I bought a flight in business class one time on Aeromexico because it was cheaper than the economy seats.

But I’d never flown in first class, until Alaska Airlines gave me a free upgrade this week.

Why did Alaska upgrade you?

Alaska offers free upgrades to its elite status passengers when available.

But there are usually way more elite passengers than there are open first class seats on any given flight.

Because I have the lowest level of Alaska status, called MVP, I always start at the back of the upgrade queue, so I didn’t think I would ever get this upgrade.

But somehow, it happened.

At 48 hours before my flight, Alaska emailed me saying they had upgraded me to first.

To be honest: first class on domestic, especially regional flights, is apparently not a very fancy thing.

I found this comment on a One Mile At A Time post:

Is it expensive?

I wouldn’t pay the extra, but it doesn’t look like it’s that much more to buy up to first:

How was the flight?

Pretty nice! I mean, my standards aren’t that high. But it was nice!

Comfy, roomy seats with lots of legroom.

Food?

So the entrée was a plate of two warm cookies.

They were good, but I was a little salty because on the flight up to Portland I snooped on first class getting an artichoke dip of some sort with fresh veggies/pita.

I guess for a late-night, 90-minute flight, cookies make perfect sense.

The flight attendant also took down our drink orders before departure, then served them after reaching altitude.

I love Alaska’s ‘local’ refreshment options:

Entertainment/Wi-Fi?

I didn’t purchase the Wi-Fi, but I enjoyed Alaska’s standard selection of free in-phone entertainment.

The rain that had followed me all day in Portland had hit SF as well:

SFO’s international terminal where we docked was quiet and empty.

Thoughts? Thanks for visiting!