It's Sunday so this must be...

I booked my flights and Christopher's office booked his, both on DL of course. Itinerary:

Christopher:
November 6
DL 1035 dep BOS 1020 arr SLC 1342  757-200
DL 1733 dep SLC 1450 arr SEA 1548  757-200

November 14
DL 1047 dep SEA 1310 arr SLC 1605  757-200
DL 1898 dep SLC 1655 arr BOS 2319  757-200

I booked my ticket as a K fare, which at the time was only about $30 more than a non-upgradable L fare. Christopher, on the other hand, was not as lucky. His work was late booking his ticket. As a result, he paid the same amount I did for his ticket, but it was only L. He couldn't upgrade. He flew out and had to sit in back (albeit row 27, the best row in coach on a DL 757-200, as it is an exit row that reclines). I was luckier. During the madness on Saturday I managed to find three minutes to call and secured an upgrade on both legs.

November 7
DL 1035, dep BOS ontime 1020, arr SLC early 1322
757-200, N629DL, 6 FA's (2 F, 4 Y). Seat 4B (originally 27C)

I was up at 0730 and did last minute packing (the bulk of the packing had been done on Guy Fawkes evening, knowing I'd have no time on Saturday to do more than breathe, and I was right. I didn't get home until 2300 and that's after being at work before 0700!). I was out the door at 0830 (much earlier than planned) and at the door of Logan/Terminal C at 0842. I had a smart cabbie. He was of Thai origin and had a thick accent but we still whiled away the quick trip chatting about world affairs.

There were two agents at the Medallion desk and nobody in line, so I was helped quickly. I've given up showing my ETKT receipt (I do carry them of course), choosing to give my record locator, or just show my passport and tell them my flight number. I dumped off my suitcase (a svelte 50lbs), got my boarding card, and was off to my favourite American newsstand Press Relay, where I picked up Games Magazine. Terminal C was pretty quiet. I did note that TWA's check in desks are still in Terminal C even though their gates are now in Terminal B.

Magazine in hand, I went off searching for a phone but what I found was a hoard of unattended luggage. I duly reported it (to a person behind a counter at a store, in retrospect I should have told an airline rep). I then cleared security and went to find a phone to call my parents. I knew better than to call my husband at any point on a Sunday morning, especially when it was just 0630 PST!

The flight was departing from gate C31. I got a seat by the window to wait, but moved shortly afterwards. It was HOT by the window. I felt horribly overdressed in my gore-tex and polartec parka. First Class boarding was called on time at 0950 and I settled down to 04B; my coat was whisked away just after I sat down. The efficient FAs handed out newspapers - a choice of either Investors Business Daily or the Financial Times. Either less business-savvy people travel on weekends or these people were just not newspaper readers. In any case, only one newspaper (IBD) had been taken by the time the FA got back to row 4. I gleefully accepted a Financial Times. I had water for my pre-takeoff drink. Doors were closed at 1017 and we pushed at 1032. Takeoff was from 33L.

The FAs took orders for lunch before pushback. THe choices were beef tenderloin (a popular choice), fish (mahi mahi), and cheese tortellini (I chose this, and was the only person in the whole cabin to choose it). The captain came on the PA to say that the flight would be "80% smooth". I chose not to actually time him, but anecdotally it was much smoother than that. Towards the end of the flight the pilot had the FAs sit due to the not atypical rough approach to SLC, but the approach was very smooth.

I was not blessed with an airline captain rowmate this time (bummer!), but instead had a businessman who was commuting between BOS and SJC. I asked him why he didn't fly AA, and he responded that he preferred to stop en route, and that he preferred flying DL. He said that DL had "always done right by .." him.

There was a double feature movie: Thomas Crown Affair and Wild Wild West. Coach only had to pay once of course (and first not at all!). That announcement made me believe it would be a LONG flight, and it certainly was. Scheduled 5 hours 20 minutes en route. Ugh. This is the first long haul flight in first class I've taken since I got back from England (in business class), and I forgot how LOUSY domestic F is compared to BusinessElite. The seats don't tilt much, the pitch sucks, etc.

The meal arrived and it was all on one tray with no choice of bread (perhaps that's just a dinner thing?). The salad dressing was balsamic vinaigrette and the bread was a garlic stick. Dessert was sundaes served from the galley and in glasses instead of dishes. Glasses were a nice touch - the sundaes are much more colourful when you can se them all down the side. Plates were cleared quickly by 1215 (1015 MST). We crossed the Mississippi at 10:51 MST. I noted that the Captain spent more time in the lav than flying. Obviously the FAs were doing their job of making sure he had enough water!

FAs did lots of water walkthroughs during both movies (I watched Thomas Crown Affair, which was predictably Bond-ish, but not Wild Wild West, as I can't stand Will Smith). After the first movie I did puzzles and listened to my walkman (I couldn't listen to MP3s as my husband had taken the laptop with him!). We crossed Southern Wyoming at 1236 with a revised ETA into SLC at 1322. After the second movie the FAs did an actual drinks service and passed out nibbles. The seat belt sign was lit at 1302, we landed and taxied to C13. Deplaning was through door 1L.

November 7
DL 1035, dep SLC ontime 1455, arr SEA ontime 1548
757-200, N610DL, 5 FA's (2 F, 3 Y). Seat 2B (originally 27C)

I went over to gate C8 to wait for boarding. There was a very long line at the gate, and a woman was bitching for all to be heard that Delta should get more people out to serve the passengers. To top it all off, this woman was the typical "Bin Hog" (in Herb-ese). She had TONS of bags. DL was offering $350 in Delta Dollars to people who wanted to be bumped. Dammit, why was it NOW? I would have loved the "money" but didn't have the time! Boarding was called a few moments late (1425).

We boarded through door 1L. I was a little sleepy so I grabbed a pillow and blanket. Oddly enough, the pillow and blanket were BusinessElite class (large pillow, MONSTROUS blanket), just like the one I had flying AMS-BOS in September. The BOS-SLC flight had the puny coach pillows and blankets. The FAs were slow picking up coats and taking drink orders on this one, but they made up for it in the air. No captain rowmate on this time, either. I had a guy who was going to Alaska instead! Lucky for him, he'd only started out in Montana.

I snoozed after push back and didn't wake up 'til cruise. It was rather a problem, actually, as I never really "woke up" afterwards. My brain was rather fuzzy and I had a hard time concentrating on my puzzles. Rather than try and snooze more I forced myself to wake up knowing that I would have to drive after I landed.

The Captain said there might be bumpiness on descent (that's twice this trip) but rather than force the FAs to sit he just turned on the seatbelt sign early and warned the FAs they *may* have to sit. It never happened. The approach was wonderful. Rainier was gorgeous and it was SUNNY (turned out we only had about three sunny spells all week, one was November 7 and one was November 14!). We came north, banked over downtown, and landed to the south. We taxied over to B7 and parked, deplaning was through D2L. I went to the Avis counter, then to the ladies room. When I got back the bags were coming off the carousel. Mine came along a few moments later and I was off!

We were due back into BOS LATE on Sunday night (2319) and I was hoping we could catch something sooner. I wondered about standby earlier in the day and so kicked off a note to my DL Guardian Angel. He said that none of the earlier flights looked good (the flight I really wanted was SEA-SLC dep SEA 1030 arr SLC 1318, dep SLC 1425, arr BOS 2055. That flight was oversold by seven and eight seats respectively). I was actually quite pleased to see that our SLC-BOS flight (1898) was lightly loaded, with 70 seats available, and SEA-SLC while not as good, was at least not packed, at about 20 seats available). With that in mind, we chose not to stand by for a flight earlier in the day (if only we'd KNOWN.....)

November 14
DL 1047, dep SEA ontime 1310, arr SLC 1603 (2 min early)
757-200, no ship number, 5 FA's (2 F, 3 Y). Seats 27D&E (was 27D&F)

We left my husband's hometown of Steilacoom at 1110, arriving at the BP at 200th & 99 at 1150, followed by the Avis return counter at 1200. Car returned, we were at the Medallion desk at 1210. There were LOTS (6 or 7) people in front of us in line. Each time we come to SEA it seems there are more and more people in the Medallion/First Class line. There were four agents, but things still took a long time.

Christopher and I were on separate PNRs so we actually checked in separately (figuring if we used two agents we could parallel process rather than force one agent to close one record and open the other). I chatted with the agent I had about the SEA-SLC flights. In addition to 1047, there is another 757 flight that leaves SEA at 1225 arr SLC 1515. Two 757-200s within 45 minutes of each other! The agent said that the first one tended to be more lightly loaded than the second (not unusual), but that loads on both of them were "good".

1218 and we were clear of the counter. We made a quick pass through the Museum of Flight store. We'd been at the Museum itself a few days earlier (see Richard Muirden's trip report), so there wasn't much in the store that we hadn't already seen. I was hungry, so we checked out the cafe across from the store, next to the Starbucks. Nothing there looked particularly great (I can get Pizza Hut anywhere!). We kept wandering, walking past the security entrance to Concourse B. The line for security was REALLY long, stretching back a long way. I hoped it would get better before we needed to clear through...

We went down to our old standby, Gateway Cafe, which is outside security near the security checkpoint for Concourse B. When we used to fly NW, we ate at this cafe ALOT. Since flying DL (and being elite and getting upgrades), we tend not to need fueling before we get on board, but I was so hungry I had to have something. There were many yummy things on the menu including our final selection of chicken & dumpling soup. A little tabasco and a few crackers made it a great meal. Christopher had raspberry lemonade and I had milk. It was 1235 by the time we got our food and we made quick work of it. I burned my mouth on my soup (I always eat too fast) while Christopher finished his soup. I made a run to the ladies room, mostly to check out the security line situation. The line had gotten WORSE, actually, so we made the decision to punt on that line and instead go through security at the South Satellite train entrance.

We gathered up our belongings (for the record, we had three suitcases and three carryons on the way back, just one of each on the way out. Our luggage always seems to multiply while visiting Christopher's parents) and headed for the South Satellite entrance. We were almost to the x-ray machine when a woman with a baby couldn't figure out how to hold her baby and put her stuff through the machine at the same time. Argh. Because of that we missed a train. It was 1248 and I was getting nervous...

Through security (FINALLY) and on to the train, taking it two stops to Concourse B. As luck would have it, our flight was scheduled out of gate B9, which is almost at the very end of the B concourse. It was only a short jaunt from where the train dropped us off. By the time we got to the gate, they were already boarding (I don't know what rows, but it was more than just coach), so we walked right on board.

I noted a woman stowing her bags in the overhead above our seat and I wondered if she would be our rowmate. I hoped not. She had lots of makeup and hairspray on and looked to be one of those who BATHED in perfume. As it turned out, she was just being a bin-hog - she stowed her things and proceeded to the very back of the plane!

My DL Guardian Angel had put us in the exit row, in 26D&F (non reclining, but hey), and I was hoping that our flight wouldn't be too heavily loaded and that the seat between us would be empty. According to GA the loads on SEA-SLC was not 100%. We were unlucky, as it turned out, as an Asian-American guy turned up and said "Y'All tooo-geth-ur?". Christopher moved out of 26F and into 26E.

With all of the people walking on late (due to the congestion at security), I never thought we would push back on time. At 1305 the FAs were making frantic "please sit" announcements, at 1308 the aisle was still mobbed, but everyone had sat by 1310 and we pushed at 1312.

We taxied out and took off from 34L. After takeoff, F had a snack service (I know this because there was no curtain closed between F & Y!). We just had drinks in Y - I had two bottles of water, and Christopher had cranberry/apple juice. We were also given the ubiquitous Summer Harvest mix.

Before descent, the FAs helped a couple of people who had "close connections" and gave them seats towards the front of the plane. I asked one of the FAs who was doing the reseating what a "close connection" was. She said "30 minutes". She asked if I had a close connection, and I responded "no" (not knowing...). Of course, we did a connection cross-airport at Cincinnati in eight minutes earlier this year. Thirty minutes. Heh. No problem. :-) During the reseating process, the bin hog woman came forward to make sure her stuff wasn't crushed (!). And yes, she reeked of perfume...

We landed at 34L (hey that's the runway we took off from!) and only after we landed did the FAs make the announcements of gate assignments for connections. We were due in at C8 and out of C7, and had 50 minutes. No problem!

We got off through D1L and was behind yet ANOTHER bin hog who asked the red coat where the Boston flight was. The red coat said "C7". We went to the monitors only to see "XLD", and a big red "CANCELLED" next to 1898. AIEEE. We dashed over to C7 and the bin hog was just in front of us, about to check in. I said "it's cancelled, you know". She couldn't believe it. The agent at the desk sent us to gate D1. "We're rerouting all of you through Dallas".

Off we went! I noted in passing that my favourite bagel stand was gone from Concourse C (wahhh). On whizzing by the next set of monitors I noted that the DFW flight was due out at 1620, and it was already 1610! We galloped as fast as we could, pushing past everybody on the moving walkway. I was at my most forceful, not saying "excuse me", but instead just stating "COMING THROUGH". People moved for me. :-)

We got to D1 and BOY there was a line. I left Christopher in line and rang up the DL Medallion line who said that yes, we were protected on the flight, but we had to get seats at the gate. We stood at D1 for a while, and then overheard that we could also go to D2 for reseating. We ran to D2 only to hear the red coat say "just get on board, we're open seating". Back to D1 and we went on board.

November 14
DL 990 sch dep SLC1620 arr DFW 1950 767-300 act pushback 1650 with arr 30 min late
767-300 no ship number, ? FA's, 15D&E

SkyDeli flight, we picked up the bags on the way on board. DL1898 was a dinner flight but our two replacement flights were both snack flights. The snack bag was actually quite good. Turkey and cheddar on multigrain with either low fat mayo or dijonnaise, bag of chips, chocolate chip cookie, an apple, and a Delta 8oz bottle of water.

There were two open seats in 14D & 15D (the dreaded middle seat). I pleaded with the four men in 14C, 14E, 15C, and 15E if one of them would move so that Christopher and I could sit together. The guy from 15E moved to 14E and the guy from 14E slid over to 14D. After scarfing down our SkyDeli meals (it's amazing how hungry one can get schlepping through airports at 90mph), I came up with the bright idea of giving our free movie headset/drink coupons to the two guys who moved for us. I dug them out (we got them years ago, they're rather battered) and gave them to the two guys. They were rather appreciative and amazed how far the certificates had travelled. I'd kept them in our bag in case we ever wanted to watch a movie in coach but not pay for it. Plane movies tend to be not as good to watch as our DVD movies so we rarely watch movies in coach.

It took quite a while for the plane to load, even though they were doing open seating. Right at the end of boarding one of the FAs made a PA announcement, asking for a particular person to gather their belongings and deboard (presumably nonrev). Right after that one of the other FAs flew down the aisle saying "I've got a seat, we've got a lap baby in a seat". So the nonrev got his seat and the lap baby got what his/her parents paid for. :-)

We pushed back LATE, 1655, and actually were not given any priority in taxi or takeoff. The captain estimated arrival into DFW at 2015. He did state that the Boston flight would be held for people connecting to Boston. That was a relief.

I must state right now that DL did a TERRIFIC job with the irregular ops. Even before we landed at SLC we had been protected all the way through to BOS. There were TONS of red coats available to deal with all of the passengers who were inconvenienced. DL could have really dropped the ball, either holding all of the pax in SLC overnight (which would have royally screwed my Monday!), or having not enough agents (meaning not all of the pax would get rebooked), or a host of other options. But they didn't. They did it all RIGHT.

I whiled away the short (2 hr 15 min) trip from SLC to DFW by writing my trip report and listening to music. I'd forgotten what a 767-300 was like in domestic coach. Wow, it was quite different from BusinessElite, which was the last 767-300 we were on! The seats were (obviously) not as comfortable and the leg room (unsurprisingly) sucked. But even though the flight number was 990 and it was a 767-300, we managed to land at DFW without crashing... :-)

We landed when they predicted, 2015, gate by 2021, off by 2028. We were instructed by the agents meeting the flight (once again, there were TONS of them, at least five) to go to the 31/32 (the gate we arrived at) service center for rebooking. There were six agents there, and Christopher and I managed to get there very quickly. While we were with the agent a HUGE line formed behind us. The agent converted our electronic tickets to paper and got us two seats together, 40A&B (nosebleed seats, not our typically "preferred zone"), and sent us packing off to gate 13 for a 2100 departure (it was 2035 at this point).

November 14
DL 1530 sch dep DFW 1950 arr BOS 0024 757-200 act pushback 2110, act arrival 0140.
no ship number, 5 FA's (2F, 3Y), 40A&B

I forgot how awful DFW was to run through. Narrow hallways and lots of slow-moving Texans. We made it to gate 13 anyways and got right on board. Many people from the SLC-DFW flight had gone straight to gate 13 and tried to use their SLC-BOS boarding passes on the flight. The machine spat it right back out and the agent sent them back to the desk. We were on board and sitting down. The plane wasn't very full, but it was VERY hot. I asked the FA in the rear about ground air, and she said it was broken and they knew about it. Bleah. About 15 minutes later (just as I was getting up to ask for water), the gaspers finally started blowing cold air. I got the water anyways. :)

I was expecting this flight to be a SkyDeli flight (since it was a snack) but it clearly was not going to be, as there was no food in bags outside the plane. A girl behind me asked and was told the FAs would be handing out food after takeoff, and that it was "some kind of pita". Gimme SkyDeli any day. :-)

People straggled on board (why weren't they rushing??) and we pushed late, with a revised arrival time in Boston at 0145 (UGH). There are tons of pillows overhead so we had to be creative in storing our carryons. One each went down below, of course, but our jackets and third carryon had to go somewhere. If it had been 30 deg cooler I wouldn't have minded lapping the jackets but not this flight!

Our rowmate came along. I wondered if he was another guy who originally started on 1898, but no. Instead, he started his day in Colorado Springs where the airport had to be cleared because of a security breach. He was rather lucky that DL1530 had been delayed because it meant that he made the flight rather than getting stranded in DFW.

Not long after the guy sat down I realized I was going to have a problem on my hands. He was an armrest grabber (you know what I mean...). After takeoff I found I had a SERIOUS problem. Not only was he an armrest hog, but he also kept extending himself into MY space, reaching his elbows over the edge and jabbing me while I was trying to snooze. Grrr. I would have preferred a prostelyzing Mormon to this guy!

The FAs came around handing out the snack, which was a smoked turkey & american with turkey-bacon on pita sandwich with chocolate chip cookie & chips (both were the same as SLC-DFW!). I had a few nibbles of the pita sandwich but left the rest. Drinks were next, and I predictably took more water. The FAs were handing out free booze and the elbow jabbing armest hogging weenie took a gin and tonic AND a beer. Oh god I hope he doesn't get plastered....

The flight went relatively quickly. I was stuffed into the seat (I hate 757 coach when I only get 2/3 of my own seat!) and was not very comfortable, but I made the best of it. I was hoping we'd make up time en route but it was not to be. We started descent at 0110 and landed at 0135, gate at 0140.

I didn't see any point in hurrying to stand up to get our bags as we were so far back. Instead, I sat and relaxed (for once!) at least until traffic behind row 30 started moving. We arrived at gate 29 and were off and down to baggage claim. The belt started moving as soon as we rolled up but it took quite a while for one of our bags to come off. The second and third took even longer. But hey, our bags ARRIVED, as did we, which meant I could go to Oracle training on Monday morning (albeit sleepy) after using my own toothbrush.

Monday morning I kicked off a note to my GA who told me that the plane operating ONT-SLC suffered a bird strike. The aircraft meant for DL1898 (SFO-SLC) was sent to ORD instead (I suspect because of a higher load factor) and they cancelled ours. DL also cancelled flight 565 on November 15 (as it's the same aircraft as DL1898 the night before).

A good trip overall. Another kudos to DL's irregular ops folks and how they handled our reroutes.

Next trip report: Turkey Day, where I visit Alabama and Seattle all in the span of just a few hours.

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