Day 0: Getting There

OK, so this is the less exciting stuff – the technical part of getting to our destination. I’ve given several previous blog posts over to arranging flights, I figure I should discuss the results, too.

Let me start with getting to Atlanta in the first place – Birminghammers, listen up here. We rented a minivan (one way, each way) to get all six of us to and from ATL – it kept us together, and was cost competitive with driving and parking two cars. If you do this, note that ATL, like so many airports, does not seem to have a convenient place to refill the tank before turning in the car. Boo!

I hadn’t been to the new ATL international terminal (terminal F), it’s a ways away from the other terminal section, (A-E), so far that it even has an entrance on I-85, as opposed to I-75. It’s a bland terminal, with no distinguishing features. Our gate was next to the smokers’ lounge, and the smell of stale cigarettes was strong and unpleasant – but then again, we were going to Europe, were cigarettes are still common in public. Call it practice.

Delta flies a 767 from ATL to most Euro destinations, 250 passengers or so. There’s nothing glamorous or exciting about these aircraft: “workhorse” absolutely defines these guys. Some of us miss the romanticism of the old (I’d love to fly a 747 again, and think of the upstairs piano bars that never actually were) or the excitement of the new (787, I’m waiting for you). The 767 is really just a large 737. Yawn.

At the least, Delta had upgraded the interior since my last crossing. The business class now had passenger pods with extra space for stuff, plus nearly lie-flat seats. That’s a huge improvement over the previous business classes, which were just roomier coach seats. The downside that I can see: previous business class seating was configured 2-2-2 – six seats per row. New business class is 1-2-1: only four seats across. That probably means fewer seats per flight, which means they’ll be that much more expensive.

Anyway, that’s for another trip. On this flight, we booked six seats in Delta’s Economy Comfort+ section, which comes just aft of the business class. The cost was an extra $120/ticket – possibly not worth it, we’d see. All Coach class is seated 2-3-2 on these flights, and, with six of us, I took the two center rows up front – the first row being at the bulkhead, and having exceptional legroom. It now occurs to me that I could have been crafty and taken both side rows, plus the two aisle seats in the center row, and dared some traveler to book that lone middle seat. If I win the bet, it’s like getting that seat for free.

But I didn’t gamble, which is fine. The reason why is that I wanted to be sure to get that front row. I wanted to use that extra floor space as bedding for the kids. I remember as a child we would frequently sleep on the floor of the aircraft, I was hoping to replicate that here. Indeed, the kids had ample room to lie down, with extra blankets and pillows to provide some comfort. One child even got 4+ hours of sleep – not bad at all, and it meant that the next day we didn’t have two overly tired and cranky kids on our hands, and jet-lag adjustment would come more quickly.

Note that this is not recommended, and I’m certainly not saying you should do this. Airlines recommend you stay buckled in your seats as much as possible, and a stray pocket of severe turbulence could have sent my sleeping kids to the ceiling. But the flight was calm, and the odds of that kind of unannounced turbulence is pretty long. I’m doing this with them only because I’m awake and can monitor the situation.

One major drawback of the bulkhead row is that the armrests can’t retract. The kids are sleeping on the floor; in theory you could raise the arms, and stretch out across three seats. Not possible. And with the kids on the floor, I had to be careful where I put my feet; I mostly ended up propping them up against the magazine rack on the wall, which helped on another drawback of the bulkhead row: the touch screen is pretty far away. I became adept at using my toe to navigate the system, by my kids couldn’t use the screen at all unless they were standing right by it.

Speaking of, I was highly impressed by the video selections on the entertainment system. The games and music sections were skimpy, but there were enough movie and TV options to keep you distracted for 12 crossings. Failing that, Comfort+ has free wifi and power outlets – I could have played an entire Civilization game on my laptop on the way over.

That’s all just minor added benefit. It boiled down, for us, did our kids’ sleep and our own minor extra comfort offset the total $720? I have to say no, but it wasn’t totally wasted. I’d estimate we gained an extra morning, on that second day, out of Comfort+. Not bad.

A few last notes: as far as I can tell, the 767 doesn’t have enough bathrooms for the number of people flying. And FAA regulations don’t allow for lining up outside the lavatory. If you’re flying coach, get a seat close enough to the lavatory to jump up and snag one when it’s free, but not so close that the constant traffic will bother you. Try 4 rows back. And note that by the midway point of the flight those bathrooms will have been heavily used.

Lastly: those of us who have read a certain book (or watched the movie) know that the answer to life’s question is “42”. We also know, from the same source, that the most important travel accessory you can bring is a towel. I recommend a golf towel, go ahead and clip it on your belt or something, not in your carry-on. You and your kids are in a confined space with open beverages. There will be distraction; there will be spillage. That spillage will occur when the flight attendants are busy serving other fliers. And airline blankets are designed specifically not to absorb fluids. You’ve been warned.