The first object in the way is money. It’s expensive to go to Paris; it’s much cheaper to go to places that nobody wants to visit- I can get great fares to pretty much anywhere in Ohio, for instance. But I did notice that the price to fly to Paris is much cheaper from Newark than from Philadelphia. It's possible that’s just because it’s about 80 miles closer, but the reason isn’t my concern. The point is how much irritation will I endure for the pretty substantial savings.
We left our house around 4 and dropped the dog off at the home of a friend who also boards dogs professionally. I will not mention her name, not because she isn’t wonderful, but because she has limited capacity and I don’t want to make it harder for me to get a spot. If she will guarantee me a spot, I’ll do all the advertising she wants.
Then came the drive to Newark, which is somewhat bearable under the best of circumstances, but perhaps less so in a misty kind of rain.
We parked in an off-site lot, because there are no airport long-term parking lots that aren’t desolate and inconvenient and overly pricey. The better off-site lots may be desolate but at least they’re less expensive, half the price in this case, but they can be challenging to find. I like Waze in general, but their directions to the parking lot sucked and caused me to drive in circles, or more accurately large ellipses, in order to finally make it to the lot. The lot itself is in an area that makes Philadelphia offsite parking look like Versailles, but it’s cheap and close to the airport.
The next impediment is Newark airport itself. I’m sorry, it’s Newark Liberty Airport . No, they don’t serve Freedom Fries here, though it wouldn’t be out of character. I find the chest-thumping use of words like liberty and freedom to be totally offensive. There is nothing Liberating about Newark airport. Quite the opposite in fact; it’s the most over-signed place I’ve ever been. I’m not sure what it is about this particular airport that makes that happen, maybe because it has 3 levels instead of the usual two and a truly odd amount of wasted space, but there are signs everywhere, giving an excellent lesson on how too many signs is just as bad as not enough.
Then there was Delta check-in. We pretty quickly found the international check-in (as in turned away people checking in for domestic flights after they'd waited on line), which was perhaps a tad understaffed.
Yep, about 20 people on line and one representative, who was mostly taking first class passengers.
That impediment cleared, we were pretty much home free. We breezed through security because we were the only ones there (because they were only checking in one person every 5 minutes or so at the desk) and then we popped into the Delta lounge. Normally we couldn't have gone in there, but I decided to try out American Express Platinum this year because they bribed me with points and rebates. But one of the benefits is you get to use Delta airport clubs. This place was not in any way luxurious, but it was pleasant and reasonably comfortable and they had free snacks and drinks, and nice bathrooms. It was a good place to spend 45 minutes until they announced our flight.
Last but not least was the airplane. We had bought what are called Comfort + seats. I'll get to the seats themselves in a moment but first that name. If this is Comfort Plus, where is just regular Comfort, or Comfort Minus? I've heard people use many words to describe the physical sensations of sitting in coach airline seats, but "comfort" is not among them. I will say though, that for a long flight, even though Comfort Plus doesn't mean what they think it means, that it's totally worth the extra $75-100 for what it gives you. What you get is a slightly better upholstered seat, more legroom, and most importantly, a little extra recline. It's not like a business or first class seat where you can lie flat, but it goes back as far as the extra few inches of pitch (that's what airlines call the space between seats- I don't know why) will allow.
Even though this is nice and I'm glad we did it and it allowed me to get some sleep, it makes me mad that coach seating has gotten so bad that this seems like a really good thing. Is a comfortable sitting space really that much to ask?
So eventually I fell asleep, aided by an adult beverage or two, eyeshades, earplugs, and a neck pillow. It worked so well it makes me wonder why I don't just walk around like that all the time, so I could get some rest on a moment's notice.
Like all of these overnight flights to Europe, whatever sleep you're getting is interrupted an hour or so before landing by the crew turning on the lights and somehow simultaneously handing you a box of breakfast. I had some yogurt and coffee and cheese and was ready to face the day. We got off the plane and went to passport control, which involved doing this:
and then a long wait for the bags, but eventually, obstacles and all, we made it.
No comments:
Post a Comment