*Flight Information:
Airline and Flight Number: Delta Air Lines 745
Departure Airport: Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL), Fort Lauderdale, FL
Arrival Airport: Salt Lake City International Airport (SLC), Salt Lake City, UT
Departure Airport Terminal, Gate: Terminal 2, Gate D8
Arrival Airport Terminal, Gate: Concourse A, Gate A31
Aircraft Type, Registration: Airbus A321, N107DN
Class of Service, Seat: First, 2B
Scheduled Departure Time/Actual Departure Time: 7:17AM (EST)/7:19AM (EST)
Scheduled Arrival Time/Actual Arrival Time: 10:25AM (MT)/10:10AM (MT)

*SPECIAL NOTES:
-Second time flying to SLC (The first time I flew to SLC was in November 1998, when I flew from JFK to LAS via SLC with my parents.)
-Second time in Utah (see above)
-First time flying between FLL and SLC
-First time flying First Class in many years (I last flew First Class, also on Delta a very long time ago between NYC and South Florida with my parents and on America West (now defunct due to merging with US Airways and later American) in July 2001 between LAS and JFK due to an operational upgrade as the result of a severely delayed flight.). Usually, I fly Economy or sometimes, an Economy Comfort product so this was a treat!

c) At Airport:
Welcome back everyone! Hope you are all having a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and a joyous Holiday Season! When I last off from this TR, myself and my Mother had a smooth and luxurious, albeit delayed ride to the airport from our home. Me and my Mother entered the Check-In area. Since I had last been to FLL in May 2021, I noticed that the renovations were taking shape even more! Since at least 2021, I had noticed that the mainly white concrete floors were the same, as they had replaced the carpeting that used to be the flooring in part of the Check-In area, which I remember from my Summer 2017 trip to Israel when I departed from and arrived at FLL, but they had since put in new energy efficient lighting as well as updated signage for wayfinding. All in all, the terminal definitely felt modern and it was even cleaner than I had remembered! We then lined up to check our luggage, where there was quite a bit of a line.

Luckily, the line was worse than it looked and thanks to plenty of Check-In Agents, we waited five minutes, which was not bad at all! Phillip, the agent who checked us in, was polite and pleasant as he scanned our IDs, printed our boarding passes, and made small talk. As Phillip and another lady working with him were weighing our bags, me and my Mother made a game to see whose bag weighed more? Normally, I would have expected my Mother's bag to weigh more, but it turns out that was not the case as my bag weighed 43 pounds, three pounds more than my Mother's bag, which was unexpected.

With check-in now complete, Phillip and his coworker bid us farewell, also pointing us in the direction of the Security Line, which was not far from the Delta counter. We lined up for security and found the TSA Officers to be friendly and thorough. In addition, the line was quite efficient, as we were through in less than five minutes! Unfortunately, due to our later than expected arrival at FLL thanks to a late start, we did not have as much time to spend before boarding as we had hoped, so we headed straight for Gate D8, where our flight to Salt Lake City would be boarding from. By the time we were at the gate, it was 6:25AM, leaving us with just under 15-minutes until our first flight would board.



My Mother first wanted to use the restroom, so I offered to watch her bags. As I was waiting, I took in the scenery and found that although the airport was busy, it was not too bad since there were still plenty of seats. I did not really have time to plane spot like I normally would, I could see that compared to when I was last at FLL in May 2021, Terminal 2 looked even spiffier thanks to the renovations coming along. Compared to say the late 2010s maybe early 2020s, the newer and larger signage above the gates, brighter lighting, and newer looking and clean carpeting make this terminal feel much nicer than previous years. When my Mother returned, she also said that the restrooms, which could be inconsistent at FLL as far as cleanliness compared to say PBI, were much cleaner! My Mother also had contemplated getting a Starbucks, but with not much time until boarding as well as a super long line, we decided to wait and have coffee onboard. I then went to use the Men's Room and also found it to be much better than the past, as it was immaculate and recently renovated. Once I returned from the restroom, I got a nose picture of N107DN, the Airbus A321 that would operate our flight to Salt Lake City. N107DN arrived from Salt Lake City that morning as Delta 1564.

At 6:34AM, I could see that the Gate Agents were getting ready for passengers to board Delta 745, since we would be boarding in five minutes.

Time went quickly and five minutes later, the Gate Agents at Gate D8 invited the passengers to board. Since we were flying First Class, we were among the first passengers to board. The polite and professional gate agents scanned our boarding passes and wished us a good flight! As I made my way down the jetway with my Mother to board our Airbus A321, I was excited, ready to have a wonderful time in Vegas with my Mother!