Well, I finally bit the bullet and joined the CRC during my last trip. I had a long layover in Atlanta (flying BUF-ATL-TPA) and wanted a comfortable place to sit, drink a few adult beverages, and work. I was hoping I could get a one-day membership for a few miles, but no luck, so I burned 40,000 for a year membership (instead of $275, both values for GMs).

I probably would have joined a long time ago, but didn't in a futile one-man protest of the fact that the wireless isn't free. I refuse to pony up money to T-Mobile for something that is free in many public places, and should be free in membership places like CRC.

To get to the question at hand, in my first (and so far only) visit to the CRC, I found it very much worth it. I was glad for the free drinks, a comfortable place to sit and quietly make business calls and work on my laptop, a few snacks, and the ability to get up and use the bathroom (or get another drink) and leave my stuff sitting out. But the best thing by far is the agents in the CRC. I was the CRC at A17 in Atlanta, and the agent that helped me went well beyond any efforts by any other Delta agent (phone, counter or gate) in his attempts to get me home earlier and in the best possible seats. As it turned out, I didn't get home any earlier, but he sure tried. I think if I had gone straight to the CRC instead of first making a side trip to the T-gates PalmOne store to look at the latest gadgets, he would have gotten me home earlier.

My meeting in Buffalo had finished early, and I jumped an earlier flight to ATL, hoping to stand by or SDC on an earlier flight home to Tampa (I was scheduled at 8:05). When I called from Buffalo to SDC, I was told that everything into TPA (including my flight) was oversold - Fridays into TPA are rough). When I got to ATL, I went to the gate of the next TPA flight (about 4:25 PM), and the GAs wouldn't even take any more standbys. After this, I went to the rebooking area and the agents there told me that all the flights were full and they refused to even put me on the standby list for the 5:25 or the 6:45. As a GM, I wanted on the list, since I thought I might trump others in priority. So I took my detour to the PalmOne store, burning 45 minutes in the process, then went back to the A17 CRC and decided to join. Since it was about 5 PM or so, the agent couldn't get me on the 5:25, but he started working on the 6:45, and in the meantime, offered me a Zone 1* boarding pass for the row 10 bulkhead aisle for my flight (without me even requesting a seat change from my exit row further back). Then he said that he would be able to get me on the 6:45 (not even standby, he thought he actually had a seat) and started typing away at the keyboard. Eventually, he had to apologize and told me that "they" (presumably the GAs) had completely blocked out the flight, not allowing any access at all.

Even though I didn't get home earlier, I was truly amazed at how helpful he was. And I have had my share of very helpful DL agents over the past few years.

*Question: I used to think that Zone 1 was for FC only, but I've noticed Medallions boarding in Zone 1 and then sitting in the first few rows of coach (when I board in Zone 2). I never understood how this happened, but then I got my Zone 1 boarding pass from the CRC. I'm curious to know if anyone knows how medallions in coach get Zone 1 boarding passes. After my experience, I thought it might be a CRC thing.

And by the way, I ended up using one of the desks with the phones to plug my laptop in and use a local access number to dial up to the internet. Yes, it was slow, but I was able to download my email and check a few important things on the web.