For my return flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta on Monday, everything started out great. I first visited the Capital One Lounge, which I will also review separately, and had a great lunch. I headed over to my gate just before boarding for my 3pm flight back to Atlanta. I had pre-ordered a curry dish on my flight as I figured another ShakeShack burger was unnecessary after my indulgent Vegas weekend.

At the assigned gate, we were switched to another nearby gate as our original 757 was reassigned to fly to Minneapolis and we were given a different aircraft due to crew scheduling issues. OK no big deal right? Well, then a delay appeared. The captain came out to say that there was a hydraulics issue and he was hopeful it could be resolved in an hour or so. After the first hour, another delay popped up and I checked the Delta app to see what my options were. I noticed a 5pm flight on a 767 that had available First Class seats so I switched to that flight in the app. I walked over to that gate and found out that the original time of the flight was 12:45pm. They had taxied out, found a mechanical issue and returned to the gate where the new time was set. That didn’t sound good to me and the two guys working on the flaps (pictured above) also didn’t fill me with much hope.

As 5pm came and went, I walked back over to the other gate and through the app, got back on my original flight in First Class. Now it was showing 6:30pm. After I switched back away from it, I realized the 12:45pm (then 5pm) flight had now been delayed to 5am the next morning!

The gate agent at my new (old) gate said that if we didn’t board by 6:45pm, the flight would get postponed overnight due to crew timing out. As it became apparent we weren’t going to get out, I checked the app again and saw availability in First Class on a 12:44am redeye. Not a great option, but I needed to be back in the morning to accompany (or hopefully drive) my wife to a doctor’s appointment. I also saw a 10:15pm flight where I could get on stand-by so I did that. My original flight was then also rescheduled for the following morning so I was glad I had jumped off that sinking ship when I did.

Interestingly, there was also an 11:55pm redeye to Atlanta that was showing as canceled in both the app and on the screens at the airport. Hang on to that thought.

I returned to the Capital One Lounge to grab dinner (the same as lunch unfortunately, but still good). I waited there and watched the Eagles-Chargers game on my iPad while monitoring the flights. I went to the gate for the 10:15pm flight, but even though I would have cleared the stand-by list, I would have been in a middle seat all the way in the back and probably would have had to check my carry-on as the flight was full. I decided against all that and to keep my confirmed seat on the 12:44am redeye.

I decided to check out the American Express Centurion Lounge for the last hour or so and compare it to the Capital One Lounge (which I had spent about four hours in by this time). I’ll also have a review of this lounge in a later post.

While in the lounge, I noticed in the Delta app that the 11:55pm flight was showing available again, despite the airport and lounge screens showing it was canceled. I chatted in with a Delta rep and they confirmed the flight was on time and scheduled so I switched to that flight. Getting in before 7am meant that I could probably get home in time to take my wife to the doctor’s appointment so that was a win. I went ahead and switched to that flight as it was wide open given that it had been showing as canceled a few hours earlier.

In the end, the 11:55pm flight was on-time. It was not full as not everyone was aware it was still scheduled after the initial cancellation. The entire schedule from Vegas to Atlanta on Delta was a complete mess on Monday. Two overnight delays due to mechanical issues and one canceled flight that was then uncanceled. I got home by 8am, had time for a quick shower and was able to take my wife to the doctor. Needless to say, I needed a nap in the middle of the day.

My flight was uneventful and most people slept through the short redeye. There was no formal service on the flight although the flight attendant left out some snacks and was available to get a drink if we needed one. I was able to sleep a bit which helped me stay awake in the morning for a while. I can see why a flight attendant would want to schedule this flight as despite the overnight hours, it’s way less work for them!

My Regional Upgrade was somewhat wasted on this flight as I likely would have cleared the waitlist as I looked at it just before the flight and it was empty. I wouldn’t have had any other use for the upgrade certificate anyway before it expires at the end of January.

I filed a claim with Delta for some miles. Let’s see what I can get out of this disastrous trip home where I lost a night of sleep and a pre-ordered meal (first world problems!)

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