Flying Sun Country in 2017 is like flying a legacy carrier 10-15 years ago. That’s both a good thing and a bad thing.
My destination was Minneapolis and I wanted to fly non-stop from LAX. I figured that this was the ideal opportunity to try out Sun Country even though United Airlines (my usual airline) also flies non-stop. The first class ticket cost $298, a very fair deal for first class.
I arrived at the airport about 3.5 hours before departure in order to avoid traffic and get some work done before the flight. The check-in counters were not yet open for the flight, though I was able to successfully check-in online (and later obtain a boarding pass at the gate). Sun Country now participates in PreCheck and therefore I did not have to remove my shoes, laptop, or liquids when going through security.
While Sun Country offers paid upgrades at check-in (I wrote about them here), they are not a particularly good deal. At check-in, only 4/12 first class seats were assigned. The flight would later end up going with 10/12 seats occupied, though I figured there must have been some non-revs who were accommodated up front.
Sun Country now uses Terminal 5 in LAX, a fairly nice terminal connected airside with Terminals 4,6-8, and the Tom Bradley International Terminal. Sun Country has no lounge for first class passengers, but I was able to access the Alaska Airlines lounge in Terminal 6 using my Priority Pass card.
Boarding began on schedule at 5:10p, 45 minutes prior to scheduled departure. Unfortunately (for me at least), Sun Country allows the infirm to board first. That meant a a parade of senior citizens boarding first, hindering my ability to provide unobstructed cabin pictures.
Sun Country 426
Los Angeles (LAX) – Minneapolis / St. Paul (MSP)
Friday, June 09, 2017
Depart: 05:55 PM
Arrive: 11:22 PM
Duration: 3hr, 27min
Aircraft: 737-800
Seat: 2A (First Class)
Two very young FAs welcomed me onboard. I noticed the Boeing 737-800 was clean featured Boeing’s signature Sky Interior. We pushed back precisely on schedule and were soon in the air:
Sun Country First Class Seat
The First Class seat is well padded but very basic. A single button controls recline. There are no personal TVs and there are no power ports (even though the center consoles are clearly provisioned for power ports). There is no Wi-Fi onboard or drop-down TV screens either.
Like I said, it’s how first class used to be on other airlines.
The pillow was quite thin:
Blankets were of the scratchy variety.
Sun Country First Class IFE
Further reminding me of the days of old, Sun Country uses DigE Players for in-flight IFE. These devices are free for first class passengers and available for a fee in economy class.
Very cheap disposable headphones were distributed: definitely bring your own.
There was a good selection of movies, TV shows, and games including Beauty and the Beast, which had just been released days prior. If I am being honest, although the portable player in clunky, it was like using an iPad and therefore much easier to use than a seatback screen.
The downside: the devices were collected an hour before landing. On a 3.5hr flight, that did not leave much time. I had to finish my movie on a United flight the following week…
Sun Country First Class Food
While the seat features and IFE may have been “primitive” by 2017 standards, the onboard meal was exceptional.
Bottled water was offered prior to takeoff.
Shortly after takeoff a warm towel was offered with choice of beverage.
Next a beautiful cheese plate was delivered with a nice selection of cheese, grapes, crackers and a delicious warm slice of toasted garlic bread. It felt like a Wisconsin Supper Club…
And then I waited. For about an hour…
Honestly, as the minutes rolled by I went from being pleased at the appetizer to angry that Sun Country would consider a cheese plate “dinner”…
But then dinner showed up. No choice–everyone received the same thing, and boy was it delicious. Dinner was beef kabobs with saffron rice and grilled vegetables. It came with a side Greek-ish salad and a roll. I was so pleasantly surprised.
And it was delicious too. Very flavorful and very filling. Truly tremendous.
Another hour went by and a big warm chocolate chip cookie arrived. I asked for a glass of milk with it and was told there was no milk. Bummer.
Many of you recommended that I try some local beers onboard. I hate to disappoint you, but I cannot stand beer. But there was indeed a large selection Minnesota-brewed beer including:
FYI, food is BOB in economy class.
Sun Country First Class Service
I mentioned the two young FAs and I found the service to be courteous and friendly throughout the flights. I was not addressed by name, but I wasn’t expecting it from FAs who dressed more like Southwest FAs than United or Delta FAs.
Sun Country First Class Lavatory
Not much to report except that the lavatory was clean:
CONCLUSION
If you are not bound to loyalty on a particular carrier or alliance, Sun Country represents a very nice value. “The hometown airline” of Minneapolis was a very refreshing experience. Then again, if you value power outlets and wi-fi, Sun Country is perhaps not for you. Personally, I look forward to flying Sun Country again.
Poor Matthew. Having to let the infirm and seniors who need extra time to board, ruin your oh-so-important pictures.
Geez, give us a break. Self-entitled much?
I support the policy: I simply explained why my shots of the cabin are limited.
Shame on you. This is the 21st-century. We are “people with disabilities“. I am a palled that this would even be something worthy of commenting about… So be it but your pictures included humans… And humans myc I am a palled that this would even be something worthy of commenting about. I urge you to edit this article and remove such disparaging, discriminatory comments
Welcome to Minneapolis!!!! Proud to call this place home. 😉
What’s the booze situation in F? I see wines/beer for purchase in economy. Do you get same options but free or…?
Correct, same choices but for free up front.
Alaska has the same problem of picking up the digi-players too early. I don’t get it. Anyone know why, or another example of FA’s hating passengers?
I hope you didn’t use the fork placed directly in the tray table. Yuck!
I didn’t. I also didn’t understand the need for a fork to eat a cookie!
That meal does look exceptional for domestic F. Too bad I hate both rice and goat cheese…
That is too bad! There was no other choice.
You can never go wrong on good food, i thought sharp containers were upon request from the flight attendant! what would you term the fork?
My digi player was not collected until just before landing on PHX-MSP.
I flew on Sun Country from the other direction for the same event, from JFK Terminal 4, also in First Class. It was $592 for the round-trip, which was barely more than coach prices with anyone — and so using the Amex Business Platinum to pay with points, it was less (29,000) than any economy points option, on any airline.
One of the charming attributes was the art of a Minnesota lake on the bulkhead wall (I considered this to be the IFE). There were different lakes on each of my flights; I wonder if that’s true for every plane.
Though I assumed all the 737 aircraft were identical, I found out this wasn’t true. On my outbound flight , there was a HUGE amount of legroom in the first row, making those by far the nicest seats in the cabin. I couldn’t touch the bulkhead wall with my feet if I wanted to. (And, there was no one else in the first row, making it feel like my private lounge.)
The return flight had a bulkhead wall that was much closer, meaning much less legroom. Nothing uncomfortable, but about what you’d expect when sitting in front of a bulkhead wall. It felt cramped when compared to the luxurious amount of space on the outbound flight. I’d imagine there’s probably no way to know in advance what you’re going to get, but if there were a way to, it would be a factor in my row selection.
I also discovered that if you are in First, same day flight change fees, normally $50, are waived. The phone agent didn’t know this, and even the ticket agent at the airport seemed surprised by it; we learned it at the same time when she put the change through.
I learned from a regular Sun Country flyer sitting next to me that their loyalty program, UFly, has a family pooling feature in which up to 9 family members can contribute to the same pool of points; she made use of her one-trip-a-year relatives’ points to have enough for her own travel.
I agree with pretty much Matthew said in his review above. Having quality food actually made it feel like first class, as opposed to “what used to be a meal you’d get in economy.” Another way they are like an airline from several years ago is their not having an app; and while they do feature a mobile boarding pass, it’s simply a PDF with a QR code. Funny. Needless to say, it ain’t gonna go in Apple Wallet; I stored it in iBooks.
I found MSP an amazing airport to connect in. Just the right balance between small to be personal and big to have all the amenities. That meal though looks amazing! Definitely not what I was expecting from Sun Country.
On the digi-players–how would FAs react if someone just said “I’m still finishing my movie and I understand there’s an hour left in the flight, so I’ll return it later,” would that cause an issue? Seems pretty unreasonable to collect them with 30% of the flight left
My wife and I flew Sun Country first class to Cancun last Winter at 6:05 am. The breakfast was better than what I have received in most restaurants. Very impressed.