Meanwhile, Sylvia and I returned the rental phone, did some final shopping (her favorite store is UniQlo and they have a store at the airport), before checking in for our Delta flight. Some generous friends arranged for us to be on a buddy pass which is a huge discount on the standard fare, but the tickets are stand-by status. As we found out a week ago on the flight from Seattle to Japan, it can be a real nail-biter. And again this time, we were told the flight was very full, and we were not assured of seats. They told us to wait until an hour before departure and check back, so we filled the 90 minute wait with a bite of lunch and tried to relax. When we came back, they were more hopeful, and gave us boarding passes, so we exchanged our yen to dollars, went through immigration and headed to the gate.
Fortunately we were able to get on the flight in economy class, and even got seats together this time - nice! Then someone came and invited one of us to an open seat in business elite. Sylvia said she had been praying that a seat wold open up for me because I had been working so hard on this trip, and she wouldn't take any protest from me about it. Ah, the delightful creature comforts of the big recliner seats and excellent service in the front of the plane. I felt grateful (and a touch guilty), and sure enjoyed it all.
These flights cross the dateline, so even though we left Monday afternoon at 3:40 PM on , we arrived in Seattle at 8:15 AM the same day - about 7 hours before we left Tokyo. Done it many times, but it still kinda blows my mind. It's nice flying in over the Olympic mountains, Puget Sound, and the Seattle skyline - what a beautiful area! Nice to be home.
Thank you for posting these updates. So helpful for us to know your experiences.
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