World Traveller 73 
Alaska Airlines used to have a light footprint in the Seattle Tacoma N Satellite concourse, previously operating the majority of its flights from the C and D Concourse at Seattle Tacoma International Airport. Through an expansion strategy, the N Satellite underwent an expansion featuring more gates and more available lounge space. In previous years, the Alaska footprint in the N Satellite was much more limited, consistent with the lounge that it operated at the time. We had a brief visit to the old lounge prior to our onwards flight to Los Angeles.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Fiji, New Zealand and French Polynesia. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and AAdvantage frequent flier programs and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Fiji, New Zealand & French Polynesia via Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui Business Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Board Room – North Satellite – Seattle – Tacoma, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Los Angeles
- The Los Angeles International Lounge, Tom Bradley International Terminal, USA
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Nadi
- The Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island, Fiji
- The Westin Denaru Island Resort and Spa, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Tabua Lounge, Nadi International Airport, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Nadi – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Domestic Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Regional Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand: Auckland – Blenheim
- The Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Sauvingon Blanc Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Pinot Noir Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- A Circle Driving Day: Blenheim – Nelson – Picton – Blenheim, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Blenheim – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland International Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Economy Sky Couch: Auckland – Papeete
- Le Meridien Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Visiting the Papeete Market and Taking the Ferry: Papeete – Moorea, French Polynesia
- The Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort, French Polynesia
- Cycling in Teavaro and Snorkelling in Moorea, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Moorea – Bora Bora
- Le Meridien Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Bora Bora – Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui Salon Manuhiri Business Lounge, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti Nui Poerava Business Class: Papeete – Los Angeles
- The United Club, Los Angeles Terminal Seven
- American Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Vancouver
Review: Alaska Airlines Board Room Lounge, N Satellite – Seattle Tacoma International Airport, USA
Alaska Airlines used to operate a smaller Alaska Airlines Boardroom in the North Satellite Terminal. The lounge was eventually re-branded into the Alaska Airlines Lounge and operated for dozens of years. As part of a growth strategy, th Seattle Tacoma Airport under went a large expansion to accomodate several new gates. With this expansion, Alaska Airlines developed its new flagship Alaska Lounge N Satellite Seattle Tacoma, which occupied a large space on the second level of the N Satellite Concourse.
Locating the Alaska Board Room:
We arrived to the North Satellite Gates at Seattle Tacoma International Airport arriving off Alaska Airlines First Class Vancouver – Seattle. We would have had 6 minutes to make our original connection and since the plane was leaving from the “D” Concourse Gates (involving a two stop train ride) we just headed to the nearby Alaska Lounge to get us sorted out. The old Alaska Board Room Lounge was located just off N Satellite Gates N1 and N2.
Unfortunately, the lounge was not super helpful in keeping us in First Class. They were able to issue our boarding cards for our new flight, but sadly we were involuntarily downgraded from first into economy. The lounge directed us to Alaska Customer Care desks just down the way.
We left the lounge and went to nearby Customer Care. I asked if there were any other confirmed first seats available on later flights but they were completely sold out of First Class inventory for the day. Instead of opting to miss our Fiji Airways business class seats, we reluctantly accepted the downgrade into economy for the 2 hour and 15 minute ride down to Los Angeles. We were wait listed for First Class, with a caution that we were “low” on the list. I checked the app again later on wifi and it seems that we were very low. Oh boy: number #15 and #16 out of 16 on the list.
We returned to the Alaska Lounge and explained the situation involving the economy downgrade. They had no issues with admitting us based on our original ticket, and we went into the lounge located at the North Satellite Gates.
Accessing the Alaska Lounge:
The Alaska Lounge is usually accessible through a variety of means.
Alaska Lounges are accessible through an annual membership. Holding a membership card allows you access prior to your departing flight. Unlike many other American carriers, you can also get access as a paid first class passenger.
Unfortunately, you don’t qualify for access as an Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan elite upgrader if you’ve purchased an economy fare and have found yourself upgraded to First Class. Select One World Sapphire and Emerald Members get access, dependent on the rules of their itinerary per the One World access policies.
Access is also possible through purchasing a one day pass.
Occasionally, Alaska Airlines offers access through Priority Pass. However, it’s developed a bit of a reputation for not allowing access due to over crowding. As a result, I wouldn’t rely on Priority Pass if you were insistent on visiting Alaska Lounges through this means.
Our access today was courtesy of our Alaska Mileage Plan First Class Award redemption, which is one of the categories that allows complimentary access. Even upgraded fares do not allow Alaska Lounge access. making access to this location a little challenging at times.
Inside the Alaska Airlines Board Room:
The Alaska Lounge has recently been refreshed and is a much more welcoming space compared to the Alaska Boardroom’s that I’ve been in during the past. It was much more modern and refreshing than the Alaska Airlines Lounge Los Angeles that we had previously visited.
There was a water feature immediately at the entrance. The seating was situated around floor to ceiling windows that ran the length of the lounge. There were a narrow bank of seats located along the windows, which made for slightly limited places to sit.
Food and Beverage:
The Alaska Board Room offered some light snacks consisting of cubed cheese, celery and a pancake machine that was still available during our 2PM visit.
I had some of the clam chowder soup that was available, which was tasty but very rich in texture.
The drinks were available from the bar. House drinks, including sparking wine for MrsWT73 were complimentary and premium drinks were available starting at 7$.
The staff throughout the lounge from managers at reception to the bar staff were very friendly and surprisingly sympathetic to our experience; considering the number of passengers that they have to deal with that mis-connect throughout the day.
Views from the Lounge:
There were bright windows available throughout the lounge allowing for some great plane spotting activities with unobstructed views. MrsWT73 even commented that you didn’t get to see a plane arrive and get unpacked with this much clarity. It was a massive improvement from the old dungeon United Red Carpet club that was downstairs in the basement of this building that we used to regularly visit on our travels through Seattle.
We left the lounge at about thirty five minutes before our Alaska Airlines Seattle – Los Angeles flight to head over to our gate for boarding.
Our Experience with the Alaska Airlines Board Room:
Overall the Alaska lounge was a pleasant place to hang out for a bit. It was much nicer than the Alaska Lounge in Los Angeles, which was sadly in need of a major update on our last visit. The friendly management staff at the front were also surprisingly accommodating to deal with.
Editors Note: This lounge has since closed. Alaska Airlines now operates the larger flagship Alaska Airlines N Satellite Lounge Seattle Tacoma International Airport.
If you had the opportunity to visit the old Alaska Airlines Board Room in the N Satellite, did you have fond memories of this place before it closed?
Alaska Airlines provides connector service from Vancouver to Seattle on a fairly frequent basis on either it’s jet aircraft in the Boeing 737 series, or the propellor aircraft in either the Dash 8 or Q400 series. While we’ve reviewed this flight dozens of times, this post had us flying on Alaska’s newest Boeing 737-900 series aircraft.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Fiji, New Zealand and French Polynesia. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and AAdvantage frequent flier programs and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Fiji, New Zealand & French Polynesia via Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui Business Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Board Room – North Satellite – Seattle – Tacoma, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Los Angeles
- The Los Angeles International Lounge, Tom Bradley International Terminal, USA
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Nadi
- The Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island, Fiji
- The Westin Denaru Island Resort and Spa, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Tabua Lounge, Nadi International Airport, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Nadi – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Domestic Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Regional Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand: Auckland – Blenheim
- The Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Sauvingon Blanc Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Pinot Noir Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- A Circle Driving Day: Blenheim – Nelson – Picton – Blenheim, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Blenheim – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland International Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Economy Sky Couch: Auckland – Papeete
- Le Meridien Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Visiting the Papeete Market and Taking the Ferry: Papeete – Moorea, French Polynesia
- The Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort, French Polynesia
- Cycling in Teavaro and Snorkelling in Moorea, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Moorea – Bora Bora
- Le Meridien Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Bora Bora – Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui Salon Manuhiri Business Lounge, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti Nui Poerava Business Class: Papeete – Los Angeles
- The United Club, Los Angeles Terminal Seven
- American Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Vancouver
Review: Alaska Airlines First Class B737-9, Vancouver International Airport – Seattle Tacoma International Airport
We both had a terrible 24 hours before this trip started. We were both traveling on separate air tickets for work related reasons. I was travelling on Air Canada back to Vancouver from St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. MrsWT73 was travelling back on Air Canada from Ottawa, Ontario Canada. Both of our flights had mechanical issues and my flight leaving “The Rock”, Newfoundland was cancelled outright. I ended up flying standby out of St John’s on another flight, and had to leave a co-worker behind. He was travelling with a checked bag and I was travelling with carry on only.
While I was in St John’s, Newfoundland, Canada killing the flight delays, I work shopped contingency plans that included purchasing a full fare revenue ticket for one of us to Los Angeles get connect to our midnight Fiji Airways departure flight, I made it back to Vancouver after 20 hrs of travel at about 2:30 AM, only to turn around for this flight the same day at 11:58 AM. Ugh! I wouldn’t have typically booked it so close together but the lack of reward availability was the deciding factor. We both eventually made it a little frazzled however.
Checking into Alaska Airlines First Class:
We took an Aerocar to the airport; a Ford Expedition today. We arrived to a quiet departure zone with Alaska Airlines occupying the space immediately under the Fairmont hotel Vancouver International Airport.
The pleasant Alaska Airlines staff checked us in at the Alaska Airlines First Class MVP counter. Our bags were checked to LAX as we had a 7 hour layover and MrsWT73 was concerned about luggage content theft since we had some bag luck on our last long layover through there.
MrsWT73 received the unfortunate “SSSS” and a free massage that went along with it. Despite our Nexus / Global Entry, she was not permitted to use the screening lane and was re-directed towards the regular screening. She was able to bypass the queue thankfully, which was at least 150 people as we passed through.
There is no lounge available to Alaska Airlines First Class passengers so we hung out at the busy gate area. Those with a Priority Pass Membership can access the Plaza Premium Vancouver Transborder lounge but it’s not directly included with your ticket for those flying Alaska Airlines First Class.
There was no plane on arrival; usually a bad sign for a mid morning flight.
The flight posted at major delay of 1hr 12 minutes and we immediately mis-connected on our connecting flight on Alaska Airlines Seattle – Los Angeles. This was blamed on Seattle Tacoma International Airport Air Traffic Control. The gate agents in Vancouver pro-actively started re-connecting passengers but unfortunately did not get to us before we boarded.
Alaska Airlines
First Class (A)
YVR-SEA (Vancouver International Airport – SeaTac Airport)
AS 702
June 2, 2017
Booked: Boeing 737-900
Flown: Boeing 737-900
Departure: 11:58 AM
Arrival: 12:54 PM
On Board Alaska Airlines First Class:
We got on board and settled into the usual blue Alaska First Class recliner seat. Alaska Airlines First Class is set up in a 2-2 configuration. The seats are quite old school in their puffy nature and are generally quite comfortable for a shorter flight.
There was a small bottle of Dasani water that was waiting for us at the seat.
While we waited to get underway, I watched the baggage handlers load the remaining bags into the cargo hold.
There was available in seat power from the center console, with both outlets working and functional today.
Pre Departure Services:
On board, we were offered an open bar pre-departure beverage with the advice and information that there would be no service offerings due to the short length of the flight listed as 27 minutes. It was a Gin and Tonic to start the holidays, served in a plastic cup. We had pleasant crews otherwise for this short leg, despite not having much interaction with them due to the flight’s short duration.
Alaska Airlines has updated its in flight magazine to the contemporary Beyond. It’s a more modern version of their previous version of the magazine which was much more old school.
Due to the flight delay, we departed from Vancouver International Airport relatively promptly. As we were pushing back, I checked the Alaska App on my phone, and confirmed that we were proactively re-booked on to AS 410 departing Seattle at 3:50 PM.
We had a nice climb out of naturally green Vancouver…
With a very short twenty seven minute flight down to Seattle. As we got closer to Seattle, we had some nice views of downtown Seattle on our pass over the city.
We landed in Seattle and were on the ground reasonably quickly. We deplaned and headed off to fix our flight mis connection issues.
My Thoughts on Alaska Airlines First Class on the Short Vancouver Seattle route:
It was not a bad flight overall. There isn’t much advantage to first class seating on this short leg, since there is no food and beverage service aside from a pre-departure drink and a better comfort level on a flight with a wider seat. The main advantage to first class on this leg are the additional baggage allowances that come with such a ticket.
If you’ve mis connected on a flight, what is your best strategy on dealing with the mis connection and getting rebooked?
The islands of the South Pacific are among the hardest in the world to get to using frequent flier reward miles. With a remote physical location in the world, a lack of airlines serving this part of the world, and limited airline alliances that allow for connectivity to and from this area, it’s a challenging region to visit on miles and points. This story is how we set out to visit several islands in this corner of the world and used almost exclusively frequent flier points in international business class to get us there and back.
Trip Introduction: Fiji, French Polynesia and New Zealand via Fiji Airways, Air New Zealand and Air Tahiti Nui Business Class.
Trip Background:
After several awesome Round the World and adventures to South East Asia, MrsWT73 had her sights set on going to Tahiti. I didn’t relish the fact that it was among the hardest of places to get to on points and miles. Add the fact that it is also quite an expensive destination and there has been good reason that we haven’t yet stopped by for a visit. Never deterred by a challenge, I started extensively researching the options.
Trip Planning and Organizing:
Airfares:
After some substantial research, I put together two award tickets on both Alaska Mileage Plan and AAdvantage. I figured it would be cheaper to use Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan over AAdvantage for the Fiji Airways flights. Alaska Mileage Plan was offering a point savings of 27,500 points per person, get us to Fiji for a stopover, and onward to New Zealand.
Heading down, I located award space on Expert Flyer on Fiji Airways. Unfortunately, Alaska Airlines was unable to book all seats showing as available on Fiji Airways and I had to locate a day with “4” expert flyer seats available (with Alaska only getting access to 2 of those business class seats). I booked these at about 6 months out and paid $250 in taxes and fees and 55,000 Alaska Mileage Plan miles per passenger. The flights with Alaska Mileage Plan included a free stopover in Fiji. I was able to find seats on their wide body aircraft; Airbus 330’s all the way through to Auckland. I wasn’t able to find Alaska Airlines connecting flights between Vancouver – Los Angeles (our overseas gateway) in First Class. I ended up booking the ticket Los Angeles – Nadi – Auckland to lock in the overseas portions in Business Class. I set seat alerts on Expert Flyer for the segments between Vancouver – Los Angeles on Alaska Airlines. Eventually, award seats opened up at about the 4 month mark. I called into change the tickets, which was handled promptly and without fees as it was more than 60 days before travel.
I had to pay for a revenue seat for travel within New Zealand between Auckland and the Marborough wine region. I was going to book Premium Economy between Auckland and Papeete but by the time I got around to booking the tickets about 4 months out, the fares had jumped considerably to the point that it was only a few hundred dollars away from business premier. Since the business class price point was three times an economy fare, and with Star Gold Status in hand, we just settled for economy for the 5 hours flight between New Zealand and French Polynesia. Thanks likely in part due to Air New Zealand’s Airpoints frequent flier program, the fare categories in the Tasman / Pacific Islands area booked into non earning Star Alliance frequent flier programs. We ended up with a Air New Zealand Sky Couch for our trip at no extra cost, and got the opportunity to test out this feature of their Boeing 777.
Coming back from the South Pacific to North America, I located awards space on Expert Flyer on Air Tahiti Nui. There were no problems finding business seats at the 6 month mark with two seats of availability almost every third day. I couldn’t find any American Airlines connecting business award space between Los Angeles and Vancouver. I booked the French Polynesia to USA legs of the trip. I again set Expert Flyer seat alerts between Los Angeles and Vancouver and at about the 3 month mark, 4 seats opened up on an American Airlines Compass Air non stop flight later that evening. I called in to get the tickets changed but it took several calls as the tickets would show as “on request” for about 6 weeks. These tickets cost $79 USD in taxes and fees and a steep 82,500 AAdvantage Miles per passenger.
Hotels:
When it came to planning the hotels, I had read that the outer islands were much nicer than the beach resorts on the main island of Fiji. We ended up at the Sheraton Tokoriki Resort which was almost brand new on an island in the Manumaca Islands. Thanks to an early morning departure from Nadi, Fiji, we also had a one night stop over at the Westin Denaru which appeared to be the best of the Marriott / Starwood options at the time.
With hotels in New Zealand, it was off season for wine tourism. We stayed at the very comfortable Marlborough Vintners Inn which was a lovely stay in the middle of Blenheim. We rented a car through Thrifty’s to get around to the various wineries and around northern New Zealand.
For booking hotels in French Polynesia, I was really surprised at how busy French Polynesia was. Most hotels were sold out of the cheaper advance purchase rates well over 4 months in advance and most of the over water villa options had quickly disappeared. We ended up paying for our hotels and earned a stack of points as there were several promotions running at the time of our visit and the redemption rates for a reward stay were astronomical. We started at the Le Meridien Tahiti on the main island of Tahiti for two nights, followed by four nights at the Sofitel Moorea La Ora. We then transferred to the classic and to the original home of over water villas Le Meridien Bora Bora for three nights, prior to our return trip home.
Although the trip didn’t feature the world best lounges or business class products, I hope you’ll join us on this trip to a remote part of the world.
This post is one chapter on our trip to Fiji, New Zealand and French Polynesia. This trip was redeemed through Alaska Mileage Plan and AAdvantage frequent flier programs and enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Fiji, New Zealand & French Polynesia via Fiji Airways and Air Tahiti Nui Business Class
- Alaska Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Seattle
- Alaska Airlines Board Room – North Satellite – Seattle – Tacoma, USA
- Alaska Airlines: Seattle – Los Angeles
- The Los Angeles International Lounge, Tom Bradley International Terminal, USA
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Los Angeles – Nadi
- The Sheraton Resort and Spa Tokoriki Island, Fiji
- The Westin Denaru Island Resort and Spa, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Tabua Lounge, Nadi International Airport, Fiji
- Fiji Airways Business Class: Nadi – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Domestic Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand – Auckland Regional Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand: Auckland – Blenheim
- The Marlborough Vintners Hotel, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Sauvingon Blanc Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- Four Pinot Noir Wineries and One Lunch, Blenheim, New Zealand
- A Circle Driving Day: Blenheim – Nelson – Picton – Blenheim, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Blenheim – Auckland
- Air New Zealand – Auckland International Lounge, New Zealand
- Air New Zealand Economy Sky Couch: Auckland – Papeete
- Le Meridien Tahiti, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Visiting the Papeete Market and Taking the Ferry: Papeete – Moorea, French Polynesia
- The Sofitel Kia Ora Moorea Beach Resort, French Polynesia
- Cycling in Teavaro and Snorkelling in Moorea, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Moorea – Bora Bora
- Le Meridien Bora Bora, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti: Bora Bora – Papeete
- Air Tahiti Nui Salon Manuhiri Business Lounge, Papeete, French Polynesia
- Air Tahiti Nui Poerava Business Class: Papeete – Los Angeles
- The United Club, Los Angeles Terminal Seven
- American Airlines First Class: Los Angeles – Vancouver
If you’ve gotten to French Polynesia, New Zealand or Fiji on Frequent Flier Programs, how did you maximize value in getting there ?
The last flight of our Delta Airlines flights to and from New York had us returning to Canada on a Delta Airlines Embraer 175. We credited this flight to the Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan frequent flier program, prior to their program divorce that would cut this terrific earning benefit. Our late evening flight would offer us a full meal, a reasonably comfortable seat and an open bar for most of the trip. How would Delta Airlines compare with the other legacy carriers?
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: Delta Airlines First Class E175, Minneapolis St Paul International Airport – Vancouver International Airport
Our flight left from the G Concourse and Gate 13. We headed out from the Delta Sky Club Minneapolis St Paul F Concourse lounge at about sixty minutes before the flight. We collected our duty free at the gate through the attendant and headed onto the plane.
There were lots listed on the upgrade list to Vancouver tonight, with seven on the list and only one upgraded.
Delta Airlines
Compass Airlines Operated as Delta Connection
First Class (A)
MSP-YVR (Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver International Airport)
DL 5693
December 13, 2016
Booked: Embraer RJ 175
Flown: Embraer RJ 175
Departure: 8:00 PM
Arrival: 10:22 PM
On Board Delta Airlines First Class:
We arriving onto an Embraer 175 set up in a 1 – 2 First Class configuration with four rows of First Class. Tonight’s aircraft had refreshed seats that were in better condition than our flight out to Minneapolis St Paul.
Once again, there were no entertainment screens on the seat backs. Entertainment was provided only through the gogo entertainment app.
There were two bottles of Dasani Bottled water available for us on the seat on our arrival.
Pre Departure Services:
We had an additional open bar pre-departure beverage offered. This time it was Canadian Club and Coke for me and a Gin and Tonic for MrsWT73. I have to say a big thumbs up with the open bar pre-departure drinks- much better than the usual offering of “this or that” and nothing else.
We departed into the night of Minneapolis St Paul. It was pretty dark and cold looking outside.
The Meal: A Full Dinner
There was a dinner service offered, even with the late hour of departure of the flight. The choices were a Cold Chicken Noodle Salad or a Beef Tenderloin with blue cheese sauce. I took one for the team and had the beef tenderloin paired with a red wine (unknown brand / label). It was surprisingly tasty for airline catering in the United States.
There were no duty free services offered on the international flight. As with our flight out, there was no other entertainment other than material available through the gogo Entertainment App.
Canada Border Services Agency Custom Declaration cards were passed out about 2 hours into the flight. Overall the flight was mostly smooth sailing tonight despite strong headwinds.
Arriving into Vancouver:
The approach into Vancouver International Airport was over the United States and Mount Baker over dark and snowy terrain. We were into Gate E90 at Vancouver and through Canada Border Services Agency really quickly with our checked bags out almost instantly (for a change).
My Thoughts on the Delta Airlines Transborder Experience:
Delta Airlines was reasonable and I’d easily choose them for another trip across the United States of America. It’s too bad their divorce with Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan is final as I would have probably enjoyed them many more times as they serve both Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis St Paul from my home base here in Vancouver. The food and service seemed to be a step above my last United, Alaska and American flights so I’d easily endorse them over the others.
If you regularly fly Delta Airlines transborder between Canada and the United States, are you satisfied with the food ?
Delta Airlines is not a carrier that I get to fly with much regularity, as a result of it being aligned in that other Airline alliance of Sky Team. Our travels today would have us through the Delta Airlines Sky Club in the Terminal One F Concourse. While the lounge was under renovation during our visit, it’s likely the start of greater things to come for this particular space.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul International Airport – Terminal One, Concourse F Near Gate F1, United States of America
This review is of The Delta Sky Club Minneapolis St Paul Terminal One Concourse F. For a review of the other Delta Sky Club at Minneapolis St Paul’s, please see our review of The Delta Sky Club Minneapolis St Paul Terminal One Concourse C.
We arrived to Minneapolis St Paul International airport on Delta Airlines First Class La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul. After arriving to Gate C8, we headed off to the Rock Bottom Brewery for a proper meal. After a meal, we set off to locate the Delta Sky Club Minneapolis Concourse F in order to relax prior to our departing international flight on Delta Airlines First Class Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver.
Locating the Delta Sky Club:
As with our visit on the way in, the Minneapolis St Paul’s International Airport has an easy to navigate layout making it easy to get from one end of it to the other. We were able to locate the Delta Sky Club F Concourse without any issue or incident.
Map Courtesy of Minneapolis St Paul Airport
After dinner, we headed over to the Delta Airlines Sky Club near Gate F1. It was very easy to find on the corner and the start of the “F” Concourse.
At the time of our visit, the Delta Club had several pop up displays that indicated that the club was under partial refurbishment
Accessing the Delta Sky Club Lounge:
The Delta Sky Club offers access through a number of ways.
As a Delta Sky Club Individual Member (an annual lounge membership), you would get access for yourself and two guests, or spouse / domestic partner and children under 21 (at $39 USD), with a confirmed same day boarding pass.
As a Delta One or Sky Team Premium Cabin Passenger, access is granted for passengers travelling in the flagship Delta One cabin on a Domestic Flight, or in a Delta One cabin on an international flight, or on a domestic flight connecting to an international flight. For Sky Team passengers (excluding Delta), customers need to be travelling on an international First Class or Business Class ticket. International Travel is considered to me almost anywhere outside of the United States, except Guam, Saipan, Palau and the Carribean. There are no guests permitted for premium cabin passengers.
If you are a a Skyteam Elite Plus member, including Delta Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion Members, you get access when travelling internationally, or connecting to and from an international flight. One guest is permitted.
If you happen to hold a variety of American Express cards, including the American Express Centurion or Platinum Cards, and the American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve, you are given access with a confirmed same day boarding pass on a departing Delta Airlines flight. No guests are permitted.
Westjet Business Class Passengers and Westjet Rewards Gold and Platinum Members are provided access in conjunction with same day international travel on a flight operated by Westjet or Delta Airlines. No guests are permitted.
In our case, access was granted through travel on a confirmed international flight (from Canada) in a Delta First Class cabin.
Inside the Delta Sky Club at Gate C12 Minneapolis St Paul:
The lounge reception admitted us with our international itinerary for travels up to Canada. We received an explanation that due to the reconstruction, that there were no hot items for consumption in the lounge.
Once inside, we were found a large lounge space with windows. The lounge was split across two soft levels with tiered seating on a mild upper and lower level.
The windows were obscured with decals. On closer examination, the windows over looked a gate jet bridge, meaning that the view from this lounge was almost completely obstructed.
Food and Beverage:
During our visit, cold salads were on offer, in addition to “self serve” liquor and wine. The snacks were pretty light, and take away oriented. During the renovation visit, the snacks were missing any proper hot items.
In addition to the temporary nature of the renovations, there were some upright fridges containing tinned soft drinks, and portable tables with self pour liquor available.
It was almost like camping or going to a BBQ; grab some mix people!
I picked up some magazines here, in addition to a copy of the New York Times newspaper. After a short visit in the lounge, we headed off to our connecting flight on Delta Airlines First Class Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver.
My Thoughts on the Delta Airlines Sky Club on the “F” Concourse:
The flagship lounge in this Delta Airlines hub was under complete renovation. It wasn’t the best in the world, but it was a reasonable place to bunk down in the middle of a snow storm. Delta Airlines has either had great luck with the real estate acquisitions or has purposefully located great spaces as most Delta Sky Club’s that I’ve visited have had great outdoor looking windows. Regretfully, this one overlooked a jet bridge and was partially obstructed in the view. As a result, this particular location had the least interesting view People aren’t really missing much by not seeing the inside here.
If you regularly fly Delta Airlines from Minneapolis St Paul, which Sky Club is your favourite ?
Delta Airlines operates a convenient departure experience from nearby La Guardia New York airport in upper Manhattan. We used Delta First Class Sky Priority Services leaving La Guardia, visited their Delta Sky Club in Terminal C, and travelled on their refurbished McDonnell Douglas MD-90 on our way to Delta Airlines hub at Minneapolis St Paul. Our travels were pleasant, but left us hungry for more…
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: Delta Airlines First Class MD-90, La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul International Airport
We departed the Delta Sky Club La Guardia Terminal C and headed towards the gate at around forty five minutes before our flight. We arrived just as premium boarding was being called. There isn’t a lot of room around LGA gates but we managed to squeak around the crowds and get on board without too many hassles. There was, nevertheless, quite a bit of gate crowding today.
Delta Airlines
Compass Airlines Operated as Delta Connection
First Class (A)
MSP-LGA (La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul)
DL 1518
December 13, 2016
Booked: MD-90
Flown: MD-90
Departure: 2:26PM
Arrival: 4:29 PM
On Board Delta Airlines First Class:
Once we were on board, we settled into the older MD90 First Class seats. The McDonnell Douglas MD-90 First Class cabin is set up with a 2- 2 configuration across four rows of configured First Class. The Delta Airlines MP-90 First Class cabin was recently refreshed with the current version pleather seats. The seats look sharp and modern in their new seat covering design.
There are no personal entertainment screens on the MD-90 aircraft. Instead, the view from the seat is of a plain seat covering.
Entertainment was available through the in flight GoGO App. I didn’t bother watching during the flight since it’s not much fun watching on a small iPhone screen.
Pre Departure Services:
Waiting for us on the seat was a 250ml bottle of Dasani Water and a thin pillow.
Delta Airlines offered us an open bar pre-departure beverage in a plastic cup. I went with a gin and tonic. I have to say that this is an excellent feature and I could really get used to this!
Our pilot announced a short flight time of one hour and twenty minutes today to the Delta Airlines hub of Minneapolis St Paul.
As we got underway, I did some plane spotting on our taxi out to the runway. I was able to make out a star of “The Apprentice” reality television show parked on the apron at La Guardia. That’s a T, a big “T” (laughing) on the rear vertical stabilizer.
We had a steep climb leaving La Guardia today with a hard right run as we departed. I was seated on the left side of the aircraft. Our flight track took us over Manhattan just north of the Central Park. This was the airport that Captain Joe Sullenberger struck a flight of birds when he had to ditch his US Airways Airbus 320 by landing on the Hudson. As we went over enjoying the views, I was also plane spotting the Teteborough Airport which seemed incredibly close across the Hudson and was re-constructing the whole incident, from a Clint Eastwood movie goer’s perspective anyway. It was indeed a very scenic view departing La Guardia New York.
The Meal: A Snack Basket
Despite the flight showing as having “meal services” on our purchased ticket itinerary, it was a snack basket only today of popcorn, pita chips, pretzels, Kit Kat chocolate bars and granola bars. This was unlike our trip out on Delta Airlines First Class Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York (the same segment) where we had a full meal. I suspect that this was because this flight was not specifically covering a meal period as we were travelling between the early and late afternoon.
Since it was only a snack, I ended up with two rounds of popcorn chips since we didn’t really stop for lunch prior to departing and The W Union Square Continental Breakfast was wearing off. I paired the snack with white chardonnay wine.
It wasn’t super satisfying as this “meal services” snack wasn’t filling. Further, it was worsened by the fact that the lounge didn’t offer that much food making travellers twice as hungry.
We had a cold approach into Minneapolis St Paul with some pretty winter views. The weather looked absolutely freezing outside and it was confirmed to be –15 Celsius on the ground when we landed.
We touched down at landed at Gate C3 at Minneapolis St Paul. We were completely surrounded by old man winter.
My Thoughts on the Delta Airlines Regional Experience:
Our Delta Airlines flight was a nice but short flight. The high point was the ease and convenience of La Guardia and it’s proximity to Manhattan. However, I can’t get used to the no food part to these flights; even if they are short hops. This isn’t helped by a lack of food in the lounge, making it a little more challenging than necessary to get food when you’re in the Delta Airlines chain system. I’d recommend arriving with a full tummy because I ended up hungrier than I would have liked.
If you flown on Delta Airlines’ regional flights, was the food offering enough for your liking ?
Between the three available airports in New York of John F Kennedy, La Guardia and neighbouring Newark in New Jersey, Delta Airlines has set up operations at convenient La Guardia New York. Although a much smaller airport, Delta Airlines has obtained an advantage of being at an airport that is very close in travel time to Manhattan. We ended up testing out their Delta Sky Club in Terminal C prior to today’s flight.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Terminal C, New York City, United States of America
We departed The W Union Square in the late afternoon on a sunny Tuesday. We took a Carmel car from Union Square to LaGuardia Terminal C. Our driver collected us in a Toyota Avalon and we were through Manhattan and over to LaGuardia within less than 30 minutes.
Checking Into Delta Airlines First Class:
We checked in with Delta Sky Priority in the First Class rank. Mr Joe Biden, who would later become president, had previously made comments about La Guardia – comparing it to being the equivalence to a third world country. Despite his comments, they must have done some upkeep and refurbishments since then. Aside from being a smaller space that seems to be busting at the seams sometimes, it was bright and freshly painted on our visit.
After checking in, we used TSA Pre-Check and were through with only about 10 persons in line ahead of us. We past the “Flag of Honour” that contained the names all all those that lost their lives in the terrorist attacks of 9/11.
Locating the Delta Sky Club:
We made our way to the Delta Sky Club at LaGuardia. It was easy to get around this Terminal. New York La Guardia Terminal C was pretty small and everything was conveniently located and close to each other. This Delta Sky Club was centrally located near the food court in La Guardia, with an access point almost adjacent to a Sun Glasses Hut retail outlet.
Map Courtesy of La Guardia Airport.com
While there is also another Delta Sky Club in Terminal D, it made the most sense to use this lounge as it was closest to our departing gate.
Accessing the Delta Sky Club Lounge:
The Delta Sky Club offers access through a variety of ways.
As a Delta Sky Club Individual Member (an annual lounge membership), you would get access for yourself and two guests, or spouse / domestic partner and children under 21 (at $39 USD), with a confirmed same day boarding pass.
As a Delta One or Sky Team Premium Cabin Passenger, access is granted for passengers travelling in the flagship Delta One cabin on a Domestic Flight, or in a Delta One cabin on an international flight, or on a domestic flight connecting to an international flight. For Sky Team passengers (excluding Delta), customers need to be travelling on an international First Class or Business Class ticket. International Travel is considered to me almost anywhere outside of the United States, except Guam, Saipan, Palau and the Carribean. There are no guests permitted for premium cabin passengers.
If you are a a Skyteam Elite Plus member, including Delta Diamond, Platinum or Gold Medallion Members, you get access when travelling internationally, or connecting to and from an international flight. One guest is permitted.
If you happen to hold a variety of American Express cards, including the American Express Centurion or Platinum Cards, and the American Express Delta SkyMiles Reserve, you are given access with a confirmed same day boarding pass on a departing Delta Airlines flight. No guests are permitted.
Westjet Business Class Passengers and Westjet Rewards Gold and Platinum Members are provided access in conjunction with same day international travel on a flight operated by Westjet or Delta Airlines. No guests are permitted.
In our case, access was granted through travel on a confirmed international flight (to Canada) in a Delta First Class cabin.
Inside the Delta Sky Club La Guardia New York:
Once we were admitted into the lounge, we found a medium sized Delta Sky Club lounge with lots of natural light. The lounge had oversized windows with great views of the tarmac.
Like many other Delta Sky Clubs, there was a full bar available with a manned bar service. The bar hosted a series of televisions, although it was a little light on available seating right at the bar itself.
There were great tarmac views of regional aircraft. Our views turned a little grey under the clouds outside, thanks to worsening weather as the day went on.
Food and Beverage:
There wasn’t a lot of food on offer in this Delta Sky Club on our early afternoon visit. It had the typical three salad offering and two soups. There wasn’t anything like the fancy food offer at the Delta Sky Club Los Angeles and it was substantially less than the AAdmirals Lounge Los Angeles that we also had recently experienced. I topped up with a few soup servings. Aside from this- it was pretty much it for offerings.
After spending some time in the lounge, we headed off to our departing flight on Delta Airlines La Guardia – Minneapolis St Paul.
My Thoughts on the Delta Airlines Sky Club on the “C” Concourse:
Overall, the Delta Sky Club La Guardia was a reasonable place to pass through. The catering wasn’t anywhere near as nice as the Delta lounge in Los Angeles or anywhere near as nice as some other lounges we’ve had the opportunity to visit. It was a place to visit and lounge in but my key take away was not to expect to leave fully fed and feeling full under most circumstances.
If you fly Delta Airlines from La Guardia, is this Delta Sky Club your pick of the available lounges ?
One of New York’s best features are it’s various neighbourhoods across Manhattan. Each have their own unique personality and just beg to be explored. During the latter portion of our trip, we spent our time in the southern half of Manhattan exploring So Ho, dining at the famous Balthazar french bistro restaurant, and exploring Little Italy and the Flat Iron Building district. Each area is charming it its own way and has something different to offer.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Activity: Viewing the Christmas Lights of Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Square, New York USA
We started the day from The W Union Square by walking through the Farmers Market at Union Square Park.
Calling on the Farmers Market at Union Square:
It was a bit odd to see so much great produce out on the sidewalk in the middle of the urban city but if I lived here, I would be coming down every Saturday. There were stacks of fresh produce available with many different varieties to choose from.
From the Farmer’s Market, we headed towards the south end of Union Square and the MTA Metro in order to head downtown towards So Ho.
Exploring So Ho’s Historic Canyons:
We took the Subway 6 Train to Spring Street and got off at Spring station in the Soho area. MrsWT73 wanted to shop through Soho so we walked the Canyon of Soho and I spent most of the time taking pictures. It’s a bit touristy but I can still find some things to look at in this neighbourhood.
Dining at a Great French Bistro: Balthazar
After a morning (and early afternoon) of shopping, it was time to eat. We went with the tried and tested 3 PM Brunch at Balthazar. Call it what you will: conveniently placed, a tourist trap, a place for the housewives of New York… Despite this, I really enjoy this place. As always, it’s an enjoyable atmosphere and a great location in the middle of shopping district. Today’s visit had it full of the housewives of New York City with accompanying American Express Platinum cards to match.
It is a solid bistro ambience inside, with an authentic French décor. The short and tie waiters add to the atmoshpere.
I had the Norwegian Eggs Benny with smoked salmon with sheer mountain of pommes frites and a glass of sparkling to go along with it. No disappointments here!
We took the train back uptown after a brief walk through Little Italy. We had several great meals here on our last visit through New York.
Our Last Look at the Flat Iron District:
Since this was a short weekend trip, it was time to leave on our third day. On the morning of departure, we took a quick walk up to the Flat Iron building. There was some morning light coming through the buildings, which made viewing quite picturesque.
We took a quick walk through Eataly again this morning to collect some olive oil as a souvenir for the trip home. We happened to see Mr Henry Winkler (“The Fonz”) enjoying a prosciutto meal. I had happened to see him on NBC Morning show by Rockefeller Square earlier in the day giving out Hatchables to the Christmas crowd spectators other wise I wouldn’t have recognized him.
It was a beautiful morning as we walked the short distance back from Flatiron back through Union Square to the hotel. The neighbourhood here is much more enjoyable than Times Square or Grand Central where many other hotels are located.
It wasn’t before long before we were back at the W Union Square. Being a beautiful day, the sun was gorgeous looking through Union Square as we walked back to the hotel.
How I felt about the visit to Southern Manhattan:
All in, New York City is a great place to visit for a weekend or a week. It’s one of the places that is always on the list of cities to visit in my book. The stay at the W Union Square was okay – not too spectacular but so conveniently located in a nice neighbourhood that I’d seriously consider staying a second time even through the breakfast was odd and the restaurant let us down. Our meal at Eataly and Balthazar was arguably among the highlights of our meals in New York City for this particular trip.
If you visit New York, do you make time for touristy restaurants like Balthazar ?
A visit to New York during the holiday season wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the shopping district of Fifth Avenue and seeing the skating rink and tree at Rockefeller Square. New York is so full of sights and sounds with something new around every corner.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Activity: Viewing the Christmas Lights of Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Square, New York USA
We set out from The W Union Square, and headed up town via the MTA Subway. We headed uptown to the Plaza hotel via the subway with intentions to walk back down 5th avenue southward towards Rockefeller Square.
We arrived at the south border of Central Park and The Plaza hotel. We walked down 5th avenue, which is famous worldwide as one of the shopping districts of the world.
We entered into the frenzy of Christmas shopping mayhem, we passed by the window Christmas displays at Berdgorf Goodman.
Passing by Trump Tower:
We passed by Trump Tower which now has a press gallery set up across the street and a protest zone with full security cordon in front of the building. Trump was identified as the president elect 5 days before our trip to New York. The NYPD were conducting full bag searches of all persons that wanted to get to the front of Trump Tower. I can’t imagine how much this might cost over a 4 year presidential term. Thankfully as a visitor to the USA, I will only have to pay when the president destroys NAFTA (laughing).
Christmas Lights on New York’s Fifth Avenue:
As darkness fell, fifth avenue was a fully decorated Christmas light show. We wandered down 5th avenue while we took in several shops: Uniqlo, back to Berdgorf Goodman among others.
Rockefeller Center Christmas Skating and Holiday Tree:
We wandered over to the Rockerfeller Center Christmas tree. It was absolutely packed but it had a terrific holiday look as snow started to fall in the city. There were a few people there but who’s counting?
We walked over on 50th street past Radio City over to Times Square. The Christmas theme was all around.
Visiting New Yorks’ Times Square:
We wandered over to Times Square which was getting ready for New Year’s celebrations. The ball was set up already to drop to mark the end 2016. This was prior to Ms Mariah Carrey’s New Year’s Eve performance where the lyrics were marked as “missing”.
A Unique Post It Note Protest at MTA Times Square Station:
After Times Square, we headed back home to The W Union Square for a recharge. At the Times Square MTA Subway station, there was a Post It Note protest. The walls were covered with thoughts, expressions and ideas. At the time of our visit, with Mr Donald Trump just being identified as a President Elect, most of the notes were signs against his leadership. It was a pretty interesting time reading the public disclaim against this guy and a great country overall for allowing the freedom of expression versus some countries that would dissent and suppress this kind of public expression at all costs.
Eataly Grocery and Pizza Pasta Resto at Flatiron Building:
Since we hadn’t made any booking reservations for dinner, we went over to nearby Eataly for dinner. Its situated just cross the from the iconic Flatiron building just 6 blocks from Union Square up Broadway. It is a large Italian grocery superstore featuring imported olive oils and fancy pastas. I was drooling at all the fresh food supplies available.
It also offers restaurants within the area so after wandering through the varieties, we went with MrsWT73’s favorite of pizza and pasta. It was prompt service consistent with its mid grade price point.
The menu at the pizza and pasta resto inside was absolutely massive.
MrsWT73 had a capricosso pizza, which received high marks.
I went for the house made Agnolotti pasta with rib sauce, chopped parsley and Parmesan Regianno paired with Fontafredda Barbera by the glass. Wow- it was near perfect, tasty and robust for a quick meal.
It certainly fit the bill and seemed to be mostly free from tourists on our visit, with most customers being families with kids, younger couples grabbing a bite or moms’ and daughters. A short walk and we were back to the W Union Square, with night time views of the Empire State building.
How I felt about the visit to Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller:
Visiting New York during the holiday season is a pretty special and magical experience. The sights of New York’s famous Fifth Avenue lit up with Christmas lights is a uniquely special experience. Taking in the Rockefeller Square and Christmas Tree was also a pretty neat visit as it’s a part of Americana that is missing from the perspective of a visitor from my home country of Canada.
If you visited New York over the Holiday Season, did you go skating in Rockefeller Square ?
The Union Square Holiday Market is a Christmas Market located in Union Square, New York City, New York, United States of America. It offers over one hundred and fifty shops and operates between late November and Christmas Eve during daytime and early evening hours. We would get the opportunity to take in the Christmas Market on our recent stay in New York City. We’d find some interesting and artisanal crafts that really set the mood for the holiday season.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Activity: Shopping the Holiday Christmas Market at Union Square, New York USA
The next day, we set out to explore the local area. Setting off from The W Union Square, we started off towards the Union Square Christmas market. It was a very short walk across to the southern end of the Union Square park, where the Christmas market was in full operation.
There were lots of unique and artsy things for sale other than the usual wooden Christmas decorations. Many of the goods were of artisanal quality, and we really enjoyed spending time looking at the merchandise available for sale.
The Union Square Christmas Market offered live music, which really set the mood for a festive holiday atmosphere.
Absolutely everything was for sale here, along with some unusual Christmas decorations and art. I was particularly impressed at the quality of workmanship of some of the items. They were not the usual “made in China” souvenirs. Instead, we discovered many artists delivering on their craft and we located some unique souvenirs.
Especially funny, were the abstract cartoon art “Peach Upset over Enabling Goldfish’s poor eating habits”
We ended up picking up some Christmas ornaments for our tree at home, making for some terrific memories.
We had a mandatory stop at DSW and the Nordstrom Rack at the south end of Union Square. We then headed uptown by subway to the Plaza Hotel for a look at Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue and Rockefeller Square.
How I felt about the Union Square Holiday Market:
I really enjoyed visiting the Union Square Christmas Market. The market had everything you’d need from a Christmas Market; except for a good dose of German Gluwhein. The Christmas Market had lots of personality and I was impressive with the quality of goods that were available for sale. It’s highly worth a trip if your travels find you through New York over the holiday season.
If you visited New York over the Holiday Season, did you make it to the Union Square Holiday Market ?
The “W” Union Square would be our modernized historic hotel for this particular trip to New York City. It’s well situated on the beautiful Union Square Park in the middle of where you want to be in Manhattan. Conveniently accessible to most attractions, we enjoyed a functional stay in a neighbourhood that was pleasant to be in, in a hotel that was a little average in experience.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
If you enjoyed this post, please follow us here or on social media through Facebook, Twitter or Instagram for more travel tips and hacks on how to “Upgrade Your Travels”.
Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: The W New York – Union Square, New York USA
Booking the W Union Square:
I had picked the W Union Square as the concept of the hotel had always appealed to me. The hotel is in an older building and is in the convenient Union Square neighbourhood. The Union Square neighbourhood was a nice place to spend a few days in Manhattan. It’s central to almost everything. It has more personality to it than the boring Grand Central neighbourhood and the Westin Grand Central New York where we had stayed on our last visit. The Union Square neighbourhood also had substantially less tourists than Times Square, making for a better overall visit experience.
I wasn’t able to get what I would describe as a great rate for this property. I opted to spend on a higher rate in favour of convenience for a short stay, over a great price for a more distant or inconvenient. Our rate was $376 USD, in addition to an 8.875% state tax, a 5.875% hotel tax, a $2 flat rate occupancy tax and a flat rate $1.50 NYC Javitz fee; all of which pushed the nightly rate to $435.19 USD. This is hardly beer money, but we enjoyed the location and the location of the property.
The W Union Square Hotel is currently a Marriott Bonvoy Category 7, meaning that rooms are approximately between 50,000 – 70,000 a night under variable pricing, with 60,000 points a night as standard. If you value Marriott Bonvoy points at $0.005 a point, you’d have to spend more than $300 USD to come out ahead for a 60,000 point a night redemption. While that’s a fair amount of points to part with, dependent on your priorities it may represent the most value to redeem points. During our stay, it was a Starwood Preferred Guest Category Six with rooms available between 20,000 to 25,000 Starwood Preferred Guest points. In our case, we preferred earning points on our hotel spend. As a result, we ended up paying a cash rate over redeeming points.
Lastly, I also attempted to apply Suite Night Awards to our short room reservation. Unfortunately, they failed to clear, despite our stay being only three nights over a winter weekend.
Arriving to the W Union Square:
201 Park Ave S, New York, NY 10003, United States
After arriving on Delta Airlines First Class Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York, we took a Carmel Car from the La Guardia Airport to the W Union Square. It took about twelve minutes for the car to arrive after we had called with a convenient text confirmation. Our route from the airport to the hotel was straight down the FDR freeway then off at 13th ave.
The hotel has a presiding location over the Union Square park. It is described as a landmark 1911 Beaux-Arts Guardian Life building. It’s also really conveniently located to the MTA Subway MTA Union Square Station being only a few blocks away.
We checked ourselves in at the front counter. The front reception is located in a high ceiling lobby and situated in a space located underneath an elegant stair case. The front desk was also conveniently located across from the hotel elevators. I got the impression from the check in that this particular property was quite a high volume operation. Although, with the W Union Square offering 244 rooms and 26 suites across 21 floors, it’s not quite as large as some other New York City hotel properties.
The lobby has a flex space also known as “The Living Room” that doubles as a lounge, or a place to consume drinks from the Irvington restaurant that is attached to the hotel.
The Room: A Spectacular Room
After checking ourselves in, we led ourselves up to our room on the fourteenth floor. While there was a contemporary look to the hotel hallways, it was quite a dark looking hotel hallway. The dark doors and carpet coverings also added to a somewhat sombre look to the property. The Sherlock Holmes-esque mirrors added a strange vibe to the property, and the mirrors made the halls larger than expected.
Our assigned “Spectacular Room” Room #1415 was situated on the corner of the floor. The first impression was that it was spacious by New York City standards and had a very nice high 11 ft ceiling which gave it an airy feel to it. Unfortunately, despite being a corner room, the design of the building did not take advantage of the two sides to add additional light into the room. Considering the building age from 1911, it was a pretty large room by historic standards.
Immediately on entering the Spectacular Room, there was short hallway and we turned right into the bedroom. The bedroom itself had dark tones as a result of the deep blue wall covering. The dark wall colourings led to a contemporary vibe to the place.
The room was accented with an occasional chair in the corner. It conveniently turned into a purse storage location for MrsWT73.
The bed was nice and comfortable. The room, being on a high floor, was about as quiet as you could hope for in the middle of New York City.
The room contained a flat screen television. It was supported on a console that doubled as a desk and a suitcase holder. Being a W Hotel, the room was nicely equipped, with proper charging plug ins and many places for dropping multi media devices.
Consistent with W Hotels, small organic snacks were also available in room, on a chargeable basis.
The bathroom was a little on the small side for a historic buidling. It offered a stand up shower and a single vanity sink. The W Hotel offered the usual amenities with upscale Bliss toiletries.
There were no fantastic park views from the room today, we had an easterly view up towards Brooklyn. Although we were on a high floor, it was better than an alley view or a brick wall.
Starwood Preferred Guest Platinum Breakfast Benefit:
As part of the platinum benefits, we opted for the SPG Platinum breakfast benefit. This is a bit of an odd set up as there is only an option to take the breakfast served in your room only. This is a bit strange as the attached Irvington restaurant is open for breakfast and has hotel room charging privileges. It’s not a big deal eating in your room, but the rooms are pretty small to begin with and the trays weren’t always cleared promptly. Our breakfast tray was still sitting on the floor outside our room at 2 AM the next day one evening when we came back from a late night out.
I had to sign for the breakfast bill after it was delivered which was $86.33 USD (per day) by the time the taxes, fees and service charges were all added in. The fee was wholly covered by the Starwood Preferred Guest (now Marriott Bonvoy) program. Breakfast consisted of 6 pastries, 2 juices, jams and a coffee bodum. It wasn’t enough to fill you for the day but certainly enough to get you more than started.
There are several 24 hour convenience stores within a 2 block area of the hotel for those that were looking for additional amenties near the hotel.
Around the Hotel:
The Irvington Restaurant
The W Union Square hotel restaurant is the cool and hip Irvington Restaurant. It’s accessible from the lobby and had a contemporary feel to it. The restaurant featured dining and a bar area.
It had reasonable ambience, a nice décor but pretty average and forgettable service. I had pan seared sea bass with carrots and chillies. It was unfortunately pretty unexciting.
In summary, unfortunately it was a pretty bland meal experience followed up by even blander service. On the plus side, the restaurant did offer room charging privileges. When the highlight of your dinner is that you’re able to charge it to a room, and earn 6X Starwood Preferred Guest Points on the meal via a stay charge (4X $1 as a SPG Platinum 75 + 2X on the SPG Amex Card), you know that the meal experience wasn’t all that outstanding.
Bar Jamón: (situated closeby)
Fortunately, we had a much better experience around the corner. Without being done for the evening, we did happen to walk two blocks up to a Spanish wine bar Bar Jamón. Bar Jamón is run by the Casa Momo people almost immediately next door. Casa Momo has been Michelin starred since 2009 and features Spanish Tapas. We had a few snacks there in a standing room only area at Bar Jamón that maybe could hold 25 people.
We had some terrific Rioja and Manchego cheese that was miles ahead of the food up the street. They offered fresh Iberico ham sliced off the leg on our visit. I left the big camera at home but I’d highly recommend this place to visit if you can get in. The bar has been quoted in Wine Spectator as one of the best restaurants to get Spanish wines and the restaurant is Michelin starred, so they must be doing okay.
Union Square Park:
The hotel is situated across from Union Square Park. It’s a nice location for a hotel to be in. The location offers some greenery and some space from the usual Manhattan Noise. We often walked through the park during our winter stay, with great views of the hotel throughout most of the park.
The Bottom Line: Our Stay at the W Union Square
Overall, the W Union Square was a reasonable place to stay during our visit to New York. I loved the residential neighbourhood feel to the area and the proximity to everything. I didn’t like the lacklustre breakfast option and the some what forgettable stay experience. Our next time through New York, we may stay somewhere else. Although, if I was frank, I don’t know if other properties would realistically be much better.
If you stayed at the W Union Square, how did you find your stay ?
Our short regional flight on Delta Airlines First Class from their mid west hub in Minneapolis St Paul was more impressive than I was expecting. We had great tasting food, a clean and new aircraft and an on time service into an empty La Guardia. All of these features had me taking a closer look at Delta Airlines over United Airlines for future flights around North America.
This post is one chapter on our trip to New York City, New York, United States of America. This trip was enhanced through Marriott Bonvoy Elite Status and credited to Alaska Mileage Plan. For more information on how this trip was booked, please see our trip introduction here. For other parts of the trip, please see this index.
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Read More from This Trip
- Trip Introduction: Mileage Running to New York via Delta Airlines
- Delta Airlines First Class: Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse C
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia New York
- The W Union Square, New York, USA
- Shopping at the Holiday Market, Union Square, New York
- Viewing Christmas Lights on Fifth Avenue & at Rockefeller Square, New York
- Walking in SoHo, Balthazar and Flat Iron District, New York
- The Delta Sky Club, La Guardia Airport – Terminal C, New York
- Delta Airlines First Class: La Guardia New York – Minneapolis St Paul
- The Delta Sky Club, Minneapolis St Paul – Concourse F
- Delta Airlines First Class: Minneapolis St Paul – Vancouver
Review: Delta Airlines First Class CRJ-900, Minneapolis St Paul International Airport – La Guardia New York
After arriving on Delta Airlines First Class Vancouver – Minneapolis St Paul, we had a 90 minute connection spent at the Delta Sky Club Minneapolis St Paul “C” Concourse. We ended up leaving the lounge at about thirty five minutes before the flight and headed to our gate at C12. We had some uniquely themed decorated airport signs in the area of our gate, with stuffed Christmas bears hanging out on some of the overhead signs.
It was a very short walk to the gate today. There was no line today and we were on board the aircraft very quickly.
Delta Airlines
Compass Airlines Operated as Delta Connection
First Class
MSP-LGA (Minneapolis St Paul – La Guardia new York)
DL 5718
December 10, 2016
Booked: Bombardier CRJ-900
Flown: Bombardier CRJ-900
Departure: 7:43 PM
Arrival: 11:34 PM
On Board Delta Airlines First Class:
We were the first ones on board today so we ended up with the rock star pictures on this Canada Air Regional Jet – 900 series. Delta Airlines First Class on the CRJ-900 is four rows of First Class in a 1 – 2 configuration.
Waiting on the seats for us was a thin blue blanket, and a bottle of water. While it was not much in terms of amenities, it was better than nothing at all.
A bottle of Dasani water was also available for each seat.
Pre – Departure Services:
We were offered an open bar pre-departure beverage today. I went with a gin and tonic while I looked out the window at the cold winter outside. It was served in the usual but safe low rent plastic cup, consistent with pre-departure beverages.
De-Icing at MSP:
We had a push back over to the de-icing pad. It’s been a while since I’ve been de-iced and it was awesome to watch the full scale winter operations in Minneapolis as they quickly de-iced dozens of planes. This took about 50 minutes of ground time before were were airborne
After the de-icing, we were airborne quickly. Once we arrived to cruising altitude, we had a quick wet nap towel service. This was then followed by a drink service.
The Meal: A Light Dinner
The dinner choice was pork tenderloin with blue cheese along with a green salad with oil and vinegar dressing or a cold chicken salad. I had the pork which was awesome along with a pairing of red wine. The red wines was dispensed as an unnamed variety.
The meal concluded with some salty snacks for the rest of the ride. It was a slight low rent touch after that terrific meal.
Arriving to La Guardia New York:
We had a very quick approach into La Guardia with the lights of New York below us.
La Guardia is pretty empty late at night. Our flight was followed by an arrival into a deserted terminal at 11:30 PM to collect our empty suitcase.
My Thoughts on the Delta Airlines Regional Experience:
Delta Airlines First Class was a more modern way to cross the continent. Although it wasn’t the most exotic way to travel, among the legacy carriers, it’s certainly trying for better. The food seemed to be a cut above some of the boring offers among the other domestic US carriers. The product was reasonably competitive and better than I’d come to expect from my recent United and American flights.
World Traveller 73 
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