#26 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
833 reviews
Let's take a quick break from the around-the-world luxury tour and turn the focus to my latest trip I just got back from.
With a plan to visit every country in the world, 75/195, I decided it was time to keep exploring the world and visit a couple of new countries. My itinerary for this weekend away from college would entail a Delta Airlines flight down to Guatemala, a flight onboard a TAG aircraft to El Salvador, and lastly a United 737-900 from El Salvador back up to LA.
This was certainly an interesting flight seeing as it was a brutal red-eye packed to the brim. However, Delta Airlines made it as comfortable as possible and a lot better than the return I did on United Airlines.
Flight prices were relatively cheap, which was one of the reasons I decided to head down to LATAM for the weekend. A basic economy fare was sitting around 79 dollars while a standard economy was around 120$. Seeing as I had some Skypesos lying around, I opted to use them instead. I booked into the main cabin which meant I could select a window seat for free.
While this isn't the best use of points out there, I didn't mind as I have no use for Delta SkyMiles at all.
There was an option to upgrade at one point for 296$, although I decided against it as this was a budget trip. If it was a lie-flat seat though, I might have decided to go with it?.
My class was let out early at 9:20, which meant I had a little bit more time to spare than if I was let out at 9:50. Thankfully the traffic wasn't too bad from OC until we got to LAX.
However, as always the arrivals line was packed which meant I didn't arrive at check-in until 10:22. Boarding was supposed to commence at 10:40?.
LAX needs a better system, if I had a dollar for every time I was caught in traffic either arriving or departing, I would be a millionaire.
Once my friend dropped me off at Terminal 2, I made my way inside to check in. It was dead at this hour but since I had no status and was flying economy, I had to wait in line behind a few people to get my passport verified.
I'm not a fan of this and wish there was a way to speed up this process…
Not that it mattered since it took about 5 minutes. The check-in agent was friendly and within no time I had my boarding pass, on the way to security.
There was a sign which said "TSA PRECHECK", so I followed that which took me upstairs.
Yes, they didn't open it up so I had to walk around all of these. It's good though, as I get my steps in for the day!
Until I finally arrived at the checkpoint. Interestingly, someone with TSA precheck was denied entry and was told to go to the main line. Apparently, there is this new thing where some people will get denied. I didn't hear too much of the interaction but it was fascinating.
I made my way through and was plane-side by 10:40 pm.
I grabbed a couple of bottles of water from the local shop, 6$ each… Can't be mad really, it's airport pricing.
Boarding was slightly delayed until about 11 o'clock. There were no announcements or anything until they called for people with status and then First Class. Our gate 20, was packed to the brim with a completely full flight tonight.
Finally, they called for Main Cabin 2 which I was in today. The machine scanned my face and I was on my way down the jetbridge!
There was a short wait to board the aircraft, which wasn't an issue as I had nowhere else to go ?. I finally made it on, walking past Delta Comfort+.
Finally, I found my seat, 25F.
At 11:25 the captain came on to announce that boarding was almost complete and we would hopefully push back a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.
Well, that didn't happen. There was a medical emergency onboard which meant they had to reopen the cabin doors and offload the bags. I wouldn't say that medical emergencies happen a lot on this flight but the majority of the passengers were of the elderly population. Not the end of the world since I was going to land at 7 am anyway.
At 5 past midnight, we pushed back from gate 20.
Where we had a long taxi around the whole airport to 25R… I mean can we not just use 24L?
We took off at 12:42, almost an hour behind schedule due south to Guatemala City.
This Delta 757-200 is configured with 20 seats of First Class in a 2-2 configuration, as well as 179 economy (inclusive of comfort+) seats arranged in a 3-3 configuration.
Upon sitting down at my seat I found legroom to be okay. At the end of the day, it's economy on a US carrier, I can't ask for much more.
There was a button to recline on the side of the seat, which I did not use as I always feel bad for the people behind me.
Other than that, there was a USB charging port under the TV and a headphone jack. A very simple seat but it did the job.
In front of my seat lay a television which I like to see on US carriers. My flight back on United Airlines did not have one…
There were plenty of options for today's flight which included Oppenheimer!
And some other fantastic movies. Honestly, I just wanted to sleep but I had to take a few pictures for the review ❤️.
I believe Wifi is offered but if you have read my reviews, you will know I don't usually engage in the Wifi offerings.
The main IFE was the turbulence we experienced flying tonight. It was brutal with the wings flapping like that meme… You know this one. Looking out the window at one point the 757 wing all over the place ?.
Luckily, we descended to 27,000 feet and found some smoother air. Thanks, Pilots!
Delta only offered a snack service during this flight which consisted of some nuts or Biscoff cookies. I adore with all of my heart, Biscoff cookies. They also offered each passenger a drink but I was half asleep so stuck with my cookies and then went straight back to bed.
Regarding overall service, I didn't have too much interaction with the crew. I was asleep most of the flight but the moments I saw them they seemed alright. Nothing over the top and nothing bad.
I was happy that the pilots kept us updated regarding the delay so props there to Delta.
At about 6:20 am the pilot woke me up (he didn't tap on my shoulder don't worry) by announcing our descent into Guatemala City. I was so happy I woke up as when I looked out of the window I saw this..
It felt surreal this morning, I was almost thankful for the delay. The view continued and got better as we approached Guatemala City. Spotting Mount Aqua, Pacaya, and Acetanango.
Just some more pictures for those to swipe through.
We had an interesting approach this morning as we had to fly over the airport and then do a 180. I believe this is due to the elevation around the airport as we were quite close to the ground.
We touched down at 6:55 am local time.
Where we had to do a 180-degree turn at the end of the runway…
And pull into the terminal.
We eventually arrived at Gate G4.
To be honest, de-planing took a lot longer than it should have for no reason. However, I finally got off the plane at 7:15 am bound for immigration. I walked by the First Class section, glad I didn't upgrade.
I made my way to the money changer and changed 100 USD to the local currency. A horrible exchange rate so I recommend bringing about 600 of the local currency for a taxi to Antigua. It should only be 400 but just in case bring a little more.
At immigration, people were clueless, even though there were signs and a QR code. I was the 5th person on our flight to go through. No visa or anything, it was a seamless experience.
5 minutes later I was in a taxi to Antigua! More on that soon!
Thanks for reading! If you are interested in what Antigua is like feel free to check out my website at:
Jettoajet.com
While it was a flight in economy with a US carrier, it wasn't that bad. The service was fine from what I saw and the pilots kept us in the loop. The seats had adequate legroom (not as good as Jetblue) with personal televisions and the crew came around to give out headphones (like the earbud ones). It was a relatively short flight of only 4 hours and 8 minutes. I would say overall, it was a decent offering by Delta. However, they will never become my airline due to the SkyPesos currency.
1 Comments
Thanks for sharing!
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