DL1656 30SEP 3 LASSLC 1040 1305 -738
After two days in Vegas we managed to time the shuttle to the airport perfectly. We were soon inside the aircraft but again had to wait on the taxiway due to bad weather in SLC. This continued en route where we did two 360-degree turns and then had a bumpy and fun landing. While taxing to our arrival gate I saw our departure gate to SNA. There was a B737 parked at it, strange as boarding was about to start and the flight was supposed to be a MD90.
Glad to see a decent operating system
When we reached the gate boarding was already under way and I saw a pilot trying to explain something to a gate agent but couldn't hear what it was about. Suddenly boarding was halted and everyone were asked back to the gate area. The aircraft change was announced and everyone were to receive new seats. I went online to try to make sure we could keep exit seating as we originally had but I could not change my seating via the webpage. This shortly got its explanation when open seating and general boarding was announced. No breezeway was available but we soon got on anyway and managed to snag exit seats. As I passed the podium I heard the gate agent tell the pilot "...so THAT was what you tried to warn me about!", it seems she was not the best of the bunch :-).
The flight wasn't very full and the delay ended up being about 25 minutes. Upon arrival we were out of the airport surprisingly fast and soon checked in to our hotel.
DL2893 01OCT 4 SNAMSP 0725 1307 -319 (operated by NW)
Upon checking in we learned that this flight was delayed to due ATC problems. Shortly after an announcement was made that there was a further delay due to poor weather in MSP. Using the NW check-in machine was a pleasure compared to the DL-one. Really too bad to see NW's superior IT systems succumb with the DL merger.
Although not ready for departure the plane boarded at 0745 since the gate was needed for a new flight. We pushed back at 0835 and sat waiting on the tarmac while the safety demo was conducted. I didn't learn much though since the curtain in front of my bulkhead seat was closed, blocking my view. Furthermore you couldn't hear the announcements very well since there was a loud background chime. Finally at 0935 we took off.
The flight was quicker than I imagined it would be and with the seat pretty comfortable I managed to sleep a little. Weather was pretty rough and thus we were placed in an holding pattern 20 minutes before arrival, with new arrival time estimated at 1445. Eventually we started our final descent and where hit by lightning! By 1505 we arrived at the gate with 25 minutes until our departure to IMT, a connection we didn't want to miss since there were no later flights. We ran to the train, rode it to the next terminal and continued running. Once at the gate the plane wasn't even boarding yet, we made it!
Ginger Ale - The #1 in-flight beverage
According to the gate agent there were many missed connections due to the weather. 28 passengers were booked but only 13 made it! Boarding soon began and we were looking forward to flying a small turboprop in bad weather, always exciting! The chairs were comfortable but the armrests so low that they were unusable. Having sat on the plane a few minutes the very nice GA came on the speakers and announced they needed to check some mechanical stuff and that everyone would have to deboard. We did so and at the gate agent our flight disappeared from the monitor. Had it been cancelled? A few minutes passed and then we got the explanation: we would be flying with the aircraft at the neighbouring gate instead. A short walk later and we were again boarding, this time 18 passengers as a few more had managed to get to the flight. Pushback was 1600, not very delayed considering what had happened.
We sat at the bulkhead seats and talked a lot to the flight attendant. Turns out she would be on our following flight the next morning as well, though she was not staying at the same hotel. Upon arrival at the small airport we managed to call the town's only (?) taxi and arrived at our hotel after a bit of a wait. We made the 25 minute walk down town, had a few beers and listened to some live music. Nice and unexpected in this small town. It was nice both flying with a smaller aircraft and staying in a smaller town, you get more contact with people that way.
De-icing system in use
Iron Mountain was an interesting change to the usual stopovers
We had pre-ordered the same taxi that drove us the night before. However it was a bit problematic as he already had a booking for our flight, thus we went 30 minutes earlier than necessary. The driver was funny (both he and the car looked like they had just come from a hunting session) and told us about _every_ customer he had had during the night.
The small airport was cosy in the morning. Security check was done by one of the TSA-guys shouting "All right folks, let's get started". There were many inexperienced travellers who didn't know how the check worked. Everything felt very cosy. Flying time to ESC was only 16 minutes but it felt much longer. I had expected it to be over in a jiff.
This is pretty much all of Iron Mountain airport
We sat on the ground for 20 minutes while more passengers got on the plane and then continued. For a while it was very bumpy and I noticed how secure a FA can make you feel. During the heavy bumps she calmly worked in the galley, giving reassuring smiles to the passengers. Even with all the flight I've done this helped calm me and I managed to get a little sleep.
For good and for worse, there is simply much more charm in flying a turbo-prop!
A sight now gone at DTW
We had a longer layover and decided to try our luck at a lounge. As in many American airports there were no signs showing directions to the lounges. We really did go to the wrong place two times before finally finding a lounge. There we weren't let in as we had no same day international flight and got the same message at the second lounge we tried, bummer.
Instead we went to have breakfast at a restaurant and then did some shopping. I was surprised at the really poor selection of magazines in the newsstand. Wouldn't a store specialising in newspapers in an international airport be able to offer a wider selection? Speciality magazines were very few.
At the gate we saw what must have been two non-status passengers upgraded to F. They were really surprised and had no idea what this premium cabin was.. Funnily on this flight there were 2 FAs in F and 1 in Y. We had a really good view of Manhattan as we were landing. Nice knowing it was not to the mess that is JFK.
Like father like son :-)
In LGA we were given access to the lounge and had a few drinks. I tried to enter delta.com on the lounge-computer but it didn't work as Flash wasn't installed. Kind of funny that you can't access the Delta website in the Delta lounge. We were bussed to the plane which felt kind of unusual seeing all the gates, then again I haven't flown out of LGA before. However, many flights shared the same gate at the same time, making it too crowded with nowhere to sit.
Too many flights from the same gate
We tried to get on the earlier flight to ATL but this time it didn't work. They wanted $50 to arrange it so we waited instead watching a movie and eating a sandwich (which was devoid of any vegetables).
When our flight started boarding our boarding passes didn't work. Apparently we weren't checked in for the flight. My guess is that since we had received our boarding passes in IMT it had been too early for this flight. My previous experience is that check-in for flights more than 6h in the future does not work on DL.
We taxied to the runway but then stood there for 15 minutes, apparently there was congestion at ATL. One of the flight attendants on this flight was dressed in jeans and t-shirt, was she working I wondered? Though it has its advantages, I think flying in USA is sometimes too relaxed.
In ATL we had a hard time finding our way to the hotel shuttles. Poor signage really is a key feature of American airports. (Then again, HEL is not always that clear either since they rebuilt it).
DL5261 03OCT 6 ATLIAD 0831 1029 -CR9
Strangely I couldn't find any security fast track so the security check took quite a while. In the lounge (again, no signs how to get there)
davsjo had a very good idea regarding north American power sockets. For some reason they are designed in a way that the power chord easily falls out, especially if you are using a heavy adapter or the chord is heavy. The design is really stupid but could easily be rectified if the socket was turned 90 degrees. Why are the sockets built like this? Are there no engineers present when buildings are built?
Well, short rant aside the flight was ok. We sat in the exit row and noticed it had no blinds, nor did it hardly recline. IAD was funny as usual with the mobile gates for terminal changes. We had long layover here and proceeded to the Smithsonian museum. Of course there was hardly any signage to the bus stop but we were used by know.. Eventually we did find a small paper taped to a pier so we knew we were waiting at the right stop.
See what I mean with the sockets?
Exit rows do help segment running well-being
AF 25 03OCT 6 IADCDG 1840 0815+1 -340
The museum was fun and we were back at the airport around 1500. As there were two earlier AF flights to CDG check-in was open but we were not allowed to check-in despite trying at two different times. We noticed an inbound flight from CDG was badly delayed but thought it was the plane that would turn around for one of the earlier flights back to Paris. At 1800 we were finally allowed to check-in and only now were we notified that is was our flight that was delayed by 3h with new departure time 0055 in the night! We were given meal vouchers and no explanation as to why we hadn't been told about the delay when inquired about check-in several times earlier. When we now asked about rebooking to the earlier flight it was too late, but it hadn't been when we first tried. As I had a separate ticket from CDG I was especially keen not to miss my flight there.
Instead
davsjo and I decided to runt to the gate of the earlier AF flight that was due to depart at 1840. We ran and ran and got to a deserted gate, boarding was already completed... We asked the GA about getting on this flight but were told the flight was already closed. We resigned and started looking for the lounge. However, another gate agent came running after us saying that she could still get us on the plane! Yihuu! We ran back to the gate and after a lot of typing we got on. She did tell us that our seats would not be bulkheads as we had on the later flight but rather two separate middle seats. Getting back in time was more important than comfort so we gladly accepted and were soon on the plane (I later sent a letter to AF complementing the gate agent and asking why we weren't told about the delay sooner.. Of course they had no explanation to give.). As we were leaving the gate two more passengers came running asking to be transferred to this earlier flight, but they were denied. If it was too late now or if we got the last seats I don't know - but I doubt our elite status had anything to do with it.
I sat next to a nice Hungarian guy and we had a couple of drinks together with the selection of chicken or fish meal. Using earplugs, eye shades and neck support I managed to sleep 3 hours before woken for breakfast above Ireland. Having a middle seat was actually ok on a night flight like this.
We had now arrived early enough for
davsjo to be able to catch an earlier connection to CPH. We asked at the transfer desk about this but they refused, ignoring the delay of our booked flight. Instead we tried again at the ticketing desk and they were happy to rebook him. So in the end
davsjo managed to get home earlier than booked thanks to the delay! I was also booked to CPH to lower the price but was not planning on taking that flight.
The fun has to end sometime - our ride home
Using my AF boarding pass to CPH I went to the AF lounge for a short while. At the entrance there was a guy asking nicely if he could get in, even though he had no status. Of course he was refused but I decided I could guest him in and - to the annoyance of the lounge dragons - told them he could be my guest. However, they found a loophole saying that we must be on the same flight for me to guest him. Is this correct?
I asked if my flight to CPH was overbooked and was told "Gate 70". Thus I asked again and was told "It is on time". When I asked for the third time their reply was "Can you please tell me what you want?". The flight wasn't overbooked so I spent a while in the lounge before telling the dragons that I would not be taking the flight to CPH (I didn't want to have the flight be delayed because of me). They took my boarding pass I proceeded to change terminals.
The train to terminal 1 took a long time. My ticket allowed changes and as I had 9 hours waiting time I asked if there were any earlier connections available. There were but not in my booking class so I would have to wait. Lufthansa had its own small finger but instead I went to the the non-Schengen area to get in to the shared Star alliance lounge. First I had to queue 30 minutes for passport control and explain to them that although I had no flight from this pier I wanted to get in to try the lounge. Then the lounge dragon wouldn't let me in saying all of the following: "You have to go to the LH-lounge", "We don't accept BD Gold here", "We can not scan your boarding pass", "We can not read your card". Standing firm and polite for a couple of minutes I was finally accepted by her supervisor without any registration done.. I ate a bit, showered and then went to the LH lounge instead as departure came closer. Priority boarding was enforced and on the plane we were served a small sandwich, both items non-existent on AF. By now I was very tired and so I slept the rest of the flight.
Charles de Gaulle terminal 1 many not be the best comfort wise - but it is futuristic
In Munich a bus was waiting to take us to the gate. Having just woken up I got up as the last passenger and hurried on the bus, only to discover as I was about to get off that I had forgotten my trolley in the overhead bin in the plane! I told the bus driver but he said I had to fix it in the terminal.
I ran to the transfer desk but after waiting in line and realising it was not moving I instead ran to the gate. The friendly gate agent helped me and made a few calls. My trolley hadn't been discovered and though I waited until last it was still missing when I had to board... :-(
My seat had two neighbours but I found the exit row deserted so sat down there instead. After the hot meal I slept all the way to Helsinki.
My bag was still missing 2 days later even though I had been calling lost baggage in HEL, MUC and BCN (to where my plane from CDG had continued) frantically. However the next day I got a call from the LH station in Barcelona saying my trolley had continued with the plane there. In BCN they were very nice and sent the bag with delivery to my office free of charge. They even added some padding inside it to protect my laptop. Excellent service indeed! ^ However, both time and money would have been saved had the gate agent at the BCN-flight in MUC simply boarded the plane and taken my trolley since I knew exactly where it was. Or they could have asked the flight attendants there to give it to the bus driver or what ever.. All ended well though and I got home to a good sleep.
A hot meal helps sleeping after many, many flights
Another segment run over. Since both a baby and new home has come along I don't know when I can afford the next one. But I am sure it will be fun when it comes!