despite being a loyal alaska airlines flyer for over five years, i've actually never been in any of alaska's airport lounges, the free entry requirements are quite stringent because they really want people to pony up for a day pass or lounge membership. i did try to get in once after getting upgraded to first class but that wasn't nearly enough, only paid first class tickets on flights longer than four hours are eligible for free access. however, for long-haul flights the requirements aren't as strict, even award tickets in business class on airline partners came with lounge access, so as soon as i arrived at SEA-TAC i made a beeline for the flagship alaska lounge in the north satellite, on the complete opposite side of the airport from my departure gate in the south satellite. i got in with no issue, they scanned my ticket and let me right in.
the lounge design was very northwest-chic, with wood accents and a wide variety of creative seating options. the highlight, though, was the wrap-around windows offering a commanding view of the runway and the N/C concourses, significantly better than what you see down at the terminal level. it's probably the best place in the whole airport for watching aircraft movements besides the air traffic control tower.
the other big draws of the lounge are the food and drinks, all included with admission except for some premium alcohol options. there was a big breakfast buffet about on-par with the free breakfast buffet at a mid-range hotel, usual suspects like powdered scrambled eggs and a cauldron of oatmeal made appearances. the food wasn't amazing, though it did improve somewhat during lunchtime when they pulled the scambled eggs and busted out some asian-inspired entrees like yakisoba and sesame chicken, the mediocre breakfast pastries were also replaced with cookies and brownies. what did elevate it a little over the typical self-serve hotel breakfast buffet was the coffee station, with actual baristas manning espressos machines. the lounge also had a bar in its own room, where i had a little trouble figuring out what drinks were included and what cost extra because every available menu sign seemed to exist only to advertise upcharges, in the end i determined that for free you could get any draft beer, a small selection of "west coast" wine (all except one were from california), and four different cocktails: the seasonal special daiquiri, their signature bloody mary, mimosas, and juice mixed with any well liquor. i tried the daiquiri and mimosa (bloody marys are disgusting), they were actually quite good if a little on the small side, but it was free so i don't really have any reason to complain about that.
i sat for a while near the reception desk and saw a few people get denied entry, they'd either act outraged that whatever they thought would get them in (elite status, premium credit card, first class flight) wasn't enough and leave in a huff, or quietly suck it up and shell out for a day pass. i was astonished to discover that the daypass is a full $65, i expected it to be more in the $30-40 range, there's simply no way the day pass is worth it. all you get is somewhat classier surroundings plus a buffet of mid food, i'm sure the included food justifies it for a lot of people but you'd be hard-pressed to eat or drink your money's worth without being a serious glutton or alcoholic, not that you'd even want to because the food was nothing to write home about. i'm glad i had the chance to visit the lounge for free at least once and satisfied my curiosity, purchasing a pass for it will no longer tempt me when i pass through SEA. plus, i rarely spend enough time airside there for a lounge visit anyway, my layovers lean heavily towards "almost missing my connection" length and the wait times for security are outrageous, genuinely among the worst in the country, i don't even understand how it happens because they don't seem to be doing anything obviously different.
now, considering my miserly reputation, you might wonder why i went all-in on a one-way business class ticket when the same amount of alaska miles i could have booked a full round-trip ticket in economy. the truth is, one of my guilty pleasures is reading reviews of business and first class seats, i’m fascinated by the design considerations that go into creating the best possible user experience in such a limited amount of space. for similar reasons i occasionally watch videos about cruise ship staterooms or van life, but it's airplanes that captivate me the most because they have by far the strictest constraints, top airlines doing their best to try and cram a "luxury" experience into a space smaller than a closet, or cater "gourmet" meals when all they have to work with onboard is a glorified microwave.
the thing is, despite reading so much about it i've never actually flown long-haul business class before, so i simply couldn't pass up a chance to finally experience it myself after discovering a golden opportunity, a miraculous award ticket just within my price range on the exact route and dates i needed. also, i don't think this is well-known outside the miles and points fandom but premium award redemptions actually offer the best value for your mileage redemptions, for whatever reason business class tickets that are four to five times more expensive than economy tickets when booked with money are only two to three times more expensive when booked with miles. using this trip as an example, my business class award ticket cost 60k alaska miles, with each alaska mile valued at approximately 1.8 cents apiece that gives a converted dollar price for that ticket of $1,080, a great deal when compared to the normal cash fare of $2.6k. meanwhile, a one-way economy award ticket on that same route is half the price, 30k miles/$540, but that's roughly in line with the cash price.
still, while waiting at the gate for my flight to board i wondered if there was going to be some kind of catch, this was by far the cheapest long-haul business class award ticket i'd ever seen on any route. i had a couple theories, maybe it was because the route is served by JAL's 787 dreamliners with a business class product over ten years old by now (the current hotness is JAL's new A350 product), or maybe it's due to increased competition on the route since alaska/hawaiian just debuted an exciting new nonstop to narita from seattle. that alaska/hawaiian flight had actually been my backup in case the japan airlines business class didn't pan out, i had been booked on it originally. funnily enough the business class awards on that flight cost an eye-watering 195k alaska miles for hawaiian airlines' infamous vintage (read: outdated) A330 business class, oftentimes your miles go much further when redeemed on partner airlines instead of the actual airline, domestically many of the best alaska miles award redemptions are actually for american airlines flights. for maximum confusion, the alaska/hawaiian flight to narita was at the gate directly adjacent to the japan airlines flight and scheduled to board at almost the exact same time, though the day i was there it got delayed because they had to "do a tire change".
when i got onboard, all doubts about the bargain price being due to a shabby or inferior product immediately vanished, the business class seats were in impeccable condition and the design didn't appear dated at all. the one thing i will say is that if you're flying JAL 787 business class (i'm sure this advice is going to be very useful for my readers), do whatever you can to get yourself into a window seat, they are so much better it's not even funny. the aisle seats have a gaping hole open to the aisle, meanwhile the window seats are like being in a capsule hotel room, your own private pod spanning three whole 787 windows, and through your own private narrow hallway at the foot of the seat you STILL get direct aisle access. even though the seat walls don't look that high when walking through the cabin, they're only about 4ft high and don't even get close to reaching the ceiling, when you recline the seat into lounging mode and raise the barrier between the window and aisle seat it feels surprisingly closed off, like you're the only person in business class. i suppose it also helped that nobody was sitting in the aisle seat beside me and the business class cabin as a whole was slightly less than half full, maybe that's why business class award tickets were so cheap.
sitting in the seat while it was fully upright, my "pod" was just long enough that my feet could barely rest on the ottoman beneath the tv at the opposite end. still, i had my doubts whether it would be long enough to sleep comfortably when the seat was in full lie-flat mode, after all i am quite a bit taller than the average japanese person. but when i tried it out it turned out to be the PERFECT size for me to lie down completely, as if it had been tailor-made just for my size, if i had been even half an inch taller i would have hit the ends. even without the mattress pad it was comfortable enough for me to have slept on it if i had felt the need, i didn't bother trying to sleep because i never felt tired at all, the flight was entirely within my normal waking hours in my home timezone (about 10 hours long departing at 1:30pm). there are some people who can lose consciousness on planes the second they dim the cabin lights regardless of what time it is or how tired they are, but i've always been more of the opposite type that can't fall asleep on planes no matter what, some of the conditions i've been in which i've been able to remain awake on a plane through are truly astounding.
you've probably been wondering this whole time what i meant with the outrageous title of this post... well, here you go:
(this vn has no sexual content actually)the flight passed by easily, i could have easily done another 10 hours in that business class seat, it's going to be hard to go back. oddly it doesn't even feel like i did much on the flight, i don't think i spent more than 45 minutes at a time on any one activity, i didn't watch a movie or anything, yet the time just somehow melted away. food was a good time killer, the main meal especially is a long drawn-out multi course event, and whenever i wanted to i could call the flight attendants and order another little snack or sweet. i maintained a steady buzz throughout almost the entire flight, ordering a different alcoholic drink every thirty minutes or so, working my way through almost the entire selection. i pulled out my laptop at one point and did a little writing, of course. i stared out one of my three windows, the 787's signature feature, they're extra large and don't have the standard airplane pull-down window shade, instead they use some kind of sorcery to dim the windows without physically obstructing them, even when they're dark you can still look through them and faintly see the clouds outside. maybe it's just because i'm sitting in front of it for once but the 787 engine looks GIGANTIC. i fooled around with the inflight entertainment, i played some mahjong and surprised myself with my ability to navigate it in japanese, though it has been too long and i couldn't remember many of the hands or strategies. i browsed the tv selection, they even had anime but the only options were vintage gundam, sailor moon, a couple episodes from the middle of something called “dandadandadandadan”, and, of all things, the first seven episodes of “Bang Dream! It’s MyGO!!!!!” (can you guess which i watched three episodes of?). it felt like no time at all before they announced food orders were no longer being taken because we were beginning our descent into narita, and out the window land with a texture i was unaccustomed to came into view...