Trip Report: @Delta – A321 – ATL to FLL (also feat. @AirCanadarouge)

This weekend, I had the opportunity to fly on Delta’s new A321 from Atlanta to Fort Lauderdale, and being the AvGeek that I am, I took advantage of it! (My first A321 experience, no less; doubly exciting!)

I was already flying to Boston with my girlfriend, so for my return, I routed through Atlanta and Fort Lauderdale before returning to Raleigh (yay segments!). The full route can be seen below. Thanks to my status with Delta, I was confirmed for First Class for all five flights. 😀

Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper
Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper

Exterior

The A321 has two engine options: the CFM56 and the V2500. Both options offer up to a 3,200 nautical mile range with passengers. Delta confirmed they would be using the CFM56 variant for their order.

Conveniently labeled!
Conveniently labeled!
Longest member of the narrow-body A3xx family
Longest member of the narrow-body A3xx family
One of the CFM56-5B powering the A321
One of the CFM56-5B powering the A321

Airbus does have plans for both “neo” (New Engine Operation) and “LR” (Long Range) variants. The A321neo had its first flight in February of this year, but the long range variant will not be delivered until 2019. This variant will allow ranges of up to 4,000 nautical miles, however.

Interior

Delta was focused on customer comfort with the A321 interior, and it shows. More images are available from Delta’s website with information on the new storage option from Airbus. My favorite feature? Working air vents. It is a pet-peeve of mine from Delta’s 737-900ER (and some of their refit 757s), so I was excited to have actual airflow! It’s particularly important in the South, where it gets well above 90°F in the Summer.

Roomy!
Roomy!
None of that low-flow nonsense!
None of that low-flow nonsense!
110V Plugs and 5V USB
110V Plugs and 5V USB

With 5 rows of First Class and another 5 rows of Comfort+ seating, there is a fair amount of space available. First Class seats are 21 inches wide while others are 18 inches. There is a 3 inch difference between each of the three classes: 30-31 for Economy, 34 for Comfort+, and 37 for First.

The in-flight-entertainment console was surprisingly intelligent, which was a pleasant surprise. I was able to skip through a movie by dragging my finger across (instead of fighting with fast-forward and rewind), and was able to pinch-to-zoom on the map!

IFE Greeting
IFE Greeting

2016-09-11-a321ife03 2016-09-11-a321ife02

Auto-rotate option
Auto-rotate option
Pinch to zoom!
Pinch to zoom!

2016-09-11-a321ife06

Overall, this plane excels in all the areas a flyer would look for, offering a quiet and quick ride to your destination. I look forward to the A321 being introduced to other routes!

Fort Lauderdale

When I stopped by the SkyClub at Fort Lauderdale, I knew my flight to Detroit was delayed — Delta both emailed and texted me with this. However, the agent checking me in noted this and rebooked me on an earlier option so that I would be sure to make my connecting flight from Detroit to Raleigh. Additionally, she asked for descriptions of my checked luggage and made sure all three pieces would be transferred to my new flight. She really went above and beyond, there — though I’ve been rebooked like this before, I’ve never had an agent make sure my luggage was moved over. This degree of customer care is why I stay loyal to Delta.

AirCanada Rouge A321

Though this post is about Delta, as I got situated on my flight from Fort Lauderdale to Detroit, I noticed we were docked next to another A321! This one operated by AirCanada’s Rouge service.

AirCanada Rouge A321!
AirCanada Rouge A321!
Sans glare.
Sans glare.
Close-up of the Rouge A321
Close-up of the Rouge A321

San Diego Update

A few days ago, I posted about my upcoming vacation plan to San Diego. Since then, I went ahead and booked the flights and hotel.

The Flight

I followed through my plan to maximize my segments by flying through Dallas-Fort Worth, allowing me to snag 8 segments on a single trip. Though it requires some early morning flights, it does allow for visiting the Centurion Lounge at the airport, which will make the whole process a more pleasant experience.

Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper
Courtesy of Great Circle Mapper

The Hotel

For the stay, I made the reservation at the Hyatt Regency Mission Bay Spa and Marina. This allows me to take advantage of the current Hyatt promotion and work on my Hyatt status at the same time.

Current Hyatt Promotion
Current Hyatt Promotion

Because of the hotel’s location, it seemed an excellent choice for a base of operations to explore what San Diego had to offer – SeaWorld, the San Diego Zoo, downtown, and more.

Cathay Pacific A350, by @tangerinelondon

For the A350-900 XWB (eXtra Wide Body) aircraft, Cathay Pacific reached out to Tangerine, a design firm from London. They focused on the economy cabin primarily as the bulk of the seats (more than 75% of the seats on the A350-900) fall into this category and worked from there. In addition to blending Hong Kong’s history into the cabin design, Tangerine, came up with an extremely versatile six-way headrest.

Image from Tangerine.net
Image from Tangerine.net
Image from Tangerine.net
Image from Tangerine.net
Image from Tangerine.net
Image from Tangerine.net

As someone who spends a lot of time on planes, this has me understandably excited. Being able to remain comfortable on long flights is invaluable, and Tangerine designed a seat that does just that. In addition to keeping the head and neck positioned properly, there is a fold-down tray to hold a tablet as well as your drink. The images above are from Tangerine’s website.

I hope something similar to this is incorporated across the board. By setting a high standard for the economy Tangerine ensures comfort for all the passengers of Cathay Pacific’s A350 fleet. Again: something I hope more airlines get into the habit of!

Warning – Delta C+ Upgrade “Bug”

I just read about Christine Krzyszton‘s experience with Delta’s Comfort+ upgrade. Delta’s IT has a history of providing an interesting user-experience (both on the ground and while flying), and it isn’t completely clear if what Christine experienced is in that vein or a covert effort to sell more seats.

The way it is currently working, once you receive your Comfort+ upgrade (as the result of a mid-travel flight change), you will be removed from the First Class upgrade list. The good news is, you can call Delta and be re-added. How many individuals would know that they weren’t on the upgrade list for this reason, or know to call Delta to get re-added?

Keep an eye on your flights! Has this happened to any of you?

Current Flight Deals

There are quite a few flight deals available right now – both for domestic and international travel. I’ve listed some of the big ones out below – keep in mind that some of these sales expire quickly!

JetBlue is offering many one-way flights starting at $39! The full list of terms and conditions are available at the JetBlue website.

British Airways is offering triple Avios earned on all flights, which can be quite generous when combined with the AARP discount. Keep in mind that earning is based on fare class and distance flown.

Delta, American Airlines, and United Airlines all have excellent deals from various US airports to Europe. If you have any flights coming up on one of these airlines, it would definitely be a good idea to check out if you can get a lower price.

Virgin Atlantic is offering a 30% discount for Economy and Premium Economy tickets! This makes for affordable flights, though be warned that these award tickets do come with some hefty fuel surcharges (in the £200 range for Economy, and £400 for Premium Economy).

Finally, American Express has released some new offers, one of which is a $200 discount on Delta purchases of $1000 or more! Remember that you can open a new tab for each AmEx card you have, allowing you to get the same offer multiple times – one of my favorite tricks.

Vacation Report: Kansas City, Arrival

Kansas City: Arrival

Kansas City: Grünauer

Kansas City: Renaissance Faire & Jack Stack BBQ

KCI Approach with 8 second exposure
KCI Approach with 8 second exposure

Arriving at MCI (or KCI, depending on how you remember the airport – watch out because many signs are KCI, though the IATA recognizes it as MCI), is both like and unlike arriving at other airports. For those that remember flying prior to 9/11, you will recall that your friends and family could escort you all the way to your gate. MCI is designed in a very similar fashion, where security is actually for individual sets of gates for each terminal.

Security at KCI
Security at KCI

This is very different from other airports where the folks seeing you off, or collecting you, won’t be able to see you until you leave the secured area. In fact, there are transparent regions where you can see one another as soon as you get off the plane. Extremely convenient!

Map from FlyKCI.com
Map from FlyKCI.com

Furthermore, the parking is arranged in smaller sections, for each terminal, in addition to longer term parking which can be found in the middle. Each “C” has gates along the outer edge with security for each set of five or so gates. This makes for extremely smooth arrivals and departures. Transfers can be tricky, though, if the gate you are going to is in a different security cluster. The real food options (and gift options) are located outside the secure zone, so this should also be kept in mind depending on what your plans include.

Vacation Report: Kansas City, Grünauer

Kansas City: Arrival

Kansas City: Grünauer

Kansas City: Renaissance Faire & Jack Stack BBQ

20160903-GrunauerEntrance
The exterior
I love exposed beams!
I love exposed beams!

For our second day, we opted for a fairly low-key start as we had been traveling well into the night (not arriving in Kansas City until midnight), and we wanted to be well-rested for our Rennaisance Faire adventure plans the following day. Our hosts mentioned many restaurants but two really stood out, so we knew we had to make time for them. Grünauer and Jack Stack BBQ. For our first night, we opted for Austrian.

Grünauer was founded by an Austrian family, and is still run by the same family. The food is carefully prepared and presented, taking additional care to remain true to tradition. The menu offered a wide variety of options, so we made sure to try a few different things. We started the evening with drinks (a Racing Bird, similar to a spicy margarita), and ordered appetizers: a plate of Austrian meats and fried mushrooms served with tartar sauce.

The Racing Bird
The Racing Bird
Jausenbrettl: Hungarian salami, liverwurst, black forest ham, bierwurst, and mortadella
Jausenbrettl: Hungarian salami, liverwurst, black forest ham, bierwurst, and mortadella
Toast for the meat
Toast for the meat
Gebackene Champignons
Gebackene Champignons

I was very pleasantly surprised by the drink, as I am usually not a fan of tequila, but the citrus flavors combined with the spicy salt (pepper and paprika were involved, I think) blew me away. The liverwurst was surprisingly delicate, while making sure you recognized its presence, and the real surprise was how well fried mushrooms went with tartar sauce. Two things I would -never- think of combining!

For entrees, we again wanted to try quite a few different options. I went with a traditional Austrian farmer’s meal (Bauernschmaus), while others had a Waygu-style beef Goulash, sirloin, Paprikahuhn, and crepes.

Bauernschmaus: Austrian Farmer's Dinner
Bauernschmaus: Austrian Farmer’s Dinner
Schwammerl
Schwammerl
Hungarian Beef Goulash
Hungarian Beef Goulash
Zwiebel Rostbraten: Center Cut Strip Loin
Zwiebel Rostbraten: Center Cut Strip Loin
Paprikahuhn: Chicken Breast with Paprika with Spätzle
Paprikahuhn: Chicken Breast with Paprika with Spätzle

Though the farmer’s plate was described as having bacon, it was truly more in the vein of pork belly. Delicious! The sauerkraut had an excellent flavor and the acidity left meat (served on top of it) tender. My girlfriend and our friends all enjoyed our respective dishes. If you are visiting, you really should make it a point to stop by!

We wrapped up our dinner with a nice cup of coffee, with some of us ordering Melange (a spiced cappuccino) instead. Delightful!

Simple Black Coffee...
Simple Black Coffee…
Or Melange!
Or Melange!