Friday 8th September 2023

Woke up stupid early today, not because we are flying though. Had a full day of work ahead (Mando day too so that was O so fun). Spent all day with that feeling you forgot something. 

Eventually we made it through our work day and got ourselves ready to head to the airport. Our flight took an official delay about 5 hours out but it was a given looking at the schedule it was doing today. What idiot at Alaska decided a 20 minute turn was a smart idea. 

We got a ride to the airport and it was pretty smooth sailing not much of a wait anywhere we went for check in or security, it was smooth sailing pretty much. We had managed to get some cheap upgrades to first class so we had priority lines in most places. We took the upgrade because it would be cheap after taking out the checked bag fee. Some extra room and a small meal onboard for about $65 why not. 

Once through security we went for a bit of a walk around through the terminal and headed towards the N Gates. We got over there with plenty of time to chill out and watch the sunset by the windows. 

After a snack and some time spent by the windows, our inbound flight arrived (on time mind you) and our original boarding dissappeared obviously. But we didn’t matter too much. By the time they all got onboard of course there was a further delay while they did some mechanical sign offs. 

Alaska Airlines – AS1102

Seattle Tacoma to Los Angeles (SEA-LAX)

2035-1127

Boeing 737-9 Max (N946AK)

First Class – Seat 3A

Boarding: 2035 (Gate N13)

Push Back: 2111

Take Off Roll: 2121 (Runway 34R)

Top Of Descent: 2312

Touch Down: 2337 (Runway 25R)

Shut Down: 0010 (Gate 64B)

I stood up to stretch after 10 or so minutes of waiting out the mechanical delay and they were pre boarding, so off we headed over towards the gate and as we came up they called First Class. So onboard we went where we promptly stopped at the door for about 5 minutes, not sure why. We were boarding a 737 Max 9 and it would be my first time on this type of aircraft and to get a special livery was a rare treat. We were on the San Francisco Giants livery, not that we could see it in the dark. 

We grabbed our seats quickly and settled into the nice set up available to us, it looked great! Nice big comfy modern seats, a far improvement over the older seats we had back in April to the east coast. I got everything stashed and wanted to get the wifi entertainment going but it wasn’t working. O well. 

After the flight was fully boarded we eventually pushed back and a short safety briefing was done and we were taxiing pretty quickly down to the active. We didn’t even get a line up and wait, we were just told to do it, get er done! 

We took off heading north and a big swing around to the south in the dark as we headed towards California. Orders had been taken for drinks shortly before departure, so once we were past 10000ft service started and we soon received our meal. Thankfully pre order was available last night so we already had our options sorted. I had the Guajilio Chili Chicken Rice Bowl. It was pretty tasty, however the brownie that it was served with was delicious. 

While the onboard streaming entertainment didn’t like my tablet, I decided to just use what I had on the tablet, which was just as easy anyway. Soon enough we were cruising over the central California area around Fresno and heading south towards Bakersfield and top of descent. 

As we passed the grapevine and started to descend the amount of lights out the window really started to pick up and there was lots of stuff to see, however not much in the way of photo opportunity at night. The descent was pretty quick and as we started to clear downtown LA we turned over Dodger Stadium, heading towards the southern runway. 

After a long roll out, we came to a halt at the end of the runway on the middle taxiway. This meant one thing, penalty box. While the pilots said it would only be a minute, it was about 20. Sigh 

We eventually made the gate and after pulling in, we had plenty of people pushing their way forward. I wasn’t in too much of a rush as we had checked bags to pick up. After a brief pit stop and collecting bags it was out to the street where there was a rental shuttle stop right in front and then like some miracle, a National Shuttle appeared and it was empty! 

The driver quickly (and I mean quickly) took us to the lot for vehicle pick up, where we selected our car. 15 minutes later we were safely at our hotel and in our room, ready for bed after a really long day.