DL 5130 TRI-ATL 4:25 pm – 5:31 pm 8B Exit
I arrived at TRI early to no line and no waiting for either check in or security. It’s at these times that I love a small airport! I went to the TRI Business Center to make a couple of phone calls. For some reason, I was unable to get online with TRI’s free Wi-Fi, so I had to settle for BlackBerry only access.
We boarded early and quickly and we pushed back very early at 4:12 pm. I had no seatmate! We departed five minutes early at 4:20 pm and arrived at 4:56 pm, about 35 minutes before published arrival. There was no in-flight service “due to the short duration,” but the flight attendant did pass through the cabin with cups of ice water.
Interim at the Delta SkyClub (formerly the Crown Room Club)
I met John at the B25 SkyClub location since our flight was scheduled to depart from B26. We found a place with power outlets and enjoyed about an hour and a half of relaxation. I had two of my own and half of John’s Atlanta Sweetwater microbrew beer. Snacks included crackers, individually packaged white cheddar cheese, hummus in a baby food jar (LOL), olives, and Biscoffs. I love their snacks, but they really need some plastic knives, forks, sporks, or something! Eating olives with my fingers and dipping crackers into a jar seems so gauche, n’est-ce pas?
DL 47 ATL-SFO 7:10 pm – 9:39 pm 4C and 4D First Class 757-200 Transcontinental Configuration
While I was in the club, I realized that I left my cash at home and I was going to hit an ATM, but John said he had enough cash with him, so we went directly to the gate. When we arrived at the gate, the flight was already boarding. I gave Breezeway boarding a whirl and it worked, the gate agent scanned my boarding pass ahead of most of the line, but John decided to wait in the long line. When we got on board, he asked me if I felt rude using Breezeway boarding and I said no, I earned it!
When we arrived at our seats, we had a mini bottle of Dasani, a pillow, and blanket. We received a full departure beverage service. I had Amstel Light and John had Heineken.
We pushed back on time at 7:10 pm and were airborne by 7:28 pm. The pilot announced our flight would be four hours 51 minutes en route with an early arrival.
Shortly after the bell rang signaling we were above 10,000 feet, a flight attendant came around and took our dinner order. Our choices were penne pasta with tomato sauce or short ribs and mashed potatoes. I had posted a thread on FlyerTalk a couple of days ago asking about current meals and someone had recommended the ribs, so we both selected that. After the dinner order, another flight attendant came with hot towel service and when I say hot, I mean those towels were HOT. We almost dropped them they were so hot. After the hot towel service, a flight attendant came and took our drink orders and we both opted for Amstel Light this time.
Dinner arrived very soon after the drink order and I believe we selected the best option. The meal consisted of about six ounces of rib meat with sauce/gravy, a side of mashed potatoes, a side of mixed yellow squash and zucchini, a roll, a salad with creamy Italian dressing, and chocolate mousse cake. I have to say that in my limited airplane meal experiences, this was the best airplane meal I have ever had. The rib meat was fall-off-the-bone tender and juicy and the side of sauce/gravy was delicious.
We did not want for drinks at all during the flight. The flight attendants were attentive and offered us refills about every 20 minutes or so. John and I sampled the white wine selection and neither of us liked it very much, so he went back to beer and I tasted a glass of red wine. I actually preferred the red to the white, which is rare for airplane wine.
For in-flight entertainment, I opted for DirectTV instead of a movie and I actually remembered my Bose headphones (I never bring them for short flights.) I watched CNN until 8:00 pm, and then switched to NBC where they were replaying the opening episode of “Celebrity Apprentice” from 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm ET. I have never seen an episode of this series. However, I don’t think I have laughed that hard in a long time. The challenge was baking and selling cupcakes on the streets of NYC for charity. The men raised $49,449 and the women raised $62,257 (courtesy of winning a $15,000 taste test.) The women’s team was comprised of celebrities like Joan Rivers (comedian), Melissa Rivers (always with Joan, TV host), Brandi Roderick (Playboy model), Annie Duke (poker champ), Khloe Kardashian (reality star), Claudia Jordan (model, “Deal or No Deal”), and T-Boz (from the musical group TLC.) The men’s team, consisting of celebrities such as Brian McKnight (R&B singer), Jesse James (from “Monster Truck”), Tom Green (comedian), Dennis Rodman (basketball player), Scott Hamilton (figure skater), Clint Black (country singer), Herschel Walker (football player), and Andrew Dice Clay (comedian), had me laughing the entire time. Andrew Dice Clay was by far the most egotistical, obnoxious, and funny character of the entire bunch, while Dennis Rodman was just plain arrogant. I never watch reality TV, but I might watch this again, because I have never seen anything so dysfunctional. However, Andrew Dice Clay was fired, so the next episode might not be as funny.
At 10:00 pm, I watched “Law and Order,” a very powerful episode about child slavery, and at 11:00 pm, I watched NBC NY local news. I took off my headphones after the news so my ears could “breathe.”
I was also able to write this trip report during the flight, because this bird has real 110v power ports, no adaptors required.
Despite a fierce headwind the first half of our flight, we arrived SFO 23 minutes early at 9:16 pm.
If assigning a grade, I would give this flight experience an A+. It exceeded my expectations.
