I’ve never been on an inaugural flight before so I’m pretty excited. Today we’re riding on Breeze Airways between GSP and LAX in Ascent Class. Breeze Ascent is their branding for domestic first class. Because of this new service at GSP, there were some pre-flight festivities. The timing worked out perfectly for a Memorial Day weekend trip and Breeze had just announced this service. I’ve also never flown on Breeze Airways so this is shaping up to be a really fun weekend for us.
Bottom Line: Breeze Ascent is a great domestic first class experience. The seat is a little nicer than you’d find on any other major airline. Free drinks, snacks, and lots of legroom made for a very comfortable flight. Only downside is the lack of a meal, something most airlines would provide on a transcontinental flight.
GSP Airport Inaugural Flight Activities
Here at GSP there are a good amount of activities scheduled for this Breeze flight to LAX. This is a new opportunity for GSP to have flights all the way to the west coast. Because it’s an inaugural flight GSP is going all out to make it an occasion.
Our Breeze Airbus A220-300 arrived at the gate right on time. The route is interesting, it arrives in GSP from MCO, then heads to LAX and back again. After some speeches from GSP Airport management, boarding started pretty close to on-time.
Breeze Airways A220 Boarding
I was allowed to board a little early on this flight to LAX. Ahead of time I emailed and asked if I could take some pictures of the Breeze A220 cabin.
The Breeze A220 is a great looking aircraft.
Breeze A220 Accent Cabin
The Breeze A220 Accent Cabin has 3 rows in a 2-2 configuration. There’s no divider between the economy class section and the Accent Cabin.
We’re sitting on the right hand side of the plane today. In the last row of the Accent cabin.
The economy cabin on the Breeze A220 is arranged in the standard 2-3 configuration. The front part of the cabin has some extra leg room, the rear part is standard economy. We returned home in the Economy class on Breeze, I’ll have a review soon.
The Accent Class Seats on Breeze’s A220 are pretty similar to what you’d find on a domestic first class seat. The one downside is the lack of in seat entertainment.
Breeze A220-300 Accent Seat Features
The leg room in the Breeze Accent Class is very good. One thing to note is the somewhat annoying placement of the seat supports, if you want to use the space for a backpack it’s not great. As a whole, the seat is very comfortable.
There’s a small storage cubby between the seats in-front. I used it to hold the poster that was given out as a part of the inaugural flight.
There’s no in seat entertainment on the Breeze A220. There is a device holder that works well, but isn’t quite as good.
Between the two seats there was power provided. There’s a standard USB type A, USB Type C, and a 110v universal power port.
In the arm rest the are seat controls and a little storage cubby. The Breeze Accent First Class seats recline and have a foot rest.
There’s also a flip down table to hold drinks. It has to be stowed during takeoff and landing. I like little tables like this, American has something similar on the A321s(Full review here).
Breeze Airways Accent Push Back and Takeoff
The Pilot came to the front of the cabin and made his welcome. He was a classic pilot. Telling us about the flight and route we’d be taking on the way to Los Angeles. He also said this is one of the longest flights in the breeze system. We’re having to sit here at the gate a little while longer for fuel, Lots of fuel is needed to get us all the way to California.
We pushed back from the gate about 10 minutes delayed. Not a big deal but I think the other Breeze plane on the ground was waiting for our gate.
We took off towards the South West. The Airbus A220 has very unique sounding engines, they’ve been described as whale noises.
Breeze Airways A220 Accent Drinks and Snacks
As a Accent Class passenger, drinks and snacks are included. The flight attendant came around told us we could choose whatever we wanted except for the premium snack boxes, those are not complementary.
I chose the Straightaway Old Fashioned, it was good, very boozy much like the Tip Top Old Fashioned.
Val went with the Bloody Mary, the flight attendant was great, he started her with a double.
I had a bag of chips as my snack. I’ve been wanting to try these Zapps Voodoo chips, I see them in the stores all the time. I liked them, kinda sweet but a little spicy. I think I like Cape Code Chips better, but these are very good.
Breeze Accent In Flight
I extended my leg rest and settled into the flight. This is the longest flight from GSP airport at just about 5 hours westbound. I really like that Breeze has leg rests in their Accent First Class seats.
The device holders do a nice job of holding a tablet or phone. There’s also Wifi with stream to your own device. About 45 minutes later the pilot told us it would be smooth for a few minutes so he turned off the seatbelt sign. He said we’re too heavy to fly over the rough weather and we don’t have enough fuel to fly around.
The flight attendants were really proactive and attentive. They came around and offered more drinks, I decided to have a beer. If I had to fault Breeze with something I’d say the beer selection isn’t very good.
The tray tables fold out from the center arm rest. It’s a one piece design and more than large enough. I had brought a sandwich from home. It’s a long flight around lunch time, I knew that Breeze doesn’t serve a meal so figured this was the best option.
With my lunch finished I sat back and relaxed.
Breeze Airways A220 Bathrooms
Breeze has 3 lavatories. There’s one at the front and then 2 at the rear. This photo is the front lavatory.
They’re all about the same, this is the middle rear and I think it’s the largest. Throughout the flight they were kept very clean and tidy.
Breeze Airways A220 In Flight
The Breeze A220 was pretty full for being an inaugural flight. I really liked the 2-3 seating arrangement in the economy cabin.
Outside we’re about 2 hours from Los Angeles. It turned into a great day for flying. I’m looking forward to spending the long weekend in LA.
I like that the A220 has great windows for gazing through. While the pilot said he might have to turn the seat belt sign on, he was able to keep it off for most of the flight.
As we continued further west we got to see the deserts and amazing landscape.
With about 45 minutes left in the flight the flight attendant came through and collected any garbage we had in the cabin. The pilots also made their pre-landing announcements.
Breeze Airways A220 LAX Landing
We approached LAX and it looks like there’s a little cloud cover here today, it’s forecast to burn off as the day goes on. It ended up being a perfect weekend.
A few minutes later we popped through the clouds on approach to LAX.
We touched down right on time here at LAX.
Just a little while longer and we were at the gate. Breeze Airways uses the Tom Bradly Terminal gates here at LAX, but they have head of house operations at Terminal 1 so there’s a bus to take passengers there. You can also just walk outside if you don’t have bags.
Breeze Airways A220 Accent First Class Final Thoughts
Having flights to the West Coast from GSP is fantastic. I love a direct flight and will always strive to take one. Breese Airways Accent First Class on the A220 is great. The seats are better than you’d find on most other domestic airlines. Breeze has lots of space, leg rests, and lots of charging options for electronics. The downside is the lack of in seat entertainment. Sure, streaming options are fine, but it’s really my preference to have an in seat screen.
Another shortcoming of Breeze and Accent is the lack of a meal. Even in Domestic First Class Delta, American, and United would all serve a meal on this long of a flight. Drinks and snacks are included, but not a meal so bring one along.
I’m really glad Breeze has added GSP to their route map. I’ll gladly ride with them again whenever I have a chance. Breeze Accent is a great product.
Our Weekend Trip To Los Angeles
Review: Breeze Airways A220-300 Ascent (First Class) GSP-LAX
Hotel Review: Jamaica Bay Inn Marina Del Rey
Lounge Review: LAX American Express Centurion Lounge
Flight Review: Breeze Airways A220-300 Extra Leg Room LAX-GSP