Homeward Bound 3

Ugh. 5 AM on a Sunday morning: an hour not fit for man or beast. But there I was, dragging myself out of bed in anticipation of another long day of flying. I left the hotel just after 5:30 AM, only to turn around after completing half of the trip because I realized I forgot my cell phone charger. I blame the lack of sleep and the early hour. While I’m usually driving to office at that time during the work week, it’s Sunday! A day of rest! But alas it just wasn’t meant to be that day.

I was a bit worried that I was be cutting it close with my latest faux pas, but fortunately there was a shuttle bus waiting for me as soon as I returned my car. I was dropped off at the terminal with less than an hour to go before scheduled departure. I already had a mobile boarding pass, so I headed straight to the Pre-Check line and breezed through security. It was quite a hike from the security checkpoint to gate D8, but I made it there about 10 minutes before boarding started. The gate area was just starting to fill up when I arrived.



American Airlines 268
Seattle (SEA) - New York (JFK)
Depart: 7:00 AM
Arrive: 3:30 PM
Aircraft: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 6E (First Class)

A nice thick pillow and quilted blanket was waiting for me at my seat. While many of American’s in flight items have been rebranded, this was the first time I’ve seen a pillow with the new logo. I will definitely miss the classy old Flagship logo.



After a quick taxi to Runway 16L, we roared down the runway and took off. We soon entered a thick layer of clouds that would shroud the view of the ground for the duration of the flight. American had recently began offering Samsung Galaxy tablets on a few select transcon route in addition to JFK/MIA to LAX/SFO. JFK-SEA is one of those select routes.



Meal service began with hot towels followed by a round of drinks, during which menus were distributed.

Breakfast

Entrees

Corn Beef Hash
With cream cheese and chive scrambled eggs

Cereal and Yogurt
With a banana and fresh seasonal berries

Served with a selection of breakfast breads.

FAs came back around to take or confirm breakfast orders a short while later. I had preordered the Corn Beef Hash, which came hand delivered from the galley. My seatmate had slept through the meal service, but the FA was happy to serve him cereal and yogurt entrée later. The corn beef hash was pretty good, but I couldn’t taste the cream cheese as described in the menu. As usual, the fruit was fresh but not particularly ripe. I chose a biscuit with honey to accompany my meal.



I enjoy the Samsung Galaxy tablets, which are loaded with a fairly nice selection of movies, TV shows, and music. But given the design of the seats, there is really nowhere to place it if a passenger wants to use it during the meal service. Since my seatmate was sleeping, I was able to take advantage of the additional space to place my tablet.



After breakfast, I settled down to study, only pausing for the midflight fruit and cheese plate. The purser followed the FA offering the cheese plate with a bottle of wine. While the bottle was properly presented with label facing the passenger, the wine itself was not very good.



Cookies and milk were offered prior to landing, but I declined it. We landed nearly an hour early in foggy and misty New York. I thanked the FAs attendants on the way out, and headed straight to Terminal 2 to check in for my Delta flight to Dallas. I originally intended to end the trip report here, but I was so impressed by my experience at Delta’s new Terminal 4 Sky Club that I figured why not include it.

Since my flight to Dallas was a Delta Connection flight, it departed out of Terminal 2. But I wanted to check Delta’s new Terminal 4, so I hopped on the free shuttle offered by Delta, dubbed the ‘JFK Jitney’. There was a Delta agent checking boarding passes at the bus gate, but she let me pass without issue when I told her I wanted to get something to eat at Terminal 4. It was a very short trek over to the other terminal. With all of the hype surrounding the new terminal, I expected something amazing. But what I found was a dark terminal with fairly low ceilings accented by multi colored lights.



I might be just a smidge biased, but I think American’s revamped Terminal A at DFW is nicer. Though, I’m sure the dreary weather might have had something to do with my impression of the terminal, and it was getting worse by the minute.



After a bit of a walk, I reached the very nice Sky Club.


Sky Club entrance

After handing the agent processed my one day pass, I went to the shower attendant and immediately requested a shower room. While it was nice, I didn’t really care for the red and green color scheme.





After my shower, I found a quiet corner to study but got hungry after awhile. Since I would be riding in steerage on the way back to DFW, some dinner wouldn’t be a bad idea. While many on the Delta forum are vehemently against the new premium offerings at the Sky Club, I wanted to form an opinion for myself. As soon as sat down in the nice dining area, a server came to offer me an menu, which was on an iPad, and filled my water glass. Nice impression so far.





I eventually settled on the sliders, which were served chips with truffle oil, and a side of macaroni and cheese. They were delivered after a very short wait.





Holy crap they were good. The macaroni and cheese was among the cheesiest and most delicious I’ve ever had. The sliders and chips were tasty as well. Additionally, Sky Clubs use real cutlery as opposed to the plasticware offered at Admirals Clubs. Bonus points in my book. It wasn’t cheap. My bill totaled about $22. But the food was very tasty, and the ambiance was far nicer and quieter than most airport restaurants. Overall, I think it was worth it.

I thought I had taken more pictures of the Sky Club, but I can’t find them on my camera or my iPhone unfortunately. It was very large and well-appointed facility, definitely a huge improvement compared to the T2 Sky Club. The feature I wanted to check out the most was the Sky Deck, but it was closed due to the rain.

I arrived back at Terminal 2 to find a madhouse. Many flights were delayed, included mine which was subject to a 15 minute rolling delay. For once, I really didn’t mind the delay because they were showing the Saints/49ers game on the television in the gate area.



What made the wait even more bearable were the gate agents. They setup a beverage cart in the middle of the gate area, and made many passes with a snack basket filled with peanuts, pretzels, and Biscoffs. A huge kudos to them for being proactive. Despite the delays, most people in the gate area were actually pretty happy. Despite their crappy frequent flier program, Delta is an airline that gets many things, like this, right. I’ve always been pretty impressed with them each time I’ve flown with them…until I try to redeem my miles, but that’s a discussion for another day.

There was nothing to report on from my flight back to Dallas, other than I forgot how bad the CRJ-900s are in coach. It was a very cramped and uncomfortable 3 hour flight. Other than that, it was an absolutely perfect weekend. I did my av geek thing, the Saints pulled out another victory, and I secured AAdvantgae Platinum status through 2015. It was a nice way to cap off the most wonderful time of the year.

If you’re still reading, yes it really is the end. You finally made it! I realize not many people want to read through nearly 36,000 words on domestic US travel, so that’s why I tried to present from a different angle and focus on things and events not commonly reported on in the Trip Report forum. Why did I write this if I knew most people wouldn’t be interested? I did it for me. It’s been insane for me lately as I’m working and studying for my commissioning test (aka the pass or you’re canned test). Writing this report was an avenue for me to blow off some steam, and take a breather.

Thanks again to all of you who have read and/or commented! I’ll have another trip report coming sometime in the spring, which I promise will be significantly more interesting as I embark on European adventure on American’s new Business Class on their 777-300ER, Air France’s long haul Business Class, and Delta’s new Business Elite on their 767-300ER.

Till then, happy contrails and safe travels to all!