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A little while I go I had a post talking about flying for a few days just to visit a lounge. I mean, why not? My review of the Centurion lounge is on the way soon as well as my visit to the Westin in DFW but for now let me cover my trip back and forth as it is an adventure on it’s own.
If you are a long time reader you know I happen to live in the best place on the planet to fly our beloved airline. Why? Clearly South Bend is a great area to live but beyond that I have SBN near by (i.e. about a 30-ish minute drive from home). But, AZO or Kalamazoo is just over an hour from home. After that I have FTW about 1.5 hrs away. Then it gets really good. In the 2 hr range I have GRR, LAN, MDW. Some have tolls some do not. If we push it to around 3hrs from home I get ORD, DTW, IND & MKE & FNT to choose from. That is a lot of airports served by Delta and Delta mini-jet out sourced “fake Delta paint” jet connections! Me likeeee. (I totally understand if you are making plans to SBN now).
Anyway, on to this latest trip / run / experience. Why the trip. While I have been to the Centurion club in Las Vegas I had not been to the one in Dallas. Plus, I had been targeted (I know shocking right) with the LGA 2x promo that required ANY flight to anywhere after registering. As is typical with Delta “IT”, the best source for Delta information – Delta.com, it did NOT show that I was registered. I called and was told by a rep that I was 100% registered and got the supervisors name and such and was told not to worry (I so wish that was comforting). So I booked this trip.
The price was not all bad at $326. Oh, that and I had $150 in vouchers so the price was down to $176. I paid that balance with my Barclay’s Arrival+ card! But cost breakdown comes later.
I do like AZO other than the fact that they have a flat $9 per day economy parking price. SBN, if you pick the UBER cheap lots, is just $8 per day. AZO is small just like SBN and I do like that the flight to DTW is only 18 minutes wheels up to wheels down vs the 29 minutes flight from SBN. Hey, any reduced time on a CRJ is a HUGE perk!
I then connected to my ride up to MSP before heading back south to DFW. One thing that surprised me, in a good way, was the GA came onboard to pull a medallion who had boarded from coach and give them their upgrade. WOW – I was impressed as most GA’s, I have found, will pull a “Shena” and not upgrade a Medallion after boarding. Oh, and I also left my headphones on the jet, and was blown away by the great Delta customer service.
My return tip, like my outbound, had cleared to 1st class at the 6/5 day window. Being a Diamond Medallion, as well as holding the Delta AMEX Reserve “Airline Travel Card” is nice when it comes to upgrades & flying 1st is so much better when mileage running. Once again on this segment a GA came onboard to pull a medallion from coach up to 1st class. I don’t know if a memo has gone out but I was just shocked to see this happen, not just once, but twice on my trip. Huge Kudos Delta for doing what is right.
All my flights were full but not oversold so no bumps this time. I landed in DTW and then THIS happened resulting in a total airport lock-down that delayed me by almost two hours but it could have been worse and it was NOT Delta’s fault and they did all they could to make it better. Well done Delta. Lastly my bird from DTW to AZO was an ERJ-145. Give me a 145 exit row over a CRJ-200 any day. Not great, but way better!
Overall this was a great and fun trip and the flights were, other than the last one, on time and service was great. I did, as promised by Delta, get full credit under the 1st flight of the LGA 2x promo. Here is how the numbers worked out:
- Base price $326 – $150 ETV = net $176
- Used Arrival+ points to pay that so my personal CPM = ZERO
- With LGA bonus earned 5,760 MQMs free
- Also picked up 12,460 Skymiles (including LGA bonus) free
This will be the only LGA promo flight I do and it did make overall a very nice haul of points to add to my totals for the year. An eventful bit of flying and I cannot wait to share the details about my visit to the Centurion lounge tomorrow – René
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Might want to consider taking a flight through LGA now that you activated it… DEN-LGA-AUA-LGA-AUA in 1st as low as 5.2cpm…(aka 17,900 mqm for $947)
@Paul – I really want to but am so smashed during promo time and have already booked a TON this year. This one worked!
Re: “pull a Shena” – I know the FT cognoscenti prefer to see conspiracies everywhere, but In my experience, pulling a Medallion from the back is very much the rule, rather than the exception. A lot depends on how tight the connection is, and Delta’s official policy, IIRC, is that once you board, you forfeit your place on the UG list (while allowing the GAs to retain the order, as long as they’re being consistent), so when they’re trying to push the door shut, I think they’re doing the right thing by leaving the already-sfeated, rather than seat-jockeying.
We think we live in the “best place on the planet”. I bet you mean FWA, our ‘home port’ 35 minutes from God’s country. (NW Ohio Buckeyes)
I was upset to not be included on the LGA 2z bonus…..
After it was announced I had 5 flights that went through there and got 0, as I was not invited for that promotion. Personally, I think that it is unfair of Delta to do that, but I have no say in the matter.
Gregg
On a separate note, I see the GAs coming on a lot to pull someone from coach to get that last noshow seat up front. Once it was even me and I am just a lowly GM.
Gregg
@Gregg – I agree 100% on the promos. I think it stinks. Sweet on the UG’s!
What’s a Shena?
@Don – short for shenanigans
So Shena would be like putting a DL non rev employee in that no show FC seat, instead of bringing up a DM or PM from the back. I’ve seen that done, and when I questioned it, I was told that it’s just easier than moving people and overhead bags around.
@Don – or the GA tells you 1st has “checked-in full” but not the same as “boarded full” so if you are say #1 or #2 on list and wait to be last to board you can sometimes “Shena” the upgrade 😉