We'd had a fantastic time and must have walked miles and miles and miles ... and then some. The Bellagio was lovely and I'd definitely recommend it. We only had a standard room with no lake view, we hardly spent any time in the room because we were there such a short time so didn't think it was worth shelling out the extra. Highlights of the trip were the lion enclosure at the MGM Grand and having our picture taken with one of the cubs (the incredibly cute Marina), the Secret Garden and Dolphin habitat at the Mirage and going to see Barry Manilow at the Hilton [:D]
Vegas is unreal, it's not like anywhere else, I loved it, what a fabulous place ... and I can't wait to go back. However it's unlikely it will be in Economy and it definitely won't be with Delta! If nothing else this trip convinced me that if I have to sell every last thing I own to fund my trip to Australia when I join the Clipper races in 2007/08, I'm travelling in PE or UC! So if anyone has any good fund raising ideas I'm all ears [:D]
Anyway, back to the trip. Typically the one day that we needed to be up early I didn't wake up at 5am on the dot! We had a bit of a nightmare at the airport when my case turned out to be 10lb overweight!! How the heck did that happen, it wasn't like I'd done much shopping. Even more bizarrely my friends was 7lb over and she was well under the weight on the way out. So we had to go through the indignity of unpacking things in the middle of the airport. The Delta check-in agent was really nice about it, apologising about it. It wasn't her fault though, I was more annoyed with myself for not having paid attention to how much it weighed on the way out and for taking enough clothes for a fortnight [:I] So once I'd got it to within a 1lb of the limit she was happy with that. Now that we were all checked in we grabbed up all our belongings and started to try and sort out everything so that we could actually carry it before handing our cases to the TSA. I guess if we'd been sneaky about it we could have just put everything back in the case because she couldn't see us over there [}:)]
Well if I thought there was a large queue at Manchester for the security check, it was a breeze compare to McCarran! One thing that puzzled me, and if anyone can explain, please do ... but why are you not allowed to put lighters either in your case or in your hand luggage BUT you can post them to yourself when they would then surely be in a cargo container in the hold of the plane ... the same place your checked luggage is. I can sort of understand not putting them in your hand luggage in case you're a mentalist and set the plane on fire, but not why you can't put them in checked luggage. Anyway once we get through security we spot a bag shop and some lovely large orange bags were purchased for the bargain price of $10 meaning instead of looking like a bag lady complete with 2 sweatshirts tied round my waist I could dump everything into the large bag and look like a normal person with one carry on [:D]
Boarding was quick and prompt and again we were on a 737-400, no seat back IFE, so no choice of film and guess what it was Chicken Little again [V] but again it's only a short flight, this time just over 3 hours, so not the end of the world.
A smooth flight and we were soon in Atlanta, so a short hop from A to E and a quick walk to E16 to await the final flight back to Manchester. There's some renovation work going on in E at the moment, so there is no food court - not good when we'd been planning to get something there rather than eat on the plane. However there was some good news as the bar was doing take out, so one chicken panini later and I was a happy bunny.
We had to wait a while to board as we were in Zone 8, and it wasn't worth the wait. Yep you guessed it a tatty old 737-300. This time I asked the flight attendant whether these planes were now the norm for this route. At first she looked at me light I'd asked if aliens had just landed, when I explained that normally the plane is bigger, newer, seat back IFE ..etc [i] Oh you mean the 777? Yes, that's the one. Well apparently their new routes can only be flown by the 777. So this means that the MAN-ATL has been downgraded? Yes. Hence my assertion at the top of this TR that I won't be flying Delta again. Given the competition across the Atlantic, surely they can't expect to hold on to customers with what amounts to a second class service. A choice between Delta and Virgin for my next US trip is a no brainer really! It wasn't just the lack of IFE or the cramped seats, but the whole thing rattled badly on take off with various overhead bins popping open during take off and the slightest bit of turbulence. The toilets looked like someone had given them a good kicking as the tissue holders opposite looked like they were hanging on by a thread! The film this time was the same Harry Potter that had been on the ATL-LAS flight, fortunately though there was a second film The Family Stone, so all was not lost.
Dinner was chicken or pasta, as I was still full from my panini so passed on the food. Breakfast was a croissant and a banana.
