Alaska Airlines will expand & upgrade select lounges in Seattle & Portland

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Alaska Airlines has just announced what it’s calling “a significant, multi-million dollar renovation and expansion of [its] most popular Lounges” which will see select lounges in Seattle and Portland get a short-term makeover before, longer-term, they’re moved to new locations within their respective airports.

In the year before the pandemic, Alaska Airlines opened a new 15,000 square foot ‘Flagship Lounge’ and the N Concourse in Seattle. Today, the airline has said that it now plans to turn its attention to the remaining lounges in Seattle as well as to its lounge in Portland.

Over the next couple of years, we’re told that Alaska Airlines will be spending nearly $8.5m on upgrades to the Concourse C and Concourse D lounges in Seattle as well as to the Alaska Airlines Lounge in Portland (Concourse C).

As these upgrades are being introduced, the airline says that it will be starting to plan and design “completely new Lounge locations with a targeted opening of 2025-26”.

Seattle

Between 2022 and 2023, “nearly $7m” will be spent on lounge upgrades in Seattle and this is how Alaska Airlines plans to spend that money:

• Work on the lounge in Concourse C will begin in “late spring or early summer” and will see the lounge grow by 3,000 square feet (60 more seats) as the neighboring offices are converted into new lounge space. The Lounge will remain open during construction and the airline anticipates “little impact to guests”.

• Upon the completion of the work to the Concourse C lounge, the lounge in Concourse D will be closed (for an estimated 6 months) as its seating area is expanded by 30%. Further enhancements to the D Concourse Lounge will include the addition of a new “bistro bar” and a change in layout to give the space a better “flow”. The Concourse D lounge is expected to reopen in “early summer 2023”.

Longer-term, Alaska Airlines has said that it plans to open a completely new lounge as part of the Port of Seattle’s C Concourse Expansion Project (expected in 2026) and at over 20,000 square feet, the airline expects this lounge to eventually become the primary Lounge for flyers departing from C and D Concourses (which would appear to suggest that one or both of the existing lounges may be closed).

Portland

Alaska Airlines has just one lounge in Portland (Concourse C) and in 2022 the airline has plans to spend “nearly $1.5m” to upgrade this facility and to add a temporary facility for flyers departing from Concourse B. Here’s what Alaska Airlines has planned:

• Starting this spring and with completion set for “this summer”, the Concourse C lounge will be enlarged by 1,000 square feet to allow it to offer seating for 30 more people and to bring the facility’s capacity up to 100.
• The Concourse C lounge will also be coopting some space from Concourse C itself to allow it to offer guests an enclosed patio area.

• The lounge will remain open during the renovations.
• In addition to the works planned for the Concourse C lounge, Alaska Airlines will create a temporary ‘express lounge’ on Concourse B (near Gate B2) where it will offer guests “a selection of beverages and light snacks before their flights”.

Longer-term (2025-26), Alaska Airlines has said that it plans to open a new Portland lounge measuring in excess of 10,000 square feet and while it hasn’t indicated where this new lounge will be located, the airline has confirmed that it will be in a different location to the current lounge which means that the current lounge will be able to remain open during construction.

Bottom line

Alaska Airlines has announced that it will be upgrading two of its lounges in Seattle and its lounge in Portland over the next two years. Portland will also be getting a new (but temporary) express lounge on Concourse B and by 2026, we’re told we’ll be seeing a new 20,000 square foot lounge in Seattle and a new 10,000 square foot lounge in Portland.

All images courtesy of Alaska Airlines