Thursday, August 11, 2016
This evening we managed to successfully fly Delta to
Anchorage, AK via MSP. We arrived outside ANC to a comfortable temperature and
steady rain with all our bags about 1:30am. Super 8 Motel by the airport was a
great choice. It was an excellent value at $156.67. They provided free rides to
and from the airport. Tonight’s ride was by Orange Taxi. They provided a
complimentary limited buffet breakfast from 6am to 9am the next morning and a
shuttle van ride back to the airport to pick up our rental car. That’s to let
you know right off it was an OK start.
But back to Delta. We took about a $30 cab ride from the
house to the airport to arrive about 3 hours prior to departure. We stood in
the Sky Priority line for a good 20 minutes before it was our turn and then
about 30 minutes to resolution. Most of that time was the woman at the counter
on the phone with Atlanta trying to figure out what happened and how to fix it.
The computer had “involuntarily downgraded” us due to an equipment change. They
couldn’t and didn’t fix it and while everyone we complained to said Delta would
or should give us a $200 travel voucher each for our trouble and stress this
week, as far as we know no one actually did. I did manage to get bumped back up to First in
3A, and Clay was first on the upgrade list to First in case of no shows, but
Clay was stuck in 6D in Comfort +. The equipment seemed old and the staff all
seemed stressed and snippy so neither of us thought we had gotten anything
special. I was on the aisle and where there would normally be a partition or
curtain between 1st and the next class, there was nothing. The guy behind
me used the back of my seat for a foot rest or calisthenics. For a good part of
the over 2-hour flight our aisle was full of main cabin people crammed in waiting
to use the forward bathroom. I have been rebuffed from crossing the first class
or business class curtain on AA from the first bulkhead seat of economy plus
when I tried to go forward 6 or 8 rows to the front bathroom vs. the length of
the plane to the back bathroom. But I
guess Delta is more egalitarian. It was a free for all on Delta. I don’t know
if it was normal or just the cumulative effect of their couple of days shut
down. Either way while we’re happy to have it over successfully, we wouldn’t
want to do it again. I am typing this up on 4 hours of sleep and a couple of
stressful days so I won’t say any more about it.
I am not sure when photos will get selected and uploaded for
this trip. Check back and eventually they’ll be added at some point even if it
is after we’ve returned home!
