We got to the airport (BOS) later than we liked because of last minute work duties (ugh). We couldn't get confirmed First Class upgrades on either of the BOS-ATL or ATL-SEA legs, so we were waitlisted. The first leg didn't clear and thus we rode in back. It was a SkyDeli flight (I don't know why people hate SkyDeli! You get the same food as if you got a snack but *you* can choose when to eat it, and you have a bag to throw the garbage in when you're done) -- Turkey Sandwich, chips, cookie, apple. The usual. :-). We got into ATL quite late, and we had exactly 23 minutes to go from one end of the concourse to the other. Ahh, nothing like a sprint to get the blood boiling.
We got to the gate at ATL, and checked in at the desk. Turns out our upgrades cleared, so we got to sit in front. The equipment was a 767-300, and we sat in 1E and 1F. Yeah, OK, bulkhead seats, but so what? :-) We pushed back late (typical for Christmas-time) and thus arrived a bit late. Dinner was good ("BBQ Ribs" which was more like roast beef, but the BBQ sauce was good, and "Sea Bass" which my husband said was great). Ice Cream Sundaes afterwards. We didn't watch the movie (ever tried to crane your neck that far? it *hurts!* :-).
Obviously not enough people had read my post "A Holiday Traveller's Plea" because practically everybody had a TON of carryon luggage. The most notable "problems", however, came from "businessmen" toting one or sometimes *TWO* wheeled upright carryons. One guy in particular tried to cram a wheelable carryon suitcase into the *middle* set of overheads on a L1011. Obviously all he did was nearly break the plastic (trust me, he was SHOVING HARD). The F/A came back and made him check it. He was not happy. Tough shit. :-)
The return flight was DL 166, scheduled to leave SEA at 1435. SEA had been experiencing lots of snow, so I called DL at 0700 to check on the flight status and it was scheduled ontime. I then slept in a bit :-). When I got up again at 0900 I called DL, and they said the flight was scheduled to leave at 1545 (a bit more than an hour late), and that as the situation was at the time, we'd have a 12 minute window of a connection in Cincinnati. Ummmm ... no :-).
I asked what our other options were. There was a flight through SLC (which was full), and a flight through DFW (which was even more delayed). Our only other choice was DL 2057, but that was leaving SEA at 1045 ... and we were at least 45 minute drive from the airport. Never mind that, but my mother-in-law (who was going to take us) wasn't home. :-). While we waited for her to arrive, we each jumped in & out of the shower, dragged on clothes (ugh, my shirt was wet until well after we got to SEA), and brought the suitcases up to the front door. When my MIL walked in, I told her that we were going to be walking out again. :-)
We walked out the door just before 0930 (yeah, it took less than 25 min to shower, dress, throw our pajamas into the suitcase, and leave. Aieeee), and got to SEA at 1015 (shhh, we were doing a bit above the speed limit). MIL had less than 1/4 tank of gas, but there was no time to stop! She dumped us at the kerb and we promised we'd call her when we knew what was going on (as it turned out we called her from CVG :-).
We went into the DL first class/medallion lines (this is one of the best perqs! it even beats early boarding, IMHO!). The very good gate agent put us on the standby list ("I've given you a greater standby priority" she said) and checked our bags (tagged for the earlier flight through CVG). Down to the gate we go ... and we get on, with seats 10D and 12E. We get the woman in 12D to swap forward with us (she didn't mind, there was a mother-and-baby next to us, and I suspect the woman thought the baby was going to be loud. As it turns out, the baby didn't utter a peep :-) so we had a pair of seats together. The flight was a lunch flight. Chicken teriyaki with rice, green beans, and carrots, with an indescribable salad, and a REALLY SWEET cake for dessert (too sweet for ME! :-). After we ate and caught our breath, we checked out the layover in CVG ... we were due to land at 1737 and leave again at 1920, so we had well over 90 minutes at CVG.
We landed in CVG on time, and then went to a DL service desk to make sure we were on the standby list (we were, the SEA ticket agent had put us on the list :-), then went off in search of dinner (we were pretty sure we wouldn't be able to upgrade, and only F would get fed on the CVG-BOS leg). The agent at the info desk said that the flight was not full and our chances at standby looked "very good".
Sure enough, we got called for seats. It looked like the seats weren't together (16E & 16F) -- the system schedule said that the flight was a 767-300. I sent hubby off to ask if they could get us two seats together (E & F on a 767-300 are cross-aisle seats). He was bright enough to ask about first class upgrades. Turns out, they could do that, so we got 6C & 6D instead. Much better. :)
While waiting to board, I went over to the service desk and asked about poor DL 166. It was due to arrive at CVG at "midnight 3" (0003). It hadn't even left SEA when we were at CVG!
The plane left about 30 min late, but we didn't care. We boarded and sat down. First class wasn't even full! There were 4 or 5 empty seats (out of 30). We got our snack, and it's one we've had before (no complaints from me, though!). Chicken sandwich, potato salad, potato chips, an apple (with caramel dipping sauce), a chocolate.
We landed in BOS only a little late (massive tailwinds), and we claimed our luggage pretty quickly. I double checked on DL 166 again, and its new CVG arrival was 0045. Boy am I glad we made the earlier flight!
for the acronym impaired: DL/DAL = Delta Air Lines, BOS = Boston/Logan International Airport, SEA = Seattle/Tacoma International Airport, CVG = Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky Airport, ATL = Atlanta/Hartsfield International Airport.