We stopped by the new Alaska Airlines lounge in Terminal 2 at San Fransico International Airport (SFO) to see for ourselves what the space was like.
Sadly, the sourdough toast cart wasn’t open for business during our visit. Instead, we indulged in a made-for-us Americano and treats from the serve-yourself candy bar. There are jars filled with Ghirardelli chocolate, Jelly Belly beans, and fortune cookies from the Oakland Fortune Cookie Factory. We tried them all.
Besides the great airfield views, the best part of this lounge may be the San Francisco Giants-themed children’s play area. This space has adorable, kid-sized baseball-inspired furniture. There’s a wall of baseball bobbleheads. And an interactive display of different types of pitches.
Alaska Airlines plans to build a new 8,500-square-foot top floor lounge in Terminal 2 at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) .
The lounge will offer guests great views of the airport runway activities and of San Francisco Bay. It is expected to open in 2020.
To celebrate the announcement, Alaska Airlines is offering flyers traveling through SFO’s Terminal 2 today (February 20, 2019) a chance to win a free Alaska Lounge membership for the entire year.
To enter, stop by Gate 54B.
Alaska will be offering a demo of the upgraded lounge experience and handing out giveaways. There will also be special appearances by San Francisco Giants mascot Lou Seal and San Jose Sharks mascot S.J. Sharkie.
Travelers who take a picture of themselves enjoying the lounge experience (maybe with one of those mascots) and who then post the picture to Twitter and Instagram will be entered in the contest. (Use the tags @AlaskaAir and the hashtag #MostWestCoast.)
“SFO is our second largest hub with an average of 150,000 passengers flying on a daily basis, and we want to ensure airport visitors can rest, relax and enjoy our wide array of lounge offerings.” said Annabel Chang, Alaska Airlines’ vice president of the Bay Area.
In addition to a great view, the new lounge will offer guests complimentary fresh food options, including salads, soups and tapas.
The lounge will also offer made-to-order meals available for purchase, including Asparagus and Goat Cheese Omelet with roasted potatoes or a Korean Rice Bowl with steamed vegetables and gochujang sauce.
Alaska Airlines is on a mission to upgrade and expand its lounges.
The Seattle-based carrier opened its first East Coast lounge in April 2018 at JFK International Airport. A new flagship 15,000-square-foot lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport is expected to open in June.
Alaska Airlines has opened it first airport lounge on the East Coast. This one is at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) on the mezzanine level of Terminal 7.
I’m hoping to visit this lounge soon, but accordong to Alaska, this lounge features “a living room-esque design” with multiple seating areas, Starbucks-trained baristas, a nice variety of complimentary fresh foods including oatmeal and yogurtbars in the morning, salad and soup in the afternoon and evening, and a wide-selection of microbrews, West Coast wines and signature cocktails.
The Alaska Lounge on the mezzanine level of Terminal 7 at JFK is accessible to Alaska passengers traveling through or out of Terminal 7 who have purchased a day pass, have a lounge membership, or are flying First Class.
United Airlines is super excited about the Winter Olympics and, as the official airline of Team USA, is going all out with stateside celebrations.
On Friday, Feb 9, the airline will be giving out super hero action figures of a half dozen Olympic athletes at seven hub airports: Houston (IAH), Dulles, DEN, LAX, SFO, Newark and O’Hare. Details here.
United will also be serving up Olympics-inspired food and beverage at more than 50 club locations through February 24.
On Friday, February 9, they’ll be serving a Perfect 10 cocktail made with prosecco and cranberry juice, garnished with blueberries and cranberries and a Super Sundae, made with vanilla ice cream, strawberries, blueberries and whipped cream.
Through February 24, foods served will include a fruit bar with blueberries, pineapple, blackberries, honeydew and strawberries and a mix-and-match candy bar.
And in addition to specialty cocktails ($5 each) such as the The Rings (Vodka, triple sec, white cranberry juice and simple syrup garnished with lifesavers), on February 24 the menu will include a red, white and blue parfait, made with vanilla yogurt, fresh strawberries, blueberries and a sprinkle of granola.
New complimentary menu items in the United Clubs. Photo Harriet Baskas
Good news for travelers who spend time in the United Clubs: United Airlines is upgrading the complimentary menu items in all the clubs, renovating many club rooms and tweaking some of its customer service procedures.
The menu items are a big step up from the packaged cheese, crackers, yik-yak snacks and impossible-to-open hummus packages you may be used to and include an oatmeal station, bagel sticks, Greek yogurt with fruit toppings, hard-boiled eggs, scones, cereal, fresh fruit and Spicy Bloody Mary Trail mix in the morning.
photo -Harriet Baskas
The afternoon offerings will include hummus with pretzel crisps and sliced red peppers, Mediterranean salad, vegetable soup, salami and cheddar cheese, Trail Mix, brownie brittle (danger: VERY good!), and breads.
The new menu items will be available starting this week in Chicago O’Hare, in Houston, Denver, Newark, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Washington Dulles by the end of summer and everywhere else by the end of the year.
During this year, United is also renovating lounges in Chicago O’Hare, Washington Reagan, Hong Kong and Tokyo Narita, building new clubs in Atlanta and San Francisco and starting on changes in Los Angeles. Changes will include improved seating and amenities, design schemes that highlight United aviation history in the various cities, a special signature scent and a classy design for the restrooms where, for example, the mirrors in the women’s room evoke the windows on an airplane.
The staff in the United Clubs seems to already be made up of courteous and truly helpful people, but United says it is also re-training United Club agents with a new program that draws on the know-how of the hotel and hospitality industry.
Not all the upgrades are reserved for those with access to the United Clubs: in O’Hare (and hopefully elsewhere) the airline is also updating the seating, power plug availability, boarding lane design and counters in many gate areas.
