Travel day on the way to Lima, Peru. Delta Airlines scheduled us with a tight connection in Atlanta (much like our attempt to get to Madrid this summer) so we were understandably nervous about checking any bags. We opted instead to just to carry-ons, which ended up being a reasonable option, since we are only gone a week. For some reason, we weren’t on the upgrade list from LAX to ATL (you can be sure Delta will hear from me), but the flight itself was uneventful, and we ended up sitting next to someone who travels even more than us and she gave us a few inside tips on utilizing some of the Delta perks for getting to Platinum or Diamond status. The main one that stuck in my head is to call (vs. online) to book reward travel on Air France and KLM. The two desks (Delta and the sister airline) can usually sort out the coding that will allow the system to book it, even if the online site says that the reward flight has to be on a Delta plane.
Anyway, we made it Atlanta on time and had over an hour to get to our gate, in the same terminal, so no issues. The flight from Atlanta to Lima was fantastic. When we booked our original flight, we booked it in a “mixed” cabin (some in Coach and some in Comfort) as there was no “All Comfort” option and First Class was 5x as expensive. When we called to do our seat selection (system was acting up), the Delta Diamond Desk representative explained the issue, but noted that if we were willing to pay a little extra to “upgrade” from “mixed” to “all comfort” (even through no comfort seats showed as available), that we could upgrade to First for only 35,000 miles each. Given the price difference of our current ticket to First Class had we booked using all cash, the value of the 35,000 points was close to $3,000, which is nearly a 10-1 ratio of what you normally get. Needless to say, we booked it immediately. Later in the process, we found out that the customer service rep had quoted us the wrong upgrade rate and that it should have been north of 100,000 points, but since they gave us a quote, they honored the lower amount. It pays to be nice and ask!
So, as always, Delta One was amazing. Great service, great menu (welcome drinks, truffle ravioli, cheese plates, etc.), lay flat beds to get a few hours of sleep and a very decent selection of entertainment options. We arrived in Lima at about 11:00pm and took an Uber (yes, they have Uber in Peru!) to our hotel, the Country Club Lima Hotel, located in the posh San Isidro neighborhood. Old world charm and classic architecture are the hallmarks of this beautiful hotel. Just across the street from the Lima Golf Club, the hotel is also home to over 300 works of art from the Pedro de Osma Museum. We’ve got two nights here, so more to come for sure. Since it’s getting late, that’s all for today. Tomorrow we dine at one of the world’s best restaurants, so stay tuned for that!