BNA to Morocco to London to BNA (and searching for a suitcase...)
May 1, 2018, 12:31 am
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2017
Location: MidSouth
Programs: AA; Delta GM
Posts: 728
BNA to Morocco to London to BNA (and searching for a suitcase...)
Disclaimer: This is my first trip report here. While I have visited more places than I ever thought I’d see, I am not the experienced traveler that most of you seem to be. So my trip report may include things that make you laugh, but for me these were learning experiences. In fact, one thing I try very hard to do is see what I can glean from each trip to make the next one better. While there are no photos for the first post, there will be photos for later posts. Thank you in advance for reading.
Mar 15
BNA - MSP
DL 4735 (operated by SkyWest DBA Delta Connections)
CRJ 900
2 hr 14 mins
12 noon - 2:14 pm
snacks/drinks
3C/3D
I’d love to say there was something to report about this trip, but it was your standard flight to Minneapolis. Going through TSA was a delight this time, though. Usually our local TSA pulls loads of people aside for ‘additional, random security screening’ but we lucked out this time.
There was a slight issue as the initial ticketing agent could not print our boarding passes for our Air France flight. This was a first for me, having flown AF in the past. Both the counter agent and the BNA Delta lounge agent assured me that I could get my boarding passes printed in Minneapolis because their computers could talk to AF’s computers.
The Delta lounge at BNA is tiny compared to the ones I’ve visited in Atlanta and Minneapolis. But everyone there - in my experience, to date - has been friendly. There’s a small buffet of food. There’s a bar. There are two bathrooms (as in two, tops). They’re both large. The one on the left seems more geared toward women.
Mar 15
MSP - CDG
DL 0140
Airbus 330-200
8 hr 40 mins
5:05 pm - 7:45 am
dinner/breakfast/premium snacks
4J/5J
Again, there wasn’t a lot to note about this trip. There was one horrible moment at the Delta lounge in Minneapolis. I asked - very politely - about boarding passes for the AF leg of our flight. The lounge desk attendant shouted at me that Air France was a COMPLETELY different airline from Delta. I very sweetly pointed out that I had booked the entire flight through Delta who seemed happy enough to take my money, regardless of the operating airline. This made no difference to the gate agent who yelled at me as if I were either stupid, senile or speaking English as a distant second language.
Minneapolis lounge note: The macaroni and cheese was quite good. The lines for everything from food to wine were really, really long.
The flight itself was your standard overnight to Europe. Service was good, and the flight attendants were friendly.
Mar 16
CDG - CMN
DL 8460 (operated by Air France)
Airbus 319
3 hr 05 mins
12:30 pm - 2:35 pm
lunch
1D/1F
We finally secured our boarding passes at the AF desk between disembarking and going through security again. The desk agent for Air France was incredibly polite and friendly. It took her a few minutes to retrieve our boarding passes, something about the fact that she could see our seats, but we didn’t have ticket numbers (???), but that eventually fixed. Originally we were in row three, but at some point we were pushed to row one after some change. I hate bulkhead seating, but we eventually made it to Casablanca.
Well, we made it there. My other half’s suitcase made it there. My suitcase was supposedly still in Paris but would be put on the ‘next available flight’ out of Paris to Casablanca. ‘Buy what you need’ they said. ‘Air France will reimburse you’ they said. (Yeah, sure, right. More on that story to come.)
We missed the ride which was supposed to pick us up at the airport and had an awful time with the taxi who drove us to the hotel. In fact, I still don’t want to talk about that taxi ride, which made me wary of taking another taxi for the entire time I was in Morocco.
Despite the horrible taxi ride, our arrival was interesting if you’re coming from BNA. Just inside the airport, we saw planes arriving from Tehran. Driving to the hotel, we saw shepherds with small flocks of sheep, despite the fact that Casablanca is a city of six million people. We saw signs for gas stations bearing the name Oil Libya (although I think they run that together in their sign). Again, nothing unusual unless you’re me - coming from a small US town. (None of these comments are meant negatively. I travel to learn. And travel has yet to fail me in that respect. I’m just explaining how unusual it is for someone like me to see these things.)
Mar 15
BNA - MSP
DL 4735 (operated by SkyWest DBA Delta Connections)
CRJ 900
2 hr 14 mins
12 noon - 2:14 pm
snacks/drinks
3C/3D
I’d love to say there was something to report about this trip, but it was your standard flight to Minneapolis. Going through TSA was a delight this time, though. Usually our local TSA pulls loads of people aside for ‘additional, random security screening’ but we lucked out this time.
There was a slight issue as the initial ticketing agent could not print our boarding passes for our Air France flight. This was a first for me, having flown AF in the past. Both the counter agent and the BNA Delta lounge agent assured me that I could get my boarding passes printed in Minneapolis because their computers could talk to AF’s computers.
The Delta lounge at BNA is tiny compared to the ones I’ve visited in Atlanta and Minneapolis. But everyone there - in my experience, to date - has been friendly. There’s a small buffet of food. There’s a bar. There are two bathrooms (as in two, tops). They’re both large. The one on the left seems more geared toward women.
Mar 15
MSP - CDG
DL 0140
Airbus 330-200
8 hr 40 mins
5:05 pm - 7:45 am
dinner/breakfast/premium snacks
4J/5J
Again, there wasn’t a lot to note about this trip. There was one horrible moment at the Delta lounge in Minneapolis. I asked - very politely - about boarding passes for the AF leg of our flight. The lounge desk attendant shouted at me that Air France was a COMPLETELY different airline from Delta. I very sweetly pointed out that I had booked the entire flight through Delta who seemed happy enough to take my money, regardless of the operating airline. This made no difference to the gate agent who yelled at me as if I were either stupid, senile or speaking English as a distant second language.
Minneapolis lounge note: The macaroni and cheese was quite good. The lines for everything from food to wine were really, really long.
The flight itself was your standard overnight to Europe. Service was good, and the flight attendants were friendly.
Mar 16
CDG - CMN
DL 8460 (operated by Air France)
Airbus 319
3 hr 05 mins
12:30 pm - 2:35 pm
lunch
1D/1F
We finally secured our boarding passes at the AF desk between disembarking and going through security again. The desk agent for Air France was incredibly polite and friendly. It took her a few minutes to retrieve our boarding passes, something about the fact that she could see our seats, but we didn’t have ticket numbers (???), but that eventually fixed. Originally we were in row three, but at some point we were pushed to row one after some change. I hate bulkhead seating, but we eventually made it to Casablanca.
Well, we made it there. My other half’s suitcase made it there. My suitcase was supposedly still in Paris but would be put on the ‘next available flight’ out of Paris to Casablanca. ‘Buy what you need’ they said. ‘Air France will reimburse you’ they said. (Yeah, sure, right. More on that story to come.)
We missed the ride which was supposed to pick us up at the airport and had an awful time with the taxi who drove us to the hotel. In fact, I still don’t want to talk about that taxi ride, which made me wary of taking another taxi for the entire time I was in Morocco.
Despite the horrible taxi ride, our arrival was interesting if you’re coming from BNA. Just inside the airport, we saw planes arriving from Tehran. Driving to the hotel, we saw shepherds with small flocks of sheep, despite the fact that Casablanca is a city of six million people. We saw signs for gas stations bearing the name Oil Libya (although I think they run that together in their sign). Again, nothing unusual unless you’re me - coming from a small US town. (None of these comments are meant negatively. I travel to learn. And travel has yet to fail me in that respect. I’m just explaining how unusual it is for someone like me to see these things.)
