*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!

d) DL745: FLL-SLC:
Me and my Mother were excited to be heading to Las Vegas and we made our way down the jetway, entering N107DN, the Airbus A321 that would operate our flight to Salt Lake City. We entered the aircraft via Doorway 1L and we were warmly greeted by Carol, one of the Flight Attendants on our journey. Nearby, we found our seats 2A and 2B. Our first impressions were that like many Delta flights as of late, N107DN was very clean and appeared to be in very good shape, with minimal to no wear and tear from what we could see. In addition, the blue seat coverings for all of the classes with pops of red to break up the blue made for a simple, albeit stylish cabin. We settled into our seats and found them to be very comfortable, with ample width and legroom as well as plenty of padding, making for a very comfortable journey out west.

-Obligatory legroom shot:

-Ready to go!:

A few minutes later, Michelle, the Lead FA, came around to take our Pre-Departure Beverage orders. She greeted us by name and was quite personable, making for an excellent first impression! In addition, she also had a fab Caribbean accent. While my Mom ordered a black coffee, I ordered a Diet Coke. Michelle returned with our beverages and while I enjoyed my Diet Coke, my Mother deemed her black coffee delicious. For some reason, every time she has flown Delta, she loves their black coffee and to be honest, when I have had it, I do not mind it either.

Boarding for this flight was very efficient and by about 7:05AM, the Cabin Crew closed the door of the plane since everyone was seated and onboard. At this time, Michelle and a young male FA, whose name I do not recall, went through the cabin making sure we all had our seatbelts on, tray tables locked, and seats in the full, upright position. Once the pre-cabin safety check was complete, we then pushed back from Gate D8, ready for our departure to Salt Lake City. At this time, our Captain also made his announcements, welcoming us aboard along with our crew, who were Fort Lauderdale based. He added that thanks to some turbulence on our route, we would arrive at SLC a little bit ahead of schedule. As we pushed back, I spotted N402AN, an American Airlines Airbus A321neo at Terminal 3, Gate E7 that had arrived from Los Angeles as American 343 and would be heading back there as American 2259. In case you are wondering, in order to spot a plane, I use the plane's registration and/or type in order to gather its flight information. I do this by using apps and websites such as FlightStats app, PlaneFinder app, and FlightAware.

After that, the inflight safety video started.

With no other aircraft in front of us, we took off at 7:19AM, only two minutes behind our scheduled departure time of 7:17AM. We took off to the east and from my seat, I was able to see Downtown Fort Lauderdale. A few minutes after take off, the plane then turned to the left to head north and we flew parallel to the coastline of Fort Lauderdale, where I could see a plethora of high rises, waterways, and in the distance, the skyline of Downtown Fort Lauderdale.

Another few minutes later, our plane then made another left to fly west and I was then able to see some of the western suburbs of Broward County.

We continued to fly northwest over Broward County, as our plane was following a northwestern path for our journey to Salt Lake City. Since it would be foolish not to take advantage, I decided to check out the IFE and plug in my headphones, first going into the selection of movies. Just like always, I found the Delta IFE to be superb, as the infotainment system is full featured and intuitive to use. Before I decided to watch a movie, the flight would not be complete without getting the stats of our aircraft and basic flight information.

I then took a look at our inflight map and from what I could see of the projected flight path, we would leave Florida somewhere along the Gulf of Mexico, flying on a northwest trajectory over the Gulf of Mexico, the western edge of the Florida Panhandle, the southern portions of Alabama and Mississippi, southern Arkansas, Oklahoma, southwestern Kansas, Colorado, and finally Utah until we would arrive in SLC about 4:18 later.


A couple of minutes later, I checked out the IFE and for the long journey, I decided to watch a movie. As usual, I could tell that there would be a comprehensive selection of movies. It was a tough decision, but I decided on "The Birdcage," a campy take on the film and play, "La Cage aux Folles."

Although I have seen it many times already, as it is one of my favorite films, when I saw it on the IFE, I knew I would have to watch it, as its combination of heart and humor would make this cross country flight fly by! Right off the bat I got into watching "The Birdcage," as the opening of 1990s South Beach overlaid to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge made me harken back to the easier times of the 1990s in a lot of ways.

After the film opened, it then panned to The Birdcage, the drag nightclub that is owned by LGBTQ+ partners Armand (Robin Williams) and Albert (Nathan Lane). As the film opened, we see Armand, who is more of the straight man in their relationship contrast with Albert, who is the more flamboyant, anxious, and insecure partner, who plays the star drag queen "Starina," having an anxiety attack over the fact that he is getting older and feels like he is losing his beauty. Albert almost refuses to go on stage as he panics, but thanks to Armand and Albert's flamboyant Guatemalan housekeeper as well as fellow drag performer Agador (Hank Azaria), Albert is calmed down by some Aspirin and goes on stage, putting on a fabulous drag performance! Once the night at The Birdcage is over, we then pan to Armand and Albert's apartment, which is located above the nightclub and decorated in a very 1980s style, which I have a soft spot for thanks to the fact that my late maternal Grandparents had an apartment in Highland Beach, FL, where they snowbirded for many years and had a similar 1980s style. Anyway, I digress. Armand and Albert's son, Val, is now home from college and breaks the news that he will be marrying Barbara, his college sweetheart. Naturally Albert and Armand are shocked, although they support Val. However, Barbara's parents Senator Kevin Keeley (Gene Hackman) and his wife Louise are very conservative, which is a sharp contrast from Albert and Armand's lifestyle. With this start to the story, who knows what hijinks would ensue?
As I was watching the film and less than an hour after we took off, Michelle, the Lead FA and Carol began Meal Service. Since my Mother brought her own food due to multiple food allergies and keeping kosher as mentioned earlier in my TR, she just had a drink while I had pre-ordered an Asian Vegetarian Meal with a Diet Coke to drink. Once I received it, I knew I was in for a treat, as it looked and smelled delicious! I thought all of the components meshed together well, as the piquant and spicy chickpeas meshed together well with the mild, creamy, and finely chopped spinach that also had slightly salty and creamy paneer cheese. In addition, the dish was also balanced out by fluffy rice. There was also a delicious and buttery looking croissant that I was unable to eat due to my food allergies as well as a refreshing fruit salad consisting of sweet cantaloupe, tangy pineapple, and sweet and tart blueberries.

As I continued watching "The Birdcage," I learned that Val's biological mother, Katherine, who Armand had a one-night stand with, will play Val's Mother in order to appease Barbara's parents, who are very socially conservative. I could not help but laugh at the scene where Agador is doing housework while dancing to "Conga" by Miami Sound Machine.

However, Senator Keeley has troubles of his own, as his colleague, who was in the fictional conservative group, the Coalition for Moral Order, passes away due to illicit activities. This affects Senator Keeley as they were close colleagues and as a result, is under intense scrutiny from the media. They figure a wedding between their daughter Barbara and Val would distract from the situation and shed some positive light on their lives, but little do they know what awaits. Barbara lies about the lives of Armand and Albert, by saying that their last name is Coleman, instead of the more Jewish sounding Goldman and saying that Armand is a cultural attaché to Greece, instead of a nightclub owner. As Val has Albert and Armand play appearances of a straight couple by ridding their home of their more flamboyant art work for a more traditionally styled home as well as having Albert play the part of Val's Uncle, while his Mother Katherine, will play the part of his Mother. Hijinks ensue as the Keeleys try to get to Florida while evading the press and at the same time, Armand tries to get Albert to be more masculine, like working on his walk as well as when gets overly upset when he pierced the toast ("I pierced the toast," Albert cries as Armand reassures him that he can always order more toast.)

Ultimately, Armand's attempts to make Albert straight fail and emotions run high, with Albert taking offense. At this time, I also checked the stats of our flight on the FlyDelta app and found that we were about halfway to Salt Lake City, with 2:05 until we would land and 2:59 of flying time so far.

In addition, thanks to being hooked up to Delta's inflight Wi-Fi, which became free for Delta Skymiles members around this time if I remember correctly, I received texts from our pet sitter that they had come to feed our dogs and that they were doing well! I then checked the moving map on the FlyDelta app and we were flying along the border of Northern Texas and Southern Oklahoma.

In addition, the FlyDelta app also had information about our connecting flight, Delta 2071 to Las Vegas. According to the app, the plane that would operate our connecting flight was coming in from New York-JFK as Delta 354 and would arrive early, meaning we would definitely be able to make our flight. In addition, I thought this was pretty lucky, as JFK used to be one of our home airports when we lived on Long Island.

Later on, the Keeleys arrive at Albert and Armand's apartment, but Katherine is stuck in traffic (Miami traffic has always been bad I suppose and it still is haha!). In addition, Agador, although a bit clumsy, does a decent job passing himself as the Goldman's aka Coleman's Greek butler. However, the Keeleys don't have to wait long, as Albert ends up playing the role of Val's Mother, which suits him perfectly thanks to his flamboyant ways. The Keeleys manage to fall for the Goldman's ruse better than expected. Albert even wins the not so easy to impress Senator Keeley over, thanks to his innocent nature and of course, even though he was a gay man cross-dressing as a woman, his supposed conservative views. In addition, I loved the lighthearted scene where Armand and Mrs. Keeley are playing the piano and singing "I Could Have Danced All Night" from"My Fair Lady" as Senator Keeley and Albert as well as Val and Barbara dance, making for a lighthearted and romantic scene.

However, trouble begins to ensue as the Keeley's butler, who drove them all the way to Florida, betrays them after being paid by the press, then revealing the Keeley's whereabouts. At the same time, Katherine finds a note from Armand on the door telling her not to come upstairs, since Albert's act as Val's Mother goes very well! Nonetheless, things do not go as planned and Katherine, Val's biological Mother crashes the party. Naturally, the Keeleys are confused and Val and Barbara explain that it was all a ruse and that in reality, Val considered Albert his Mother, even taking off his wig, which was a touching moment and redeemed him in my book, since he was a bit antagonistic up until this point, although not without reason. Yet, with the press still hot on the Keeleys, everyone dresses in drag to escape to The Birdcage nightclub, dancing to "We Are Family" by Sister Sledge. Thankfully, this works and the press does not find The Keeleys. What's more, the movie ends happily, with Barbara and Val marrying happily! All in all, I very much enjoyed watching "The Birdcage" thanks to a heartwarming but tense at times story, fabulous acting, and of course, all of the humor. Once I finished watching "The Birdcage," I then relaxed for a little bit and checked out more of the IFE. Then, me and my Mother took a selfie right before the Flight Attendants did a final snack and beverage run.

Since there was still some time left, we then used the First Class Lavatory, with my Mother going first followed by myself and we both found it to be clean and well stocked. Once we were seated, for the remainder of the flight until we would begin our descent, the Captain then turned on the Fasten Seatbelt Sign, as we had hit some turbulence. Thankfully, this was not too bad to deal with and only a few minutes later, we then began our descent into the Salt Lake City area with only 87-miles to go at 11:53AM EST according to my iPhone.

Since there was not much time left in flight, I continued to be engrossed by the moving map, especially looking at it from different angles and landscapes, which were almost reminiscent of a flight simulator.

Excitement continued to build and at 10:10AM MT, we arrived in Salt Lake City 15-minutes ahead of our scheduled arrival time. We received a warm welcome from the Captain and the Flight Attendants and both myself and my Mother were happy, as in addition to a wonderful flight, the early arrival would make for an even smoother connection. As we made our way to the gate, I then checked the FlyDelta app to confirm the information for our connecting flight, Delta 2071 to LAS and determined that it would be departing from Gate A20. Just a moment later, Michelle, the Lead FA confirmed this and informed us that we would be arriving at Gate A31 and that our connecting flight to LAS would indeed be departing from Gate A20. Since she knew we had not been to SLC in a long time, she stated that we would have plenty of time to connect and that thanks to the distances between gates not being super long, we would at worst have only a 5-7 minute walk from Gate A31 to Gate A20 using the moving walkways. A few minutes after we landed, our plane parked at Gate A31 and thanks to the Captain, the Fasten Seatbelt sign was turned off and we were free to move about the cabin. I grabbed our belongings and then me and Mom lined up to disembark N107DN. As we disembarked the plane, Michelle and Carol bid us farewell, wishing us a safe and wonderful trip to Las Vegas! We then exited the aircraft via Doorway 1L, excited to be that much closer to Vegas and to have completed the first part of our journey.


e) Arrival:
After a relaxing and smooth flight aboard Delta 745 from Fort Lauderdale (FLL) to Salt Lake City (SLC), we disembarked N107DN, the Airbus A321 that operated our flight via Doorway 1L. We crossed the jetway and found ourselves at Gate A31. After exiting the plane, I learned that N107DN's next flight would be Delta 2510 to Charlotte. Not having been to Salt Lake City for close to a quarter of a century, having last traveled there in November 1998, I was fascinated to be back there, as a new terminal opened up in Fall 2020 if I am not mistaken. Although I had only seen the gate area, our first impressions were positive, as the terminal looked modern and immaculate, with plenty of amenities to boot! With about an hour until 11:15AM MT, which would be when Delta 2071, our flight to Las Vegas would board, we decided to take a break but not waste too much time either, using the restrooms, buying some drinks, and of course, for me, doing a little plane spotting. How would the rest of our journey go? Find out soon!

f) DL745 Impressions and Ratings:
Delta 745 did not disappoint and although I am sure that there are even better First Class products out there, I find that Delta has an excellent Domestic First Class product and would definitely use it again if price and/or time availed. Michelle, the Lead Flight Attendant who worked this flight as well as her colleagues Carol and the unnamed male Flight Attendant I met all provided excellent service, as they were warm, professional, and attentive to the passengers. N107DN, the Airbus A321 that operated this flight, was in near perfect if not perfect condition and was very clean! Also, the seat was excellent, with ample width and legroom. I also enjoyed the meal, which was high quality, even though it tasted much better than it looked (it didn't even look that bad). Delta's robust and intuitive IFE also made the flight go by quickly. All in all, its aspects such as the ones above make Delta one of my preferred U.S. airlines when available.

Service: 20/20 (Flight attendants were warm, professional, and engaging.)
Plane Cleanliness/Condition: 20/20 (N107DN was in near perfect, if not perfect condition and very clean
Meals: 20/20 (Meals were plentiful and the quality was high.)
Seat Comfort: 20/20 (More than enough legroom and width!)
IFE: 20/20 (DL has one of the best IFE systems thanks to robust content and an intuitive user interface.)
**Overall Grade: 100/100 (A)