jetsflier

LA Birthday Daytrip via DL Y

Hello everyone and welcome to my eleventh trip report. You may remember me from my other trip reports:
[FIXED] A Birthday Trip to Remember: Calgary via AC/AA in Y/Y+
A 5-Day Cali Jaunt via WN Y
Flying Solo: A Broke College Student Takes the UAE via DL/KL/AF Y
Austin, TX via UA/AA Basic (oh no!) Y
D.C. on a Dime: The Nation's Capital via UA Basic Y+ (Seriously!)
MAXimum Chicagoan (Mis)adventures via WN Y
Viaje a Vienna via DL/AF/KL Y
VXFarewell: An avgeek's first VX experience on the last ever VX flight!
A Fine City: Singapore (+Malaysia) via DL/AA/CX/JL/WN Y/MCE
Denver Weekend via WN/AA Y

If not, welcome! My name is Jeremy and I’m a sophomore at Arizona State University.

Introduction
Well folks, it’s been a year since my first trip report that I’ve posted here at Flyertalk. And now I’m here with my 11th one, in just a year! This trip was a decision made on a bad day at work, where I realized I needed a literal escape from my environment to celebrate. I asked my friends to come with me (as they had talked about a trip for my birthday) and surprise surprise (not), they ended up bailing. Oh well, who needs them right? I had a spectacular, relaxing birthday on my own.

In this trip report:
I. DL5779 PHX – LAX
II. A Dreamy LAX Day
III. DL5727 LAX – PHX

Monday, July 23

This trip was entirely a secret from just about everyone in my life. Unfortunately, I couldn’t exactly leave my house without my parents recognizing my car missing, so I employed my brother to drive me to the airport at 4:30AM. Wow, my brother not being selfish, what a strange concept! Security was quick and easy as always, and I just love how the T3 renovation is going in PHX.

I. DL5779 PHX – LAX
DEP 06:00 // ARR 07:30
Embraer E-175 (Compass Airlines)

As I’ve mentioned in other reports, I fly on these Compass E-175s all the time to and from LAX. Service is always a hit or a miss, and these planes are usually aging horribly, never have functioning APUs, etc. It’s frustrating. This morning was a miss. Water and coffee were served in half empty (yes, not half full) cups alongside the gluten free cheddar snack mix. This was just dismal compared to other flights I’ve had. Luckily, we did get a nice sunrise view!


The flight itself was uneventful, I mostly slept.

II. A Dreamy LAX Day
As a donut connoisseur, I thought it best to start my birthday with some donuts from none other than the famous Randy’s Donuts. I had a Nutella donut and a glazed one, both of which were quite fantastic.


After the donuts, I hailed a Lyft to get me over to Santa Monica, the place I tend to spend most of my time in whenever I’m in Los Angeles. It was a loooong drive in LA traffic, but eventually I made it to Dogtown Coffee, a great coffee shop within walking distance to the beach. I had a breakfast burrito and the Dogtown Cold Brew, which is mixed with caramel and covered in a foam. It was fantastic coffee to say the least.


Afterwards, I went to the Santa Monica Beach to relax a bit. I actually sent my parents this photo with the caption “Not too bad of a view for my birthday!” They were understandably confused. This had also thrown a wrench into my dad’s plans to have me run some errands, and into my mom’s plans who hoped for a family birthday dinner. Oh well!


I spent several hours on the beach before deciding it was best to head indoors. I also made the tragic realization that in my discreet search for sunscreen in my house the day before my trip, I had taken SPF 20 shimmer effect sunscreen. Oh my gosh was I sparkly AND burnt. Being sunburned seems like a typical characteristic of me in my trip reports, I ought to change that.

I threw my clothes back on and wandered over to Third Street Promenade, where I bought some clothes. I then wandered over to STRFSH, a new fish sandwich restaurant by the Voltaggio brothers. It just so happened that LA Restaurant Week was going on, so I was able to get a cheaper sandwich and ice cream! It was absolutely phenomenal, and the fries were killer.


I continued to roam around the area in the mean time. Eventually, I decided it would be best to head to one of my favorite places in LA, the In-N-Out on Sepulveda Blvd under the approach. I pulled out Flightaware on my phone and tracked the heavies as they came in. No matter how many times I watch those planes come in, I am still awe-struck. I love it! I then wandered over to the airport and took the shuttle over to TBIT to kill time before my flight. I love TBIT so much, I’m always fascinated by all the flights coming in and going all over the world.


III. DL5727 LAX – PHX
DEP 21:00 // ARR 22:31
Embraer E-175 (Compass Airlines)

Another day, another Compass Airlines E-175 flight. This one, unlike the morning, was a hit! After serving first class, the first class FA helped out in economy. A full drink and snack service was performed, which was above and beyond anything I had experienced for. And it was certainly a fitting end to a fantastic birthday! My brother picked me up from the airport and I went home, all ready to go back to reality at work the next day.

Thanks for reading! I welcome any and all feedback.

gaobest