ANOTHER Airline question!!

[bonniejoy03]

OK...You are all convincing me to expand my horizons and look at other air carriers. Can anyone provide feedback on Delta? We flew them once out of a regional airport and it was great. However....coming back through Atlanta customs was a nightmare. 3 hours in line to pass! Is this normal or was this a rare occurence? Thanks.

[kyshel]

Hi Bonnie! As soon as I saw the message subject, I thought of you!
I'm sure Omegaet has far more experience with incoming ATL trips, but I've done a few thru the queues.
I've never needed more than 30-45 minutes to clear from transoceanic flights. Central and South American ones are "route system" and arrive almost all day long, so yours could have hit at the wrong time for heavy traffic. We find the biggest problem is at US immigration before customs. We don't check luggage, so having to wait for everyone to get bags at the same time can make a nasty bottleneck in any system. Then there's transfer check-in and we have to do all that, too.
I personally do not prefer ATL for employee travel because of the power local employees have. Let's just say that I've never encountered any favoritism in other hubs.
The newest and brightest aspect of sitting in the terminal is the lovely wine bar servicing the E gates. Nearly all gates have Gate Information Display Systems (GIDS) for boarding priority, upgrades, zones, etc. There are some decent eats and Crown Rooms, all of which are part of the Priority Pass program (not restricted to Delta/Partners) so you can access lounges all over the world. I only use my Skymiles for special circumstances, so I don't know how easy it is to get FF seats these days--upgrades,etc.

To be determined in the near future--The Merger!! Combining the Northwest routes (plus Skyteam partners already in place) will give FF's the flexibility to cover Asia much easier. I can't wait for the integration!!
So, that's my 20 cents (fuel surcharge!!) I almost forgot--even though he's NYC based--you might be flown by the best Captain Delta has--my husband!! I'm sure he'd be very proud to take you anywhere he flies!

Message Edited by kyshel on 04-20-2008 06:51 AM

[lhbrown]

Hi bonniejoy and kyshel,
We just booked our return flight from upstate NY to Paris in October on Delta, using frequent flyer miles. I was amazed how easy the system worked. There was absolutely no problem with availability, not even for saver fares. We are connecting through Newark (which I think is closer for you than Atlanta), and we are using Delta's code sharing Continental Airlines. Delta's merger with Northwest is great and opens up a lot of additional possibilities, but Delta also uses Continental as a partner. Have a look if this combination might help you in your mid-america/caribbean travels. Good luck!

[bonniejoy03]

Thank you. I have more confidence now. It was probably just a one time happening with our last encounter. I will check out their ff program (which looks comparable to the others except you need 35,000 points for Central America. USAir and AA require 30,000). Has anyone used their Credit Card attached to their ff points? Do you know who it is with? Thanks again! I already have 3 USair tickets booked for 2008 and holding 1 2009 ticket with AA but it might be time to move on!

[kyshel]

Skymiles credit card is Amex and you can get first year free. I think the bonus is 17,500 miles; you're halfway there. You can also get signed up on emiles when they offer it and earn more. There are other cards that have interchangeable points/miles but not sure which ones. I'm sure someone here has that scoop.

[lhbrown]

Hi Bonniejoy,
Kyshel is right. AMEX is your best bet.

[kyshel]

Bummer about the additional miles for Central America flights--didn't knwo that, but I'm glad I have that tidbit in mental storage. One nice aspect is that when you use some partners, the difference between business class and coach is only 5K, so maybe it's a wash?
They offer extra miles for additional card users--Can your doggie sign a card with her paw?? Just kidding!!

[bonniejoy03]

Thanks for the info. Is the AMEX card one like the USAir Bank of America card the Citibank AA card? (Points related directly to the airline or points to be used on other airlines.) You all are making me live on the edge! I feel guilty about "looking" at another airline even though we take so much abuse from USair! Its funny but I do need to move on!



PS- Bonnie Joy has a Caribbean travel card...why not a credit card! She's worth it!

[kyshel]

I used to have the USAir card, too. Very similar--you get miles at one rate for all purchases and extra for Delta tkts.
PS--Don't worry about the guilt--we won't tell.

[disneygal]

Just my 2 cents - I had the Delta Amex for a number of years, was loyal to Delta and enjoyed many free flights on Delta and partners. Now however, they have very little availability, unless you cough up double miles. You can check out some options on their website for destinations you're considering. After a frustrating experience (getting up in the middle of the night to book the moment flights opened up, and not getting a spot) I switched to the Starwood Amex. Points can be traded for airline miles. So far I've used it for a couple of flights on AA, which had availability for the places I wanted to go (VI and Barbados). I like that I'm not tied to one airline, and of course you can use the points for hotel rooms if you choose. For the miles, if you trade 20,000, they kick in another 5,000. So, there's a little bonus. Of course I'm always on the lookout for a better deal - no loyalty anymore. Anyone found something else that works well?