Alaska Airlines

LAX-PDX roundtrip. Service on this trip was better than the last few times I've flown this airline - in other words it went from dreadful to mediocre. Flights were on time and the interior was comfortable enough but inflight service was perfunctory and cold. At least this time I was spared the flight delays dirty cabins mishandled baggage and pitiful customer service I've come to expect of Alaska Airlines.

ANC-SEA-SFO-PDX-ANC. Most legs of this multiple leg round trip were relatively uneventful. The nickel and diming poor gate announcements surprise gate changes in SEA etc. have all become expected of Alaska Air. What is unacceptable is how unbelievably uncomfortable and filthy the cabins now are. Alaska has no excuse they're not short on cash. As for discomfort it is unacceptable to fail to pay close attention to climate control on a packed airplane. Usually you're freezing. PDX-ANC leg averaged about 84 degrees for the entire flight. Baggage claim continues to be a joke. Alaska claims to have a compensation program if your bags take more than 20 minutes to arrive. They must know nobody is going to stick around to make a claim for now-worthless Alaska Air frequent flier miles.

STL-SEA-ANC December 24-25. Upgraded on a whim at check-in in STL. Took a little time for the agent to get it taken care of. Some slight delay due to de-icing. First Class STL-SEA pleasant crew in a holiday mood. Safety briefing done to "The Night Before Christmas" fun and got people's attention. Good meal and attentive service. Economy class SEA-ANC. Crew was not as jolly as previous flight and the cabin was full. Still good service. All luggage there when we arrived in ANC early Christmas morning.

SFO-ANC. Economy class flight was fairly good. The crew was courteous and efficient. The cabin was clean. Flight was on time and checked bags came fairly quickly.

LAX-MFR via Portland in first class. Both flights on time. Staff very professional. The "light meal" seemed rather skimpy since this flight took place around dinner time.

Very pleasant flight in Y-class from Newark to Seattle on Christmas eve. Online check-in to boarding were all a breeze. Clean plane leather seats and friendly and professional flight attendants that offered frequent beverage service. Two attendants in particular were warm friendly and professional and made the flight quite enjoyable.

Seattle to Kelowna BC and the boarding procedure was chaotic. They boarded three flights at the same time through a single gate. Upon arrival at the aircraft boarding zone there was no clear designation on which flight was which. As a result many passengers boarded the wrong aircraft and had to change planes shortly before departure. The same system applied to loading luggage which of course ended up being lost. At my destination I was told to expect a call from the central luggage department but this never happened. I called and got different versions on the status of my luggage: the first agent said it would be here on the afternoon flight the second agent said it had been scheduled but they were not sure whether it had arrived or not and the third yet most unprofessional representative Linda simply hung up when I asked her if anyone could guarantee that my luggage would be sent on a specific flight. It's sad to see such substandard logistics management for Alaska Air because the in-flight service was outstanding. Undoubtedly I will be sure to avoid this airline on my next trip to Canada.

SEA-PHX in first class for the holidays. The first leg left an hour late due to the lavs not working. They brought around water and orange juice while waiting the hour on board. Breakfast served was pretty tasty. Return trip left on time drinks served quickly. Dinner also very tasty. Landed back in SEA early and checked luggage was very prompt. All in all Alaska air is improving their first class experience.

Miami-Seattle. The inflight experience was great however it was a different story at the airport. Alaska Air is located in concourse E (or Central Terminal) at Miami Airport. The ticket counter area is small and a very inconvenient part of the airport. Unless you arrive very early for check in the line will stretch to where it will block the entrance to a food court behind the counter the exit path of Concourse E the entrance to a TSA check point and the exit of Customs located just below them. The flight departs from Concourse F and the upside to the airport is that there are only about a handful of flights departing from F that morning so TSA checkpoint a breeze. Boarding process was poor there were no pre boarding announcements and passengers just saw other's making the line to board and assumed it was time to board no matter what row they were in. The cabin crew was attentive and cheerful there was actually space in the overhead bins. The seats were comfortable however seat pitch was terrible! Alaska offers Gogo inflight internet and they rent DigEplayers which come with movies/games etc. The flight was 6 hours 24 mins - I had no idea a 737-800 had such a long range. The meals they served (or sold) onboard were fair at a reasonable price. We had the option for a hot or cold meal. Given the long length of the flight the crew did go around the cabin about 3 times for beverage service.

PDX-LAS B737 a pleasurable experience. After a 4 hour wait at PDX we were very relieved to get onto the aircraft. The aircraft was a little outdated but crew more than made up for it. Very attentive and professional. Overall very efficient.