Alaska Airlines SAN–ORD First Class Review 2026

The return leg of the San Diego trip. A 19-year-old 737-800 with newer seats than the MAX on the way out, a great view over San Diego Bay, and a classic Chicago ground hold finish.

Detail	Info
Flight	Alaska Airlines AS 1478
Route	San Diego (SAN) to Chicago O'Hare (ORD)
Departure	12:34 PM
Arrival	6:50 PM
Aircraft	Boeing 737-800 (N569AS)
Vintage	February 2007 — 19 years old
Cabin	First Class
Seat	2A
Distance	1,721 miles
Block time	4 hours 32 minutes

Getting to the Gate

I arrived at Terminal 2 via the Route 992 bus. It was a new experience but certainly the right call, full review here. Getting from the bus to the gate is painless, but the gate area itself was a different story.

Today's flight boarded from gate 31, located at the end of one of Terminal 2's piers. This narrow corridor that gets tight fast. In our case Alaska's Seattle flight was departing right next door with a seven-minute head start, and the combined foot traffic made for a chaotic few minutes.

The Aircraft

Today's aircraft was N569AS, which first flew in February 2007. While pretty up to date interior wise, its age was shown in it's smaller overhead bins rather than the Airspace bins equipped on newer aircraft. As a result 20 bags had to be gate checked. If you're flying this aircraft in later boarding group, it's worth remembering.

What the airframe doesn't show its age in is the seats. The first class cabin had been through a proper refresh and the seating is actually a slight upgrade from the outbound 737-9 MAX on AS 201. Each seat offered multiple USB-C ports, AC power, footrest and calf rest built in.

Boarding

With a slightly chaotic boarding area, we had a late start. Onboard pre-departure drinks were offered with the only choice being water - fair given the slight delay - but perhaps not necessarily since we still wrapped up boarding fifteen minutes ahead of departure.

Seat 2A

For this flight I opted for seat 2A, a lefthand side window seat. This was the right pick for this departure as after pushback the aircraft turns over San Diego Bay before tracking inland. On a clear afternoon you get the full sweep of the bay, Coronado, and downtown before the coast disappears. It's a good reason to choose the left side on any SAN northbound or eastbound routing.

Food & Service

Drinks came first after takeoff, followed by the salt and stone oshubori towels that Alaska offers. Unlike AA there were no warm nuts on this one - the flight length sits in a middle zone where some of the longer-haul Alaska catering offerings don't seem to apply. For instance, there was no bread roll either. Based off what I can tell, Alaska seems to reserve that for longer segments.

The menu had the usual Alaska options - sliders, cheese plate among others. I went with the baked potato, a dish I had recently seen talked up on sites like FlyerTalk. It reheated quite well, tasted good, and the vegetables and hummus were a great accompaniment. To round out the meal, a Lemon layer cake was offered for dessert.

While Alaska's portions aren't always the biggest, the quality and execution are consistently above what you get on comparable American or United domestic routes. It's a quality over quantity approach that works.

A snack basket came through about two hours before landing. Selections included chips, nuts, chickpea puffs, and a few sweet offerings.

Overall the crew was friendly and attentive without being intrusive. I consider Alaska's crew among the better when comparing US based airlines.

IFE and Connectivity

There's no seatback screens on Alaska's narrowbody fleet. It's all streaming to your own device through the Alaska app. The entertainment library was solid and the feature that shows remaining flight time against specific titles is a nice touch.

Paid WiFi was also offered in addition to free messaging for all passengers. While I didn't opt for WiFi, I did find the free messaging to be somewhat inconsistent during several parts of the flight.

Arrival

Our approach into ORD came in lower than usual, which opened up better-than-normal views west of the airfield. We touched down early. Then I sat and waited.

We ended up parked for about 20 minutes at a remote stand waiting for our gate to clear. By the time we pulled into the G gates we were about ten minutes late despite the early landing. The taxi at least had some interesting company: I spotted AA's retro Astrojet livery on the taxiway, AA's Piedmont Air retro livery, and both an Air China and a Qatar freighter parked nearby. These delays feel slightly less frustrating when there's interesting traffic to look at!

From the G gates it was a short walk to H and K for the final segment on AA back to Washington.

Final Thoughts

Overall it was a good flight. The 737-800 is old but the refreshed cabin seats really modernized the nearly 20 year old aircraft. The food held up to what Alaska consistently delivers, the crew was solid, and seat 2A gave a fantastic departure view out of San Diego.

As I saw, Chicago O'hare arrivals are always a roll of the dice. Build in buffer if you have a connection - an early touchdown does not mean early gate at Chicago.

Part of the Buyups, Bargains & Beaches — San Diego Series

Installment	Status
San Diego Trip Preview	✓ Published
Alaska IAD–SAN First Class (AS 201)	✓ Published
Alma San Diego Downtown Review	✓ Published
San Diego Taco Tour	✓ Published
SAN Route 992 Bus Review	✓ Published
Chase Sapphire Lounge SAN Review	✓ Published
Alaska SAN–ORD First Class (AS 1478)	You are here
AA ORD–DCA A319 First Class review	Coming soon

Related: Alaska Airlines IAD–SAN First Class Review: AS 201 · Alaska Airlines Inflight Food Nutrition Guide — Summer 2026