Trip Reports - Premium cabin run on DL/AM: BOS-ATL-SAN-SJD-MEX-LAX-BOS

Pre-flight: I got on the DL business class error fare BOS-MEX, which one could route through the west coast. Total cost for this trip was $485 all in ^ . The statistics for this trip were not bad at all, especially for a premium cabin out of BOS: 8.5 k BIS, 12.7 k EQM, 21k RDM. I selected the Memorial Day weekend for this run, which turned out to be a bad choice, since all hotels in SAN were pretty much sold out. I tried to plan this run without a hotel stay, but it was not possible. I finally settled for the Hampton Inn Downtown, after reading good reviews about this hotel. This is the first time I am booking a Hampton, we will see how it goes.
The day before departure I am printing my boarding passes for BOS-ATL-SAN and decided to give the defective Hilton e-checkin another chance (my last stay in NYC it offered me low floor smoking rooms and my preferences are: high floor, away from elevator, non-smoking). I was delighted to see a range of rooms offered for e-checkin and at the bottom of the list a couple of ‘upgrades’, one of them “king suite” :D . Guess what I selected :D , we will see how that goes upon arriving at the hotel, my feeling was ‘trouble’ :rolleyes: .

BOS-ATL: I am on the 7am flight and Cambridge is not far away from Logan airport, so I decided to get up at 5 am and skipping breakfast. My subway ride to the airport takes longer than usual (the MBTA in Boston is soooo defective :td: ) and I get to Terminal A at 6.25 am, which is per se no problem, since I am not checking any luggage. I did expect some crowds at the security lines, but what I see is beyond my expectation (Memorial Day). Fortunately there are two separate F-class/PE lines, but they started to put other pax with a 7am flight on those lines as well :mad: . To make a longer than usual wait short, I am at the gate at 6.42. Almost like a miracle, the flight is departing on time (I guess other pax did anticipate the long lines and came early) :rolleyes: .
I am in 2A on this 757-300, since seatguru did not recommend the bulkhead seats. The flight is absolutely packed in Y and F. The flight has a scheduled flying time of 2.45h and in reality 2.05h and I was fully expecting to get a breakfast on this flight. I don’t know what DL is thinking, there is no food service in F on this flight :mad: , other than some pretzels and chips. Not only is there no real food, but the FAs are not doing a good job either refilling the drinks. The coffee is undrinkable (if I can see to the bottom of the cup, there is something wrong :td: ) and everything is served on plastic. I am pretty disappointed with this flight and DL; I do most of my domestic flying on NW (upgrades ;) ) and they are light years ahead of DL. We arrive in ATL 20 minutes ahead of schedule and I am not very pleased to find out that we are arriving at T2 and my next flight will depart from A24 :mad: . After a long walk over to Terminal A, I decide to check out the CRC, since I have never been to ATL before (as a matter of fact, this was my first domestic flight on DL). I anticipated some problems, since my international flight was not until tomorrow, but I was counting on my business class ticket. In fact, it was no problem at all, they scanned my boarding pass and I was in. The club was packed with families and kids and I decided to leave after two classes of coke and some salty snacks (that’s all they have anyway). I get to the gate early and meet Ms Everywhere, who is on her way to a SAN DO. For some reason I missed this dinner on community, but I had already made a commitment to meet family tonight anyway.

ATL-SAN: I am again in 2A, this time on a 767 and again F and Y are fully booked. The flight is taking off on time and it looks like we are going to have a smooth ride over to SAN, just over 4h flying time. The service starts much better with a hot towel and a fast lunch service ^ . The food was pretty good, some mushroom ravioli with chicken, a salad, and a chocolate cake. The ravioli were actually excellent, too bad DL is using plastic stuff instead of real china and glass. The only disappointment was the drink service. I asked for a glass of white wine and got a plastic cup, which was actually less than half full. It was so pathetic that he lady sitting next to me made a comment about this ridiculous piece of service. As a matter of fact, when I asked for a refill, I got another half cup of wine and this time I complained. The FA told me that this was the rest of the bottle and they were going to change to type of wine. Sounded fair enough to me, but for the entire remaining 2.5h of the flight, there was NO service :mad: ! They made an announcement about 1h before arrival that there would be another snack/drink service in coach … but nothing in F-class. Some pax actually went up front to demand more drinks, or used the call button. I was seriously considering writing to DL regarding this flight; outrageous is the only thing which comes to mind. Definitely the last time I am flying domestic DL!
The audio system was also not working, a miserable flight!

The flight got into SAN on time and I decided to walk downtown (what was I thinking; I remembered it to be a lot shorter). At the hotel (12.30), I am told that the room is not ready yet and that there would be no upgrade at all :mad: , just a plain standard room. The check-in clerk told me that he estimates a room to be ready at 2 pm :td: . Therefore I am heading towards the city, to Horton plaza, and around gas lamp quarter. After a quick lunch I am heading back to the hotel and I am told that there is still no room ready and that check-in would be 4 pm :mad: :mad: :mad: . At this point I actually asked to speak to the manager, which surprisingly enough took one more reminder and a total of 20 minutes for him to show up. I explained to him that I consider it ‘bad business practice’ to give an e-checkin upgrade and then not honoring it; I also explained the general room situation to him (I have never experienced that NO room was ready at 2.30 pm (for a HH Gold); there were quite a number of angry guests in the lobby). Much in contrast to the check-in clerk, the manager was very understanding and assured me that I could get a room. Well, there was really no room! At this point I had to leave, since I wanted to take the train out to Solano Beach to meet some family for afternoon tea and dinner.
At my return to the hotel, the room key to my suite was ready :D . I did not know that Hamptons have suites at all and the room was nothing special, but certainly much better than a regular room :) ! The bed was brand new and I had a good nights sleep.

SAN-SJD-MEX: The AM flight from SAN to MEX stops in SJD and is therefore primarily used by beach holiday pax. The lines at check-in are long, but nobody is waiting in the clase premier line, so I am at the counter in no time. The lady is a little confused with my itinerary and I am also asking her to print all 3 boarding passes for me :D . On top of this I don’t have a US passport, which kind of overwhelms her and she needs to consult her supervisor. I started to worry :rolleyes: , but a few minutes later I have all three boarding passes in my hand :) . I am heading over to the boarding area, searching for a lounge I could use … nothing. Oh well, only 20 minutes until boarding anyway.
Boarding goes smoothly and at the first glance it looks like business would be pretty much empty (2 other pax). Then suddenly just before the boarding door closes, a bunch of pax come in and take the remaining seats. No way they were Elites or anything like that, a family with 2 kids and a couple of youngsters. What kind of upgrade policy does AM have :confused: ??? Anyway, back to the flight. It is a 737-700 and everything looks brand new. I kind of like the new leather seats, but the additional back-support thing is not that comfortable, or I simply don’t understand, how to operate it :rolleyes: . Shortly after takeoff the 2 FAs up front start to have breakfast, which I found very irritating. I have seen FAs have breakfast/lunch/dinner AFTER serving the meal for the cabin, but before? Anyway, there will be breakfast! The weather is gorgeous and I enjoy the view out of the window (I am a window person, not only for red-eye flights). Service on the flight was nothing special, but much better than anything DL was offering the day before. Breakfast was croissants, fresh fruits, muesli, and yoghurt.
The flight down to SJD was 1:45, but it felt like much longer, which had nothing to do with the crew or the plane, but with the other pax. One of the kids (of the upgraded family) is crying the entire time (yes, I know, I like kids as well, but not in business class if they cry through the entire flight). I am wondering more and more to why AM upgraded those pax, looked completely random to me; anyway, the flight was fully packed and maybe there were no Elites?
In SJD everybody had to get off the plane to go through immigration, which was pretty painless ^ , especially for the pax going back on the same plane to MEX. I told the immigration officer that I would only transit in MEX, which was no problem at all. After 15 minutes we were back on the plane. Maybe 10-15% of the pax were doing the entire trip SAN-SJD-MEX and I was hoping for a lighter load for the second leg….. but this did not happen. The flight was again full and this time the upgraded pax were a little more decent, at least I cannot recall any major incidences.
The flight across to MEX was another 1.45 h and due to the time difference, it was already lunch time. I attribute it to the short flight, it was only a cold lunch, but it was delicious; some sort of marinated turkey with a sweet/sour slightly spice sauce, some salad, bread, and a piece of cake. The ride was very smooth and only the decent into MEX was a little rough. After landing in MEX I was pleased to discover that there was no need to go through customs and I could head straight to the departure lounge. The only Skyteam lounge I could find was the AM Clase Premier lounge, which is close the 19 gates. I was a little reluctant at first, but finally I gave into using this one. Actually, it was pretty nice, nothing special, but better than most US lounges. There was varying food spread from smoked almonds to filled croissants and a useful bar area. A couple of (slow) computers were also available as well as wireless, so I could check on FT and Email. The 3h in MEX went by quickly and I headed over to the gate way too early.

MEX-LAX: It didn’t look like this would be a full flight at the gate, only a few pax were waiting, but it was a small plane as well, a MD-87. They started boarding relatively late and a mid-age couple was apparently very keen to get on board first, they were waiting at the boarding area all the time. I was watching a custom agent at the other gate searching intensively through on board luggage and then coming over to our gate….. so I decided not to go through first. This turned out to be a good decision, since sure enough the couple was stopped and they had to unpack their entire extensive board luggage :D . Well, I was on board first and again, it looked like a light load in business class.
Unfortunately, the strange upgrade policy was striking again and last but not least a couple of youngsters fill the remaining C-class seats :mad: . I don’t want to comment on their manners, but it was striking that the lead FA had to ask them several times to take their feet of the bulkhead. They definitely did not pay for C-class and I cannot imagine they are Elites; consistent with my other AM experience, very strange!
At least they were quiet and not disturbing other pax, which for me is the most important thing, but I am still wondering how AM does their upgrades. If anyone knows anything, please post it!
The plane was pretty old and the seats were nothing compared to the 737-700 outbound flight. The good news came when the FA handed out dinner menus after the start; real food and nice drinks.


Appetizer:

Lettuce salad served with fried plantain and julienne of tri-color bell peppers
Assortment of bread

Main course:

Fillet of beef enhanced with a red wine sauce,
Offered with sautéed peas and carrots,
Accompanied with wild rice

Or

Cannelloni filled with ricotta cheese and spinach
Served with Mornay sauce and tomato concasse
Topped with grated Parmesan cheese

Dessert

Seasonal fruit tartlet

Coffee etc…..

Drinks:

All I can remember was a bottle of Laurent-Perrier ^ which was full in MEX and empty in LAX :rolleyes: . I like this Champagne and I was very pleased they had it on board :D :rolleyes: .

The service was good but not outstanding, overall a smooth ride.

In LAX we had a long taxi to the terminal, it almost felt like the Polderbaan in AMS. I was starting to get worried about my red-eye connection, since I had to go through immigration :rolleyes: .
Immigration unfortunately took quite a while, since they were still ‘working’ on a previous flight from South America. Anyway, there was no problem at all, no questions about my trip to MEX. I guess it pays to have a high-end visa from time to time. Of course I was stopped at customs; I mean I would stop someone with just a backpack coming from MEX :D . After thoroughly explaining the concept of a MR and showing my itinerary, the officer let me go without further questions, probably thinking I am completely crazy :o .

LAX-BOS

After an easy sprint through the F-class security line I had a couple of minutes to check out the CRC before my flight was boarding. I showed the ladies at the front desk my boarding pass and they didn’t like it at all. ‘They should have given you an invitation’ … blablabla. I would usually fight this through but I was too tired and pulled out my FB Plat card and told them that should be enough. They were still unsure how to put this through at which point I told them I would just get a quick drink and would leave in 10 minutes anyway. I let them keep my card and BP and went over to the lounge area to have a glass of ice tea and some fruits. I must say the LAX CRC was much nicer than the other ones I had seen so far, quite pleasant actually, but maybe it was just empty.
After a quick refreshment I went back to the front desk, collected my card and BP and went to the gate, where they already started to board the flight. The load was extremely light, maybe 50 pax in Y and 4 pax in F (on a 757-200). I was in 2A but it was inconsequential, since the plane was so empty.
Much in contrast to the other two DL flights, the service was excellent ^ . Immediate drink service, head phones available. The FA came around before departure to ask everyone whether they wanted dinner or not and if they needed anything :) . I forgot what they had for dinner, I was still full from the AM meal and I told her that I was trying to go to sleep pretty soon.
I can usually snooze on red-eye flights, but not on this one. It was a rough flight with lots of turbulences, so it was a little unpleasant :( . When I heard that we would be starting our final descend into BOS, I removed my eye mask and started to pack my stuff. The FA came immediately and brought me some juice, coffee, and an energy bar ^ . Very nice service, I was impressed. We landed 20 minutes ahead of schedule and without any checked luggage I was out of the terminal and on the T in no time.
Gratifyingly, a day later all the miles were correctly credited to my account; at the end of May with more than 40k EQM on the account, looks like re-qualification for Plat will be easy; if not, there are always more MR opportunities out of BOS later in the year.

I wanted to take the train out to Solano Beach to meet some family for afternoon tea and dinner.

You were so close! That's my local train station. It used to have a great Niki de St Phalle sculpture on the corner, one of her Nanas. (She lived in La Jolla, and there are a number of her sculptures on the UCSD campus.)

But what I want to know is where you go for afternoon tea in Solana Beach.

You were so close! That's my local train station. It used to have a great Niki de St Phalle sculpture on the corner, one of her Nanas. (She lived in La Jolla, and there are a number of her sculptures on the UCSD campus.)

But what I want to know is where you go for afternoon tea in Solana Beach.

I have been to Solana Beach twice before, it is a nice town. My wife's aunt&uncle have a house there (and they will make a fortune when they sell it), so we actually did not go out. Last time we went to Del Mar for dinner.

trip report is finally complete

nice trip report ^ ^

I guess it pays to have a high-end visa from time to time.

Great report, but I don't understand the above comment...

Great report, but I don't understand the above comment...

cfischer has a working visa for the US - he's not a US citizen. and he doesn't do this kind of a run on the visa waiver programme.

Great report, but I don't understand the above comment...

there are many different types of visa for the US, depending on what visa you have they give you more or less trouble @ immigration. Chrissxb, this is not just a plain work-visa ;) Anyway, never seen so nice immigration before :D