Alaska Airlines Premium Class: SFO-HNL B737 MAX 9

At the end of 2021, I was short on qualifying for Alaska MVP 75K Gold so I decided to do a 28 hour trip to Hawaii. I was sitting on some expiring credits due to COVID-19 so the $408 trip was well worth it. I was lucky to be able to fly Alaska’s newest plane, the Boeing 737 MAX 9. It featured new seats throughout. I was seated in 8A which is Alaska’s Premium Class. Premium Class offers early boarding, extra legroom and free drinks. Onboard the new MAX 9 plane, the overhead bins were large enough to put carryon bags on their sides and the seats were very practical. The back of the seats featured a tray to hold your tablet or phone to stream movies without straining your neck and a power outlet which was easily accessible. The outlets between seats are terrible and you have to bother your seat mate. This new design is a major improvement. They even have a USB outlet next to the tray to keep your tablet or phone charged. While awaiting for takeoff, there was the same model plane next to us although flying for United. It was a rainy December morning and the winds required us to takeoff to the south. We were off to Honolulu with just a little delay.

The inflight service was excellent and the washrooms had much larger sinks which I prefer as you have a lower chance of touch dirty parts of it. I was able to read a new book during the 6 hour uneventful flight 🙂

While landing, I was able to capture some excellent views over Oahu and of another MAX 9 plane on the tarmac.

Conclusion: Alaska Airlines is an excellent airline to fly to Hawaii and I wouldn’t hesitate to fly on their MAX 9 plane again for the improved hard product. Premium Class is worth the upgrade to have the extra legroom although I was able to obtain it at no charge due to Alaska MVP status at the time. Thus far in 2022, I’ve been upgraded 100% of the time to First Class even on transcontinental flights so this mileage run to obtain MVP 75K Gold has really paid off 🙂