion fare that comes as an annual benefit with some Alaska Airlines Visa cards; only Main Cabin and Saver Fares are eligible for the companion fare benefit.
How to book Alaska first class using your credit card portal
Alaska Airlines first-class seats can be booked using credit card loyalty points, such as Chase Ultimate Rewards or American Express Membership Rewards. Points are worth 1 cent each through the Amex Travel portal and 1-1.5 cents each when booked through the Chase Travel portal. Compared to other redemption options, this isn’t a great value.
However, if you have a lot of points and don’t want to worry about blackout dates or lengthy point transfers, it can be a good way to book. Because the redemptions are tied directly to the amount of the fare, there are no availability restrictions — if there’s a seat for sale, it can be booked using credit card loyalty points.
Which credit card points transfer to Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan?
Bilt is the only program that transfers to Alaska Mileage Plan at a 1:1 ratio. Marriott Bonvoy points transfer at a 3:1 ratio, with a 5,000-point bonus for transferring 60,000 Bonvoy Points, earning you a total of 25,000 Mileage Plan miles.
How to book Alaska Airlines first class using miles
On Alaska’s website, be sure to check “Use miles” before beginning your search:
Pick your preferred flights from the availability display on the next screen, being sure to select from the “First Class” column:
Complete your purchase as you normally would. If you don’t have a credit card stored in your profile, you’ll need to enter your card information to pay the applicable taxes.
What other loyalty programs can you use to book Alaska first class?
Alaska Airlines is a Oneworld member, so each of the member carriers’ frequent flier programs allows redemptions for Alaska first class, including:
- American Airlines Advantage
- The British Airways Club
- Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Fiji Airways (uses American Airlines Advantage as its program)
- Finnair Plus
- Iberia Plus
- JAL Mileage Bank
- Oman Air Sindbad
- Malaysia Airlines Enrich
- Qantas Frequent Flyer
- Qatar Airways Privilege Club
- Royal Air Maroc Safar Flyer
- Royal Jordanian Royal Club
- Sri Lankan FlySmiLes
How to book Alaska Airlines first class using points from a partner airline
For most carriers, you can search for Alaska Airlines first class availability online. Simply log in and select “Book with miles” or equivalent at the beginning of the booking process, and you should receive the price in that carrier’s program currency. Here’s an example on aa.com that shows American and Alaska flights together as options for miles redemption in first class.
Tips for finding first-class award availability on Alaska
Alaska opens its award inventory 330 days in advance of departure, like it does with its paid inventory. Award pricing can fluctuate based on which inventory Alaska has allocated for award availability and pricing.
Once booked, awards can easily be changed. So if you find another flight available for a redemption at a lower rate, you can rebook and get the difference in miles redeposited to your account.
Should you book Alaska Airlines first class?
The extra comfort associated with Alaska’s first class makes it worth the bump, particularly on longer transcontinental or Hawaii flights. Even on shorter flights, there’s something to be said for the extra space, free hot meals, and a complimentary selection of interesting drinks from the bar.
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