Alaska Airlines

Thank you Alaska Airlines for having the most amazing and patient flight attendants. Was a wonderful experience. Will recommend anyone traveling. Pilots outdid themselves, thank god!

I wanted to like Alaska Air more than I did, but this flight I took with them made it tough for me as a first time customer, and first impressions stick.
I’m a tried and true, loyal JetBlue girl. I needed to get to Seattle from Fort Lauderdale and Alaska was one of the only airlines offering a direct flight. I’m not a person to turn down a direct flight in lieu of sitting in airports to connect, so I booked it. The issues started when I got to the airport.
I can let the fact that TSA didn’t have a dedicated precheck lane open and I had to wait in line longer than usual go. What was irritating was the fact that at our 6:45 pushback time we had started PREboarding. And we all know how long it takes to board planes when people try to shove suitcases that have several toddlers shoved into them into the overhead. Airlines should charge for those bags and check for free-​that would be more efficient.
I will say that Alaska has the right idea giving you outlets at every seat. On a long flight people are bound to run out of juice on their devices. This is a nice touch. If you bring your own tablet you can rent movies for a charge but honestly on a 6+ hour flight at least 1 should be complimentary. They will also rent you a tablet for $ 8 unless you’re in first class, then they’re free.
What made me almost irate was the charge for the inflight wifi. I had actually planned on buying it to get some work done. $ 27.00 for an in flight pass. WHAT?!? Even on American its $ 16 and they overcharge for almost everything. JetBlue still has it in beta (read:free) and when it isn’t they posted it will be $ 9. I refuse to pay that much for 6 hours of Internet so I ended up reading my predownloaded material.
The stewardesses also annoyed me on this flight because unlike my dear dear JB, they use THE CART for service. I got up to use the restroom at one point and when I came back they had the cart blocking the way to my seat. The one woman asked me which row I was in, I told her, and she said it would be a minute before she could let me back to my seat. She then proceeded to serve rows 6 – 10 (a good 30 people) before letting me sit down. I went through two full songs on my phone before sitting down-​so probably 8 minutes. I’m 100% certain it would be less unsafe to move the cart for 15 seconds and let me sit down than to have a passenger standing in the aisle and annoying the guy I was standing near.
The flight itself wasn’t miserable, given the fact that it was 6 hours, but the seats in coach are cramped. Not small like Spirit small but not 6 hours comfortable by any means. They do have these funky adjustable headrest things which was a nice touch but I already had a donut pillow.
I will say that they got the bags out in record time, but that was likely because you have to take a tram to baggage claim at Sea-​Tac. Where I got irritated again is looking for a cab-​apparently it’s on another floor than regular pickup, and when I asked for help I was rudely informed I was in the wrong area. Then I started my ride in a death cab.
Alaska, you have a chance to redeem yourself, but I’m not impressed right now. You can’t make your seats bigger and likely won’t make the wifi cheaper, but you can make the service nicer and stop charging me for things (ie a snack on a 6 hour flight) that should come standard with a $ 600 coach ticket.

Way to represent Alaska! Excellent customer service at this airport location. Check-​in was surprisingly swift and we had no hassle. The agent at the counter was very friendly and did not give us a hard time about our luggage.
The crew on board was quirky and friendly as well. I must say the entire team was excellent from start to finish. Thanks for stress-​free travel at FLL.

As much as I love Alaska Airlines, their presence at the Ft. Lauderdale airport is just meh to okay. The check-​in area is the typical Alaska Airlines experience with either the check-​in screen or you wait for a counter agent.
There seems to be no priority boarding for Alaska Airlines MVP or First Class guests at Ft. Lauderdale. If you are either MVP or First Class, it is kind of lame there is no line like at Seatac, but the TSA line does go pretty fast for the Alaska Airlines terminal.
The terminal Alaska Airlines is located in does not have many food or shopping options, so I try to avoid getting here too early if I can. Alaska Airlines has either 1 or 2 gates in the terminal normally. Overall the experience in Ft. Lauderdale for Alaska Air is just not the typical Alaska experience I am used to on the West Coast.