Vancouver Bound

The Delta Sky Club at the Raleigh Airport is well laid out with a nice bar and ample seating areas.

For months we’d been anticipating joining our friends for a week-long Alaska cruise. The time for our journey finally arrived. We'd booked passage aboard Silversea’s Silver Nova which departed from the Port of Vancouver on a Thursday in late May. Accordingly, we made airline reservations for the day before and decided to take the first flight out just in case we encountered any snafus en route. That meant setting our alarm for 2:30 AM (which I call 0-dark hundred) and leaving the house around 4 o’clock. Everything went smoothly and Melanie, the Delta Air Lines agent who checked us in for the flights at the Raleigh-Durham Airport (RDU), made it all worthwhile with her warm smile and pleasant demeanor so early in the morning. It had been a while since my wife had flown and her ID information had to be verified at the CLEAR lane, but within minutes after that, we had completed the necessary TSA security check and found ourselves settled in at the Delta Sky Club across from Gate C3, before boarding our first aircraft to Minneapolis (MSP) at 5:20 AM. 

The seats in the forward cabin of the Delta Airbus A320-200 are standard domestic First Class seats.

We were directed to our seats in the third row 3 on the port side of this Airbus A320-200 aircraft. There were 16 seats in the forward cabin in the 2 x 2 configuration typical of domestic First Class. Our flight attendant Leigh welcomed us aboard with a smile and conducted a pre-departure beverage service as boarding neared completion. I was soon enjoying my morning airplane ritual of tomato juice (no ice), although the airline only serves a spicy Bloody Mary mix that I can assure you will wake up your taste buds at any hour! The boarding door closed at 5:45 AM, and we took off at 6:13 from Runway 23R. Our pilot informed us the flying time to Minneapolis wold be 2 hours and 13 minutes. 

The breakfast entrée of French Toast Bread Pudding with Lemon Ricotta and Mango Compote.

He also took a moment to recognize Mr. Blanton, who was seated in 2D. Mr. Blanton was a veteran of the US Armed Forces and was approaching his 100th birthday! Fittingly, the entire aircraft gave him a round of applause. The breakfast service soon began and afterwards Leigh also brought a snack basket around in case anyone was still hungry. I complimented her on providing such good service with a pleasant demeanor. She thanked me by saying, “I love my job.” Well, it shows and Delta is lucky to have her. We were vectored around on our approach and broke through cloud cover at about 1,000 AGL, touching down at 7:30. After 11 minutes of taxing, we pulled into Gate F1. 

Rushing to catch a flight is never fun, but we made the connection to YVR and that's all that matters.

Our connecting flight to the Vancouver International Airport (YVR) was departing from Gate F10 and fortunately, one of the Sky Clubs in Minneapolis was located nearby where the F and G Concourses intersect. Upon entering and presenting our credentials, the agent told us our next flight was delayed by a half hour and wouldn’t be leaving until later that morning at 9:40. It didn’t much matter so we found a quiet spot in a far corner in which to relax. We used the time to catch up on some work while taking advantage of the complimentary Wi-fi and beverages while looking over the snack and food selections. After a time, my wife received a text from Delta informing her that our flight was boarding. I’m not sure why I never got the text, but I was so glad she did because after we hurried down to Gate F10, we were queuing with group 5 and so ended up being among the last folks to board the aircraft! 

Our experience was disappointing as Delta's flight attendants are some of the best in the industry.

The carrier was operating an Airbus A220-300 on the route that morning and we took our seats on the port side of the First Class cabin’s second row. The forward boarding door closed at 9:30 and our pilot told us to expect a flying time of three hours to Vancouver. The flight took off at 9:45 and within a half hour, the meal service had begun. Although we didn’t partake, I found it odd that a snack service was offered before breakfast. At any rate, I had again pre ordered the meal and selected the Coconut Chia Overnight Oats and Mixed Berry Compote with Toasted Coconut Flakes, served with a Croissant and a Fruit Bowl. It was okay, but what stood out to me was our flight attendant’s poor attitude. We all know that a flight attendant can make or break a flight. As nice and welcoming as Leigh was on our airplane from Raleigh, the woman in charge of our cabin en route to Vancouver was the polar opposite. Her service was perfunctory at best and it was obvious she was displeased about something, but we didn’t let her negative attitude spoil our flight. The plane landed on time at 10:47 that morning, parking at Gate E87. 

Border Canada's self-service Primary Inspection Kiosks greatly streamlined our entry process

At some Canadian airports, including Vancouver, travelers can use kiosks to quickly process their declarations. These kiosks, also known as Primary Inspection Kiosks allowed us to complete the necessary customs and immigration formalities on a touchscreen and our identities were verified using facial recognition against the photos on our passports. Upon finishing, the kiosk generated individual receipts which we later handed to a Border Services Officer upon exiting the baggage claim area.

The busy baggage claim area at YVR is located on the second floor of the International Terminal.

But, we waited an inordinate amount of time for our luggage to be offloaded and, for some inexplicable reason, baggage from most flights, including ours, was directed to Belt 32, so we had to keep a sharp eye on the bag tags to ensure which pieces of luggage belonged to us. When it was finally time to depart, we hopped into a taxi for the 35-minute ride to the hotel. Our travels were  exclusively on city streets as opposed to any highways. I later discovered Vancouver has a history of resisting freeway development within city limits, largely due to public opposition and concerns about their impact on neighborhoods.

By 12:30 in the afternoon, we were approaching the Reception Desk at the JW Marriott Parq Vancouver Hotel. I’ll tell you all about our visit to British Columbia’s largest city in a future post.

Until next time…safe travels.