By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch, your travel dollars, miles, and points further.  Delta DCA Biometrics Sign Flight Summary This short Delta flight showed Delta's potential and why the airline receives strong customer ratings. Pros-Delta Studio, new in-flight entertainment system, large overhead bins, USB power at every seat, mood lighting, new and comfortable economy seats, friendly customer service. Cons- None. A Weekend in Mexico City Trip Report A Weekend in Mexico City Trip Overview Delta A321 DCA-ATL Review Delta Boeing 737-800 Economy ATL-MEX Review Hilton Mexico City Reforma Review Exploring Mexico City Delta A319 Economy MEX-ATL Review Delta A320 Economy ATL-DCA Review Introduction Normally I would not review a flight as short as our connecting flight from Washington Regan National (DCA) to Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson (ATL). However, this flight was on one of Delta's newest aircraft the A321 and provides me with an opportunity to compare the four different Delta aircraft I flew on this trip Delta DCA Presence Over the past two years Delta has significantly enhanced the experience for Delta flyers out of DCA. I believe this is an attempt to fight for business travelers in key business markets from Washington D.C. and if Delta is successful it could represent a major challenge to American Airlines in these markets. First, in April 2017 Delta introduced lie-flat seats in business class on transcontinental flights operated by Boeing 757-200 aircraft along with complimentary meals for economy passengers and free drinks and a sleep kit for Delta's extra legroom Comfort+ passengers. Second, in May 2017 Delta announced that it would test its new biometric airport experience at DCA allowing passengers to board using their fingerprint and eventually expanded this to the include Delta SkyClub access using a fingerprint. Third, in June 2018 Delta opened its renovated Delta SkyClub at DCA with an additional 1,800 square feet of space. Boarding Unfortunately, as American Airlines elite fliers without access to the renovated Delta SkyClub we enjoyed some Cava at the airport and headed to our gate for boarding. While the boarding process was underway a passenger fainted at the gate and the gate agents called for assistance. This was the first time I had ever seen this flying. Police officers showed up to check on the passenger and after he said he was fine and in no need of medical attention allowed him to board the plane. Thankfully, it seems the passenger was ok as we did not experience a medical emergency on this flight. Because we have no status or Delta credit cards we boarded in Zone 3 which is reserved for passenger who purchased deeply discounted Delta economy tickets. Plane and Seats The A321 is one of the newest planes in Delta's fleet and the airline took delivery of its first A321 in March 2016. Delta has a reputation for utilizing older planes with an average fleet age of about 17 years at the beginning of 2018. Recently, the airline begun ordering planes such as the A321 to replace its ancient MD-80/90 planes in order to use more fuel efficient airplanes.  Delta A321 I was immediately impressed as a the cabin featured mood lighting and brand new seats. The seats were well padded an very comfortable a stark contrast to the slimline and poorly padded seats on American Airlines new narrow body aircraft. The seats also had 110V outlets below the seat which were shared with the neighboring seat. Despite the fact that we boarded in Zone 3 there were still space in the overhead bins for our luggage. This is likely because of the larger overhead bins on Delta's A321 aircraft.  A321 Seat In-Flight Entertainment The in-flight entertainment (IFE) screen had a crisp and clear picture. The screen was also touchscreen and functioned very well. At the bottom of each screen at every seat was a USB power plug and a headphone jack. The IFE offered Delta Studio which featured a large selection of TV shows and movies. As American Airlines continues to remove IFE screen from all of its domestic narrow body aircraft I think Delta is making a distinction in the passenger experience by continuing to add IFE screens to additional aircraft. I definitely noticed the difference even on this short flight. Having an IFE screen allows you to plug in without needing to remember to bring your own device, download content, move items around on the small tray table in order to find space for your food and drinks along with the device, and pack it away again before the end of the flight.  A321 IFE Screen Service We departed five minutes late but ended up arriving only about one minute late for this approximately one and a half hour flight. Typically on such a short flight there is not a lot of time to judge service in economy. However, I was impressed by the Delta staff on our flight. As the captain welcomed us on board he was very friendly and over the speakers talked about college basketball. During the snack service we were offered the choice between a snack mix or Biscoff cookie. Christina was indecisive making her choice and instead of getting upset at her the flight attendant smiled and gave her both. While this is a very small gesture it is these small gestures that set Delta apart from out legacy carriers on the customer service front.  Delta Snack Service Take Away
This short flight showed Delta's great potential and why the airline often receives higher customer ratings than other legacy airlines. The airline impressed me with this new aircraft that featured a new IFE system, Delta Studio, large overhead bins, USB power at every seat, mood lighting, new and comfortable economy seats. Most importantly as an American Airlines elite what set Delta apart of this flight for me was their customer service. The crew was friendly an actually seemed to enjoy their work. I would definitely recommending flying between DCA and ATL. After finishing this flight I was interested to see how Delta would perform on my first ever flight to Mexico.
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By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further. A Weekend in Mexico City Trip Report A Weekend in Mexico City Trip Overview Delta A321 DCA-ATL Review Delta Boeing 737-800 Economy ATL-MEX Review Hilton Mexico City Reforma Review Exploring Mexico City Delta A319 Economy MEX-ATL Review Delta A320 Economy ATL-DCA Review In April 2018 we headed to Mexico City for a quick weekend trip which was prompted by an amazing fare deal from Washington D.C. to Mexico City on a Delta flight operated by AeroMexico. In this trip report I plan to focus on how we implemented some of our tips for saving on airfare and utilized hotel points to stretch our travel dollars further. At first we were nervous visiting Mexico City because of the reports of crime and the major earthquake which took place in September 2017 which killed over 200 people. However, I can tell you that Mexico City is amazing and I would strongly recommend going. This was my first trip to Mexico and Christina's first trip to Mexico City and on this short weekend trip we barely scratched the surface of everything to do in the city. At the end of our trip I was left impressed by the art, music, food, and history in CDMX (Mexico City).  Palacio de Bellas Artes Booking Flights In my last post I shared tips on booking cheap flights and for this trip I used one of those tips to book the cheapest flight I have every purchased. Specifically, I saw a link on a travel blog to The Flight Deal which advertised flights to Mexico City from Washington D.C. for under $200. Christina and I had no plans to go to Mexico City in 2018 but with such a good deal we decided we had to take advantage and go. We ended up booking our roundtrip economy tickets non-stop from Washington Dulles (IAD) to Mexico City International Airport (MEX) for $166 each! I was so happy that we were able to book such a good deal and ended using the trip as a birthday celebration for Christina. Our original tickets were booked through Delta Airlines on a flight operated by their codeshare partner AeroMexico in which Delta has a 49% stake. However, a few months after our original tickets Aeromexico made a major schedule change and our flight which was supposed to arrive in the early morning would now arrive late a night. This was completely unacceptable for our quick weekend trip. Because the schedule change was over 90 minutes we could have requested a refund of our ticket. However, we were determined not to let this fare go to waste so called Delta hoping to change from the non-stop flight operated by AeroMexico to a flight with connections operated by Delta. However, when I called the Delta call center the wait was several hours long so I asked for a call back and ultimately we were successful switched from IAD non-stop flight to a flight with connections out of our preferred airport Washington Regan National (DCA) which would have cost several hundred dollars more. This was an example of how to utilize schedule changes to your advantage and something I plan to talk about in a future post. Below is a map of our final routing.  Flight Routing Map generated using the Great Circle Mapper-copyright Karl L. Swartz Christina credited her flights to Delta SkyMiles and because the actual fare minus taxes and fees was only $30 roundtrip the mileage earning was minimal. In total she earned 3,756 Medallion Qualifying Miles, 30 Medallion Qualifying Dollars, and 150 SkyMiles. Because of the low fare I decided to credit these flights to Delta's joint venture partner Virgin Atlantic's Flying Club. These miles can be transferred from all the major transferable currencies and these flights earned me 20 Virgin Atlantic tier points and 1,888 Flying Club miles.
Booking Hotel One of the incredible things about visiting Mexico City as an American is how incredibly cheap it is and this definitely carried over to the hotel room pricing. There were numerous hotels located in the center of the city pricing at under $100 making this city much more accessible than European destinations. Generally, at these prices we would pay cash for our stay. However, Christina had Hilton Honors points which were expiring because we switched our loyalty to Marriott so we decided to try and use those points for our stay. Hilton Honors does not have an award chart which means that their award prices are completely variable and generally vary with the cash price of the hotel. Because Mexico City is so large covering an area of over 570 square miles we decided to focus our short stay on one area the Centro Histórico. After looking at the hotels in the area we settled on the Hilton Mexico City Reforma because it was a full service hotel within walking distance of the historical sites. At the time we booked this hotel it cost 30,000 points per night but Christina did not have sufficient points for the stay so we used Hilton's "money and points" option. This option allows you to pay for your stay with a mix of points and cash starting at a minimum of 5,000 points and increasing in 1,000 point increments. In total we ended up paying 58,000 points and $10.47 for our two night stay. This meant that all in all we spent less than a $180 per person for flights and a hotel! Summary The deal we got to get to go to Mexico City was fantastic and despite only spending 3 days and one night in Mexico City this trip was amazing! We really loved the city and would love to go back in future. Thank you all for reading and I am excited to share our fun adventures with you all! By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight review, hotel reviews, and helping stretch, your travel dollars, miles, and points further. One question I often get asked is, where do you find your cheap flights? Given that I fly over 30,000 miles a year for pleasure, it is important that I stretch my travel dollars so I may go on as many trips as possible. One way to find cheap airfare is a fare sale. A fare sale is when one or more airlines discount their airfare to/from a specific city. Below are my suggestions for the best websites, apps, social media, and email subscriptions you should use to find cheap flights.
1. Google Flights Google Flights is my favorite travel tool because of its powerful flight search engine and it has the ability to customize your search. Google Flights searches prices from multiple sources including online travel agencies (e.g. Expedia) and airline websites. The website then easily sorts the results by the best flights based on multiple factors including the flight length, departure, and price. However, where Google Flights really shines is the ability to customize your search by features such as number of stops, airlines, connecting airports, times, and now the ability to eliminate basic economy fares. The best Google Flights function for finding cheap flights is the "Track prices" feature which allows you to track the change in flight pricing based on your customizations all the way up to the day of departure. If the flight increase or decreases in price Google Flights alerts you to the change by sending out an email. 2. Hopper This is my favorite app for flight deals! Hopper allows you to pick your departure and destination airports, filter out flights which long layovers, and basic economy fares. Where hopper really shine though is it take the guessing out of the best time to buy. The app gives you a prediction of what is likely going to be the best price based on your specified filters and in what time period you are likely going to see that best price. Once it finds the best deal it alerts you on your phone that it is time to buy and even tells you how much the price is predicted to go up if you aren't ready to buy. Two things to keep in mind when using Hopper. First, it does not consistently show all major U.S. Airlines (e.g. Delta). Second, you should double check Google Flights to make sure that the price on the app is in fact the best price because Hopper charges a fee to book through the app and sometimes there are cheaper flights available on other websites. 3. The Flight Deal The Flight Deal is a Twitter account which on a daily basis sends out alerts on the best flight deals on the internet for flights to and from a select set of major U.S. cities including New York, Washington D.C., Miami, Boston, and Los Angeles among others. If you click on the links from the Twitter account it brings you to a more detailed page which shows you information including the fare availability, examples of the fare, and mileage earning for non-elite members. Where The Flight shines is the speed with which it brings you deals. I typically find out about the best deals here first before other websites send out alerts. Finding out about cheap flights quickly is important and The Flight Deal delivers your alerts with speed. 4. Scott's Cheap Flights This is an email subscription service which searches the web for cheap flights and sends periodic updates about deals to your email address. The emails include information such as the pricing of the fare sale from different airports, the airlines offering the sale, and the relevant sale period. Where Scott's Cheap Flights really shines is the ability to understand how good the deal is and their estimate of how long they expect the deal to last. These two pieces of information are very important when trying to take advantage of a fare sale. 5. MyTravelNerd This is an email subscription service which sends periodic emails with flights deals for your specific city. The emails include information such as how good of a deal it is, the normal price, the quality of the airline, mileage earnings, and credit card point earnings. Where this subscription service shines is the ability to completely curate the flight alerts. The service sends you deals based on your city and includes the specific award miles and credit card points you are likely to earn based on your preferred card and elite status with the airline. The ability to curate the flight deals in this fashion means you will only receive deals that are relevant. Tip- Act Quickly on a Fare Sale One key thing to remember is that airline pricing changes constantly and a fare deal could disappear from one hour to the next. So if you find out about a fare deal and think you are likely to go book it as soon as you can. Because of a Department of Transportation regulation all major U.S. airlines allow you to cancel a non-refundable ticket within 24 hours of booking without a penalty as long as it was booked at least 7 days in advance. This can be a powerful tool when you find a deal but would like to make sure you can get the time off, figure out the rest of your trip itinerary, or check with your traveling companions, By RamonRamon is the creator of Travelling Companion. He focuses on flight reviews, hotel reviews, and helping stretch your travel dollars, miles, and points further. Flight Summary My first flight on the American Airlines transcontinental configured A321T and in lie-flat business class seats (sold as Main Cabin Extra) was short but enjoyable. The seats could use a refresh but were the most comfortable seats I have ever flow in. Pros- Comfortable lie-flat seating, amazing legroom, large IFE monitor, easy JFK connection. Cons- Scratched and dented interiors, and unresponsive in-flight entertainment. Trip Overview: European Adventures 2018 Flight Review: American Airlines A330-300 Economy CLT-LHR Hotel Review: London Marriott Regent's Park Food in London Flight Review: British Airways A319 Economy LGW-BCN Hotel Review: AC Hotel Irla Barcelona Train Review: Renfe Clase Turista Barcelona-Valencia Exploring Life in Valencia Exploring Life in Barcelona Flight Review: American Airlines 777-200 Economy BCN-JFK Flight Review: American Airlines A321T Business Class Seats JFK-DCA American Airlines JFK Connection When we landed at New York John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) on our flight from Barcelona I was not looking forward to the connection at JFK. JFK served the largest number of international passengers in the United States in 2017 and I expected long lines at immigration and did not look forward to having to retrieve and re-check our bags. However, the process was relatively quick and simple as we used the Global Entry kiosks and once we exited customs American Airlines had a dedicated airport staff and kiosks to process customers arriving on international flights with JFK connections. We simply dropped off our bags at the counter went back through security and in total were back in the terminal in about 30 minutes from our plane landing. The longest part of the process was waiting for our bags. All American Airlines flights at JFK arrive and depart out of Terminal 8. American Airlines dominance in the terminal is reflected in a timeline outlining the history of the airline which as you enter the terminal is emblazoned on the terminal wall.  AA Terminal 8 JFK Despite this dominance since the merger with U.S. Airways American Airlines has reduced its operations at JFK which once served served as an important hub for the legacy American Airlines. In the past year the airline has cut a large number of routes out of JFK and shifted much of its connecting business in the Northeast to the legacy U.S. Airways hub in Philadelphia (PHL). American Airlines strategy is to focus on high margin business route out of JFK, such as JFK-Los Angeles (LAX) and JFK-London Heathrow (LHR), and shift lower margin traffic to PHL which has cheaper operating costs. As a part of this strategy American Airlines also closed its second Admirals Club serving Concourse B(gates1-16) in JFK on September 1st, leaving only one Admirals Club in Concourse C (gates 31-47), and used this space to expand its Business Class lounge at JFK. Admirals Club JFK After we exited security we headed to the Admirals Club in Terminal C which I found to be large and empty. This was likely due to the American Airlines continued reduction in service, the opening of the Flagship Lounge at JFK which serves international and transcontinental First and Business Class passengers, and that were were flying on a Saturday afternoon.  Admirals Club JFK This was definitely the largest Admirals Club I had seen. The lounge had a wide variety of seating including chairs with a small table attached, high tops, and small chairs for dining.  Admirals Club Seating The lounge also had a large kids playroom, shower stalls, and great views of the tarmac.  The one problem I had with the lounge was the service. Given that the only had a handful of people lounge you would expect the service to be excellent, however, it was not. We were in the lounge for an hour and the staff never cleared away our empty plates or glasses. However, despite the poor service I would recommend using this lounge because I found it to be a peaceful oasis from JFK airport and throughly enjoyed the plane spotting available from the lounge. Plane And Seats  JFK Gate 42 Our flight departed from Gate 42 the closest gate to the Admirals Club. We boarded quickly and passed through the A321T first class cabin into Business Class cabin. JFK-Washington National (DCA) is normally served by a mixture of regional aircraft and a Boeing 737-800, however, sometimes there is a substitute and the aircraft is used on some short haul flights out of JFK such as our flight to DCA. We got a notice of a schedule and equipment change a few months before our flight and I was very happy as the aircraft is normally used on American Airlines premium transcontinental flights from JFK to LAX and San Francisco (SFO). The biggest reason I was happy about this swap was that the first and Business Class cabins feature lie flat seating which is rare on domestic routes. If I was able to get one of the Business or First Class seats it would be my first time ever flying in a lie flat seat. On this flight the Business Class seats were sold as Main Cabin Extra and normally as American Airlines Gold elites we can select these seat free 24 hours before the flight and they can also be purchased in advanced by any Main Cabin passenger for an extra fee. However, on this flight these seats were blocked only for elite and at check-in we were able to select the bulkhead seats 6D and 6F!  A321T Business Class Seat Map The A32T is premium heavy and only has 102 seats compared to 181-187 on other version of American Airlines's A321's. The first class cabin is arranged in a 1-1 configuration while the Business Class cabin is arranged in a 2-2 configuration and the rest of the main cabin is arranged in a 3-3 configuration.  A321T Business Class Seats The first time I saw the lie-flat business class seats it brought a smile to my face because I was so excited to be trying out lie-flat seats for the first time. The 2-2 layout of American Airlines' A321T Business Class seat are great for traveling companions. It allowed us to talk with each other easily by putting down the privacy partition between the seats. It was also nice to have the ability to get up and access the aisle without disturbing a stranger.  The seats already had amazing leg room in the seated position and because we were in the bulkhead the legroom seemed endless even with the seat in the upright mode. Christina was also very excited and as soon as the plane took off turned her seat into lie-flat mode.  A321T Lie Flat Position The seats were very comfortable in lie flat mode and when fully extended my legs fit comfortably into the footwell. However, the seats showed their age. First, the seat controls were not responsive, did not have many pre-set options, and were slow to go into lie flat mode. Second, the table between the seats had a lot of wear and tear. You could clearly see the scratch and dents all over the table. While this was the most comfortable seat I have sat in because of the great leg room, great width, and the ability to lie flat, the seats were clearly showing signs of there age and could use a refresh.  A321T Footwell In-Flight Entertainment All of the seats in Business Class had an in-flight entertainment (IFE) monitor which was about 15 inches wide. The screen was touchscreen but was affixed to the bulkhead so it was very difficult to you the touchscreen while seated. Instead, I relied on the remote which allowed me to select content on the IFE and control the volume. However, the handheld remote did not function well and the whole IFE was glitchy. For example, the remote showed episodes that were unavailable on the main screen. This plane certainly could use a new IFE system as I have seen better functioning systems on American's non-transcontinental configured A321 S aircraft.  A321 T IFE Monitors Take Away
I enjoyed getting a taste of the A321T Business Class on my short JFK-DCA flight. My connection at JFK was simple and painless. While I was unable to experience any of the Business Class amenities since the seat was sold as Main Cabin Extra I still enjoyed my first lie flat seat experience. The seat had amazing legroom, was comfortable both in seated and lie flat positions, and had a large IFE monitor. Despite these positives the A321T Business Class seats had significant wear and tear, the IFE remote was not very responsive, and the IFE system was glitchy. Overall, I would love to connect again at JFK on AA and to have the full A321T Business Class experience including the access to the Flagship Lounge. I believe that the seat would make for a comfortable ride on a transcontinental flight and I hope American Airlines brings a similar transcontinental experience to its DCA-LAX flights. |
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