Sunday 2nd July 2017

Waking up and heading out this morning was on the plans. It was the final day of our vacation and both of us did not really want it to end, but we did want to head home (at least Heidi wanted to just see Darcy again). After breakfast at the hotel (one final waffle for the road!) and checking out, we gassed the car and headed out for the airport. With the mess that is LAX we gave ourselves plenty of time. The roads were with us this morning as what is usually a 2 hour drive, turned into less than an hour. We made it to LAX with so much time to spare.

We stopped for some ice cream at Thrifty Ice Cream (found in a Rite Aid, drug store ice cream is awesome!) and then we headed over to Imperial Hill for some spotting for a while. I got to see a few new planes, get some decent photos and Heidi enjoyed some sunshine (as the marine layer slowly burned out). After a while it was time to get back on track to the airport. We topped off the car, and headed back over to the National lot to drop off Buzz.

Back to the terminal area to check in for my second flight of the trip. We were flying home Delta (due to time and price) but they had just moved in LAX. So our flight was going out of Terminal 2 so that is where we got dropped off. Once inside though they made it clear that only International check ins are at T2 and all domestic check ins are T3. Well that is just stupid! So we had to drag the bags over to T3 and drop them off. We decided to go through security at T3 rather than T2 as it was a little bit quieter. Through Pre Check (a bit of a line) and it was back to being in the airport. We took the bus over to T2 so got a free ramp tour on the way.

Over in T2 it was a mess (but then so was T3) there was no help desks anywhere, barely any signage and over all a shit show is the best description. But the terminal was pretty (thanks to Westfield forking out for the upgrades before Delta took over). We found a place to sit down and get some power, relax and wait out the bedlam. After an hour or so our plane showed up so we headed over towards our gate.

Delta Air Lines – DL2515
Los Angeles to Seattle Tacoma
1445-1715
Boeing 737-800 (N390DA)
Comfort+ – Seat 12F

Boarding: 1420 (Gate 21B)
Push Back: 1452
Take Off Roll: 1502 (Runway 24L)
Top of Descent: 1642
Touch Down: 1704 (Runway 34L)
Shut Down: 1730 (Gate A1)

Just before boarding was called I had a chat with the gate agent mentioning that it was a flight with a large stand by list and that all the upgrades to Comfort+ had been completed and if there was a chance of any further upgrades. Next thing I know two new boarding passes were being printed. A little bit later Boarding was called and it was a major shit show! People lining up everywhere, everyone thinking they can get onboard when they shouldn’t. Total bedlam. Thankfully we had the new boarding passes and were heading onboard soon.

We got settled onboard and the flow of people just kept coming. A lot of people mixed up with seats and a lot of back and forth about people apparently sitting in seats that weren’t. Eventually we were able to button up and get ourselves pushed back. It was a quick taxi out of the ramp area to the taxiway but we were in a constant line up. We were onboard a 2ku fitted aircraft so even though it said we could have wifi from gate to gate, I couldn’t get the hook up to settle down till we were almost on the runway. So I stayed offline till we were airborne.

While we were waiting to line up, I started to get a movie selected so that I could enjoy some entertainment on the flight. Movies were included but then I also had a Wifi promo code as well. We took off with plenty of power out over the ocean before turning back over the coast just north of LAX and headed North. I turned on the wifi and got connected and fired up a movie to watch.

About 20 minutes after take off they handed out a snack to everyone in Comfort+. We were happy to buy a snack box each as we had some credit from Amex to use. But they didn’t offer them out for sale at all. Hell we didn’t even get to have any biscoff, they offered one type of snack packet and that is it. Very disappointing.

The flight just kind of went on without a hassle, I watched my movie, hung out on the internet, all the usual things in this day and age. Pretty soon we were crossing into Washington and starting descent. It was pretty easy flight. It was great to be able to just relax all the way home. We had a straight descent into SeaTac and before we knew it we were coming in over Federal Way and Des Moines. We touched down on the far runway and had a long taxi to get over to the gate.

We pulled into one of the holding spots just off the B gates and here we waited. We were in the penalty box because we were early (or the other flight was running behind, not sure which). I had originally turned down an offer for a ride home thinking we would be at the gate quickly. Sadly because we waited so long, we probably could have been picked up. O well!

We were finally into the gate and off the plane. We didn’t have to wait long for our bags (well within the 20 minute time frame) and soon enough we were off to a ride share and home. Within 20 minutes of pulling into the gate, we were home and in our house. That is a good thing right?