A day trip on Virgin America & Alaska
Posted: Sat Apr 23, 2022 6:18 pm
This trip was from May 2017. I had wanted to fly on Virgin America, before their merger with Alaska. I also had never been to SFO. I figured this would be a good opportunity to kill two birds, with one stone. I would be flying PHX-SFO on an American A321. Then I’d be flying Redwood from SFO-PDX. Then I would be flying PDX-PHX on Alaska. This was also my second time flying on Alaska
American 433
Phoenix, AZ (PHX) – San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Airbus A321
N562UW
Seat 11A
Scheduled Departure Time – 10:10am
Actual Departure Time- 12:12pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 12:16pm
Actual Arrival Time- 1:49pm
1 hour 37 minutes
Shortly before boarding, the captain came out and made an announcement that there was an issue with the plane. Maintenance was coming out to look at it. After a little while he came back out to say that we would have to get a new plane
Eventually N562UW showed up
We finally pushed back at 1200pm, 1 hour and 50 minutes late. We had to taxi to 7L, on the other side of the airport. Luckily there weren’t many planes in line, so we were able to takeoff pretty quickly
Taking off 7L
We climbed up to 34,000ft, where we stayed for the entire flight to California
Cruising
Descending on the SERFR2 arrival
Final 28L
I was originally supposed to have a 3 hour layover. But with the delay leaving Phoenix it was closer to two hours
The next flight for N562UW was to Dallas
Virgin America 816
San Francisco, CA (SFO) – Portland, OR (PDX)
Airbus A320
N853VA
Seat 15A
Scheduled Departure Time – 3:35pm
Actual Departure Time- 4:15pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 5:11pm
Actual Arrival Time- 5:32pm
1 hour 17 minutes
N853VA arriving late from JFK. As soon as deplaning finished, boarding started right away
Boarding
15A, next to N626VA getting ready to depart to Washington Dulles, and N592AS was going to Seattle. The flight attendants apologized for the short delay. They explained they had gotten a late start out of New York
Taxiing behind N510UA about to takeoff to Newark
Climbing out of SFO
On this flight we climbed up to 38,000ft. I spent the flight playing around with the TV, and looking out the window. By the time the flight attendants were finishing up the service, we were almost to Portland. The flight attendants on this flight were all very friendly and enthusiastic
Cruising at FL380
Starting the descent
Descending on the TMBRS2 arrival
Final 28R
Touchdown
N853VA was flying right back down to San Francisco
I also had about 3 hours, until my Alaska flight was departing
Alaska 944
Portland, OR (PDX) – Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
Boeing 737-900
N493AS
Seat 14A
Scheduled Departure Time – 8:30pm
Actual Departure Time- 8:39pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 11:13pm
Actual Arrival Time- 10:47pm
2 hours 8 minutes
N493AS arriving after a long flight from Orlando
Boarding
14A, next to N305AS getting ready for a flight to Anchorage
The woman behind me was very nervous about flying. The gate agent and flight attendant were talking to her. She was thinking about getting off the plane. It was her first flight, and she was very worried about it. It was very close to our departure time and they told her she would have to decide if she wanted to fly, because the door had to be closed. She decided to stay on. The door was closed and we quickly pushed back
Taking off from 28R
We spent the entire flight at 39,000ft. On this flight, the flight attendants came through twice with drinks and snacks. Just like on the Virgin flight, all the flight attendants were very nice and happy to give out as many snacks as you wanted. I was pretty impressed with Alaska on this flight
It was a nice sunset, as we flew back towards Phoenix
Descending on the BRUSR1 arrival into Sky Harbor
Touchdown
N493AS spent the night at gate 11, and flew back to Portland early the next morning
This was a fun day trip. I got to try out a new airport, and a new airline. I was impressed with Virgin America. They had a nice plane, and the crew was awesome. I was also really impressed with Alaska. This was my second time on Alaska. I had flown them once before. That flight was decent. But this one was much better. A newer plane, and the crew on this Alaska flight was also really impressive.
American 433
Phoenix, AZ (PHX) – San Francisco, CA (SFO)
Airbus A321
N562UW
Seat 11A
Scheduled Departure Time – 10:10am
Actual Departure Time- 12:12pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 12:16pm
Actual Arrival Time- 1:49pm
1 hour 37 minutes
Shortly before boarding, the captain came out and made an announcement that there was an issue with the plane. Maintenance was coming out to look at it. After a little while he came back out to say that we would have to get a new plane
Eventually N562UW showed up
We finally pushed back at 1200pm, 1 hour and 50 minutes late. We had to taxi to 7L, on the other side of the airport. Luckily there weren’t many planes in line, so we were able to takeoff pretty quickly
Taking off 7L
We climbed up to 34,000ft, where we stayed for the entire flight to California
Cruising
Descending on the SERFR2 arrival
Final 28L
I was originally supposed to have a 3 hour layover. But with the delay leaving Phoenix it was closer to two hours
The next flight for N562UW was to Dallas
Virgin America 816
San Francisco, CA (SFO) – Portland, OR (PDX)
Airbus A320
N853VA
Seat 15A
Scheduled Departure Time – 3:35pm
Actual Departure Time- 4:15pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 5:11pm
Actual Arrival Time- 5:32pm
1 hour 17 minutes
N853VA arriving late from JFK. As soon as deplaning finished, boarding started right away
Boarding
15A, next to N626VA getting ready to depart to Washington Dulles, and N592AS was going to Seattle. The flight attendants apologized for the short delay. They explained they had gotten a late start out of New York
Taxiing behind N510UA about to takeoff to Newark
Climbing out of SFO
On this flight we climbed up to 38,000ft. I spent the flight playing around with the TV, and looking out the window. By the time the flight attendants were finishing up the service, we were almost to Portland. The flight attendants on this flight were all very friendly and enthusiastic
Cruising at FL380
Starting the descent
Descending on the TMBRS2 arrival
Final 28R
Touchdown
N853VA was flying right back down to San Francisco
I also had about 3 hours, until my Alaska flight was departing
Alaska 944
Portland, OR (PDX) – Phoenix, AZ (PHX)
Boeing 737-900
N493AS
Seat 14A
Scheduled Departure Time – 8:30pm
Actual Departure Time- 8:39pm
Scheduled Arrival Time – 11:13pm
Actual Arrival Time- 10:47pm
2 hours 8 minutes
N493AS arriving after a long flight from Orlando
Boarding
14A, next to N305AS getting ready for a flight to Anchorage
The woman behind me was very nervous about flying. The gate agent and flight attendant were talking to her. She was thinking about getting off the plane. It was her first flight, and she was very worried about it. It was very close to our departure time and they told her she would have to decide if she wanted to fly, because the door had to be closed. She decided to stay on. The door was closed and we quickly pushed back
Taking off from 28R
We spent the entire flight at 39,000ft. On this flight, the flight attendants came through twice with drinks and snacks. Just like on the Virgin flight, all the flight attendants were very nice and happy to give out as many snacks as you wanted. I was pretty impressed with Alaska on this flight
It was a nice sunset, as we flew back towards Phoenix
Descending on the BRUSR1 arrival into Sky Harbor
Touchdown
N493AS spent the night at gate 11, and flew back to Portland early the next morning
This was a fun day trip. I got to try out a new airport, and a new airline. I was impressed with Virgin America. They had a nice plane, and the crew was awesome. I was also really impressed with Alaska. This was my second time on Alaska. I had flown them once before. That flight was decent. But this one was much better. A newer plane, and the crew on this Alaska flight was also really impressive.