Due to a silent flight cancellation, my flight from Salt Lake City to Dallas-Fort Worth would have only a 19 minute connecting time, so I opted to re-route through Detroit instead. The new itinerary takes my girlfriend and I from San Diego to Detroit directly, and then from Detroit to Atlanta, and then on to Raleigh.
The nice thing about having a 3 hour layover in Detroit is my girlfriend can knock out her Global Entry interview! Boston, the other airport we frequent, is apparently backlogged through early 2017, so it’s nice to be able to do this before our trip this Christmas.
Though this offer started a couple of months ago, Southwest’s targeted offer is still ticking! You do need to register for the offer prior to travel, but receiving a Companion Pass through the end of 2017 for 5 round trip flights is a steal! The trips need to start or end in California, and they need to be Southwest flights, naturally.
The qualifying airports are spread out nicely, so it’s fairly reasonable in that regard as well:
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. 😀
Conveniently labeled!Longest member of the narrow-body A3xx familyOne 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!None of that low-flow nonsense!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
Auto-rotate optionPinch to zoom!
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!Sans glare.Close-up of the Rouge A321
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.
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.
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
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
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.
Ever on the quest for status, I am taking my girlfriend to San Diego for a week later this year. With some creative routing we will be taking four flights each way, so it’ll go a decent way in making sure I maintain my Diamond Medallion Status with Delta.
I also plan to take advantage of Citi Prestige’s 4th Night Free benefit to book my stay at the Hyatt Regency near Sea World. This will help me maintain my status with Hyatt as well as help me take advantage of their current promotion! Since all five nights are paid for, I’ll get points both from the initial stay as well as from the promotion.
I will also be routing us through DFW to take advantage of the Centurion Lounge there! Nothing like a free gourmet meal! 😀
To maintain my status with Delta, I like to plan creative routes when traveling. For my trip to Sacramento this week, I opted to fly from Raleigh to Atlanta, Atlanta to Los Angeles, and Los Angeles to Sacramento (instead of to Salt Lake, and from there directly, for example… or directly from Atlanta… or many other options).
737-900 First Class
My first flight of the day was on one of Delta’s 737-900s. Though the seats are quite comfortable, and the in-flight entertainment console is crisp, the air-flow in the cabin is horrendous. Older 757s and even 717s have much more directed air pressure, allowing you to remain cooler. Extremely important when you’re in the South!
First Class on a 737-900737-900 In-Flight EntertainmentOutlets, outlets everywhere!
757-200 Thrust Reversal
My second flight, the longest leg, was on a 757-200. Unfortunately I didn’t get upgraded on this leg (I didn’t really expect to, since I was flying out of Atlanta). The nice thing about this was my seat was immediately in front of the engine. This allowed me to capture the thrust-reversal upon landing in LAX!
All 757-200s use one of two engines (one of which has two variants):
According to the Delta Museum, and using FlightRadar24 to cross-check the tail-number based on flight number, I confirmed that my 757-200 was using the PW2037.
Now for some background on thrust reversal! The purpose of thrust reversal is to take some of the engine’s thrust and direct it forward instead of backwards. This allows for shorter landing distances, less wear on brakes, and make for an all around safer flying experience. If you listen after landing, you will hear a loud woosh – that is the thrust reversal process. The Wikipedia article above identifies three types of thrust reversal mechanisms available for jet engines:
Target
Clam-shell
Cold Stream
Purdue released a very helpful visual guide to differentiate between the three, as well as an explanation of where the thrust actually goes! Since the PW2000 series is a high by-pass engine, the cold stream type is what we would expect, and as you can see it is indeed what is happening:
At the gate in ATLThrust Reversal!
Arizona Meteor Crater
And now, a brief reprieve from AvGeekery. 😉 Very brief.
En route to Los Angeles, we crossed just south of the Barringer Crater! You can see it up and to the left of the engine intake, below.
Barringer Meteor Crater
Plane Spotting!
Upon Arrival at LAX, I made my way to the SkyClub in the middle of Terminal 5. From one of the seats along the window, I was able to see planes arrive and depart. Given LAX’s traffic, I got to see quite a few wide-bodies, as well as one of Alaska’s 737-900ERs! Lucky, on his blog “One Mile at a Time”, has a very nice guide on differentiating between different variants of wide-body aircraft. Simply put, it largely comes down to the number of wheels, engines, or doors they have. 😉
I tried to find the right version of their seat map on SeatGuru, and have provided links to those, as well. If you find something amiss, please let me know!
After an hour and a half, because the inbound flight was a little late in arriving, I was on my way to Sacramento. It’s not a true visit to LAX without catching a glimpse of the Theme Building!
