The Club International Lounge is located in the South Terminal at SEA.
Recently, Delta Air Lines upgraded to a newer lounge at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), which left their old location available. The airport decided to renovate it and offer it to airlines that might not have the capacity to have their own lounge, nor are using one of the other lounges already at the airport. Emirates, which started service from Seattle to Dubai on March 1st, is currently the only airline that is making use of the lounge, but that should change in the future.
The lounge provides nice views to aircraft outside.
“We refurbished the old one and are making it available for airlines who do not have enough flights to warrant a full one of their own or do not share with another airline,” Perry Cooper, Airport Media and Public Affairs Manager with SEA explained to AirlineReporter.com. “Emirates uses it when they began on March 1st. We are looking to attract some of the other international airlines to use it as well. ”
Cooper also stated that currently the airport is not offering day passes to other passengers who are not flying on Emirates business or first class.
It might be small, but right now there is not a huge demand.
The Club International lounge has a modern atmosphere with many of the amenities one would come to expect. There are not many food options, but that they have the standard snack-type foods found in many other lounges. The club does not have its own Wi-Fi, which is fine, since the entire SEA airport has free Wi-Fi that you are able to access in the lounge.
There are free adult beverages offered and even a menu with locally inspired mixed.
Have to love the coffee machine. I used it twice.
The strange thing about the lounge is that behind the front desk, is a walled off glass area. Since it was not well labeled, I was not sure if it was a quiet area or what. I had to ask and I was informed that it was the first class section.
I understand that some first class folks don’t want to mingle with the business class, but it just seemed weird — almost zoo like. There really isn’t anything else in the glassed off area except a secondary snack area and additional seating. I guess some people just want to feel special and if that is what they are wanting, it is good to give it to them.
Flying on a CRJ 700 down to LAX to catch my flight to Hawaii.
Maresa writes the blog Around Puget Sound and when she was recently taking a trip to Hawaii on United Airlines, I asked her to write up a review from a non-airline nerd perspective. This is her review in her own words:
My United Airlines Review – The Beginning
I’m on my way from SEA to LAX to ITO (Hilo, HI). It’s time for a vacation; to get away and escape from the fast paced life we all seem to live in these days. I’m hoping for good weather for hiking, biking, and snorkeling. I’ll be staying in my very favorite vacation rental: Papaya Sunrise on the East side of the Big Island during the week of my visit.
Currently, I’m traveling from Seattle to L.A. I’m riding in a CRJ700 and it’s tiny! I’ve never been in a commercial jet this small on the mainland before. As many of you know, Hawaii has many inter-island jets that are about the same size.
We took off from Sea-Tac only about 10 minutes late, but our expected arrival is still ’˜on-time’. I have about a four hour lay-over in LAX, but the way I see it is I’d much rather have way more time than necessary than be stranded somewhere I just didn’t mean to be.
It’s always exciting to fly. I love the views I get over Washington. I feel extra fortunate when I get the added bonus of flying past Mt. Rainier–talk about a spectacular view!
One of the nice parts about the smaller jet is it took hardly anytime to board the plane. Also, United was willing to check larger bags for free at the gate that were too big to fit in the narrow overhead compartments. My carry-on bag fit just fine, but it was nice to have the option to check it and to have enough space up ahead for my backpack. The folks on the flight who did check their bag will be able to pick up their bag right after getting off the plane without going to baggage claim.
Right now, the woman next to me is dozing with four radiant sunflowers clasped in her grip, undoubtedly from Pike Place Market. It’s a good reminder of Seattle, of the summer to come, and the sunshine that I’m on my way to see.
I’ll let you know about the next leg of the trip when I get that far…
From LAX to ITO, I rode on a Boeing 737-800. Not this exact one, but one like it. Photo by Jeremy Dwyer-Lindgren
Over Five Hours Later
Wow, LAX was huge! My connecting flight wasn’t too far from where I landed. I have to tell you though, this second flight is shaping up to be much stranger and unpredictable than the first part.
When my fellow passengers and I were waiting to board, many people were struck by how rude the gate agent collecting boarding passes was to fellow passengers. ’œNo, don’t go in that line! I said the right line–not the left!’ The United/Continental worker shouted to customers. ’œNo, rows 30 and higher may board, only rows 30 and
higher!’ Calm down lady–I think you’re taking this all a bit too personally.
I found out a few minutes later that she wasn’t looking or scanning at the tickets she was collecting from people either, which meant that anyone with a ticket of any sort could board the aircraft–and someone did. A man got my plane to Hilo but didn’t find out he was on the wrong plan until he found someone sitting in his seat–how could there
be two people in seat 28E? ’œIsn’t this flight going to Denver?’ The man asked. ’œNo, we’re going to Hilo as in Hawaii…’ The flight attendant responded sounding surprised. The man quickly grabbed his things and deboarded the plane. ’œIn all my six years of working as a flight attendant, I’ve never had that happen!’ The flight attendant said shaking his head.
After only 20 minutes in the air the pilot informed us that we’d be experiencing some turbulence for the next 150 miles–how long it would take to pass through, they didn’t say.
Now I’ve done a lot of traveling and encountered some pretty bad turbulence but this far surpassed it all. The flight attendants were all losing their footing and desperately trying to hold on. The SnackPacks were bouncing all over in the carts and were about ready to bounce out onto the floor. At the moment that I thought someone might
actually start to panic, one of the flight attendants actually did. He exclaimed, ’œBuckle up, buckle up! We’ll come back with the drinks and food, is everyone buckled, because I need to go buckle up.’
After a while, the turbulence settled down and the beverage service began again.The flight attendants were going right along and missed my row entirely. I called him back and wound up drinking a flat Ginger Ale. Great.
Mauamai Beach on the West side of the Big Island.
Right Now
The flight attendants have just come back with another round of beverages and somehow they missed my row and walked right passed us again. When the attendant was called back by my seat-mate the man serving the drinks said abruptly to me, ’œWhat’d you want?’ ’œCranberry juice please,’ I asked. ’œHere–’ the man says shoving the can of juice
at me.
United/Continental, I was not amused…not amused. I heard one passenger say, ’œNever have I seen passengers treated with such disrespect,’ but thank you for getting us all to paradise safely.
If you are looking for things to do around the Puget Sound region either as a resident or a visitor, be sure to check out Maresa’s blog, follow on Facebook or Twitter.
Emirates and Alaska Airlines are now working together with a shared mileage plan.
During an Emirates press conference today held in Seattle, WA, Alaska Airlines announced a mileage partnership with the Dubai based airline. Passengers will be able to earn and redeem miles on either airline, plus miles accumulated while flying on Emirates will count towards Alaska MVP elite level program. From March 1, 2012 to May 31st Alaska will offer double miles on any Emirates flight.
“As part of our commitment to Seattle, we are launching our service by partnering with Seattle’s hometown airline to offer customers the convenience of a frequent flier partnership as well as one-stop check-in and through checked baggage,” said Nigel Page, Emirates Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations for the Americas.
As reported previously, Emirates will start non-stop service from Seattle (SEA) to Dubai (DXB) starting on March 1, 2012. The new flight will help connect the northwest to the Middle East, Africa and India. Emirates new flight (#’s EK229 and EK230) will depart daily from Seattle and Dubai and take 14.5 to 15hrs to complete. Emirates Boeing 777-300ER will we set up in a three class layout and the price for a first class suite will cost $15,279.00, while business will cost $9479.00 and economy will be around $1448.00. With Seattle having so many large companies and a decent demand for people to visit their families in the middle east and India, the airline expects their new route to do quite well.
When asked if Emirates might be interested in upgrading their 777 service to Seattle to an Airbus A380 Nigel stated, “As we build the business up we will certainty look at that.” However, he stated that they have not been in talks with the Port of Seattle about bringing the A380 to SEA. Previously, Perry Cooper with the Port of Seattle communications told AirlineReporter.com that, “We can handle the A380 in emergencies, however we do not have facilities for regular use, such as the multiple gate loading ramps, for the aircraft. At this time, if an A380 were to arrive and need to access a gate, safety guidelines would require all traffic to stop until the aircraft stopped at its gate, due to the width of taxiways and safety zones next to the runways.’
Currently, the Airbus A380 is not able to make it from Dubai to Seattle non-stop and Emirates stated that they are working with Airbus to increase the range to handle cities, like Los Angeles non-stop.
Emirates will also be starting service to Dallas starting February 2nd and has voiced interest in expanding to Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. The fact the airline has so many aircraft currently on order (70 Airbus A350s, 70 Airbus A380s and 87 Boeing 777s), my guess is all these cities will be seeing Emirates service soon.
Images:
Emirates by Robin Bilgil
Alaska by Leezpics
A brand new Emirates Boeing 777-300ER at Paine Field.
Emirates is planning to start flights from Dubai International Airport (DXB ) to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) on March 1, 2012. Being based in Seattle, it is going to be great seeing Emirates Boeing 777-300ER operating out of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
Really, this is going to be huge for Seattle. Emirates will offer a daily non-stop flight which takes only about 14-15hrs. This will be the only non-stop flight from Seattle to Dubai and even the shortest one-stop will take you about 20 hours each way. Even though I have not yet been able to fly on Emirates, I have heard their product and service are pretty darn slick, so the 15hrs should go by quite quickly.
Now is the time to find the best deals. Passengers are able to purchase tickets now, at quite a savings, to fly between March 1 to June 9, 2012. I did a quick search and it is no problem to get a round trip ticket for less than $1200.00 (with fees and taxes) during that time frame. The closest I can find on another airline is $100 more and takes 23.5 hours to get back home (it is also an American “legacy” airline and I would doubt it is as comfy as Emirates anyhow).
’œSeattle has always been an important feeder market and we are pleased to develop our relationship with the city,” Nigel Page, Senior Vice President of Emirates Commercial Operations in the Americas explained to AirlineReporter.com. “Not only will the new route help promote Dubai and transit markets to America’s Pacific Northwest, it will also promote tourism, business and leisure travel to the northwest United States from around the world. We are confident this new route will contribute to growth for the City of Seattle and for Dubai.’
Image: wings777
ANA's first Boeing 787 Dreamliner at Paine Field. Soon we will see these at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.
It has been announced by All Nippon Airways (ANA) that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) will be one of the international destinations for their Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Starting in 2012, the airline will offer a non-stop flight from Seattle to Narita Airport in Tokyo.
Mr. Shinichiro Ito, ANA Group President and CEO said,”We are very pleased to announce the launch of long-haul international services from Tokyo to Seattle. This city is an important destination on the U.S. West Coast and is home to companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Starbucks and, of course, Boeing itself. We are confident that passenger demand to fly to Seattle will be high, not only in Japan but other Asian cities.”
ANA also announced that they will start flights from Narita to San Jose, CA. Not that San Jose getting the 787 is any less exciting, it is just the fact that I am based in Seattle and have been really hoping that ANA would start 787 service here.
Not only will both airports receive service from ANA, but both will also get the Dreamliner for the first time. This is a great example on how the Dreamliner will change how airlines do business; offering point-to-point flights between destinations that might not have the demand for a larger aircraft like the Boeing 777 or 747.
“We are very pleased to announce the launch of further international Dreamliner services to these two new destinations on the west coast of the United States,” Shinichiro Ito, President and CEO of ANA Group stated in a press release.” We will make full use of the efficiencies of the 787 as well as capitalizing on our close relationship with United and Continental Airlines to enhance the competitiveness of our joint ventures with these two Star Alliance partners.”
