Seattle - Tacoma International

I arrived early at Seattle airport and proceeded to one of the self-check in machines, but was unable to check in as the flight had more than four segments. So I went to one of the dedicated service desks, where I was able to check in. The boarding passes were issued and I was on my way to the security checkpoint. The lines were not that long but crew significantly during my wait there, which was also quite long. I passed security, but I had to be padded down by one of the officers as there was a beep while passing the metal detector.

I had enough time to spend at the airport and decided to make use of my Priority Pass and visit the Alaska Airlines Club.

Despite holding elite status with Lufthansa and Star Alliance, I still hold my Priority Pass as back-up in case I have no lounge access. With close to two hours at the airport, it was well worth the 27 USD for the access to the lounge, which gave me the opportunity to check e-mails, work on various hotel and trip reports and also get something to drink.

10 minutes prior to boarding time I left the lounge. At the moment I left I received a text message indicating that my flight was now delayed by close to an hour and leaving from a different gate in one of the satellite terminals – terminal N to be exact – which could be reached by one of the underground trains from either the concourse or the main terminal.

I learned the reason for the delay at the gate – a late incoming airplane. I had more than sufficient time in Las Vegas to make my connection, so there was no reason to worry about it, though the delay should not further increase. Currently I had a bit over 30 minutes after ETA of my flight from Seattle in Las Vegas and the ETD of my American Airlines flight to LAX.

I decided to spend the time closer to the gate to be informed if there were any news about the flight, since this was not announced in the club and the club was not close to the gate.

Finally the plane arrived and the passenger deboarded. While the plane was cleaned, the gate agents tried so speed up things announcing that rows 20 and higher could board the plane via stairs in the back of the plane, if they were able and willing to use stairs. They also searched for people who were willing to check their luggage and could board the plane right after first class.

And the boarding process started as announced earlier by first boarding passenger in the last rows via stairs, even before first class passengers could board the plane. Later first class passengers as well as elite passenger of the frequent flyer programs of Alaska, American and Delta were invited to board the plane together with those, who checked their luggage. As those passengers had boarded the plane, the remaining passengers in the last rows were invited to board using the jetbridge before it finally was time to let the remaining passengers aboard the plane.

06 October 2013
SEA – LAS
[Seattle Tacoma – Las Vegas McCarran]
AS 612 (Alaska Airlines); Boeing 737-900ER (N403AS)
Gate N 2
12:35 – 14:57 [effective 13:17 – 15:52]
Economy Class
Seat 19 D

I walked down the jetbridge to our Boeing 737-900ER, which would fly us to Las Vegas, hopefully without any further delay. The plane looked quite new and in very good shape. I passed First Class, a bit jealous that this flight would be in Economy Class, but I could not spoil myself ever time with an upgrade to First Class. I had feared that I would have difficulties to store my carry on in one of the overhead bins, but this would not be a problem, there were even enough space left to store more hand luggage.

I took my seat and waited for the remaining passenger to board the plane. I had put my smaller carry in under the seat in front of me, but as overhead space was still available, put it in the overhead bin.

The captain welcomed us on board and announced the flight time with 2:20 and that he did not expect any further delay. Soon later the safety demonstration was done and while the crew members performed it, we were being pushed back. We taxied to the runway and left Seattle at 13:29.

At 13:50 the crew began the service and announced that GoGo inflight WiFi was also available. This time I used it as I wanted to update myself about my connection in Las Vegas. I also used the time for a quick research of our plane, a Boeing 737-990 (ER) with the registration N403AS. I was not wrong with the impression, that the plane was quite new, actually it was less than a year old and made its maiden flight on October 26, 2012 before it joined Alaska Airlines fleet on November 07, 2012. It was equipped with 16 seats in first class offering a seat pitch of 36 inch and a seat width of 21 inch. Economy Class was using the same seats Lufthansa uses in its so called “Neue Europakabine”, which are thin and weight reduced giving the airline the possibility to add more seats into the cabin and also reducing the weight of the plane, resulting in less consumed fuel and in general more revenue on a flight. Our plane was powered by 2 CFMI56-7B27E engines with a thrust of 27300 lbf or 121 kn.

But back to our flights to Las Vegas, where the meal service started from the back galley and the front galley. It was food for purchase in Economy Class. One crew member came ahead of her colleagues with the beverage cart and offered items from the snack menu. A few passengers bought something from the menu, but the majority did not. Free beverage was limited to non-alcoholic beverage like coffee, tea, water, juice and products from Coke. They were served by the glass rather than by the can. Beer and wine could be purchased and were offered also by the glass – or plastic cup.

I skipped through the inflight magazine of Alaska Airlines and read in a magazine I picked up in London and have not had the time to read earlier. The flight time passed quickly and the crew offered water during the flight a couple of times in addition to the earlier beverage service.

The seat belt signs were turned on a bit earlier as the captain expected some turbulence and we already had begun our final descent into Las Vegas as the flight became a bit bumpy due to some gusty winds, which are not uncommon in this area.

We finally touched down at Las Vegas McCarran Airport at 15:29 and had to wait on the runway to let two planes on the other runway take off before we were cleared to pass the runway.

We taxied to our gate E 15 in the terminal 3. It took close to 10 minutes after the seat belt signs were extinguished before I was finally in the terminal and on my way to the D concourse where my flight to LAX was scheduled to depart.

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