Brief Report: The Ups and Downs of Delta and Why I love LAN
This is a very brief report on my recent views on Delta as well as LAN. When I have more time in August I might end up righting a full trip report.
Last Monday (18th) I flew Delta from JFK to Atlanta and then onto Lima and arrived on the 19th. Later on the 19th I flew LAN from Lima to Cuzco.
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Delta has definitely fixed up Terminal 2 since the last time I flew out of it in 2002. I was rather rushed through Terminal 3 as well as Terminal 2 since I arrived at the airport 1hr and 45mn before my flight due to traffic and check in ended up taking a while due to an issue with one of our tickets.
My flight to Atlanta was on an ex-Song aircraft which was still in the livery of Song. Boarding was quick and once aboard the aircraft I found it to be very roomy and comfortable which is something I have not experienced much of on a 757-200. The flight attendants were very friendly and the IFE was fantastic. I was also very surprised to receive a complimentary snack (ala jet Blue). I played the trivia game throughout the entire flight which passed the time and I even won one round! Are arrival into Atlanta was smooth and we quickly taxied to our gate and parked next to a Delta Connection CRJ-900.
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Transfer time was an hour and 30 minutes and we made our way from Concourse B to Concourse E within 10 minutes. The airport was not crowded at all for the time of night (11:00pm) and not much was open in the food court at Concourse E. We had Arby's then headed over to the gate. Boarding was quick and I stepped onto the plan to find it quiet crowded and uncomfortable. The aircraft, a 757-200, had been updated with the new blue interior but lacked PTVs. My row was the last row on the ABC side which was not shown as the last row on the Delta seat map. Needless to say my seat did not recline and the legroom was extremely tight. The flight was not very comfortable the entire way down to Lima and the flight attendants were not pleasant and did not show there faces much. There was also quiet a bit of turbulence on the flight which interrupted my sleep multiple times. The only plus of the flight it seemed was the complimentary HOT breakfast which was rather good and consisted of scrambled eggs, potatoes, and bacon. There was no dinner served on the flight which was saddening. While in the galley waiting for the bathroom I heard one of the flight attendants was saying that he would try never to crew a 757-200 on an international flight because it was just TOO small.
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My overall experience with Delta was that the airline is picking up and once the entire fleet is updated with the new IFE and seats, plus complimentary food the flights will be great. I can't believe Delta gets away with a domestically configured 757-200 to Lima from Atlanta, it was much less comfortable then a Continental 757-200. I am looking forward to my 767-400 flight back to Atlanta in 4 weeks.
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Finally I had the chance to fly with LAN which I have been dying to do for a while. Unfortunately this was not a flight with which I could try out there new product on international flights but next March I will be flying them from New York to Santiago directly and I am looking forward to that!
Check in was very smooth in Lima and was done within 8 minutes. Once past security we had to wait two hours until our flight but 9:50am finally rolled around and our A319 was ready for boarding. I had not seen any pictures of the interior of their A319 but once inside I was extremely impressed. The seats were leather with headrests and the legroom and recline was fantastic. Flying time was only an hour but a episode of "laughs" was shown on the LCD's and a complimentary snack of two cupcakes, bread sticks, and chocolate was served. The flight was over quickly and we touched down in Cusco right on time. We deplaned via airstairs and everyone was allowed to wait out on the tarmac to take pictures.
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My overall impression with LAN was five stars. For such a short flight the product offered was amazing and I can't wait to fly with them again in 4 weeks and again next year.
This should give you an idea of the scenery on my LAN flight:
http://i189.photobucket.com/albums/z...ngmountain.jpg
