During my most recent trip to Puerto Vallarta, I flew Delta Air Lines roundtrip via Atlanta. On the way down, I was upgraded to first class — you can compare my first class Delta flight experience with the economy class experience, which I describe below.
THE ROUTE: Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico (PVR) to Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport (ATL); Airbus A320; 2 hours, 59 minutes; economy class.
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THE DEPARTURE: The Puerto Vallarta airport offers a relatively pleasant ambiance; the lines were short at the Delta Air Lines check-in counter, and I had a quick lunch at Carl’s Jr. and explored a bit of the shopping options before heading to security, which was fast.
Boarding was by zone at the gate.
COOLEST AIRPORT SHOPPING: There are lots of duty-free shopping options at the Puerto Vallarta airport, but the most interesting shop that I found was actually a vendors cart (before security): Extra Virgin Art features the colorful work of Mexican artists, including home decor like Day of the Dead matchboxes, Frida Kahlo-inspired picture frames, lucha libre mirrors and notebooks. It was a nice break from the usual duty-free perfumes, which can be found in any international airport.
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THE AIRCRAFT: The Delta Air Lines Airbus A320 SR (the “SR” indicates that it has a Slide Raft configuration for over-water flights) had two classes of seating: economy and first class. I sat in economy.
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AIRLINE SEATING: The seats on this plane were not furnished with pillows or blankets, and did not have wings on the headrest. But I was lucky enough to get three seats to myself!
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INFLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT: There was no inflight entertainment on this flight from Puerto Vallarta.
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AIRLINE FOOD: There were two free snack and beverage services on this Delta Air Lines flight, with peanuts, pretzels and the addictive Biscoff cookies that I love so much.
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THE ARRIVAL: Arrival at the Atlanta airport was on time. Baggage delivery was quick, and since I’m enrolled in the Global Entry program, I was able to get through both customs and immigration rather quickly, so I had enough time to sample some rather tasty fried chicken (and so-so green beans and macaroni and cheese — talk about bland!) at Low Country, a restaurant in one of the Atlanta airport’s many food courts.