Back to the Bunny
10am in Chicago. Nothing like it. Except the London early morning arrival had beat us in, and as a result, the immigration queue was solid with a cabin full of 767 and 777 passengers.
Working through the switchbacks, it was nearly an hour till I was seen to. And of course, I was honest and stated why I was in the USA (Mileage running), much to the incredulous look of the immigration agents face.
A bit of deep questioning and I was finally stamped through, where the luggage belt had long since spinning, and exited the customs point, dumped my rechecked bag (with an indication which gate I should head too) and I exited the secure area.
After proceeding upstairs and taking the fun of the ATS, I arrived at T1, and proceeded through security - which for a Saturday was very quiet. As the flight was leaving from C Concourse, it means heading to United's Brainwashing tunnel, and then off to the wood panelled hell of the C17 concourse.
United Red Carpet Club C17
I've written about this lounge ad-infinitum and how it's a wood panelled hell. And of course, its distinct lack of snacks, food and anything of value.
However, there have been some improvement - little things like the trail mix dispensers are improvement, but compared to the FRA Tower lounge or even the Star Alliance Lounge at LHR, it is lacking. But hey, its a seat in a lounge.
I wandered over to the gate, to find the queue from hell. A quick chat to the agent indicated that the plane was being held by ATC for storm threats and tornado watch. I quickly added myself to the list if needed, and wandered back to the lounge, where I was re-greeted and I wandered to the bar - finding a poor leftover drink chit on the way which the occupant had long gone.
Obviously, it was liberated and converted into a vodka and cola. At the bar the was a person who was moaning about the quality of the cola. Both the bartender and I couldn't tell the difference, and after the other person had disappeared, an "accidental" top up of vodka occurred
.
After that was down, I wandered back to the gate to find most of the plane had boarded, and my seat wasn't needed. I was beeped and boarded.
United Airlines 554, Chicago O'Hare International to Atlanta Hartsfield–Jackson International
Airbus A319-100, Seat 20F, Channel 9 On 
.
606 miles flown, 607 miles earned
The pictures
Of course boarding a plane which is almost boarded means no overhead luggage space. This didn't represent a problem thankfully as the rucksack is small enough to slide under the seat in front whilst not causing too many foot-space issues.
The plane was further delayed, as ATC were holding us till the last possible minute, with the doors finally closed an hour and 10 minutes late.
Take off was finally authorised and after a long taxi to the international terminal, the plane turned and off we went.
I said it was pea soup there...
Of course, with the peasoup cloud we were taking off into, it was a bumpy ride until we reached cruising altitude.
Climbing out
Entertainment begun, and for the first time in ages, I actually witnessed a snackbox run, with a few takers. Of course, knowing the plastic contained in these, I just skipped and proceed to the the drinks run.
Of course - its a diet coke. nothing changes.
The flight bumped along its merry way, until a clear-down occurred. The flight attendants also decided due to the amount of bumps, they would be doing the "Honour system" used to make sure seats were back up and seat-belts fastened.
Down below... it looks darn ugly...
Which from the looks of the 3 rows in front and the couple behind, not many people were paying attention to.
Still, the plane turned and turned, making it's final approach into ATL, where we landed, then taxied all the way back to the main terminal, docking at T14.
I thanked the crew and left the plane, and wandered through the expanse of ATL airport to the back end of luggage delivery - of course the United belt was close enough near the main exit. That didn't help much as luggage delivery was at a snails pace
Welcome to ATL.
After about 10 items of luggage spat out, my second little rucksack was spat out, and I wandered over to the MARTA station and made my way downtown.
Overall: Again, it's nearly impossible to stuff up a short segment, and it was a surprise to see a snackbox run being done. Now if ATL would kindly sort out baggage delivery speeds, we'd all be a lot happier...