Travels to San Diego

CLT>MSP>SAN>ATL>CLT

How we got to and from!

It's almost October and last year's September trip didn't make the blog until at least 5 months later and I vowed to do better this year. September is a busy month for me - tons of birthdays to celebrate so sitting to recap the trip is often a challenge. So here I go - We spent several days in San Diego and to not create a lengthy post, I will split up the details into multiple posts for easy consumption. This post is all about the travel experience - getting there and the adventure of coming and going. We did not have direct flights this time because we flew Delta and from Charlotte IYKYK - there are not that many direct flights with Delta but the first class treatment made up for that!

We flew early morning and when I say early - too early and had a layover in Minnesota (MSP). The airport there is a decent size and the first (well second thing after the SkyClub), we noticed was a Prince themed store. Super cute! Bought nothing but it was definitely a stop by and snag a few pictures moment.

CLT>MSP>SAN

I already did a little research on the airport and knew there was a pretty new and swanky Delta SkyClub. Well it wasn't the one across from the Prince store. It was on the other side and closer to our gate which worked out better. Before heading over, we snagged a few scratch offs cause well who knows. We ended up winning a few dollars and right before we had to board, Thomas had to jet back to our original landing spot to cash in. I mean, who is leaving money in Minnesota. NOT ME!! LOL!!

Anywho - I have to say this is probably one of the best SkyClubs I have ever been to! It's huge and it was decorated nicely with tons of seating, food/drink options, private office labs, a clear view of the runway to watch takeoffs, and a another back section with a huge bar that lead to an outside patio area that is still connected to the club! Super Nice! Our layover was for 3 hours but relaxing in the club made the time go by really fast! Definitely would not have a problem with another Delta layout in MSP.

And just like that, we were there. The beautiful city of San Diego.

SAN>ATL>CLT

Again, up to early to catch the flight home BUT we knew we would be losing 3 hours on the return so the earlier the better. The San Diego priority line with Delta (because we flew first class) was not long at all but now this pre-check line was crazy. It was like everybody in the airport had TSA Pre-check. We waited in line for about 20-30 minutes but made it through with over an hour to spare before boarding. I ventured up to the SKyClub and honestly, I must say I was disappointed. It was very and I mean very small! I just made the assumption that the San Diego airport would have a larger footprint but the one I was able to access was not that big. I was out of guest passes (sorry Thomas, lol) but I went to go check it out and it was not work paying an extra fee for but Thomas was such a trooper he told me to go ahead anyway. That worked out better than me saying I was going to the restroom and just happening to stumble in the club for my signature travel Bloody Mary!

Boarded our flight and I must say the attendant on the first leg, was sooo attentive!! I mean she literally was giving us the royal treatment. All the snacks Thomas wanted and a pre-takeoff glass of champagne made the morning just right. I must said the food option on the Delta flights were actually pretty tasty. I wasn't sure what to expect withe the selections but they had a variety of options and what we had on each leg was good considering it was 'food on an airplane'.

Now the second leg - ugh! We had some time to spare and we ended up at Phillips Seafood in Hartsfield Jackson (ATL). Looking at the clock, we had about an hour before we should board and that handy dandy notification pops up - DELAYED! I was like whhyyyyyy! This gave us more to time to finish eating BUT never did I think our flight would be delayed a second and then a third time! First time was 'weather related' and the second time before pulling from the gate, it was announced that our plane had a mechanical issue! Once fixed, we were in the takeoff line only for the pilot to announce that we were once again delayed due to weather!

Finally we got off the ground and I will say, the pilot got us there fast!! It literally felt like a 30 minute flight! The landing was smooth and being that we were 3 hours pass our scheduled arrival, we were just happy to be on the way back home. We still had an hour drive.

Do Overs

CLT>MSP>SAN:

Despite the SkyClub in MSP being super nice, I would not do a 3 hour layover here again. The club made it easy but 3 hours was a long time.

SAN>ATL>CLT: There is just something about ATL that just makes me want to avoid traveling through this airport so I would do a direct flight or if there is an alternative for the layover, avoid ATL.

All Flights: Pre-select my meal choices. They emailed me and I ignored all of them to choose prior to flight time! LOL!

Order Champagne first thing on each leg. Didn't feel n'aire bump on that SAN>ATL leg!! LOL again! I think they took us over Mexico. :-/

T | R | E