Arrived at 7:10am for 8:30am flight, no one in Medallion line so I checked in upfront instead of at the CRC. I had switched my upgrade from a SWU to segments at the 72 hr. mark, so that was a plus.

Cleared security for the first time in awhile without them pulling my laptop case off to check it. Got to the CRC and it was empty except for desk staff & Carol, the bar/coffee lady. My biggest beef with DL is no matter what time of day it is, the only choice for snacks is the mixed pretzels/peanuts/sesame stick thingys or bags of pretzels. Grabbed a coffee and the paper. Went to gate at 7:50 and it looked like a very full flight, which wasn't a surprise for a Sat. morning. Flight form PDX-ATL and continues on to MIA (codeshare w/Swissair).

Asked if they needed volunteers, no. As boarding was about to start they had to re-route us through another side door since the main one was stuck! They're doing major counter/gate retrofitting and construction at that end of the D Concourse. Got to my seat, 3E and settled in.

As I watched the pax boarding I started to get uneasy since there were a few really young ones in FC and they were already starting to wail. Lady in 1C & D with a 7-8 yr old girl and a 2 yr old boy, and he was wired. Sitting behind me (4E&F) was a young black couple (the guy looked familiar) with a 6-8 month old infant, and it was screaming. As the FA came for drink orders, she bent down & said "this may be a very long flight", I'm sure in reference to the screamers. I've taken this flight a number of times, so many of the FA's are familiar since they usually use PDX based on this one.

To the parents credit, once we started to roll out to taxi, the kids got quiet and we never heard them again for 4 hours. The guy behind me who looked familiar was Steve Smith (NBA) who was just recently traded by the ATL Hawks to the TrailBlazers for JR Rider. I spoke with him briefly and found out he was in PDX house-hunting for the season, and on his way back to ATL to get packed up & ready to come back for mini-camp.

FC was full (24) and the back was about 80% (L1011-500). Breakfast was so-so, but it didn't seem that the FA's were skipping all around to take orders as in the past. By the time they got to me they still had all 3 choices available (only think that happened because I heard at least 3 people decline the meal).

Arrived in ATL about 15 min. late, checked monitor and found my connection to EWR was delayed 50 minutes. Headed to CRC and found out that all East Coast seemed to be delayed, especially all flights into/out of EWR. Killed some time there and back to gate, where they were starting to board. This leg on an MD-88 (14 FC), my seat was 3C and the entire plane was full. Finally took off about 6:30, flight originally scheduled for 5pm departure.

The FC meal on this flight was a Cajun-spiced chicken dish with red beans & rice. Actually very tasty, but the salad was limp and the dessert (square hunk of sugar/cream/cake with choc. shavings) was weak at best. Bailey's & coffee finished it off nicely.

Was seated next to a cute young lady who is a FA for DL, coming back from vacation in the Bahamas (she's based in EWR). As we talked flying during dinner, she told me she had only been a FA for 9 months, but takes a lot of mini-vacations (all non-rev naturally). That started me wondering about the rest of the pax in FC. When the meal was over I went up front and asked the FA to explain the FC manifest to me. Very interesting�

Of 14 pax, 5 had Medallion status. There were 5 non-revs, 4-FO's (which was explained as an honorary status by DL for suppliers and CEO of companies that do business with DL) & 4 pax from a cruise that had no DL status, but had been upgraded as part of their package. Of the 5 Medallion, 2 each PL, GL, 1 SLV. The FA told me they are instructed in training to watch the manifests for PL's & GL's and be especially nice to them, since they were the best revenue pax.
She also said that this flight turns around and goes back to ATL and is usually only 40% full. She checks the manifest & as soon as they close the door, if she finds PL or GL's in the back, she comps them FC if there's space. Nice touch!

Flight was put into 3 different 'holding patterns' and even the co-pilot came out at one point & said that ATC was swamped with planes and it could be a long hold. We arrived 2 hrs late (9:20 instead of 7:20pm). Baggage took a long time to come out, onto the monorail to pick-up car (thin selection on Emerald Aisle but I got a nice Olds Intrigue) and quick ride to Sheraton in Edison, NJ.

Check-in was fast (I booked a SureSaver deal where you pay in advance, but I got a $69 rate for the 6 nights I'll be here). Finally got into room (standard w/king bed & workdesk) at 10:15pm, and was happy to unpack & flop into bed.

Info about the Sheraton in the next few days.
Monday night is the FT get-together in PHL...




[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 08-23-1999).]

You've highlighted one of the things I love most about CO. Rare is the occasion when you'll see a non-rev in FC. CO has clear rules about this; Priorities go first, followed by Platinum, then Gold, then Silver, then mileage certificates, then non-revs. The Priority upgrades are usually comps for bumping, that sort of thing.

The thing you should notice from that list is it's based entirely on where the money is. If you inconvenience a paying customer, the Pri upgrade is just compensation. Then you go by loyalty...the goal is to ensure that revenue pax continue to be revenue pax.

I'm baffled by the UA/DL company policies of filling FC with non-revs.

Whoa, hold on a second here ...

First of all, FO stands for "Flying Orchid" which is now Silver Medallion. FC is Flying Colonel which is an honorary status that is conferred by DL (or used to be, I don't believe it is any longer because all it gets you is FC next to your name on the manifest).

This is easy to tell because one can be both Medallion and FC, so for instance you could see "FO FC" or "GM FC" or "PM FC" next to someone's name.

I can tell you it's been a long time since I've seen many non-revs in first when there are many if any Medallions in Coach, and of course with the no L-class upgrades, you have to expect that some of them are just ineligible for upgrades.

Also of particular note about the manifest is that they typically show all First Class passengers plus all Medallion members not seated in First Class. For instance on the HSV-ATL flight I was on yesterday (737-300 with 8 FC seats), the manifest showed 7 Medallion members (quite a few FO's surprisingly) in FC and someone with no-status and 2 Medallion members in coach.

What I find worrisome here is that the FA's don't know what the abbreviations on the sheet mean (and the fact that FO is not an honorary status but an earned one).

Sometimes I'm convinced that they (FA's) don't even look at the sheets, no less know what the initials mean!

What's a "Flying Orchid?" In more than 20 years of Delta flying, I've never heard the term, until today. Maybe I'm just not listening?

phil, there was some discussion about this. On it's manifests (and on boarding receipts until recently) Silver Medallion members (or plain old Medallion members as they were until recently) were designated with an FO, and according to some reliable sources, the FO stood for Flying Orchid, which was previously some level or other in Delta (allegedly).

Beckles, the FA did tell me the FO stood for Flying Orchid, but did say it was the honorary status as described. On the manifest, the only designation next to those names was FO, nothing else...no other letters.

The manifest also listed Medallions that were in the back, but when I saw the 5 non-revs and FO's, I was more curious about that than the others.

[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 08-24-1999).]

Part 2 - Sheraton, Edison, NJ

This hotel is probably best-described as a plain vanilla hotel. Nothing bad, but not a memorable experience either. Not that I'm looking for anything more than a clean room, decent work area & quiet. It's in a large office complex area called Raritan Center, so I'm sure they fill-up regularly. There is also a Ramada & Extended Stay America on opposite corners.

Hallways look like they've been recently re-carpeted, clean & are well lighted. Room furniture and appointments are nice, king size bed, chair & ottoman, nice size work desk, well-stocked bathroom amenitites, and plenty of nice, thick full-size towels. Pool is indoor, nothing special & no health club facilities.

Twelve floors, with the 12th being the Club Level. Can't get up there without a key for the slot in the elevator. Fairly big lobby, with an open-lobby bar called Whispers and a restaurant called Lily's. Have not eaten in the hotel yet, and may not before I leave on Friday. Menu for Lily's looks OK, standard hotel fare.

Letter in my room from the GM says they are starting a $5 mil. renovation this winter. Upgraded, contemporary guest rooms (whatever that means, think they look pretty good now), and a 'new restaurant concept', The Metro Grill.

Using the SureSaver promotion, this room at $69/night is a bargain. Hotel is just off the NJ Turnpike, I-287 and is 1 exit away from the Garden State Parkway, which is an excellent location for my travels this week & next. Plus, I'm only about 10 minutes from Metro Park Station, so I'll take the train into NYC Thursday night to dine with Catman.
The Hilton in Woodbridge, which is in the next town about 5 miles away, in under major construction. I drove by there yesterday and was very happy I chose the Sheraton.

Spent today in Manhattan visiting customers. Took the Weehawken Ferry over from the NJ side. This is one of the best ways to get into the city and not worry about dealing with parking, traffic, etc. $5 to park, $10 for the ferry and they have free busses that drop you off at strategic spots all over Manhattan. There is a great restaurant right by the ferry called Arthur's Landing, just 50 feet from the banks of the Hudson River. Great view at night of the Manhattan skyline.

Found a wonderful restaurant in TriBeca for lunch�the Aqua Grill, on the corner of 6th Ave. & Spring Street. Had a terrific Crab Cake Salad w/vinaigrette dressing and my companion had the lobster salad which looked every bit as good. Served 3 different kinds of bread with olive oil, and they were good about refilling our plates as soon as we ate a piece. Place is small, only about 12-15 tables, they also have an outdoor section, right on 6th Ave, of about 4 tables. Great dessert menu also, but we passed.

Will continue this report after Thursday dinner with Catman at Ruth Chris.

Okay, she was right about FO being Flying Orchid, but FO is not an honorary status. I was an FO when I was Silver Medallion, FO = Silver Medallion (DL used to show the two letter abbreviation on the boarding passes when I was Silver Medallion, and I wondered what the FO was, but I knew it meant I was Silver Medallion, they've since switched to spelling out "Silver Medallion" on the boarding passes). FC (Flying Colonel) is the honorary status and she had the two confused.

Also, as I said, FC can show up with other levels because it is the honorary status, whereas FO will not show up with GM on the same passenger, because they are mutually exclusive, you're either one or the other, but that is not true of FC. Most Flying Colonel's I've seen on the manifests do have some other level of status, which is why I said you will usually see it with one of the standard Medallion levels on the manifest (such as "FO FC" or "GM FC"). A passenger can easily have up to three designations beside their name on the manifest actually, I've seen several that look like this:

Doe, John 1A GM MM FC

Which shows that John Doe is a Gold Medallion member, Million Miler, and Flying Colonel (the honorary status).

Well, I guess i'll need to check the manifests on my return flights next week and see what the FA's say.

???

What the FA's may say is absolutly different from what Beckles made very clear that FA's SHOULD say.

I'm not really faulting the FA's ... it's pretty easy to get FO and FC confused, especially since FO doesn't really stand for anything that still exists, and the Flying Colonel designation is pointless now ...

Shoot, I don't understand any of this stuff about FOs and FCs or anything else except that, SHADOW, I appreciate your report and am just DYING TO GET TO MANHATTAN.

I am sooooooo jealous (well, maybe I wouldn't pick August for my trip??) But, I am looking forward to meeting the Catman, more than I can say. WOW, I just realized, we will all be together here in Seattle in September.

In the meantime, embrace the Big Apple for me. Punki

[This message has been edited by Punki (edited 08-25-1999).]

OK Punki, this report is for you...

Catman & I met at the Newark train station at 6PM, then hopped on the subway to the World Trade Center & changed trains to 49th St.

Then a leisurely walk to Ruth's Chris for our dinner. Between the trains & the walk, we had plenty of time to 'do background checks' on each other, and we decided that tonight is just the first of many dinners we will have together. We found out that we both had cats named Cleo in the past, so we must have been destined to meet somehow.

We also agreed to a trip to Atlantic City in the near future so I can teach him how to play Caribbean Stud Poker.

The meal...I probably don't need to tell any of you what a wonderful experience Ruth's Chris is, but it probably cannot be said enough (I know you don't eat red meat, Punki...sorry). A beer to toast with before dinner, an incredible steak w/onion rings and a wine 'to die for'. The wine was a Clos Du Val Stag's Leap 1996, and words really cannot do it justice, only tasting it can.

We were 'comped' dessert, and had a visit to our table by the new manager for this location. A lovely lady who was formerly with the Landry's chain. She thanked us for our business and gave us her card.

Catman, you are a very special person! I thank you for your enjoyable conversation and your gracious hospitality in your 'home town'. I hope I'll soon have a chance to return the favor when you get to Portland.

And to everyone else who reads this, if you
haven't had a chance to meet Catman yet, when you do it will be a treat.

Thanks again for a great evening...

[This message has been edited by shadow (edited 08-26-1999).]

Thanks Shadow. I'm glad for you and Catman that you so much fun (but I am still jealous).

Did Catman tell you that my family's 17-year-old "Cleo" cat died the day after Christmas this past year? We are still mourning her. She was such an important part of our lives.