My Perfect Flight Experience

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There are an abundance of horror stories about flying, but rarely do we hear when things go smoothly. It's a slow news weekend (and I am trying to enjoy the - finally - nice weather), so here goes.

My sister got married last weekend in St. Augustine. The wedding was beautiful and a fun time was had by all. Originally, instead of flying on the 5:20pm nonstop JAX-LGA, I chose to choose the 7:45pm connecting through Atlanta for 2 reasons - it was $50 cheaper and I figured I'd want to spend as much time with family as possible.

However, on Sunday, I was exhausted and really wanted to get back to NYC early. The 2 hour difference with my family just didn't make sense when I considered that I'd be getting home at nearly 1am vs 8:30pm. So at 3:20pm on the dot, I called Delta and asked to be Same Day Confirmed onto the 5:20 nonstop flight, which was showing 3 open seats in first class. I was immediately confirmed into an exit row and off to the airport I went.

Check-in was a breeze and I actually checked a bag since I knew I was flying on a regional jet and I didn't want to bother with trying to jam my suit and other belongings into the overhead. There was only a handful of people in the security line. The TSA agent was in a jolly mood and actually joked with me about something - I can't remember what, but it was a pleasant exchange.

I stopped by the SkyClub with my Platinum card to pick up a 300 American Express point voucher and had a free cocktail. I then met a couple family members at the bar in the airport where they were eating.

At the gate, I was called up to the podium to retrieve my first class boarding pass - there were no TV screens showing upgrade status, but the gate agent handled it properly and without any delays, I boarded, put my Bose QC15 headphones on, got a pre-departure beverage from the friendly flight attendant and slept for the 2 hour flight back to NYC. No turbulence, no annoying passengers - just a simple flight with great views - especially of Manhattan on approach at LGA.

Landing at LaGuardia was smooth - no delays or holding patterns. Since it was a regional jet, I feared we would be parking at a remote gate, yet we pulled into a regular gate and I was the third person off the plane.

I stopped by the SkyClub to pick up another 300 American Express point voucher and throw on a sweater and by the time I got to baggage claim, I only had to wait two minutes before the bags came out - and my priority tagged bags were one of the first off the belt.

I got home by 8:30pm - I wouldn't have even boarded my ATL-LGA leg until 9:30pm - so I thoroughly enjoyed getting to relax before starting a crazy week.

Oh by the way, there was no traffic from LaGuardia to my apartment in Brooklyn - another feat, if anyone here has ever experienced the BQE on a Sunday night. Now that I think about it, I think I need to run out and get a couple lottery tickets!