How I avoid the chaos at LAX and a review my Alaska Airlines flight to STS

After I sent yesterday’s newsletter, I hopped on an Alaska Airlines flight from LAX to STS (Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport). Today, I’m writing about how I avoided the madness at LAX and what it was like flying to STS.

I had to go up to Sonoma County for a quick work trip and I opted to fly Alaska Airlines (operated by SkyWest) nonstop from LAX to STS since my hotel was close to the airport and it sure beats flying into SFO or OAK.

First of all, after the global IT outage canceled thousands of flights over the weekend, I wasn’t too excited about traveling. Especially after seeing what Charlotte International Airport (CLT) was like. Here’s a video my friend shot, trying to make her connection in CLT from one terminal to another and here are more videos from airports around the U.S. showing the chaos.

Unfortunately, Delta Air Lines is still dealing with the mess as, surprisingly, they can’t get their operations back in order. Fortunately, I was flying Alaska Airlines, which wasn’t affected at all by the outage (they use a different operating system).

I had a car service to the airport and when I started talking about how gnarly LAX traffic can be, my driver said, “Believe me, I know! Sometimes it takes me 35 minutes to drive from Pasadena to the entrance of LAX and then it takes me 45 minutes to go from Terminal 1 to Terminal 4.”

That’s why, before I go to LAX, I always check the @FlyLAXStats X account to see what traffic is like inside the airport’s horseshoe (that’s how the airport is shaped). To give you an idea how much time this can save you, see the screenshot above, which I just took. As you can see, the Upper Level (Departures) is jam-packed and it will take you a whopping 47 minutes to get around it.

However, the Lower Level (Arrivals) is just six minutes so naturally I told my driver to drop me off at arrivals. From there, you can take the escalator or elevator up a level. It’s crazy to me that if I hadn’t asked him to drop me off at arrivals, he would have sat in that congestion.

Keep in mind that these numbers are always changing and they can flip flop so I will arrange to get picked up at Departures if that’s the case. Yesterday, morning the numbers weren’t this drastic. They were 35 minutes and 12 minutes respectively.

Since Alaska Airlines flies out of Terminal 6, I saved another 10 minutes by having my driver do the Terminal 7 shortcut and I walked a 100 yards to the escalator and into ticketing.

I wasn’t traveling with my family so I had just carry-on luggage, which meant I could avoid the ticket counter. BTW: When I went to check-in for my flight on my phone the day before, I saw that I didn’t have TSA PreCheck on my boarding pass and realized that I’d forgotten to input my Known Traveler ID number, “a nine-digit alphanumeric identifier that is given to people who are approved for TSA PreCheck or similar services that allow for expedited airport screening.”

So I checked in again on the app and voila! I didn’t notice how long the regular security line was but I did notice that Clear had three people waiting to use their machines while the TSA PreCheck line had only one person. So I bypassed Clear as I often do. I went from the entrance of LAX to clearing security in under five minutes, which is pretty good.

I had an hour before my flight so I went to the Alaska Airlines lounge to see if I had access with the first class ticket my client had purchased for me. The friendly agent said I could enter for $30 since I was flying to STS; if I had been flying to Newark, it would have been free. I asked if my American Airlines Executive Platinum elite status (they’re Oneworld partners)  would do the trick but she said it wouldn’t. She said, “If you have a membership to the Admirals Club, you can enter for free.” I whipped out my Citi / AAdvantage Executive World Elite Mastercard and I was in.

It’s been a while since I’ve visited the Alaska Airlines lounge and they’ve done a nice job sprucing it up. It’s on the small side but wasn’t crowded. They were serving chili as well as a Mexican meatball soup and a sweet potato curry soup, which was way too salty. The lady next to me commented on it too, just as I took a spoonful. We both stopped eating it.

SkyWest flies Embraer 175s on this route and the aircraft configuration is 1 x 2 in First with 12 seats and 2×2 in coach. And the seat reclines way more than AA’s. There’s no middle seat, which is great for solo travelers. We boarded on time, pushed back a minute late and taxied for 17 minutes before taking off. I use the Flighty App and their AI correctly predicted the taxi time. Impressive.

I was happy that the flight attendant made an announcement that if you’re going to watch something on your device (they offer free movies on their app), to use headphones. They also sell WiFi for just $8.

First class has power ports but economy does not. The flight attendant served drinks, pretzels and Biscoff cookies in first. In coach, just a beverage service, I believe. Unfortunately, you could smell the results of serving CHILI in the lounge so I was thankful flight time was just 1 hour and five minutes.

It was a smooth and scenic flight and we flew right over the Golden Gate Bridge and one of my wife’s and my favorite hotels in the world: Cavallo Point. Here’s our review.

We arrived early but our gate was occupied so we sat for 20 minutes. Then the captain got on the PA and said they were waiting for ramp personnel but later said there was a security issue inside the airport. I overheard the passenger behind me say a friend told her that there was an unclaimed package in the airport and the captain later confirmed that. We sat on the tarmac for another 35 minutes, which was frustrating but at least the cabin was cool because it was 95 degrees outside. I felt bad for the ramp worker who had to sit in the sun holding up the orange warning light strobe wands.

If it wasn’t for the chili served in the lounge and the hold on the tarmac, it would have been an excellent flight but overall, I’m not complaining and would do it again tomorrow.

KEEP READING

–How to make sure the TSA Precheck checkmark is on your boarding pass
–Did you know your electronic devices should always be charged when going through security?
–10 airport security hacks every traveler needs to know
–Mom shares hilarious reason she’s not getting TSA Precheck anytime soon
–How to get a full bottle of water through airport security

Want more travel news, tips and deals? Sign up to Johnny Jet’s free newsletter and check out these popular posts: The Travel Gadget Flight Attendants Never Leave Home Without and 12 Ways to Save Money on Baggage Fees. Follow Johnny Jet on MSN, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and YouTube for all of my travel posts.