When we left off after our lounge visits, we were about to board our 757-300 for our flight home. Not only were we upgraded a full five days out for this flight, but it was on an internationally-configured aircraft with DeltaOne seats. We boarded on time as the weather started to deteriorate.

The seats were arranged 2-2 like domestic First Class, but there were only four rows of DeltaOne seats instead of the usual six rows of First Class between doors one and two.

We were initially told that there would be a short delay, which then turned into about an hour as we lined up for de-icing. According to the captain, the airport was “caught by surprise” by the snow. That revelation caught me by surprise as it had been forecast around that time for at least three days, and I assume JFK Operations has access to even better weather forecasts than I do.

Meanwhile, my wife and I got comfortable and watched movies on the IFE. We were still hopeful we’d get out of there and get home that night.

We eventually got to the de-icing stand on the south side of the airport and were next in line. By this time it was approaching 10pm and we were about two hours late. That’s when the bad news really hit. Turns out our crew had flown in from LAX that afternoon and were going to time out before we landed at ATL.

So, it was back to the gate. That took a while because there was a plane getting de-iced blocking our way. When we eventually got to the gate, it was 11pm. I had already got on the phone with the Platinum Medallion line and put us on the first flight out at 6:15am the next morning. Our aircraft wasn’t going to leave JFK until 11am the next day and anyone with checked bags would have to wait for that flight. At least they brought us back to a gate that was close to the terminal exit.

I got in line at the gate for hotel and food vouchers. I let the redcoat know that I had the flight handled and just needed a place to sleep. He emailed me a hotel voucher where I could select which hotel I wanted. I limited my choices to the closest possible locations given the weather. Unfortunately, the TWA Hotel at Terminal 5 was not among the options.

I ended up selecting the Crowne Plaza at it was just two miles away. We were also given Lyft vouchers but I could not get them to work as it kept defaulting the start and end location as JFK Airport. I had no way to change them so I gave up and just got my own Lyft.

We got to the Crowne Plaza around 11:30pm and got placed in a room that we had to access down a short staircase and through (I’m not kidding) the security office. It was a basic room, but it was quiet, everything worked and the bed was comfortable. We didn’t sleep much as we got up again at 4am to head back to the airport. By the way, they would not add my IHG number to the reservation to get elite night credit for the stay.

We were at the closest gate to the entrance (B20) so rather than walk all the way down to the SkyClub, we used our $60 in food vouchers at the only restaurant/store that was open at that hour. We managed to buy breakfast sandwiches, muffins, coffees and some soft drinks for the flight for $58 worth of vouchers.

The weather had improved by then, but we still had to get de-iced. We had exit row seats on this flight so our upgrades went bye-bye, but considering how long the stand-by list was, we were glad to be getting out of there at last.

We took off after a short delay and made it back to Atlanta in time for my wife to get on a mediation call by 10am on the way home from the airport. The weather/crew delay was unfortunate, but Delta handled it as well as can be expected, providing a room and food vouchers for all who wanted them on our flight.

I hope you enjoyed this report. Up next: A trip to Liverpool in April using Singapore Airlines business class and Virgin Upper Class plus our first visit to a Polaris Lounge.

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