Alaska Lounge Introduction

This Alaska Lounge is located at JFK Terminal 7. After security, it’s right there on the left by the elevator, which is very convenient. The lounge is open from 5:00 AM to 9:00 PM, and you can enter only within 3 hours before your flight departure.

This photo was taken at the lounge entrance, so you can clearly spot where the lounge is.

We used the PPS access included with our Chase CSR. PPS says that, if the lounge is busy, it has the right to deny entry to PPS cardholders. In fact, Alaska’s three lounges in SEA had already exited PPS on September 1, 2018 because they could not handle PPS traffic. Thankfully, our flight this time was in the morning, so when we arrived the lounge was still fairly empty and no one turned us away.

Alaska Lounge Experience

Entry Corridor

From Check-In there is a long, stylish corridor with a strong design sense, which made us feel good first thing in the morning.

Main Layout

The main area is a large rectangular shape with one corner cut off, with furniture and design dividing it into different functional zones. Through the windows, you can clearly see the runway and Alaska Airlines aircraft, with a very open view.

Bar

The bar is open from 7:00 AM until the lounge closes, with a limit of 3 alcoholic drinks per person.

Breakfast

Alaska lounge food is never very generous, and morning options were even fewer. Bread, oatmeal, toppings, eggs, yogurt, fruit, and the signature pancake station.

Coffee and Beverages

Since this is a Seattle-based airline lounge, Starbucks is very present, and you can even order freshly ground coffee.

The gentleman there had a unique style, and he was the kind of employee who does it all. I saw him at several stations, including Check-In, making coffee at the coffee bar, pouring drinks at the bar, wiping tables, and clearing plates.

A cute milk bottle—unfortunately, one of the caps is broken.

New York Attraction Ticket Mini Guide

Finally, here is a small guide to buying tickets for New York attractions. I found it very cost-effective and strongly recommend it.

This New York trip was basically a spontaneous trip. We booked the flight and hotel last minute, and on our first night in New York we roughly mapped out a plan. Looking back, it was pretty loose. After discussing options, we finalized three paid attractions: The Met, the Empire State Building, and the Statue of Liberty.

I first considered taking a lazy approach and buying a City Pass for any 3 attractions, but I noticed something annoying: the Statue of Liberty ferry ticket included in City Pass only covers the boat ticket, not the pedestal access ticket. After checking the Statue of Liberty official site, I found that if you book a departure two days later, the ferry ticket does include pedestal access, so I ended up skipping City Pass. (Note: if you buy a ferry ticket separately, pedestal access is included, but daily visitor numbers are capped, so book early. The crown entry only adds a symbolic $4, but seats are generally available only with advance booking around 3 months out.)

Because I skipped City Pass, we had to buy each of the three tickets separately. So I started searching online for discount ticket sites. I first searched in English and found a Taiwan-run ticket site, but the discount there was not great. That gave me an idea, and I thought of Chinese travel platforms. I happened to have the Mafengwo app installed on my phone; after a quick search, I was shocked—the Empire State Building single-entry ticket was only ¥166. The official price is $38 per person. This discount is basically the same ratio as City Pass, and you can still buy a single ticket. The best part is that I received the e-ticket one minute after placing the order. I opened the link, captured the QR code screenshot, and scanned it right in—super convenient, right? (Note: this is not an ad!)

I also bought the Met ticket on Mafengwo, for ¥120 per person. The self-guided audio tour was ¥35 per person, and the ticket-exchange kiosk was also easy to use. It was much cheaper than buying on the spot.

Overall, I really recommend using some domestic Chinese apps. I already used Mafengwo for travel notes, so I didn’t look for other travel apps, but the discounts are probably similar across platforms.