Last weekend, I went to Las Vegas for Zorkfest. It’s a fun weekend meet-up with both points & miles and casino loyalty components. I’ve been once before in 2021 and really enjoyed it, so I was glad when the 2025 event was scheduled on a weekend where I could attend.

I flew round-trip on Delta nonstop from Atlanta. I booked the flights for 30k SkyMiles round-trip and was able to apply a Regional Upgrade Certificate to each flight to confirm a first class seat. Delta does offer a few Delta One configured widebodies on this route, but the flights I could get at that price with confirmable upgrade space were just domestic 757s. That was OK though as both flights were daytime flights – or so I thought! More to come on my return flight adventure in the next post.

On Friday morning, I took a Lyft to Atlanta airport and spent some time in the SkyClub before my 12:15pm flight to Vegas. Despite some rainy weather in the area, we boarded and departed on time.

The flight was full and there were something like 50 people on the upgrade list. I was glad I was able to secure my upgrade months earlier. We had a pre-departure beverage service and I ordered a Woodford and ginger ale.

The captain warned us that the first part of the flight would be a bit too bumpy for service. I had pre-ordered my lunch from the menu that was sent out a week ahead of the flight. I pre-ordered the Shake Shack Cheeseburger.

It ultimately took about two hours to clear the rough air, somewhere past Little Rock. We finally got the all clear and service began. I started with another Woodford and ginger ale along with some Sun Chips.

My meal came out after about 20 minutes. I was expecting it to be a soggy mess after such a long wait, but it actually turned out pretty well. The burger was tasty and the bun held together. The accompaniments were served separately, which kept everything fresh. The burger was served with shack sauce, chips and a brownie.

After the long wait, the meal was much needed. There was one more pass for drinks and snacks before the end of the flight. I decided on a Coke Zero and took the snacks with me for later as I was still full from the burger. We were approaching the scenic part of the journey.

The lady at the window seat next to me only opened the window closest to her and not the one where I had a better view. Despite that, I sneaked in a few pictures over her shoulder when she wasn’t looking.

We landed pretty much on time and I was able to navigate Vegas airport out to where my hotel shuttle picked me up. I’ll have reviews of both of my hotels and some of my Vegas activities in upcoming posts.

If you have questions about this post, let me know in the comments or send me an email at emptynestermiles@gmail.com. If you are thinking about opening a new credit card, please use one of my links. I also recommend using CardPointers to track your credit card spending discount offers.