So I just flew TPA to JFK on Delta and had an interesting flight. It was uneventful for the most part, although there were a few things, both positive and negative, that make it worth mentioning. First the negative. Before boarding I decided to take my camera bag out of my carry-on because I knew I wanted to use it during the flight, and since I was in the bulkhead it made sense to me. I go to board and am down the jetway, when the gate agent chases me. She says “Sir, can you do me a favor?” I responded with “Let me guess, consolidate?” She said “yes, please do.” I realize she was only enforcing “FAA regulations,” but I nonetheless decided to explain to her that I just took it out of my bag a minute ago because I’m in the bulkhead and wanted to speed up boarding as we had a late departure. “Sorry sir, you’re limited to two carry-on bags,” she responded. She asked me to step to the side as I placed my camera back into my carry-on, and waited for her to “approve.” Eventually her colleague said “those are big carry-on bags, but I think you’ll be ok.” If any of you are going to chastise me, please don’t tell me they would get fined.
They were nice enough about it so I wasn’t really holding a grudge. And ultimately the outcome was good, unlike a flight I had a while back where my carry-on was legitimately too big but I didn’t want to check my bag, so I decided to “layer” my clothing (on me) to save carry-on space, if you know what I mean. I ultimately won, much to the agent’s chagrin.
Once onboard there were no pre-departure beverages due to the late departure, but the flight attendant in first class was exceptionally friendly. As the door was about to close there were still two empty first class seats. A lady came up from coach as the gate agent was about to close the door and indicated she was on the upgrade waitlist. The gate agent responded “first class is full.” Before the lady could respond the gate agent shut the door. Now that’s pathetic.
The most notable thing about the flight has to be the exceptionally obnoxious people around me. I had an empty seat next to me, which you’d think would translate to a pleasant, relaxing flight, but no. Seated across from me was a lady with a baby and she couldn’t care less about taking care of her. Not only that, but the baby decided to stink up the cabin shortly after takeoff while the seatbelt sign remained on for about 45 minutes. Absolutely deadly fumes. Wonderful. Seated diagonally from me were two people that wouldn’t shut up. And seated behind me was a lady that wouldn’t stop bugging her seatmate. The guy had the patience of a saint, pretending to be interested in every word she said. She was a rich Czech lady that loved all the “bargains” she could find in Tampa, like $300 jeans that would be $500 in Italy!
To top it all off, we got in about 30 minutes early. Well, I should say we made it to the apron 30 minutes early. Then we waited and waited and waited. Eventually we started moving and I thought we were in luck, but as it turned out we were just going to a remote gate. Seriously, a remote gate on a domestic flight? This is the first time in my life I’ve had to get on a bus in order to deplane a domestic flight.
Of course now things are looking up with Club World London City in a few hours…. 🙂
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