Greetings From Delta Flight #2050 – over Nebraska

Well I’m currently flying home for Winter Break (will be east for a little over two weeks) and my flight has go-go Inflight Wireless which is free on all flights for the rest of the holiday season and just had to try it and thought an airborn blog update over Nebraska was the best way to test it. I have already noticed that it is noticeably slower than a regular wi-fi connection but I don’t think as slow as dial-up. I have had flights with wi-fi before but am generally too cheep to pay for it.
Anyway, with a friend who had a flight at noon, We did do the ride two express buses to get to DIA, Left the house at 6:15, took a taxi downtown ($8 total with tip to go two miles), would have walked had I been alone but my friend didn’t want to lug her absurdly heavy suitcase downtown. FREX left at about 6:35 from Downtown Colorado Springs, got to the Arapahoe Park a bit early at 7:45. Took SkyRide at 8:07 getting to the Airport at 9:06. My friend from the San Francisco Subrubs who had never taken public transit to the airport found it an easy way to go-makes me happy that I’m not totally insane for taking my two buses to get to DIA instead of hiring a friend to drive me. A Delta SkyCap right on the public transit level of DIA checked me in. I went up to the Frontier Ticket counter to an absurdly long line, gave up on waiting for my friend to check-in so we could go through security together and went back downstairs alone after saying goodbye and Merry Christmas to her in line and joined a quite moving but very long line that had stretched into the baggage claim area and out of the DIA corrals that are quite long to begin with. Got up to the podiums where ID’s are checked and chose one away from a security lane with the new body scanners. Waited at the podium with a mother and her four young children to get IDs checked (generally families are faster because only adults need to show IDs), unfortunately they were flying internationally which required a passport check for every child it took a little longer I finally got through at 9:50 and down to the platform for the Train out to the gates.
When I got there a bunch of people were waiting for a train that was pulling in on one side of the platform full of arriving passengers but as the train was entering the platform voice and LED screens that say where the train is going changed to Position Closed, and we all had to trundle across the Island platform for the next train which arrived shortly thereafter equally packed. I took it out to the C-Gates (the farthest concourse from the Central Terminal) where Delta is and noticed that they were discharging passengers on one side of the platform and turning the trains around beyond the station with no one in them. I was tempted to claim I was oblivious and stay on the experience the turning around operation but didn’t. I finally walked up to gate C-32 at 11:10, almost an hour to get through the Airport (granted I was being leisurely), I think an hour could b a new record for arrival to planeside and I wasn’t even checking a bag.
One I arrive at JFK I still haven’t decided if I’ll take the leisurely with a seat all the way home A the entire way from Howard Beach or go the faster route of E to 42 Street to the A and having to squish myself and my luggage on the A at rush hour. After taking AirTrain in from the Delta Terminal.
Well typing in a tiny coach seat is kind of uncomfortable and there already starting to come around with the snack and beverage service (I just said no to purchasing food, but Delta’s Biscoff and free cookies are apperently on the drink cart) so that will be all. Can’t say I’d ever pay for wi-fi at least for my 13 inch MacBook, typing is far to uncomfortable with the person in front of me’s seat reclined.

Also added a page for Astoria-Ditmars Blvd with 30 photos was planning to make it part of a longer post but didn’t make any more updates