This is part 2 of a report about my trip to Vegas on Delta, read part 1 here.
The Return Trip
After a busy few days of attending the tradeshow, various meals and drinks with friends and colleagues, it was time to embark on my 3-flight trip and head back home. Just to recap, this is an exact reverse of my outbound journey, so I would be flying from Vegas to Minneapolis, a few hours stop the Minneapolis, then onto Dublin. And then Dublin back to London. The only difference this time was that there were no overnight stopovers and I’d be going in business class rather than premium.
I’d been working very hard on this trip to keep to a budget, and I successfully managed to avoid using any taxis in Vegas, other than to and from the airport. The monorail was very handy, I bought a 3-day pass, so used it whenever I could. If only they had extended to the airport itself. For getting to and from the airport, I had looked up various options. For example, there is a bus that runs from the strip to the airport and there are shared transport options you could use. But the cost saving for those was not significant enough to warrant all the hanging around and waiting necessary to catch one of those. The most affordable and sensible option for me was actually the local taxi firms, which have a fixed rate, in my case $29, to get to and from the airport. Even Uber was significantly more expensive. As I was staying in Harrah’s, one of the major casinos, there were taxis on hand, even at the early hour I was leaving from.
I knew that lounge options at Las Vegas Airport were going to be very limited, so I didn’t leave lots of time before the flight. Technically for a domestic flight you only need to leave 2 hours anyway. I knew the roads wouldn’t be busy, so I left my hotel about 2 hours before I was flying. Again, I was traveling hand luggage only and security would be quick to clear through, especially with TSA pre-check that comes with Global Entry. Once through security, I took the transit to the terminal building I was flying from. I was particularly craving a cinnamon bun from Cinnabon, so I headed there for one of those and some orange juice while I waited for my flight. There was no lounge option available to me flying on Delta in first class in Vegas, the only thing I could’ve done would be to use another Priority Pass on the general paid lounge that’s here. Having been to that lounge before, I knew that it was not much to write home about and decided not to waste a pass on a visit this time. After breakfast I headed to my gate to wait for boarding, and it wasn’t long before they asked first class customers to come forward and board.
Las Vegas to Minneapolis, on Delta, in “First”
This flight was again on an A321 and in Delta first class (what the rest of the world calls short hall business class), which comes in a 2-2 configuration with nice, wide, comfortable seats, quite pleasant for a 3-hour journey. I’d selected seat 3A for this particular trip, as you know I like a window seat. When I sat down there was a guy with a dog in a container on his lap next to me. I think this is the first time I’ve ever flown with a dog near me on a plane.
The guy then immediately asked me if I’d mind swapping with his wife who is currently sat across the aisle in 2D. I noticed that his wife also had another dog, and whilst I’m not normally inclined to move seats for people who don’t book early enough, especially when I’d lose my window seat, the dog lover in me won out and I thought it would be nice for the dogs to be together. I agreed to move seats, allowing his wife to take my window seat and I took an aisle seat.
Since I no longer was going to get to see the mountains passing underneath, I settled back into my comfy seat and plugged into the screen to watch some more films. I was offered a full meal on the flight, but given I’d eaten my body weight in sugar in the form of a Cinnabon before I left, I didn’t feel like I needed anything. Plus, I knew I was going straight to the main Delta lounge at Minneapolis, to get some lunch there. I was given plenty of drinks and I asked for some savoury snacks to go with them, for which I was given some crisps. The flight itself was pretty uneventful after that, and we landed on time back into an even snowier (compared to a few dasys before) Minneapolis.
The Delta Sky Club – Minneapolis
I arrived on a different side of the airport this time, but I noticed my A330 for Dublin was at the same gate as last time, which was also very near the lounge, The Delta Sky Club. Given I was travelling in Delta One (their top level, equivalent to business class), I was entitled to use this lounge.
This lounge was busy, but it was also big enough to cope with lots of people. This was going to be my main meal of the day, so I headed to the restaurant area. This area was raised up and on the left as you went in. There was a second area down a few steps, or ramp, to the more relaxed lounging area. My first impression of this lounge wasn’t great. Due to its position between two gangways to one arm of the airport gates, it didn’t have a view. Instead, they frosted all the windows to let light in but hide the fact there’s no view. I knew this lounge was the closest to my gate, so I didn’t question it at the time. But with hindsight I now know there was another lounge, that wasn’t miles away. Having looked online, I now see this other lounge might have been a little nicer. My guess is the lounge I was in was for domestic flights mostly, as my Dublin flight landed in the domestic gates area. And the other lounge might be more intended for international flights, hence it was a little nicer. I’ll have to go back to find out.
There was a buffet with a good selection of food, quite a theme of oriental food as well. I grabbed some spring rolls and a very artificially orange Fanta (compared to the UK Fanta) and sat down. After that I grabbed one of the mains, a chicken dish with some rice. The photo doesn’t make it look particularly appetising, but I assure you it was very tasty. However, it was only paper plates and plastic cutlery, most disappointing.
The transit here was 3 hours, so plenty of time to relax. After lunch I went to the bar, only soft drinks were self-serve here. I was going to get creative on my drink choice until I noticed a sign explaining that some drinks were charged, and which drinks were complimentary, so I changed my mind. Some sparkling wine it was, and I went to find a nice armchair to relax in. They also had some jars of nibbles, which I helped myself to later on. I do like it when lounges give you things to nibble on, they are very good at that in Germany. Not so good in the UK, it’s usually only packets of crisps.
Soon it was time to head to my gate and get ready for the night flight back to Dublin. On the whole I would say this lounge was perfectly fine but nothing exciting or special to write home about. If I pass through here again, I’ll try the other one to see if it’s any better.
Minneapolis to Dublin, on delta, in Delta One (business class)
I left the lounge and headed back to my gate, now being quite familiar with that area having been through here a few times already on my outbound flights. It was clear they were nowhere near ready for boarding, but I quite like to get to the gate early because I tend to walk around and stretch my legs before getting on the flight. Eventually they did start boarding and I was obviously one of the first to board as I was travelling in their premium product. Much like their partner, Virgin Atlantic, Delta don’t have any first-class option, they simply have one premium product, they call it Delta One.
I have a strange habit of always flying out on the left-hand side and home on the right-hand side of aircraft on any trip I do, I don’t know why but I’ve now associated the different sides with the direction I’m going in. So, this flight was in 2J, which is the frontmost right-hand seat in the plane. Due to its slightly unusual 1-2-1 configuration, the middle seats a slightly further forwards than the window seats. This means that the row 1 is only middle seats and row 2 is where the window seats start. Those that pride themselves in always flying in 1A won’t be doing so on this flight.
The seat itself was of older design, but it was clean and functional. The screen was an older one which folded away, which I don’t particularly like. On many airlines they force you to fold these away during taxi, take-off and landing, they didn’t seem that bothered on this flight. Rather unusually the controls for my seat were also right in front of me, on the same panel as the screen, normally they are down to the side. But at least this did prevent the accidental movement of your seat while you’re sleeping or relaxing. There wasn’t much in the way of storage just a small pocket down the side. Something that newer seats have got much better at. There was at least power and a USB socket to my right and a nice flat area to put things down on, like my glass of pre-flight sparkling wine. The snow outside was particularly bad, we had a very gentle taxi over to the de-icing area, where we were very thoroughly de-iced before take-off. On this occasion I don’t think the planners at Delta had timetabled for extra de-icing, because, whilst we left the gate 2 minutes early, we landed in Dublin 45 minutes late.
Despite it being only a reasonably short flight (for long haul) and taking into account the time zone change, I decided to have another meal so that I’d had three meals in my day. I went for the chicken catalan with the potato and veg, and it was incredibly tasty. I did not order a starter or dessert because it was only a few hours since I’d had my lunch. After that I watched a bit of TV and then I unrolled the bedding to see what was on offer.
There was a decent seat cover to lay down, a nice big blanket and a decent size and thickness pillow for me to sleep on. The bed got a little narrow at the foot end and if you’re the kind of person who likes to sleep on your side and pull your knees up, then there’s only one position you can do that in. There was no door, like newer versions of this seat, however the head of the bed was tucked nicely into the seat area, so it felt private enough. I managed to get comfortable enough and did manage to sleep right through the flight. Given the flight was only about 7 hours in the air, I turned down all offers of food and drink after my dinner, in preference for just sleeping. Knowing full well I’d be going to a lounge in Dublin for some breakfast before flying home.
The staff were very attentive and friendly, the rest of the menu did look very good and despite the old seat and old screen I still enjoyed my flight and got some good sleep.
Arriving in Dublin
I’d allowed a 3½ hour gap before my British Airways flight back to London. Knowing this was not a connected flight, if I was late there was nothing I could do about it. But there are plenty of flights from Dublin to London, so if I missed my flight for any reason, there would be something I could do about it. It might cost me a little bit of money, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. We landed 45 minutes late, but I still had plenty of time to go and find a lounge for some breakfast before flying to London.
As I had checked in for my BA flight already, I had my boarding pass, so I didn’t need to arrive into Dublin properly, thus I headed straight to the transfer desks. There a quick check of my passport was done, and I was back into the departure area again to go for the lounge that BA uses.
British Airways don’t have their own lounge here as they partner very heavily with Aer Lingus, so they use their lounge. I found the lounge nearest to my gate and was a little surprised at how small it was. I’ve since found out they have a much bigger and nicer lounge called 51st and Green. This was closed for a refurbishment throughout the winter, so everyone was being squeezed into the lounge I was in. Having just got off a night flight, I was very keen to have a shower and there was shower facilities advertised. After inquiring at the front desk, who told me to go and ask some staff in the lounge, I went to the coffee station where someone was making coffee, who then told me to go to the lady that was clearing plates and glasses in the middle of the lounge and ask her. She told me to go upstairs and meet her by the shower. There were two showers upstairs and one was already in use, but the other one was ready to go, the lady that accompanied me up there had a key, unlocked it and let me inside. I was instructed to come find her and tell her when I was done so she could go and clean it.
Whilst there were only two showers in the lounge, I was very impressed with them, much nicer than the ones you find with British Airways at Heathrow. It was split into two rooms, the first space you entered had hooks for hanging your clothes up and a wooden box to sit on. On top of there was a basket containing a whole selection of towels I could have used. In the main bathroom itself was a sink, with a selection of gels and lotions that I could use, a toilet and a nice big shower cubicle. It was very easy to get my suitcase out and get changed in the first room and then go to the second room to use the toilet and shower to freshen up completely. The shower was excellent, and it was great to have all the amenities there so I didn’t need to dig out my wash kit.
Feeling refreshed from my shower I then headed downstairs to find some breakfast. I was quite disappointed with the food selection, there was not a lot on offer for breakfast. Although I admit this was late morning and probably not key breakfast time. I found a croissant and some orange juice, so I settled down to wait for my flight. I suspect this is a heavy commuter lounge, used normally for short haul flights, whilst it was busy when I arrived, after I had my shower, it was pretty empty. Once again, I waited until it was time to head to my gate for my final flight home.
Dublin to London City, on British Airways, in Club Europe (business class)
For my final leg I had booked to go to London City rather than Heathrow, only because it was going to be the middle of the day and getting home from city would be easier than Heathrow.
The departure process from this was a little unusual. I’d figured out a while earlier that the gate numbering meant that I was probably going to a bus gate. Which was kind of true, but not in the way you’d expect. I went down to the gate area, and it was indeed a series of bus gates sending people out to aircraft, however my particular gate at the end was not taking people to an aircraft. There was a constant stream of buses running a shuttle between this gate and a whole separate building with even more gates in it. I showed my boarding pass and I was ushered straight onto a bus and whisked away to another little building on another part of the airport, called the South gates. This building was very reminiscent of some of the smaller airports I’ve been to, or even a small version of city airport. It dealt with smaller aircraft, and all based on people walking from the building to the aircraft direct, without any other air bridges or buses.
My Embraer landed, came over and parked up at the corner of the building. When they called boarding, I was of course group 1 so first up, I headed up and we walked out in a rather unusual route around the tarmac to walk straight onto the aircraft.
This flight was a little busier, so my usual 1A seat choice was not available, I had to slum it in 2A. Despite it being quite a short flight there was still a full meal service on board, and I opted for the halloumi and orzo pasta, which was very tasty. It came with a hot bread roll and a dessert pot. When I ordered my drink, they gave me two cans of coke zero, so I didn’t have to keep asking for more. I quite like it when they give you an extra drink, it does save you having to chase them down for a top up.
The flight actually left about half an hour late and managed to land 20 minutes late, but no big deal, as I wasn’t going anywhere else afterwards. It was a pleasant flight over to city airport, and all very quick. Since I was hand luggage only, I was straight down the steps and as Dublin is classed as domestic, there was no passport control. So straight through and out on to the DLR. My only concern at all about this flight, was as I was hand luggage only and I did have a reasonably large hand luggage sized suitcase with me, which might be a tight fit on an Embraer aircraft (which are smaller than the usual A320’s BA flies short haul). But being business class there was no question and it went straight into the overhead locker and nobody said a thing.
The trip home from city airport was as ever, very easy, a DLR, a tube and a train and I was home in no time.
Bottom line
There are a number of reasons why I did this particular trip in the way I did it. First was to save money, get a trip as cheap as possible, whilst also flying in decent cabins. Second, I wanted to try out Delta service and see what it was like. Next, I wanted to earn some more Virgin points so that I can use them at a later date to go on a Virgin trip somewhere. And lastly, I’ve always wanted to fly through Dublin and in particular see the US preclearance process they have there.
Well, I ticked all of those boxes and tried all those things. I got my Virgin points soon after returning and was happy with that. Passing through Dublin was very easy, made even easier by my global entry allowing me to skip any queues, of which there weren’t any at that time. I was very happy with the Delta experience, the staff are very friendly both on the long haul and short haul legs, and in premium economy, economy and in Delta One. The only let down was the lounge in Minneapolis, not amazing and paper plates, really! Would I do this route again? No, probably not, having done it once now I’ve learned everything I need to learn about that, the A330 was a bit dated and there are newer and nicer products out there I could fly on instead. But I would go through Dublin again if it meant I could save some money and get a more interesting flight somewhere.
