Alaska Air’s Premium Class Seats Go On Sale

Photo: Frank K.

The seats will be located in the front portion of the main cabin. They will offer an additional four inches of legroom, with seat pitch of 35 inches compared to the 31 to 32 inches in the rest of the main cabin.Alaska Airlines last week began selling its new Premium Class seats, which will debut on select routes beginning Jan. 5.

Premium Class passengers will be able to board early and will be offered snacks and complimentary drinks.

Initial prices range from $15 to $79 over the base fares depending on the length of the flight. Seats in the new section can be purchased at the time of booking through alaskaair.com or Alaska’s mobile apps, during check-in and at the airport.

Elite members of the Alaska Mileage Plan will be eligible for complimentary upgrades to Premium Class at the time of booking or up to 24 hours in advance of travel, depending on status and the fare purchased.

Alaska Airlines expects that Premium Class will be available on nearly half the fleet by the end of 2016. The rest of the fleet will be reconfigured next year.

Preferred Plus seating in bulkhead and emergency exit rows will continue to be offered on aircraft that have not yet been retrofitted. Prices start at $15 and vary according to the length of the flight.

Once an aircraft has been reconfigured with Premium Class, Preferred Plus seats will no longer be available for purchase.

The carrier expects Premium Class to boost revenue by $50 million next year.

Alaska’s first class cabins also are being retrofitted, with seat pitch expanding from 36 to 41 or 42 inches.