So here’s another not-so-boring travel post from the wifey (I’m sensing a trend here…)
In this somewhat-post-pandemic world (note: this was written pre-delta variant…), I found myself a new job! I will be working from home but also traveling out to Albuquerque, New Mexico from time to time, including for my first week.
In This Trip
1 :Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: GSP-??-ABQ
1.1: GSP-DFW-ABQ American Airlines Fail
1.2: GSP-ATL-ABQ Delta Airlines Win
1.3: Layover in ATL
1.4: ATL-ABQ Delta A321 Economy Review
1.5: Final Thoughts
2: Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: ABQ Airport Review
3: Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: Marriott Albuquerque Review
4: Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: Albuquerque Activities
5: Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: ABQ-ATL-GSP Delta Review
GSP-DFW-ABQ American Airlines Fail
I was scheduled to fly out on a Monday afternoon on American Airlines from GSP-DTW-ABQ and then Delta on the way home on Friday from ABQ-ATL-GSP, as this was the cheapest option with the best times for my schedule. My outbound flight was set to leave GSP at 2:15pm Eastern and would get me into ABQ around 6pm Mountain time. Perfect timing to get in, grab some dinner, and relax before my first day on site (COVID precautions in place of course, plus my vaccinated self).
On the way to the airport, I got a notification that my flight was delayed until 3:30pm. This seems pretty typical of AA, as I’ve flown them in the distant past and have pretty much always had flight delays with them. The bad part is that the new arrival time would have me missing my connection to ABQ. I had a little freak out, so I pulled off the highway and called James, the travel expert, to help me see what I could do. After looking up some options, we figured I should just continue heading to the airport and see what someone could do for me.
I got to the airport and walked into the terminal, where the line for AA ticket counter was huge. I didn’t think to take a picture because I was just trying to cope with maybe missing my later flight and ruining my first day at the new job.
I headed through security and up to the gate. I stepped in line at the gate immediately to talk to the agent, who wasn’t present for at least 20-30 minutes. Fun!
The gate area was quite crowded, and there was some sketchy mask usage going on. Please, no chin diapers! Mouth AND nose, people!
Once an agent came by, it was at least another 15-20 minutes of waiting until she was ready to accept customers. There was already a huge line forming behind me, so I was glad I was first up. I told the agent the issue and asked if she could put me on standby for any later flights. She looked at me like I had two heads and said that she couldn’t do that, that she would have to cancel my connecting flight and confirm me on another.
She checked if there were any seats available on the later flights, and there were none on the next flight but only 2 left on the latest flight. She asked if I wanted to confirm on that one, but I hesitated because I was pretty sure that the my connecting flight might also be delayed because its incoming flight was delayed, but they hadn’t updated the time. I asked her to check and she said that it was still showing on time and that I would for sure miss it and did I want to confirm on the 10:30pm flight.
Not knowing what to do, I was texting James the entire time and seeing what he thought I should do. She had a huge line so she said if I wasn’t wanting to do it right away that I needed to step aside and go to the back of the line. I did that because I was still hoping the connection would be delayed and I didn’t want to get in at midnight or later the day before my first real day of work. I got to the back of the line.
After being in the line for a bit, the gate agent came out behind the desk and over to me at the end of the line to ask if I wanted to book that later flight. At this point I said yes, just in case. She then said the seats had been filled (dang!) but she called someone and they said she could put me on standby for the 7pm flight while still keeping my confirmed original connection (like I originally asked…). She also said that if I missed the 7pm flight that they could then put me on standby for the 10:30pm flight.
I was then finally able to sit down, and I chose a seat near a dog! (kinda shown laying on a blanket)
Then I called James and we talked it over. He saw a flight on Southwest out of DAL to ABQ leaving about 2 hours earlier than the late flight out of DFW. It was about $230 refundable, so we booked that so I would have a backup. The downside was having to leave DFW and take a taxi over to DAL, but at least it would get me into ABQ a bit earlier. However that flight was also showing delayed so there really weren’t any guarantees.
It was a lot of fun sitting around looking at the plane parked at the gate and not being able to get on it…
After some more time, there ended up being a few more delays. I decided to check and see what Delta had going on, and coincidentally James was talking with a friend who had the same idea at the same time who also saw that there was a good flight that was initially $1000 when James had checked earlier and had gone down to $500, so we quickly booked that. It was scheduled to leave at 5:20pm, connect in ATL for about 1.5 hours, and land in ABQ around 9:45pm. What a win! James booked it for me and then cancelled the Southwest flight. He had booked a refundable rate which was only $40 more, so that was totally worth it.
At the same time, I ended up getting confirmed on the 7pm flight, but then the GSP-DFW flight got delayed AGAIN, now landing at 6:50pm. Clearly I wasn’t going to make the second option. I got back in line to talk to the agent about cancelling my flight for a refund because I definitely wasn’t getting to ABQ on AA at all this day.
It took another probably 30ish minutes in line to be able to talk to her again, and when I did and asked to cancel, she saw that I had been confirmed for the 7pm but that I wouldn’t make it, and asked if I wanted to try for the 10:30pm, but I said I just need to cancel at this point. She cancelled and wrote a note so that I could have a better shot at a refund (she didn’t have the authority to process it at the gate). I thanked her for her help and went on my way to the B terminal.
GSP-ATL-ABQ Delta Airlines Win
Things were much calmer over in the B terminal, not surprisingly. James helped me request a refund on the AA website, and we crossed our fingers that they would process it without an issue. A few days later we saw that it had been processed, so that was easy!
At the Delta gate, I was finally able to sit down and saw the Delta 717 pull up. Things went smoothly from here, again not a surprise. Delta really is the best US airline there is, no doubt about that! I’ll be avoiding AA like the new plague from now on!
The downside to booking a last minute flight is having to get a middle seat with no other options available. At this point I was so tired and not wanting to deal, so I didn’t even bother asking if they could switch me to a window. They hadn’t assigned me a seat originally so when I got the assignment I exhaled a sigh of relief that I had a seat on a confirmed flight and just left it at that.
I was one of the last to board the Delta 717, being in 16D, only a few rows behind comfort plus and not being in the back of the plane (I forgot they are still boarding back to front, wonder if they’ll keep that going for good). The gate agent was great, and kept reminding people to put their masks over their noses (because apparently we STILL have to keep reminding people of this after a year and a half!)
Takeoff was easy, and it wasn’t long before we started our descent. I didn’t take any pictures out the window because, middle seat. The descent was a little turbulent and I was just hoping I can not feel airsick since I’m not next to the window, and because I haven’t eaten anything in a while.
Layover in ATL
We arrived in C terminal so I took a quick hop over to B, and went straight to the Delta Sky Club lounge with my new credit card, and then I would be flying out of B as well. This is turning out more boring now than it was earlier, which is definitely a good thing!
This lounge is super nice, although I was missing the sky deck for sure. My dinner was a little bit of pasta, edamame hummus and bagel chips, and a half chicken salad sandwich.
After eating, I had some time left to kill so I got a Sweetwater 420 because “When in Rome”. I also witnessed a guy who was on the phone with a chin diaper (mask below nose and mouth) and then he also sneezed into his bare hand. People are gross! Glad I brought plenty of hand sanitizer!
Now that my stomach was very full, it was time to head to the gate and catch my longer flight to ABQ.
I walked only a few gates over to mine, and it was right next to a Bobby’s Burger Palace! For those of you who don’t know, this is a restaurant by the famous chef Bobby Flay, and fun fact I worked at the original location on Long Island as a college kid for a summer job! I was a cashier and a “ninja”, which was named for a job that wasn’t quite a server but was more than a food runner so they came up with a fun name.
We boarded a bit late because of some delays in cleaning. There was a line on the jet bridge, which was hot as Hades. Then I got to my seat…
ATL-ABQ Delta A321 Economy Review
Oh boy I was in for a surprise! The good:
…and the bad:
James said this was one of his favorite seats on the Delta A321. Dammit James! Apparently he was mistaken, and that seat was obviously somewhere else. Unfortunately because of this window/seat arrangement, I was unable to get any good window pictures on this flight, although the ones I did get turned out to be kind of artsy.
This seat in this row on the Delta A321 does have an outlet and there is no seat back TV, but there is one that swings out under the armrest. Mine was intially unlocked, but when I went to show the guy next to me how it worked I accidentally locked it back in place! We both couldn’t figure out how it would release, and if it didn’t I had Breaking Bad downloaded on my phone, because when you’re going to Albuquerque you have to watch Breaking Bad (it’s set there, fyi)
Here are some limited pictures of takeoff:
I ended up getting the TV back open (apparently it locks in place during takeoff and unlocks when reaching altitude, or maybe I just didn’t find the mechanism to unlock it until then…) and started watching a movie.
About 20 minutes into the flight I’m already starting to smell the bathroom. Someone must have had a nice sit. Planes should really have poo-pourri and febreze to spray in their bathrooms. Another FYI if you decide to choose this seat on the Delta A321.
Unfortunately, there was no drink or snack service on the ~3ish hour flight because there was a lot of turbulence, although nothing too crazy, just enough to prevent service I guess.
Landing was a bit bumpy, and I couldn’t see out the window so that was fun for my stomach. I later found out why: almost every night in the summertime it is super windy because of the change in temperature and a split in the 2 mountain ranges nearby creating a wind tunnel effect over the city.
Final Thoughts
Overall, this day was a nightmare! I really should have expected this could happen when I booked my flights on American Airlines, and I prioritized cost over reliability which was risky for flying out for my first day at my new job!
I got very lucky that there was a relatively inexpensive option that popped up at the right time on Delta. I would have been taking a risk trying to hop over from DFW to catch the Southwest flight out of DAL, and it ended up not working out because of additional delays (and actually I think my original flight ended up getting cancelled…)
I ended up telling my new boss the whole saga and he said he doesn’t fly AA for this exact reason! Also my HR recruiter told me that she never flies through Dallas during the summer because of all of the delays and cancellations due to the common thunderstorms that end up shutting the airport down and all of the ripple effects for days! Since it is AA’s hub, that makes a lot of sense, and I will definitely be keeping that in mind in the future. Although, if I can avoid taking AA at all, I for sure will!
I’m glad the rest of the journey was kinda boring, because I really needed that! Getting to the Delta Sky Club was also very much needed, especially the Sweetwater 420, as I didn’t have the chance to eat anything while waiting around in the airport hoping to get on my AA flight that never happened and then quickly jumping on the Delta flight!
Next up: Wife almost didn’t make it to day 1 of new job: ABQ Airport