Flying into Atlanta means two things: You’ll probably fly on Delta and you’ll
probably pay a premium for a nonstop ticket. But, is it worth it? Are they
really better than United and American? Find out on this short trip report, coming up.
Good afternoon from a very very very busy Cancun International Airport. Luckily though thanks
to my ITA Elite status I was able to join the very short Sky Priority line, even though Delta
still doesn’t know how to link ITA accounts, but that’s a different story altogether.
If you saw the eye watering fare for this one way ticket in the intro, almost $500- please note that
that included a checked bag, a Comfort+ seat, an $80 premium for full refundable and around a $100
premium for being a one way ticket. It’s still overpriced, but that’s how it breaks down.
Head up the escalator to security- Mexico doesn’t have exit immigration-
and you’ll be thrown into what is honestly the busiest airport concourse I’ve seen in years.
I recommend getting here early enough to be safe of course, but not extra early if you can help
it. Seating during these peak times is in short supply, the lines for Starbucks and the Lounge
were so long I gave up on both and small bottles of water in the mini marts start at around $5.
Someone please remind me to never fly out of here on a Saturday ever again.
So, I found my gate and tried my best to stay
within earshot of it while I did a bit of plane spotting.
Watched this 777 pull in just as pre-pre-boarding was called
and smiled when I turned around to see a newly formed mob around my gate. I joined the mob,
as one does, turned off the noise canceling on my headphones and listened to an assortment of people
talking amongst themselves about why they’re supposed to be in boarding group 2 instead of 6,
encouraging their partners to inch forward- their bubbles of course burst moments later.
You know you travel a lot when things like this become part of your inflight entertainment.
Today’s flight was going to take off from Runway
12R and head up to just 35000 feet for the 880 mile hop to Atlanta’s runway 9R.
I originally chose this flight as it was scheduled
to have an A330 on it and it was well timed for a sunset take off.
At least one of those came true as I soon boarded a very fresh looking 3 year old Airbus A321.
These are a long drink of water and I found myself quite comfortably in 14A, a comfort plus seat.
Comfort plus offers around four extra inches of legroom and you’ll be in the first economy class
boarding group so you’ll easily be able to find plenty of space for your 3 oversized carry ons.
Compared to my Wingo flight coming into Cancun these seats were down right luxurious.
Plenty of legroom, what I’ll call a “full size” economy seat, width wise,
an IFE screen… lot’s to like. Let’s take a look at the best and worst places to sit.
In the economy cabin, avoid all of the yellow outlined seats near the bathrooms
or in the last rows for obvious reasons, especially 25D for it’s front row toilet view.
Up front, you’ll find all of the Comfort+ seats, but please note rows 13 and 26.
The exit row window seats are a full inch narrower due to the aircraft door protrusion,
plus the tray tables are in the armrest making it more narrow and their windows are misaligned-
a triple no bueno. So for me, I was happily settled into 14 Alpha.
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The tray table was standard issue and the IFE was well beyond comprehensive,
especially for such a short flight. A headphone and USB port were on the underside.
I took note of the individual air nozzles while the exceedingly friendly crew were doing their pre
flight checks. One of the more friendly crews I’ve had on an American airline in a very long while.
Pushback was around 30 minutes late for a reason slipping my mind at the moment,
but we still arrived ahead of time.
In retrospect, I realize the delay made for a much more beautiful take off, so no complaints from me.
I noticed the very long line of aircraft behind us as we pulled forward to line up for our take
off to the south east before making a butter smooth left turn up to the north. Spool up is
coming up next. The A321 engines always have a distinct bovine sound to them to me- tell
me if you agree or not. And if this is now stuck in your head for life, I apologize.
By
the way,
if you enjoy beautiful sunsets or full length takeoff and climb videos-
or a combination of the two, please check out our new channel Roam Above,
where you’ll be able to see the full length take off video and in-flight sunset from this flight.
Links are in the description below. I thank you in advance for checking it out.
I was so fixated on the sunset that I forgot to take an obligatory shot of my Coke Zero. In
economy, there was a snack and drink service with almonds, granola, biscoff and the like on offer.
Just before starting our descent we crossed the Florida coast,
somewhat ironically directly over Mexico Beach,
with Panama City in the distance. Easy to approach tonight with just one turn to the east.
There’s not a whole lot to see when approaching Atlanta at night,
you can see the downtown in the first distance on the horizon.
We had a very short taxi to our F gate. Unfortunately, there were no immigration
facilities open there- so we had around a 20 minute walk to I believe the E gates CBP.
That’s all there is to write. Now, it’s time for the Flip Flop Score.
Overall it was a fantastic little flight. High marks across the board except for food
selection since there was no actual meal- and and add-on costs since they really do nickel
and dime you almost as much as a low cost carrier. A really pleasant 90/100 overall.
I think I’d be pretty happy in a Comfort+ seat perhaps up to 8 hours. After that, let’s see
what the other options are. I hope you enjoyed this video, if you did- please give it a thumbs
up and subscribe to check out my next flight in First Class on an American Airlines 737 Max 8.