Tuesday, December 9, 2008

difference in Alaska Airlines first class service and economy class

Alaska Airlines first class tickets were a lot cheaper than other airlines, Perhaps because a lot of the Alaska's newer jets (737-800s and 737-900s) have a higher fraction of first class seats (four rows) to coach than older configurations that other airlines fly. So they tend to have more first class seats for sale (and free upgrades for their elite mileage plan members) than other airlines,Differences in service: You board first. You get a nice, free meal when the back of the bus has to pay $5 for a chicken sandwhich. You get a free digiplayer with about 20 movies on it ($10 otherwise) on their longer flights. You get free alcoholic drinks (otherwise $5 each). They serve you before the rest of the plane. Bigger seats and more legroom are the biggest perks. Maybe that's worth $50 to you. Maybe $300.
Is it worth it? Argument for: I sat next to a guy in coach last week who was about 6'8" and in pain because his thigh bones were longer than the seat pitch. I gave him my exit-door seat with the extra legroom.Argument against: You only get off the plane 1-5 minutes before coach. If you spend $300 (or whatever) extra for a 5+5 hour round trip, you could be "earning" $30 tax-free an hour by sitting in coach. That's like a salary of $40/hour. Or put the $300 into booze, in-flight movies and maybe a chair massage at the airport and still have $250 left over.But sometimes (honeymoon, a reward to yourself, tough day ahead), it's good to be nice to yourself.

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