HT to Dans Deals on this one. You will need to have AVIS® PREFERRED® SERVICE you can sign up for free first, then, use THIS link to enter your AVIS number to get the 1 year free Gold membership.

There are limited airport lounges for this program but it is free for a year and had I had this in AMS, I could have used their lounge when KLM told me to go away – René

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I have a bit of a long trip report on the way tomorrow from my ski trip to Denver on Delta using my AMEX free companion cert but first a bit that makes all the “hoops” Delta is going to make us jump through in 2014 still worthwhile.

Traffic in Denver is crazy. I was hoping it would not be as bad on a Saturday morning for our return flight home and it was much improved over any weekday levels. I dropped off my Advantage rent-a-car (more on that to come) and there was a shuttle just ready to depart for the airport. We get to check-in and the line is 20-30 people deep but the SKY line is empty. We got the standard looks and even more looks when after about 1 min the rep called us over with a wave and an explanation for those in the line, ” SKY PRIORITY” it was definitely one of those DYKWITIA moments!

Now I have the phone app for check-in but I DO NOT use it. Why? At this point us Android users can not get a digital HOOU coupon this way (have one on us). So I printed them both to PDF and sent to my phone and used the hotel printer to print my boarding pass.

On to security. If you do not have the AMEX Platinum MR cards that pays you back for your Global Entry, please, do yourself a favor and spend the $100 for 5 years and get it. The lines at security were forever long. NO ONE was in the TSA Pre line. We almost RAN through and were on our way to gate side. Today was just about the fastest I have ever made it from drop off to the gates, without question the fastest from rental car off-airport return to gate.

The one thing I did not check ahead was to see where the Skyclub was in Denver airport. As you are saying to yourself in your head now, duh, Rene, there is no Skyclub in DEN. Yup. But, I did have two United club passes from my last Chase United card. So back to B concourse and a short walk to the East side club.

Like my report yesterday from my mileage run, I don’t spend much time in non-Skyteam lounges so it is always fun to compare. The club was nice. Wifi was fast and good and a good amount of power ports.

The standard stuff is free included beer & wine, but they sell premium drinks too. I opted for juices and a pastry and Lisa had a latte. (She mentioned that Delta’s coffee machines are much simpler to operate and serve a neater cup than United’s version).

The club was a bit more up-to-date that the 80′s decor of the PIT US AIR Club but not very clean and the furniture, oh my, looked like a HERD of cats had attacked them as scratching posts.

The only snag in this perfect start to the trip home was that there was an equipment change on the DEN-ATL flight. We were in on a 757 with the front row only 2 seats. Perfect for my Lisa & Me. The new 757 was all 3 & 3 and the front row was filled with other flyers than me. We ended up in row two of EC. However, this old 757 still runs it’s inflight entertainment on VHS tapes and watching what was on was painful so I gave up (maybe I can get a few skymiles and maintenance can find an old VHS head cleaning tape)!

The crew however were fantastic. The captain “floated” around pre-flight and chatted with those in 1st. The crew worked this short 2ish hr flight hard and never stopped smiling and the head purser even worked the coach cabin during the 2nd half and was just tops! I will be writing to Delta to commend this crew.

To end the weekend how about another iGo Noise Canceling Headset giveaway. For a chance to win, look down below the post to where it says “comments” and comment on the blog if you:  “have TSA Pre” or “if you plan to” or “if you are not going to get it”. Then via Random.org late tonight I will pick the winner. – Rene

EDIT: We have our winner! – Txs

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For those of us who connect via Detroit to other parts of the world, having an old NWA fleet of A330′s has been both a blessing and a curse. The blessing was that the ex-NWA seats were much better than the old 767-300ER business class seats but nothing like the new full flat seats. Since “we” had some of the newest “old” seats the fleet of 330′s have and are to be the last ones to convert over to full flats!

Well kids, with a tip of the hat to ClipperDelta, Delta has loaded the new Equipment Schedule for 2013 and Detroit to Amsterdam DTW-AMS now has a 777 with full flats once a day!

For one of my latest schedule changes I was able to pick this flight for the overnight flight (I picked row one B&C for us both)  and I can not wait to try it out!

So you may want to log in to Delta.com and see if any of your birds have changed for next year, and if there has been a big enough schedule change, why not ask for a free switch to one of these nice Delta birds! – René

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 LGA airport from The Flying Pinto

Hurricane Sandy update October 30, 2012: 4:00 p.m.

Delta continues to monitor the situation at New York City-area airports, including working closely with the Port Authority and other stakeholders to resume operations as soon as safely possible.

Delta will resume limited flying to LaGuardia and Newark Liberty Wednesday evening for a Thursday morning restart. At John F. Kennedy International, Delta expects to resume limited domestic flying Wednesday afternoon. Flying has resumed at other U.S. East Coast airports.

Delta system cancellations due to Hurricane Sandy total approximately 3,000 from Sunday night through Wednesday. Customers continue to have the ability to move their travel and should monitor delta.com for the latest information.

The next update will be issued at 10:00 a.m. EDT on October 31.

For notification of updates to this page and other statements, follow @DeltaNewsroom on Twitter.

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Have you ever had a delay induced long term stay in an airport? My wife once got to enjoy the day as an airport guest as a result of her flight being canceled after they damaged the aircraft fuselage by running into the terminal building structure. Ooppppssssieeeee!

So why am I on this track today, you may ask? Did you ever see that movie The Terminal? It was 24 years ago today that the actual guy who evidently inspired the movie began his stay in Terminal 1 at one of my personal favorites, CDG! He was an Iranian refugee at the time trying to get to the UK. It seems the story is that his briefcase with all his paperwork was stolen in Paris so the UK refused to allow him to enter and sent him back to CDG, where he remained until 2006!

There are several references to the story if you’d like to read more details HERE and HERE and HERE and HERE

It just got me thinking about a lot of things. Back in 1988 when this happened the TSA didn’t exist, so getting on a flight without any ID was not out of the question. Cell phones in 1988 were 1G and not very common. The internet was barely in the first stages of development. Obviously, all of those developments in tech and in the airline industry would make it nearly impossible for something like this to happen today, right? So why was the guy stuck in CDG until 2006? It appears to be a very long and tedious political and bureaucratic mess, which isn’t likely to happen to the average person. All the steps we take to ensure smooth travel connections sure seem even more sensible though when you think about the possibility of getting stuck for not just hours or days but months and years! I hope you have a nice flight today and get to where you want to go. – René

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This is new on the KLM website. I don’t fly much (ok ever) to the Philippines so this may be old news to those who do but just so you know:

“Please be informed that, with immediate effect, visitors traveling to The Philippines must hold a printed copy of the return/onward E-ticket.

The Department of Justice, Bureau of Immigration, and Republic of The Philippines has strictly reinforced the requirement for those visitors/tourists to hold a printed copy of the return/onward E-ticket to prevent from being refused to enter the country. Ticket image presented in an electronic device, e.g. laptop or smart phone will not be accepted.“

For me, this is one more reason to e-Mail a PDF of your boarding pass to say a GMAIL account. Then, if you need it, you can go to a Skyclub or anywhere with a computer and printer, access your file and print it. It is always good to have a backup.

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Thanks to the mighty schedule change rule I had some time on my way back from Sweden last trip to go check out the new International Terminal F in Atlanta (ATL). First off, anyone can get to F as long as you are cleared through security. The “plane train” takes you around some fun curves and you get a peak at the underside of the baggage area on the way.

You will go up two sets of escalators to get to the main floor of the terminal.

Then you will be greeted by the immense crystal chandelier that cost, I have been told, a cool 1.2 million! The food court on the upper level is very nice, open and clean as well as across from the entrance to the Skyclub.

The Skyclub is very nice and very bright as light floods in from all over. It is spread out and that makes it “feel” even bigger.

The bar area is nice and they have a bunch of different beers on tap all complementary!

The snack area is the standard Delta goodies and I like the open feel here too.

There is a media room

And even a small upstairs area

I love the wall art that looks almost like a paper airplane. (I am such a geek)

There are also 8 showers in this lounge. For now the word has not got out how nice this lounge is so I would try it if you need a shower fast as the others can have a wait at times.

We chose to sit in the wing area off the bar. The views were just so sweet.

Not just of the jets so close that it feels like you can reach out and touch them!

You also have views of the runways left and right as well as the tower “towering” over you.

I love our Skyclubs. I love time to decompress between flights. I love WiFi, beer and wine and a chance to shower when I need it. I LOVE that my Delta AMEX Reserve card gets me and up to two more buddies in for free. But do keep in mind that if you have the GOLD or PLAT Delta AMEX it is just $25 to get in.

So there is my review of the new ATL “F” club. If you have not had a chance to see it yet, make the time. – René

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Delta began it’s history in the air as a commercial crop dusting operation way back in 1924. It was the first of it’s kind, and was based originally out of Macon, Georgia and later moved to Monroe, Louisiana. This Mississippi Delta region is the namesake for our airline and the triangle shape of this early logo has carried forward in the Delta logo we know today. In just 5 years they had their first passenger flight from Dallas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi with 2 stops in Louisiana,  Monroe and Shreveport. Total passenger capacity on those flights, you ask? 5 passenger seats, all first class of course! The very next year saw the beginning of service to Atlanta on June 12, 1930.

These days Delta has run as many as 1040 departures a day out of Atlanta serving some 215 destinations. You can also still go from Dallas to Jackson, although that trip will route you through Atlanta now. Look on the bright side, you’d get double Skymiles and no stops in Monroe or Shreveport!

So enjoy your travels, wherever they may take you, and along the way enjoy your brief visits through Atlanta! – René

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I have said how much I love living where I do. The middle is just nice. I have EZ access to the “Windy City” for Stay-cations whenever a point breaks room is found. I can fly out of SBN, AZO, FWA, GRR, IND, MDW, ORD & DTW all within a 3 hr drive. I could go on and on, but you can not all move here to the great Midwest!

But if you live in MSP, you may be starting to miss the glory days of MSP. Let me ask you a few questions.

• First, what has been going on since 2010? Look HERE.
•  And what has Delta been doing since then about the size of the jets going in and out of MSP since 2010? Look HERE.
•  And since Delta has not been buying any new planes for a while, can you tell me what type of plane Delta is buying right now? Look HERE.
• Last question. If a plane is small, noisy and very old, then our airline would like to keep this as quiet as possible right? Look HERE on the Delta blog.

Of course, you celebrate the bird. Now I do like the MD’s as long as I am not in the back. I like the 3+2 seating so neither my wife or I have to have the middle seat. They are running this ship from ATL-MYR where my mom-in-law lives and I love it over a CRJ (and never again an ATR)!

But back to MSP. Like real-estate you are location location location. Unless you are going to Europe, Asia, Hawaii or Mexico, you had better get used to more MD’s and CRJ’s! Just be happy you have birds at all as readers in CVG would love to have the size issues you now have to deal with.

At least you have one of the best airports in the world to enjoy before you fly! (does that help?) – Rene

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I was not able to fly down to participate in the fun of the dry run today leading up to the grand opening on Wednesday the 16th of this month!

There is the official video that has been around for a while that gives you the clean overview.

I did, however, have a very kind Flyer Talker (michaelkade) offer to guest blog for me and provide a bunch of photos for us all to enjoy. Here is the overview:

Overall a good experience! …. Those traveling MARTA will have a terrible time and can expect to add at least 30 minutes to front and back ends of the trip. I waited 20 minutes each time for a shuttle, which takes about 10-15 mins (traffic depending)…. The shops need a good deal of work before opening.

Thanks again for your insight from the day! So here are a bunch of photos for you to see what it looks like on the inside so far.

 EDIT: Also Nick @ UPGRD.com has a nice post with

even more photos of the day!

So now we have an idea of what to expect. I will be through it in June on the way back from Sweden and will let you know how “GOES” goes and more. – René

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