adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 776 posts, RR: 2 Posted (8 months 2 weeks 9 hours ago) and read 6570 times:
Introduction
The U S of A, a great country IMHO. A country where everything is big, a country I have lived in for a year, a country I have visited many times (mostly in the summer) for vacation or other purposes. This year would be no exception. Visiting friends in Maine, Pennsylvania and Canada while enjoying my 4 week vacation from work.
Hello everyone and welcome to my 15th trip report featuring part 4 of my vacation to the USA/Canada!
It wasn’t until the 27th of May when my dad and I started looking for tickets. Booking was done, the same day, on delta.com (as my dad is a SkyMiles member). 6 flights for about 1200EUR p.p, not a very bad deal for the time of year and the date that we booked IMO.
There were a lot of different options for that price, so we eventually chose:
July 21: AMS-BOS // 11:10-13:00 // DL231 // A330-300
August 1: BOS-JFK // 12:00-13:17 // DL901 // A319
August 1: JFK-PHL // 16:10-17:28 // DL3544 // CRJ900 Pinnacle Airlines/DL Connection
August 8: PHL-LGA // 14:10-15:10 // DL4050 // CRJ100 Pinnacle Airlines/DL Connection
August 8: LGA-YYZ // 16:45-18:25 // DL7145 // B736 operated by WestJet
August 16: YYZ-AMS // 23:05-12:10 // DL9399 // B744 operated by KLM
A nice itinerary with all different types, and for me it will be the first time flying Delta longhaul and WestJet. This would also be a chance to catch the fairly “rare” B737-600 type.
This series will be split into 5 parts (due to the many pictures made):
Part 1: AMS-BOS
Part 2: BOS-JFK
Part 3: JFK-PHL
Part 4: PHL-LGA-YYZ
Part 5: YYZ-AMS
Every part will not only contain a report of the flight(s), but it will also be accompanied by many pictures of places I visited/things I did during my stay.
So sit back, relax and I hope you enjoy this report!
Map
The map for this part, thanks to the Great Circle Mapper:
And the map of this whole trip, also thanks to the Great Circle Mapper:
It is Wednesday the 8th of August at 08:30 when my alarm clock goes off. After a nice week in New Holland, PA it is time to move on again, time to fly again! Today it’s off to Exeter, Ontario in Canada for the last week of my vacation, time sure flies me thinks while heading to the shower.
After a nice shower my I-pod “pings”, I have gotten an email from Delta Messenger stating that my flight is already delayed for 35 min, new dep. time 14:45. Here we go again, I was thinking, as long as we make our connection!
Getting to PHL
Our friend was kind enough to take us to the airport. Despite the expected delay we left at 10:00 for the 2 hour ride to PHL. Exactly 2 hours later, at 12:00, we arrived at PHL and got dropped off at Terminal D. We bid our friend goodbye and headed inside the terminal.
Check-In
As always I had checked in online the night before for my PHL-LGA leg. Checking in for my LGA-YYZ leg (operated by WestJet) was not possible on Deltas website. Understandable so I tried it on WestJets website, check-in wasn’t possible on their website either as they couldn’t find my confirmation #. Hmm ok, I’ll check at the airport then.
Once entering terminal D I headed over to one of Deltas SSKs. I printed out my BP for the PHL-LGA sector. As I still wasn’t able to check-in or select a seat for my WestJet flight, the SSK spit out this Connection Information Document for me:
Hmm ok, I’ll see if the check-in agent can do anything for me while I drop my bag off. But first a quick look at the FIDS, Flight DL4050 to LGA was now further delayed until 15:10. Now this is going to be a very tight connection!
I joined the baggage drop off line and 15 min later it was my turn so I approached the check-in agent. While handing over my passport + BP I put my bag on the scale and explained the situation. I asked if it was possible to check me in/print the BP for me as I have a tight connection. He explained to me that is wasn’t possible as it is a WestJet flight and that I have more than an hour to connect at LGA. I told him that I didn’t have more than an hour because my flight is delayed, which he didn’t know about yet. He eventually told me to head straight to the gate once arriving at LGA (No really??) where they will assign me my seat and print out my BP. He then handed me this seat request ticket, apologized and wished me a good day:
Security
Now it was off to security. This time security was quite different compared to my previous experience at BOS. Once arriving there, there was quite a line. 20 min later we were through the passport + BP check. 10 min after that we were through the x ray screening without a problem.
PHL Terminal D
I had now arrived at PHLs terminal D. Terminal D is quite an ok terminal (much better then Terminal 2 @ JFK) except for, once again, the bathrooms. They smelled bad and were downright filthy, were the cleaners on strike during my vacation or something?
Anyway as we still weren’t feeling to good about our connection we decided to head over to the gate and see if there was an agent that could do anything for us. But first a quick look down the almost empty E gates:
And a quick look down the D-gates with an old Continental livery:
Once arriving at our assigned gate D8 there were 2 agents there. We approached one of the friendly female agents and explained our situation. She immediately offered to confirm us onto the next WestJet flight which would be leaving just 1h45min after our original one. She printed out this document for us and told us to show it at the gate if we missed our connection:
Feeling a bit relieved we thanked her, got a bite to eat at Dunkin Donuts and did some spotting.
Spotting @ PHL
For some spotting I headed down to the end of terminal D where I got some nice views of aircraft taxing by and landing in the distance.
After a nice spotting session we walked a bit more throughout the airport and visited some shops before heading back to our gate D8. Time of departure was still 15:10 (1hr delay) but the inbound was scheduled to arrive at 14:50 so I wasn’t very optimistic in departing “on time”.
While waiting at the gate our aircraft came taxiing in at 14:55, N8837B will be doing the honors on this short hop. A CRJ400 instead of the scheduled CRJ100:
Judging by the amount of people at the gate area this was going to be a very light load despite the small aircraft. Just before boarding, one of the gate agents walked around tagging most of the carry-on’s with the pink Delta gate claim tags.
Boarding
My BP for this short hop:
Eventually at 15:10 boarding was called for flight DL4050 to LGA. First all the status passengers (which consisted of 2 people) and then the rest. I got my BP scanned and walked down the jetway.
While walking onto the tarmac I put my carry-on on the cart and headed towards the aircraft. Once entering the aircraft I was greeted by a very friendly and chatty female FA, this set the tone for this flight!
I headed towards my seat 5D and immediately took a look outside:
As boarding was nearing its end the female FA approached me and suggested I go sit a few rows back in the emergency exit row as she saw I was quite tall. Very nice of her to suggest that to me, so I grabbed my belongings and headed towards seat 8D. The new view from my seat:
Flight load on this small aircraft was quite empty at 30%. Flight crew consisted of 1 female FA, Brenda is her name. She is probably one of the best FAs I have had in a long time. Professional, very friendly, chatty and nice and personal (but not TOO personal). She really seemed to enjoy her job and even managed to hand out a little snack with water during the flight (I know, probably due to the light load).
At 15:20 the door was closed and Brenda came onto the PA welcoming us onboard with a special welcome to all SkyMiles and other Skyteam members. She also mentioned the amount of miles we will be earning on this flight. After that came the safety demonstration.
Once that was done the pilot came onto the PA with another special welcome and an announced flying time of 30min. He also mentioned that he tried to find out why there was a delay, but couldn’t, as there was a crew change here at PHL and he didn’t get the possibility to talk with the other pilot.
Pushback + Taxi
Eventually at 15:35, 1h15min behind original dep. time we pushed back and taxied towards runway 27L:
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 776 posts, RR: 2 Reply 1, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 6240 times:
A nice bizjet also awaiting take-off:
Take-off + Climb
At 15:50, 1h30min behind schedule, we rolled onto the runway and 1 minute later started take-off roll:
And lift off!:
Seatback + Contents
The seatback had the same contents as my previous Delta flights except for the safety card of course:
Seatback:
Legroom shot:
Brenda then came onto the PA stating that electronic devices were not allowed during the whole flight as we would remain under 10,000 feet. She also said that she will be coming around with a snack and some water as long as it is possible.
McGuire AFB:
Snack Service
Once Brenda reached my row she asked if I wanted a snack and a glass of water while addressing me by my last name, another very nice touch:
Descent
Shortly after getting my snack we started our descent towards LGA. This descent into LGA is a very scenic one as you fly straight over New York. This brought some very nice views where you can almost touch the skyscrapers. I’ll let the pictures do the talking:
Taking a sharp right turn:
Final Approach + Landing
For final approach to runway 22:
And touchdown at 16:20!:
Taxi To The Gate
We immediately exited the runway and headed to our remote stand, which was at the other side of the airport. The down part was that we only had 15 minutes until the gate would close for our original WestJet flight . The good part was that I (finally) was seated at the right side of the aircraft and got some good views of every terminal:
Passing our original WesJet flight:
10 minutes after landing, at 16:30, we were in our parking position:
Once the seatbelt sign got switched off everybody gathered their belongings and headed towards the door. Soon enough the door was opened and we were allowed to walk off the plane where there were 2 buses waiting for us. At the door was Brenda saying goodbye to everyone personally by using there last name. After thanking her I walked down the stairs and waited for my carry-on. While waiting I snapped a quick picture of our aircraft:
Once everybody got their carry-on we headed to the second bus which took us to the terminal. Not feeling all too optimistic we were going to make our connection, we rushed over to the gate for our next flight: C34. As it was quite a ways to the gate a friendly airport employee offered to take us over to the gate with his electric car.
Once we reached our gate, at 16:45, our aircraft was just being pushed back. Oh well, at least the next one will be boarding in just about an hour we thought while approaching the gate agents.
After explaining our situation and handing over the correct documents, the very friendly, chatty and funny gate agent helped us out immediately.
5 minutes later we had our BP for seats 17D and F with the middle seat kept empty for us, very nice!
We thanked the gate agent and decided to go look for some place to eat.
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 776 posts, RR: 2 Reply 2, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 6240 times:
LGA Terminal C
LGA terminal C is a very nice terminal. Spacious and in good condition. Was quite impressed during our shirt visit there.
Our first mission was to call the Robert Q bus company, which we booked tickets on for our transport to London, Ontario from YYZ. After telling them that we missed our connection we were scheduled for the 21:30 bus at YYZ without a problem.
After getting that settled we got a bite to eat. Terminal C has a little food court with a McDonalds and some other restaurants. After a quick junk food meal we headed back towards our gate: C34:
Arriving at our gate:
Boarding
BP for this flight:
At 18:00, 5 mins behind schedule, boarding was announced for flight WS1213 with destination to YYZ. We headed towards the gate, got our BP scanned, and walked into the jetway.
Once entering the plane we were greeted by 2 friendly female FAs and headed to our row: 17. First impression of the cabin was a very good one. In great and clean condition. Another nice feature that WestJet has is a PTV with live TV on every seatback. After getting settled into my seat I took a quick look outside the spotless window:
You are welcome!:
Flight load was a total of 63 passengers. The flight crew consisted of 1 female purser and 3 female FAs, all friendly and did their job with a smile.
As we still had 15 min before dep. time I did some spotting from my window:
At 18:20 the front left door was closed and the female purser came onto the PA. First introducing herself and the other FAs by name, followed by the usual announcements and the safety demonstration. After every announcement there was a tape in French which I thought was a nice touch. No welcome from the cockpit, they only came on the PA later during flight. Announced flying time was 1h20mins.
Pushback + Taxi
5 minutes ahead of schedule, at 18:25, we started pushback and taxied to runway 13:
Delta MadDog taking off:
Welcome to New York sign, sorry I’m leaving! Will see you back in January:
That is where were heading:
Crossing runway 22:
A nice line of aircraft awaiting take-off:
Delta A319 landing:
JetBlue A320 landing:
Hello there:
We are next!:
Take-off + Climb
At 18:50 we lined up on the runway, this was the line behind us:
Starting take-off roll:
And lift off!:
Bye LGA, hope to see you again soon!:
The PTV was starting to show different commercials:
Seatback + Contents
Now let’s take a quick look at the seatback and its contents:
The very nice legroom, good job WestJet!:
Safety card:
Food and entertainment menu:
WestJet Up! Magazine:
WestJet vacations magazine:
The PTV was now showing the moving map, nice!:
As already mentioned before WestJet offers live TV on their aircraft for free. So after exploring the 25 different channels I settled in for an episode of Hawaii Five O. A great series IMHO, which by coincidence I am watching right now while writing this report:
adamspotter From Netherlands, joined Feb 2011, 776 posts, RR: 2 Reply 3, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 17 hours ago) and read 6240 times:
Up and close with the blended winglet:
Snack Service
Soon enough the crew came around with a snack and drinks run. There were 2 choices of snacks, Ranch Crispers or Biscoff cookies:
I went for a ginger ale + Biscoff cookies while my dad went for a tonic + ranch crispers:
Lavatory
While the crew walked around offering refills I paid a quick visit to the lavatory (for all you lavatory lovers out there!):
Getting closer and closer to Lake Ontario now:
After finishing Hawaii Five O I switched channels and started watching Storage Wars, another great and fun series IMHO:
Descent + Approach
Soon enough the pilot came onto the PA announcing that we were starting descent into Toronto. What followed was (once again) another very scenic approach, flying straight past downtown Toronto before making some sharp left turns:
Downtown Toronto already in sight:
A nice overview of Toronto City Airport (YTZ):
Flying straight past the CN tower:
Final Approach + Landing
Taking a sharp left turn for final approach to runway 24L:
And touchdown at 19:55, 20 minutes ahead of schedule. Once again, well done WestJet!:
Taxi To The Gate
We exited the runway and taxied over to our gate at terminal 3:
The EK A380 is also in town:
Air Canada is obviously the main carrier here!:
Crossing runway 15L/33R:
We will be parking to the right of the KLM 777:
In our parking position at 20:10, 5 minutes ahead of schedule!:
5 minutes later the front left door was opened. As it was a light flight load today deboarding went quick and smooth. After thanking the crew for a nice flight we headed towards immigration.
Conclusion
PHL Terminal D: An ok terminal, nothing special, except for the bathrooms which were once again filthy. Did have a nice spotting session from here.
Delta Connection: Another delay, at least the pilot tried to find out the reason this time and communicated about it! Besides the delay I had a very nice flight with an outstanding FA, won’t forget her anytime soon. The approach into LGA is absolutely fantastic with great views!
LGA Terminal C: A very nice terminal to stay at. Not too busy and spacious, had a great, but short, stay there!
WestJet: Too bad I missed the connection, but that wasn’t WestJets fault. Did miss out on the 737-600 because of it, oh well will have to head up north to catch one. The flight itself was outstanding: Nice crew, nice seat pitch, spotless cabin and the free live TV is a very nice feature. They also got us into YYZ well ahead of time. Hope to fly WestJet again soon! And the flight came to a fantastic end with some great views of downtown Toronto.
So this will end part 4 of this series. If you’re still reading, thank you very much for taking the time to read this report, it is much appreciated.
Please feel free to leave a comment or ask a question, I would really appreciate that!
The last part of this series part 5, should be up in about a week or so featuring immigration/customs clearance at YYZ. Or bus ride to Exeter, Ontario with Robert Q. Pictures of my weeks stay in Canada. And to end this series my journey back home in KLMs upper deck from YYZ-AMS!
reifel From Germany, joined Feb 2005, 1135 posts, RR: 1 Reply 4, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 11 hours ago) and read 6240 times:
Thanks for sharin! Great that DL and WS took good care of you. I have realized KL/AF cooperate with WS as well on FRA-YYZ, so I am plannign a routing YYZ-YUL with WS, then KL MD11 to AMS, then AF via CDG to FRA. This is the maximum the routing allows ... don't expect Westjet to give me the boarding passes til FRA though
roberts87 From Netherlands, joined Dec 2011, 660 posts, RR: 0 Reply 5, posted (8 months 1 week 6 days 10 hours ago) and read 6240 times:
Another good report, thanks for sharing!
Looks like you had two wonderfull approaches on this day of flying. Too bad you missed the 736 though becuase of the missed connection, but it looks DL took a good job of taking care of you.
MSS658 From Belgium, joined Oct 2010, 2212 posts, RR: 14 Reply 6, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 22 hours ago) and read 6023 times:
Hello Brandan
Another great addition to the series!
Too bad you missed out logging the 736! But things happen.
Weather/irrops in the Northeast tend to happen quickly and the regionals are the first ones to go.
Glad Delta and Westjet took good care of you!
Did not realize however that Delta is taking over terminal C in LGA as well (used to be US)
The777Man From United States of America, joined Jul 1999, 6082 posts, RR: 56 Reply 10, posted (8 months 1 week 5 days 12 hours ago) and read 5726 times:
Hi Brendan!
Thanks for a nice report with nice pictures !
Too bad with the delays but think they are very common on the east coast due to weather/ATC issues. Hope you get to go on a 736 soon again.
Very nice approach over downtown Manhattan to LGA!
Legroom on WestJet looks great!
Looking forward to the last part in your series.
The777Man
Need a Boeing 777 Firing Order....Further to fly....GA, T5, CI and LX 777s
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): Once Brenda reached my row she asked if I wanted a snack and a glass of water while addressing me by my last name, another very nice touch:
Wow, not something you'd expect in coach on a short regional hop. Did the get the pronunciation right as well?
Quoting adamspotter (Reply 2): LGA terminal C is a very nice terminal. Spacious and in good condition. Was quite impressed during our shirt visit there.
Place looks nice, fresh and spacious indeed. Quite the opposite from what I'd imagined LGA to look like, since I've heard so much about the place being constantly crowded and cramped.
Quoting adamspotter (Reply 3): which by coincidence I am watching right now while writing this report:
Hehe, well you have great multi tasking skills, or were you only writing in between the ads?
"Wheels-Up!"
//Jonas
I won't stop complaining until SAS reintroduces free service in Economy Class!
sultanils From Belgium, joined Mar 2010, 1173 posts, RR: 29 Reply 13, posted (8 months 1 week 4 days 14 hours ago) and read 5393 times:
Hi Brendan,
Thanks for another enjoyable episode of your trip to the US of A. Good grief, you let yourself go with the camera, didn’t you 2 nice and solid flights and it was to be expected that you wouldn’t make that connection at LGA. Thankfully that helpful gate agent helped you out! The approach path over NYC is a one-off experience it seems, too bad the weather was not very cooperative...
Quoting reifel (Reply 4): I have realized KL/AF cooperate with WS as well on FRA-YYZ, so I am plannign a routing YYZ-YUL with WS, then KL MD11 to AMS, then AF via CDG to FRA
That looks like a nice itinerary! Especially the MD-11
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 5): Another good report, thanks for sharing!
You're welcome, glad you liked it Robert
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 5): Looks like you had two wonderfull approaches on this day of flying
Yes, the approaches were very nice!
Quoting roberts87 (Reply 5): Too bad you missed the 736 though becuase of the missed connection, but it looks DL took a good job of taking care of you.
That was the only downside of this great day of flying, but oh well got enough chances.
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Another great addition to the series!
Thanks! Glad you liked it
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Too bad you missed out logging the 736! But things happen.
Weather/irrops in the Northeast tend to happen quickly and the regionals are the first ones to go.
Glad Delta and Westjet took good care of you!
Yes, was quite unfortunate with the 736, but enough chances to come Yes, both DL and WS took quite good care of me
Quoting MSS658 (Reply 6): Did not realize however that Delta is taking over terminal C in LGA as well (used to be US)
win1290 From Thailand, joined Jan 2012, 249 posts, RR: 2 Reply 15, posted (8 months 6 days 12 hours ago) and read 4801 times:
Hi Brendan,
Very nice trip report once again with lots of great photos! Delta looks very nice, and quite impress by the personal service you got on the first flight. Quite amazed also that Brenda greeted everyone off the flight by the last names! The airline seems to handle it quite well after your mis-connected flight, thats great!
Quoting adamspotter (Thread starter): After explaining our situation and handing over the correct documents, the very friendly, chatty and funny gate agent helped us out immediately.
5 minutes later we had our BP for seats 17D and F with the middle seat kept empty for us, very nice!
We thanked the gate agent and decided to go look for some place to eat.
= Funny. I flew WS out of LGA a few months back connecting at YYZ to WAW, and the agent was super nice and friendly ... and totally different than most other people I have encountered at LGA .
Thanks a lot for writing this to us. Seems like another good experience on Delta (Brenda was a gem), and one on WestJet. I have a friend who works there now and he speaks highly of their work culture as well - guess it shows.
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