TRI-ATL-LGA on Delta 28 May 2009

DL 5644 TRI-ATL 12:41 pm – 1:43 pm CRJ-200 Seat 8B Exit Aisle
DL 1788 ATL-LGA 4:40 pm – 7:09 pm 757-200 Seat 5A Window

I arrived at TRI about an hour before my flight.  As I was printing my boarding passes at the kiosk, I noticed my first flight said, “delayed.” So after completing check-in, I went to an agent to inquire about the delay.  He looked at the computer screen, chuckled, and said, “Two minutes.” Too funny!

I proceeded quickly through security and spent about 20 minutes in the TRI Business Center handling some work for a travel client.  The inbound flight arrived and we boarded on time.  We pushed back early, at 12:35 pm.  However, we took about a 15-minute ATC hold in TRI and finally took off at 12:52 pm, 12 minutes past scheduled departure.  The plane was maybe half full and I had no seatmate, so I was able to spread out and enjoy the short flight.  We landed at 1:36 pm, seven minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival.

We deplaned and I grabbed a quick lunch and ate it on my way to the Delta Sky Club near B10.  I spent the next two and a half hours in the club enjoying a couple of Bloody Marys and the complimentary Wi-Fi.   During my wait, I discovered that I had a chance at an upgrade at the gate, and that my flight was delayed by 30 minutes.  However, the time passed very quickly.   I made my way to the gate, which had changed from B2 to B21, so I had quite a walk.  When I arrived at the gate, I looked up at the monitor and saw my elite complimentary upgrade had cleared, seat 5A window.  I am not a window person, because I usually have to get up during the flight, but my seatmate was a young lady who understood my possible need!  And I actually enjoyed looking out the window.

When I arrived my seat, there were the requisite pillow, blanket, mini bottle of Dasani, and ear buds.  We were also served a full pre-departure beverage service and I had white wine.  We pushed back at 5:03 pm, but took an ATC hold in ATL and did not take off until 5:34 pm, 56 minutes past scheduled departure.  In-flight services included Delta TV short programming, complimentary beverages, and a cold dinner plate consisting of a Greek pasta/chicken kabob salad made with feta cheese crumbles, tomatoes, olive bits, and romaine lettuce;  a fresh fruit plate with two slices of orange, a slice of pineapple, and a strawberry; pre-packaged breadsticks; and a pre-packaged molasses sugar cookie.  The only minor complaints I had were the cookie was extremely sweet, so much so that I only ate half, and there was something strange on the chicken kabob part of my salad.  I bit it and it was sweet and had seeds.  Later I suspected it was perhaps a fig, but I was not sure.  At any rate, it was not to my liking.

We made great time in the air, narrowly avoiding another ATC hold, and landed at LGA at 7:21 pm, only 12 minutes past scheduled arrival.

Delta has proved itself to me time and time again this year that they are making an effort towards greater consistency and better on-board service.

GSO-CLT-LAS on US Airways 18 May 2009 by Jim Johnston

US 2231 GSO-CLT CRJ- 700 Seat 2A

I was able to get a confirmed seat 90 min before departure at GSO ticket counter, changing from the 6P E170 departure I was originally booked upon. (Once again I am denied flying on a 170.) I was extremely disappointed to see that they replaced the free internet at GSO with the pay Boingo service. I could also get the T-Mobile signal from the club. No matter, I wasn’t paying for Internet, I could wait until I got to CLT.

Flight was 90+% full. I was told at the counter the 2PM went out full. We departed 2 minutes early. Quick up and down. No drink service. We landed 20 minutes early on 18R and then ended up in the penalty box outside E. After a short 10 minute wait, our gate, E18 opened up. We ended up only being 4 minutes early. My rollerboard was the first to come off.

US 390 CLT-LAS A321 Seat 2C US WEST service

This was my first “real” service with the West side. I’ve taken them on short hops out of PHX to SNA and LAS, but never done them long haul in F.

This was a brand new A321, it even had the new plane smell. The F seat backs had the adjustable headrests.

We boarded on time with 174 on board, which is almost full. There was no pre-departure beverage service.

The captain told us the winds which slowed them down inbound from LAS were going to give us a fast flight west, 3:56 en route, giving us a good 30 minutes early to the gate. We left six minutes late after a minor mechanical (never told exactly what), and were #1 for departure on 18C at 8:12P.

Once over 10,000 feet, the A flight attendant, Maria, served the drinks. Since this was West service, drinks were pre-made in plastic cups. No one got cans of mixers or beverages. My premixed tomato and vodka came with a green lime. It actually was good, even though I prefer to mix it myself. (Guess it’s all those years of flying East.)

After drinks, Maria started the dinner service. Choices were grilled chicken with mashed potatoes or roast pork tenderloin with fingerling potatoes and roasted peppers. I chose the pork. The salad came with ranch dressing.  Upon reading the ingredients, I discovered it had MSG. So I asked Maria for some lemons/limes to use instead. She brought me a cup with four wedges.  That worked very well as a salad dressing. All in all, the pork was too dry and lacked flavor (even when I dipped it in the Port Wine sauce). My seatmate got the chicken. He said it was actually good. It didn’t look dried out.

After taking the trays, Maria came around with a lemon tart for dessert. I passed, but took a coffee with Baileys and asked if she had any Biscoffs in the snack basket. She brought me two packs and later a third. Biscoffs with coffee/Baileys hit the spot!! That would hold me over until I got to have a real dinner in LAS. All in all, her service was very good, making up for some of the shortcomings.

I wrote this report on board and I was very disappointed in the lack of space. I did like the new tables on this 321. I’m used to having to tuck my big fat gut in to move the table down.  These came out and I still had plenty of room. However, my laptop was at about a 75-degree angle after 1C reclined his seat the whole way back–still usable, but not the most comfortable computing position. At least I could still type well. Another inch or two of pitch would have gone a long long way.

Maria came around about 90 minutes before arrival with the snack basket and drink requests. I had a couple of cups of seltzer to get some water into my system.

We arrived at the gate 22 minutes early, but still had to wait for a gate agent to bring the gate to the aircraft, so net of maybe 10 minutes early.

All in all, I like this description of US F service:  faux class. It gives all the appearance of real F service, but under-delivers on quality. The plastic and styrofoam cups are getting old and still as tacky as ever. I  don’t miss the IFE, as I have my MP3 player, which seems to only get used when I fly. So it’s good to hear the “old music” I like.

LGA-ATL-TRI on Delta 10 May 2009

DL 427 LGA-ATL 1255A-327P 757-200 4B First Class
DL 5086 ATL-TRI 415P-519P CRJ-200 Seat 8B exit changed to DL 5762 ATL-TRI 5:18P-6:45P Saab 340 Seat 6C Exit

This was another relatively uneventful trip on Delta.  I’ve been really impressed with Delta’s consistency and upgraded service in first class.

We departed the gate on time at LGA, but took an ATC delay departing LGA into ATL.  We took off around 1:30 pm. Service in first class consisted of a pre-departure beverage, hot towels before the meal, and a meal choice of a turkey sandwich or a chef’s salad.  I selected the salad and it was accompanied by a bowl of fresh fruit, breadsticks, and a brownie.  I skipped the brownie.  This was an older 752 with overhead IFE, so I did not watch any of the television-like programming.  Although we departed later than expected, we still arrived on time.

I deplaned and hurried to my connection.  We boarded, then the crew discovered a maintenance issue.  We sat on the plane at the gate about 45 minutes before they allowed us to deplane.  At that point, I figured I needed a backup plan just in case the flight canceled, so I proceeded to the nearest Delta Sky Club for assistance.  The club agent didn’t just back me up, but immediately put me on the next flight to TRI in seat 2A, which was listed as on time.  I hurried to that gate and discovered that the aircraft was a Northwest/Mesaba Saab 340 operating as a Delta Connection flight, my least favorite aircraft of any I have flown.  We boarded and when my boarding pass was scanned, I had been reassigned an exit row seat, which was a pleasant surprise.  Once we were aboard, I noticed that this Saab seemed to be in much better condition and more comfortable than the two previous Saabs I had flown, so I was slightly relieved.  We took off a few minutes past scheduled departure around 5:30 pm and the flight was one hour en route.  The flight attendant provided a full beverage service with Pepsi beverages as per Northwest’s contract, but Delta snacks, peanuts or Biscoffs.  The plastic drink cups were also Delta/Coca-Cola branded.  The flight turned out to be much better than I expected and we landed about 15 minutes early, around 6:30 pm and earlier than my original flight.

Virgin America 912 SFO-LAS 7 May 2009 by J. Augusta

I decided to book a Virgin America to give them a shot on this short flight from SFO-LAS. The times paired up well with my Virgin Atlantic flight, and the prices were cheap. I booked in First Class to get the true “experience.” Check in was a breeze and so was security. I hung out at the Northwest WorldClub (or whatever it’s called now) for awhile before heading to the gate. I was quite exhausted at this point, a full 19 hours into my day! Boarding was called about 30 minutes before departure. Upon boarding, I was impressed with the looks of this plane–purple lighting. It was very trendy looking! I took my seat in the 1st row which is separated by a colored plastic, semi see-through bulkhead. No pre-departure drinks were offered but we were given bottles of water. Boarding took the full 30 minutes as the flight was quite full. After a quick taxi we were in the air and the AVOD was turned on. (Wifi is also available, but I didn’t use it.) The seats were about the same as the Delta International 757 seats- recliner style with several angles and settings available. I reclined my seat back and popped out the TV monitor to watch some live satellite TV (which worked). Drinks and a snack box (yes for a 1hr flight!) were served. I had to try the absinthe which they serve with Sprite, just to say I did! I must say it’s an acquired taste and I didn’t come close to finishing my mini-bottle. We were all laughing about how it’s not the smartest thing to serve in the air, even if this version is “only” 100 proof! The snack box contained three small tapas type items, a couscous salad, a tomato/mozzarella salad, and something else that I don’t remember. It wasn’t the best but is a nice touch for such a short flight and beats the Continental bag of peanuts. Before I knew it, we were ready to land. VX uses the B gates now so it was a small hike to baggage claim. Bags were off in short order and I shortly was on my way to the hotel. Overall this was a great experience for a short flight, I’d like to give them a shot on a transcon to see how their service really holds up.

TRI-ATL-LGA on Delta 8 May 2009

DL 5331 TRI-ATL 5:45PM-6:49PM CRJ Seat 8B Exit
DL 1794 ATL-LGA 7:40PM-10:06PM 757-200 ETOPS Seat 3B BusinessElite

I am so lucky to fly from TRI!  There is almost always no line, no waiting for either check in or security!  I completed both quickly, enjoyed a few minutes in the TRI Business Center, then boarded.  Delta Medallions boarded first, then by zone.  We pushed back early, but took a 30-minute ATC hold.  We finally departed at 6:10 pm, 25 minutes past scheduled departure.  There was no service en route, but the flight was a quick 41 minutes, and we landed only two minutes past our original arrival time.

I made my way from C44 to E34 and my flight to ATL was delayed about 15 minutes.  When we boarded, the gate agent scanned my boarding pass and a new seat assignment, 3B, popped out.  When I got to the plane, I realized there had been an equipment change to a 757-2oo ETOPS, which has a smaller first class section, actually an international BusinessElite section, with personal IFE in the armrests, individual reading lights, and nearly lie-flat seats with leg and foot rests!  I was psyched as this was my first time on one of these birds!  And my seatmate was a Delta flight attendant who primarily works 767 international flights, so he was a wealth of knowledge.  We had  a great time chatting at the beginning and end of the flight.  During the flight, we both used our IFE.  He watched a movie, while I watched old episodes “Friends” and “Frasier.”

In-flight service was dinner:  a pasta chicken salad with grated cheese, tomato, and olives; fresh fruit (grapes and slices of peach, pineapple, and apple), breadsticks, and a caramel chocolate brownie.  I also enjoyed a few of the Rande Gerber Signature margaritas.

We took off at 8:00 pm and landed a few minutes early at 9:58 pm.  What a great ride and flight.  The BusinessElite seats were very comfortable, the service was excellent, and the company of my flight attendant friend was very nice!

PHL-ATL-TRI on Delta 6 May 2009

DL 1023 PHL-ATL 601PM – 840PM Seat 36D MD-88 with Gogo Inflight Internet
DL 5154 ATL-TRI 1050PM -  1155PM Seat 6B Exit CRJ-200

I arrived PHL about four hours before my flight and went to the kiosk to print my boarding passes and to check on an earlier departure, but it did not offer up any earlier options.  So I proceeded through security, grabbed lunch, and worked in the Delta Sky Club until it closed at 7:00 pm.  The snack choices were the usual pretzel mix, Biscoffs, and later cheese, crackers, hummus, and olives.

The reason I ended up being in the club until 7:00 pm was because my flight delayed.  The inbound plane finally arrived around 7:15 pm.  After the passengers deplaned, the captain came out to the podium, picked up the microphone, and spoke to us, explaining the reason for the inbound delay and apologizing.  Shortly thereafter, we boarded.  I had switched my seat in the club to an empty row in the back of the plane so I could spread out.  We ended up with only 60 passengers on board total, so nearly everyone was able to spread out.

We departed the gate around 7:39 pm, but shortly after, the captain came on the PA system to announce why we were not taking off and that we were around 20th in line for takeoff.  We finally took off at 8:30 pm.   The flight itself was very peaceful and uneventful.  The flight attendants provided the standard snack and beverage service.  There was Gogo Inflight Internet aboard this flight and I tried to use it, but I kept getting “cannot connect to the server” error message.  So instead, I sat back and tried to doze.  The captain kept us informed the entire trip about our location and our estimated time of arrival.  He also explained to those who had connections who makes the decisions to hold flights for passengers, which is operations.  He did so, so that customers would not blame gate agents if their flights had already departed.

We arrived at ATL around 10:15 pm and were at the gate about 10 minutes later.   As we deplaned, the captain was there near the podium and overhead monitor helping passengers find their connections!  I have to say that this pilot went well above and beyond his duties to assist customers and keep them informed.  Kudos to him!

I had received a flight alert that my connecting flight was delayed until 11:26 pm, but I stopped at the monitor and saw it said 11:10 pm, so I proceeded from concourse A to concourse D, with only a restroom stop.  When I reached my gate, I found out that the flight was not really delayed at all and I was one of the last to board!  We pushed back at 10:53 pm and took off around 11:15 pm.  There was no inflight service offered.  We arrived TRI at 11:54 pm, one minute early.  I found it truly amazing that my first flight was two and a half hours late, yet I still made my connection and made it home as scheduled!

TRI-ATL-PHL on Delta 5 May 2009

DL 5326 TRI-ATL 830AM – 948AM Seat 1B CRJ-200
DL 1012 ATL-PHL 1232PM -  235PM Seat 25C Exit MD-88 with Gogo Inflight Internet

Today could have possibly gone differently, but the DL agents at TRI were proactive!  I arrived at TRI and started to check in at the kiosk, when an agent asked me to approach her and told me that she was putting me on a delayed 8:30 am flight to ATL because of low ceilings/weather delays.  She was afraid the 9:50 am would also delay and I might misconnect.  So I rushed through security, hit the restroom, and boarded.  She had assigned me 1B and I had no seatmate, so I was pleased.  We departed the gate at 9:25 am, one hour late, but 20 minutes earlier than my original flight.  The flight attendant was excellent.  Although the flight was scheduled to be 37 minutes en route, she offered a full beverage and snack service.  She was the kind of flight attendant that makes the others look badly!  We arrived ATL about 45 minutes later, around 10:10 am.  And I found out later that my original flight did leave on time and arrived about 20 minutes after my new flight, but I still appreciated the TRI agents proactively trying to prevent misconnects.

I had some extra time to spend in the Delta Sky Club near B10.  That is the small club, but it was a light crowd in the late morning.  I checked delta.com and saw my upgrade changes were absolutely nil.  I ended up being something like number six of 17 with no seats remaining!  I relaxed and ate pretzel mix and had a couple of Bloody Marys.

Boarding began promptly at gate B11, with first class and zone 1, then zone 2, etc.  Although first class was full, coach had 42 empty seats, including the middle seat in my row, so the guy in seat A and I in seat C were able to spread out, which was nice.  And the MD-88 exit row legroom was very good.

We pushed back on time and took off around 1:00 pm for a flight time of approximately 1 hour 25 minutes.  We had a full beverage and snack service in flight, but I had also purchased a sandwich before boarding, because I knew I’d be in coach.

The highlight of my trip today was that I finally got to try out the Gogo Inflight Internet service on my new iPod Touch for $7.95.  It took the iPod a few minutes to connect, but once the connection was made, all I had to do was open the Safari, log into the Gogo account I had set up in advance, and I was off!  I was able to send and receive e-mail, as well as surf the Internet and make posts to a frequent flier forum, Facebook, and Twitter.  Having the Internet made my flight go by so quickly and I felt like I’d accomplished something, too.  I will be a Gogo customer again every time it is offered.

We landed on time around 2:30 pm, but we did have to wait about 5-10 minutes for our gate, A13.

Upon deplaning, I passed through security, to zone 2 ground transportation to catch my shuttle to Dollar for my rental car to New Jersey.  I was nervous at first, because I am not confortable driving in areas with which I am not familiar, but the drive to Toms River was quite pleasant and I had no trouble getting there with Gigi, my Garmin nüvi®.  Once I exited the Philadelphia metro area, the 45-50 minute drive on Route 70 East was very rural and relaxing, until the Toms River area, where I finished my drive in on Route 37 East.