Alaska Airlines has made impressive upgrades to its LAX lounge. But why limit coffee? Why oh why?
I recently stopped by the Alaska Lounge in Terminal 6 at Los Angeles International Airport. I was very pleasantly surprised that it had been renovated. The furniture was new, the food was better than before, and best of all…barista-made coffee was available.
There are so many elements required to make good coffee. It’s not just the beans or the water, it’s the machine used to make it. I love barista-made coffee not so much because the human hand inherently produces better coffee than a machine, but because fancy manual coffee machines tend to make excellent coffee. The act of tamping and the finely-tuning pressure that are only available in these “manual” coffee makers generally produce much better espresso. Plus, the milk foamers produce a far better milk for cappuccinos than do fully automatic machines.
Anyway, this isn’t a post on coffee, but coffee availability.
I enjoyed a cappuccino, which turned out very nicely.
In fact, I enjoyed it so much I returned again a few days later for some more coffee. This time, it was 7:00PM. A bartender unsympathetically told me, “Sorry, the machine is turned off at 5:00PM, you can use the automatic machine around the corner.”
That’s like saying, “Oh, I’m sorry. We stop serving Wagyu beef filets at 5:00PM. But don’t worry, there’s some salisbury steak around the corner.”
*sigh*
It’s not like there was no bartender on duty. She was just standing around. If she can mix drinks, why can’t she make coffee?
Anyway, I survived with a machine-made blend.
And again, the lounge looks beautiful:
Food has also improved, with two soups, nice salads, and real cups, glasses, plates, and silverware…something I don’t take for granted.
CONCLUSION
Alaska has managed to simultaneously delight And disappoint me. I’ll be returning to the lounge more often now, but the 5:00PM last call for coffee seems unnecessary.
Is the coffee policy the same in the Alaska lounges in Seattle and New York?
I clearly don’t understand coffee obsession. Imagine if you took every dollar you spent at Starbucks and put it in a bank account. Coffee is pretty gross. I’m glad I think it’s disgusting. I ever drink caffeine and I’m always energized, where many people that drink caffeine always seem so tired ….
Be thankful. I went 25 years before I started drinking coffee. But I certainly don’t spend a dime at a sorry excuse for coffee like Starbucks.
Dare you to say that to a European. Sans the SBUX parts.
How do you know if someone doesn’t drink coffee?
Don’t worry. They’ll tell you.
Lol
The 5pm last call is network-wide for AS Lounges and yes, it’s annoying.
Also shame you didn’t ask for a cinnamon/chocolate plane topping for your coffee :p
It is inconsistent at JFK even for the 7 AM flights
That’s bad. I would have been angry had I been denied in the morning.
I’d posit this is due to staffing costs. At post-17.00 times, there’s surely a much higher demand for drinks at the bar than for coffee. AS would rather staff be minding the bar than the espresso machine, and the numbers simply don’t work out to have one person on-hand simply for coffee, or even an additional bartender. Plus, they probably haven’t trained the bartenders on staff after 17.00 to properly use the machine, which may be required for insurance purposes (milk steamer and whatnot). It’s simple cost-benefit analysis. For every one person who complains about lack of availability of coffee, you’d have three complaining about waiting for the bartender to stop playing barista.
I should have added that the coffee machine is behind the bar…same place. Wish I could have made it myself!
And the bartender wasn’t busy at all. In fact, she spent more time going around the lounge collecting dishes than making drinks.
You can sorta see in the one pic that it’s at what appears to be the very end of the bar. In this instance, though, they probably need 1-1/2 people working the bar – that 1/2 person manning the coffee counter – but don’t wanna round that up to two people. And since she was the only one. and may not have been trained to use the machine, the default is “No coffee for you!” ::cue Soup Nazi voice:: …after 5 pm.
Was the remodel recent? I was there a few months back and it didn’t seem remodeled. It was also pretty crowded. I just went to the United Club (while I still can with a non UA boarding pass)
Yes, very recent.
+1 I was just there a few weeks ago and didn’t even notice they had renovated. Food and wine were excellent! It does look pretty snazzy now that you say so. Getting in as a PP is tough. Gotta stake out that f**king sign. I swear those dragons are ninjas!!!
Interesting point. The signs were up but I went up anyway and asked, “How much longer till you’ll open up to PP?” They let me in. And really, the signs should have been down. The lounge was practically empty.
#firstworldproblem 🙂
No doubt.
I’m with you. Turning off the coffee machine is just stupid. If you can make drinks you can make coffee.
As Ms Zepho and countless other bar staff in international lounges prove every day …
Exactly.
Making a cappuccino is much more time intensive than mixing a typical bar drink. I’ve missed the 5pm cut off (one time by 2 minutes) but really don’t hold this against Alaska.
I do like Alaska lounges, and think with some small improvements they could go from being good to great lounges.
I don’t exactly see a food upgrade (perhaps a second soup offering), but the presentation has been upgraded.
I guess you’re right. Second soup is the big change. But nice upgrade in dishes/cups.
Who the heck drinks coffee after 5pm? The half life of the caffeine is 12 hours. It will keep you up all night. No thanks.
Boraxo, we’re talking about in the departure lounge for an airplane… of course there are people who want to be awake later than usual, in order to better adapt to their destination time zone.
Also, for us coffee addicts, caffeine tolerance is pretty high. I often finish my coffee just before bed, and nonetheless sleep easily.
Do you have a cite for the half-life of caffeine in the blood? Because I can believe that some caffeine is still in the blood 12 hours after a fresh cup of coffee, but half seems way too high an estimate.
When should you have cappuccino?
Don’t order a cappuccino after noon…
Italians have a thing about drinking cappuccino after noon. It’s just not done (some say it’s because the milk and foam makes it a replacement for a meal, and all that dairy upsets the digestion). And you’ll never see an Italian ordering a cappuccino after dinner.
But we are not in Italy and I am not Italian.
Too bad they arbitrarily put out a sign that says: Priority Pass-holders BUZZ OFF! or else I also would have enjoyed a nice cup of barista coffee (I was there before 5pm but to no avail) in a delightful remodeled lounge environment.
Matthew: with the new reno, is there more or less seating in your opinion? It does get crowded at peak times and I’d like to know if they addressed that.
As for the PP…I hadn’t thought of that approach. I’ll try that next time I’m at LAX.