Lounges 5 and 6: Delta Sky Lounge LGA: Terminals D and C. Then snow cancels my flight!
I went to OLCI last night and although my VA number is registered it is requesting payment for a checked bag. The website seems to indicate that DL has matched my elite status and DL elites don’t pay for checked luggage. So I held off OLCI and decided to see what happens at the desk.
It has started snowing as I leave the hotel. There’s a big storm coming to match the freeze from a couple of weeks ago. I suspect its light snow but its settling and the traffic is heavy. My flight has been cancelled and I’ve been rescheduled for 90 minutes later. I’m flying into the bad weather which is already occurring in Pittsburgh.
I’m departing TD at LGA. No wait at the elite check in and I don’t get charged for the luggage, so that was good thinking not to OLCI.
I’m a little confused about priority security. I can see a sign in the distance for Sky Priority but its sitting next to a TSA Pre-check sign. The queue at standard security is not long so I decide to join that. As usual I get to go through the big scanner – I always seem to be selected for this, as well as the explosives check at AU airports! I don’t think I look that dodgy!
Arriving at the Sky Lounge the Angel, on noting my WP card, assumes correctly that I’m not a regular and helpfully explains where everything is, about the wifi, and where my gate is and how long to allow to get there. The lounge is a good size and only about 20% full. There’s snacks and some basic breakfast options and a coffee machine thankfully. The bar is staffed but it’s a bit early for me! The only downside is that it overlooks the roads and carpark so no plane spotting is possible.
Snow is getting heavier and before long I notice a queue forming at the help desk. The Lounge Angel announces that all flights after 2pm have been cancelled, and this may be brought earlier. About 80% of the flights on the board have the dreaded red writing. But my flight is showing delayed to 1.39pm. I keep watching the Board with fingers crossed. I realise that the gate has changed to TC so I decide to do some lounge hopping and check out the other lounge. Walking between terminals I see airside and its pretty stark, with everything white except the proud DL tail fins emblazoned in red and blue.
The lounge at TC overlooks airside – yay! – but is about half the size. Seating is not a problem with all the flights cancelled. But TC has double the gates of TD, so I bet this lounge gets crowded on normal days.
Those jets that are still flying are getting the de-icing treatment. It reminds me of a sci-fi movie with long spindly arms and nozzles like ray guns at their tip. But you can see how effective they are as all the ground under the plane is now clear of snow.
And sadly the dreaded red word has appeared next to my flight. I’m rebooked for tomorrow. DL don’t provide accommodation assistance for weather delays. So I’m madly trying to find a hotel near the airport (all gone), and decide to flaunt my Diamond status and go to the first Hilton property that I can get for a reasonable price. I’ve got a room at the Hilton Fashion District.
Next problem: Get my bag back, and get back into Manhattan. I transferred from TD to TC airside, and forgot this when I went downstairs to collect my bag. It wasn’t at TC and I had to go to TD, and that is via that open air walkway covered in snow with snow still falling! So I try to to go back through security to use the airside walkway but that is not allowed. I line up in the taxi queue deciding that I’ll have it take me to TD and then on to the hotel. There’s not many taxis arriving but the queue is small, but it’s still stressful wondering if the taxis will stop running.
Stick with me, there’s still DL stuff to report….
Eventually I get a taxi, who takes me to TD and is happy to wait, with the meter running of course. I can’t see my bag so head for the office where the bloke makes a call, then tells me that he’d need to go looking for it amongst all the bags and it might take up to an hour, and it will automatically go to PIT tomorrow, and do I really need it? Well, yes, I need clothes and toiletries. So he offers an amenities kit and I decide that I can’t rely on keeping the taxi waiting for an unknown amount of time, I want to get to the hotel before weather gets worse, so I take the kit and head back to the taxi.
In the amenties kit is: toothbrush and paste, razor and cream, deodorant, comb, cotton balsa and sticks, 2 floss sticks, an apology note and a Skyteam t-shirt. What I really need are Skyteam socks and undies!
So we’ll see tomorrow if the bag does actually make it to PIT, I’ll have to be pro-active at check in to have them track it but of course I won’t really know until I’m at the PIT carousel.
Pics below: The Delta Luggage Office Amenities Kit, the view from the TD lounge, and the view from the TC lounge.
I can't think of any reason why an airline should need to put its wine anywhere near freezing.
