andyjo

Here is a recent trip report. It isn’t as glamorous as my report to AMS but oh well.
This was a spur of the moment business trip. I was called on Friday, June 25th and was told I was leaving for Dallas on Monday and then going to Atlanta for a project. I am in the IT consulting business and our HQ is in Dallas and needed to be brought up to speed on this project and go to ATL for the implementation.

Monday, June 28th
ICT-DFW
AA Flight #3593 (Flight by AA Eagle)
Scheduled Dept:12:27pm
Actual Dept: 12:26pm
Scheduled Arrival:1:42pm
Actual Arrival:2:02pm
Equip:CRJ-700
Seat:6A

Was dropped off at ICT about 1:30 before my flight. The line at checkin was non-existent so I used it instead of kiosks. No problems with checkin, grabbed a bit to eat before my flight, I hate airport food but no other choice, since I didn’t have time to eat after leaving the client site in ICT. Went through security without any hassles and the line there was non-existent as well. This was a pretty uneventful flight since it was so short. Once at cruising altitude a beverage service was started. I opted for a Coke and also a water. A snack mix was also handed out. During descent the captain informed us about a hold procedure due to lighting at DFW and all ramp operations were halted. We made a couple of circles in the sky for our holding pattern. The storm left DFW and we were allowed to land. It was raining in DFW. Once on the ground there wasn’t a gate for us so we waited some more. The CRJ found a home after a bit and we arrived in the terminal, I believe it was Terminal B sorry for not getting a gate number. I then proceeded to the baggage claim. When I arrived I thought I recognized a guy standing there. You know how you get that feeling that you think you know a person but aren’t sure. He soon saw me and waived, I made my way over to him and sure enough, it was my HS Football coach. He is now moved up in the world and coaching for a HS outside of Ft. Worth. As you know Texas is all about football, and he agreed. It was fun to see him again and we talked awhile. Anyway my bag arrived not long after, and I made my way to the Avis shuttle. Took the Avis shuttle, “The Love Bus” as the driver called it. He was quite a character, spoke poor English but he was pretty funny. Didn’t have any problems getting my rental car that the company already had setup. Made my way from the Airport to our office in Las Colinas. While in Las Colinas I stayed at the Wyndham Garden-Las Colinas. Before my trip I made sure to sign up for Wyndham ByRequest, which offered free high-speed Internet as well as other benefits. It was worth it, as requested I had a snack, water, and OJ awaiting me with a little note from the manager. Also all local and LD calls were free as well. The Highspeed Internet worked well also. It was worth the short time it took to sign up for this and I would suggest this to anyone staying at the Wyndham properties.

I spoke with our travel person at work and she sent me my itinerary for the Atlanta trip. I was shocked to see the flight departure to ATL, 5:35am!!! She kept apologizing to me but said this was the only flight on such a short notice that would put me in ATL before noon. I understood and went on. Atleast I wasn’t staying far from the airport.



Wednesday, June 30th
DFW-ATL
Delta Flight #992
Scheduled Departure:5:35am
Actual Departure: 5:36am
Scheduled Arrival:8:48am
Actual Arrival:8:50am
Equip:757-200

No one should be up this early for a flight!! Left for DFW 1:45 minutes early to drop off rental car. Took the shuttle back to the airport, I was the only person on it at this time in the morning. Went to the Delta checkin area. Used the self-service kiosk, using seatguru.com’s suggestion. I was able to secure a exit row seat, 27B. I was happy to see I could get this seat. The kiosk printed my boarding pass and the baggage agent called my name soon after. After bag was checked I then went through security. No line at this time so it was hassle free. Went to Burger King which was just opening up. Grabbed some food, and then once done I proceeded to the gate. Boarding was called shortly after, and was done by Zones. My zone was called and I went to board. When the gate agent scanned my boarding pass the machine displayed random security check, I thought oh boy, but he just said go on and board. This was my first time on a 757-200 so I was excited to be on a new plane to me. As you know boarding on a single-aisle aircraft of this size is slow and bothersome. Some people acted like they have never flown before, which may be true, but they took forever. Once I made it to 27B I was impressed by the leg room. I am 6’4 and I had plenty of room. Almost comparable to First pitch. I could stretch my legs out without my knees hitting the seat infront. Thanks be to Seatguru.com, I love this site!!!. Once everyone was done boarding which seemed to take forever we pushed back and taxied straight to the runway for takeoff and were #1 for takeoff this morning. I slept the whole flight, which is the only time I have been able to actually fall asleep, except for my flights in CO BusinessFirst.. . Beverage service was the only thing served, but since I was asleep I didn’t partake. Flight was smooth and we landed on time in ATL. Went to South Terminal and parked at Concourse A. Followed a military personnel out beyond security and he was greeted by a lot of people with the USO. The all cheered and gave him hugs. It was great to see this and hopefully this kind of greeting will continue. Went to baggage claim and my bag arrived eventually. I then went to Avis rental car shuttle and was dropped off at my car since my company passed on my Preferred Service number. This saved a lot of time. This was my first time in ATL. I then proceeded to my hotel, they booked me at Courtyard-Marriot in the Glenridge Perimiter area. This was an average business hotel, king size bed and they also offered free high speed Internet.

After some confusion about the dates that I was suppose to arrive I was able to take the rest of Wednesday and all of Thursday off, and my departure was suppose to be for Thursday as the work I was doing was suppose to be done on Wednesday, but I wasn’t able to do the work until Friday morning, long story. So I spent Thursday exploring ATL. I went downtown to the Underground Atlanta. This wasn’t very impressive or was it inviting to a tourist or anyone for that matter, lack of security and lots of people just hanging out that didnt look like the friendliest people either. Went to the Centennial Olympic Park, the site of the 1996 Olympic bombing,this was interesting to see the different quilts and sculptures also with a memorial to the bombing victims. Had to stop at Atlanta Downtown Hooters of course to see the scenery here..not bad at all,got some hotwings here. Then went to the Hard Rock across the street to get a t-shirt for my collection as well as one for the girlfriend so she cant say I never get her anything.. . Before I left the hotel I checked my seat assignment, I was at seat 11A. Looking at seatguru on this particular plane row 8 was suggested for a little more legroom, sure enough 8A was open and available I was able to secure it. Surprised that I was able to change to a exit row before check-in. I was able to get the work done Friday morning and made my way to the airport. Left about 2:30 hours early and I was glad I gave plenty of time.

Friday, July 2nd
ATL-ICT
Delta Connection Flight #4177(Operated by ASA)
Scheduled Departure:4:05pm
Actually Depature:4:50pm
Scheduled Arrival:5:25pm
Actual Arrival:6:00pm
Equip:CRJ
Seat:8A

Arrived at the airport and returned the rental and was taken promptly to the Delta checkin. Used the Self Service Kiosk and boarding pass was printed. Took my bag to baggage agent and she tagged it. I then had to take it to baggage security myself and they took it away. Upon looking at my boarding pass I saw the dreaded “SSSS”. When at security the lady asked “Are you aware you have been selected?” I responded yes I saw the SSSS. She pointed to a man and said go down that corridor. There was quite a line, but after talking to some people in the line they said that this is nothing. Once the security line went clear outside the building and down the street. After about 45 minutes I was at metal detectors. Placed my laptop and bag on the conveyor and went through the detector. Once on the other side I was checked over with the wand, and they had to take my Doc’s because they had metal. Once this was all done, I took the train to Concourse C. Had to stop at Ben and Jerry’s as we don’t have one close to Wichita. Went to gate C24 and this was a ground gate. This is the first time I have had to go outside and board the plane on the tarmac. Once at the gate shortly before 4:00pm I received a flight departure change to 4:20pm. About 5 minutes after that an announcement was made and they relayed the departure change. This was due to the fact that the APU on the RJ was broke and they needed to locate a Remote APU to use. About 20 minutes later boarding was announced. Made my way to seat 8A, and once again Seatguru.com was right. This row did have a little more room. It was enough to make a difference. I told my seatmate about Seatguru.com, he said he wasn’t sure how he got on this row, but it was better than the rest. Once everyone was on board the captain came back in the aisle and said more troubles with the APU. They were having a hard time getting the engines to start, but cool air was being flowed through the plane which helped. Also the FA passed out cool bottles of water which was nice. Once engines started when then taxied out. ATL was very busy. We sat on the taxiway for another 20 minutes. The FA passed out ice cold cloths, which was also very impressive. Once we made our way up to the runway we finally took off. The captain was very apologetic and he too wanted to get to ICT as this was his last flight of the day. At cruising altitude beverage service was started. I had a CranApple and the snack mix. On the FA’s way back to the front another round was offered and I accepted. This was a nice change. Maybe due to the delay, not sure as I haven’t flown ASA before. The captain was able to make up some time in flight and before long we were on approach to ICT. We landed without incident and went straight to the gates. When you get off a plane that doesn’t use a jetway and walk down those steps it does kind of fell like you have your own private jet..dreaming..back home to ICT. Bags were delivered eventually and I was picked up shortly after.



All in all not bad flights, not the most exciting trip report around but hey who cares.