Airline: Delta
Aircraft: Airbus 330-300 (A330-300)
Seat: 10A
Class: Economy

The Seat: The allure of this seat is that it’s in an exit row with tons of legroom and away from odor and foot-traffic prone lavatories. Exit row, check. Legroom, almost. The emergency exit slide encasement extends into your leg space so that you’ll have to angle both legs to the right if you want to extend them. Not comfortable for the long haul. Being away from the lavatory is nice but you’ll be right next to the main galley which seems to be even noisier at times with flight attendants working throughout the flight. Sleep can be difficult here. Personal TVs with a reasonable number of movies and TV options is attached to the seat. With the tray table and personal TV  in the armrests, seat width is slightly sacrificed.

Service: Being the very first row in economy,  you’ll get your meal straight from the warmer. Also, being so close to the galley, you can walk your tray right back when you’re done without having to wait for flight attendants. Standard service for a US carrier. We had no  complaints but there was nothing extraordinary about service from attendants. And like most US carriers, there were no “extras” like eye shades or ear plugs in economy.

Notes: 10B (neighboring seat on the aisle) has tons of legroom but is even closer to the high-traffic galley. Seats 10G (aisle) and 10H (window) are the mirroring seats on the other side of the galley.

Summary: It’s great to be served first but galley noise and protruding exit slide make this a less than perfect seat for long haul comfort.

Rating: 1.5 hops (of 5).

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[goodhop]: modhop economy favorite JetBlue joins their newer rival Virgin America and a host of legacy carriers to offer a more substantial food selection on-board their longer flights. 5 snack boxes featuring different varieties of pre-packaged foods will be offered on flights over 3 hours, 45 minutes aboard their Airbus 320 (A320) aircraft. Time-of-day and diet appropriate boxes are offered and include their “Wake Up” box, a variety of morning goodies and the “Shape Up” box, loaded with nuts, raisins, crackers and hummus. JetBlue will continue to offer complimentary snacks aboard these and other flights. You can see the new snack boxes here.

[badhop]:  The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has found a number violations in facilities that prepare food for airlines. A two year study of food staging and preparation buildings  run by companies that supply most food to airlines highlighted  unsanitary preparation of meals by employees without gloves and areas of the facilities with unacceptable levels of bacteria and insect populations. Each of the 3 companies sited (Gate Gourmet, LSG SkyChef and Flying Food group all contend that they’re independently audited for quality assurance and take the report very seriously.

[goodhop]: Good news if you’re going to (or traveling from) Thailand. The new Airport Rail Link is now operating between Suvarnabhumi Airport and Downtown Bangkok. After a number of delays the local and express trains are now operational and running free trials. After the trials, the fare for the airport express will be Bt100 (about $3.00 US) and takes just 15 minutes from end to end.

[goodhop]: Continental Airlines is rapidly growing thier number of planes with live in-flight TV. In doing so, They join the ranks of Jet Blue, Virgin America, Delta and Frontier in the flying TV market. A whopping 95 channels of DirecTV programming (that’s 59 more channels than Jet Blue) are offered on equipt flights. The catch? Yep, there’s a charge. For $6, all channels are available from the time you sit down until you pull into the gate at your destination. Even for $6 we like this option, particularly on flights over 2 hours. You can check the progress of Continental’s DirecTV equipt fleet here.

[badhop]: UK based Thomas Cook Airlines joins EasyJet and others in offering Sony PSP portables to replace their unpopular in-flight entertainment equipment. The charge to rent the PSPs is £7.50 and £5.00 for a headphone splitter if you’d like to share. We’re not sure if this is a good replacement for all travelers. Irelands Ryanair tried a similar program with little success before scrapping it. Not terribly bad, but we’re underwhelmed.

[goodhop]: Australia’s JetStar Airways will soon begin in flight rentals of Apples popular iPad. Loaded with movies, games and other time killers, the device will be available for about $10 on domestic flights over 90 minutes. While it has yet to be tested, we think the iPads good screen size, easy interface and light weight could make this a good option. (…and we’re PCs!)

Airline/Club Name: (Independent) Oasis Lounge
Location: New York Kennedy (JFK)
Terminal/Concourse: Terminal 4 – Landside.  Beyond check-in area (same level) to the left.

Notes: This is a reasonably large club with amenities beyond that of a US domestic lounge, largely because most flights from Terminal 4 are international departures. Different types of seating are available from deep leather seats, to the family kitchen style area shown in the accompanying video.  In 2 daytime visits this lounge hasn’t been too crowded, but as you’d expect, it can get busy with flight delays or evenings when there are more trans-Atlantic flights departing. The common areas in this terminal aren’t a bad alternative with decent shopping and food choices, but if it’s a particularly busy day The Oasis is a good place to be.

Wi-Fi: Wi-Fi is free. A number of stationary computers are also available.

Service/Food & Drink: Service was friendly but nothing above ordinary. Food and Drinks are self-serve and employees regularly clean up and keep food/drink areas stocked. The bar is self service and above average in our opinion (if only because they had fresh limes out for gin & tonics). Different food items are offered through the day. We enjoyed sandwiches, fruits & vegetables on our late morning visit. Later and earlier day visits have hot meals.

Convenience to gate: All lounges at Terminal 4 are landside (before security). To be safe,  give  yourself an extra 15-20 minutes to get to the gate…or more if the airport is crowded.

Rating: 4.5 hops (of 5)

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Airline: Alaska Airlines
Aircraft: 737-800
Seat: 6D
Class: Economy

The Seat: Any seat with a “soft bulkhead” (one with no hard wall in front of you) is usually one that will earn points with modhoppers. These seats come with a few extra inches of legroom but not with the normal bulkhead restrictions as you’re able to use the seat in front of you for bag stowage or fuller leg extension. The seat itself is leather with an adjustable headrest for added comfort. Width is standard for a bulkhead with an inch or so taken off for the tray table in the armrest.

Service: Alaska ranks well with us for service, this flight was no exception. Flight Attendants were cheery and helpful. Alaska MVP Gold elite members were offered a free alcoholic beverage and along with partner elites had early access to this row and other premium seating. After passing on food at first the flight attendant was more than happy to find me a cheeseburger later in the flight.

Notes: Another benefit to sitting in this row is early boarding. It seems they understand that these seats are often occupied by elite members who missed out on an upgrade. (The Gold MVP member next to me even let out an audible “Awww” after the last seat in first was filled.)

Summary: Any seat in this row provides a bit more legroom than most and comes with the added benefit of early boarding. If you’re lucky enough to avoid crying babies or armrest hogs, your experience should be at least a tiny bit better than in a normal economy seat. Food options will differ depending on the length of your specific flight and meet expectations but nothing more.

Rating: 3 hops (of 5).

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Airline/Club Name: (No airline affiliation) Sala VIP Miro
Location: Barcelona (BCN)
Terminal/Concourse: Terminal 1 – Airside. To the left after security, then proceed past customs.

Notes: The Miro Lounge in Barcelona’s new Terminal 1 is by our account, almost fantastic. We were welcomed by a friendly agent who promptly checked us in and pointed out a couple of the lounges features. By normal international business/first class lounge standards, food choices were lacking but  far better than anything you’ll ever find in a US domestic lounge. Cereals, muffins and other small pastries and snacks were spread out over a long buffet table. [*If you visit this lounge at another time during the day and find better food options, please comment!] A seemingly endless choice of non-alcoholic beverages are offered, while a self serve bar with a limited supply of the basic mixers is also available. (No. 6 am is not too early for scotch and soda.)  The endless sea of deep leather seats were perfect for our early-morning state. Shower facilities are available and we also discovered a secluded area with small sleep kiosks for those awaiting a connection and could use a few winks. Business services and a small  meeting room are also available.

Wi-Fi: General Airport wi-fi is available for a fee. Stationary internet kiosks are available for use free of charge.

Service: While it may vary depending on time of day or how crowded the lounge is, We found the service to be acceptable. Clean up was prompt and everything was well stocked. Because there is no particular airline affiliated with this lounge there are no agents in-house that can make changes to your ticketing or seating but a full flight display board is found near the front desk.

Convenience to gate: To be safe,  add 15-20 minutes to your airlines suggested gate arrival time. Flying to the US in particular can involve very thorough extra screening at the gate.

Rating: 4 hops (of 5)

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Airline: Delta
Aircraft:777-200 ER
Seat: 32G
Class: Economy

The Seat:Seat 32G, an aisle seat toward the front of the economy cabin is normally set aside for elite level frequent fliers but offers no advantage other than being at the front of the cabin. While legroom and seat width are typical, the entertainment options provided with their seat-back TVs is enough to keep your mind off of being on a long flight. Delta is also slowly integrating standard power-ports into the first several rows of economy (although we found none on our flight). All seats have adjustable headrests and movable armrests (movable armrests not available in bulhead or exit rows).

Service:Service from the flight attendants was slightly above average for economy, yet short of extraordinary. Meal and beverage service was timely and additional coffee, tea and duty free offerings were plentiful to fill the gaps in between.

Notes:I passed up on the rear exit row seats on both sides (the middle section has a restrictive bulkhead) after doing some research to find many people complained of other passengers congregating and waiting for the lavatories in the immediate area. They weren’t lying. Several inspections revealed a horde of people milling about, stretching and waiting for the rest room. Not good if you want to sleep or not be bothered. The coveted economy seats on this aircraft may be in row 30 on either side (not the middle bulkhead) where sites like seatguru.com claim that you’ll find up to an additional 8 inches of legroom in the window/middle seats and even more in the aisle seats (30C and 30G) as the bulkhead only extends so far into the aisle. Plus you’re nowhere near a galley or lavatory so you should rest easy without odors or annoyances. Good luck getting them though…They’re reserved in advance for elite fliers and tend to go the fastest.

Summary:It’s not saying much, but the experience aboard this particular aircraft is better than you’ll find on most US carriers flying overseas. Entertainment options are plentiful, seats are nothing more (or less) than standard and food options are…well let’s just say they’re available. If you can get your miles and fly a more luxurious partner airline, I say do it. If not, you won’t be too dissatisfied with this aircraft in economy.

Rating:2.5 hops (of 5).

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The Seat:Seat 4A is a window seat in the forward-most section of business class. These are recliner seats with a generous recline but don’t compare to more luxurious seats on many European or Asian carriers . Seat controls are automatic and relatively easy to use once you get the hang of it. Legroom and seat width are more than acceptable. Delta plans to have have most or all of their overseas fleet outfitted with new lie-flat seats by the end of 2013.

Service:Well above average on this flight. Our cabin was pretty empty so flight attendants were able to respond to passengers quickly and even stopped to chat a few times. Very friendly crew.

Notes:There aren’t any notable seats in this cabin that may offer extra space although I highly recommend choosing a seat in the forward most portion of business class (there are 2 sections separated by a galley) to cut down on noise from other parts of the airplane.

Summary:If you can manage your way up to business class, It’s worth the effort if you don’t end up shelling out too much extra money or miles. Despite not quite comparing with other carriers Business Elite is still far and above what you’ll find in economy with regards to roominess and service.

Rating:3 hops (of 5).

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modhop tip: When using clubs in any of Delta’s Hubs (particularly Atlanta), ask at the desk or look to see if the lounge you are trying to access is very crowded. In times of heavy traffic it might be a good idea to use a lounge a little farther from your gate if there are fewer travelers in another part of the airport. It’s possible to regret spending ANY amount of money on squeezing into an overcrowded lounge.

Airline: American Airlines
Aircraft:767-200 (Transcon)
Seat: 8H
Class: Business

The Seat:Compared with seats offered aboard legacy competitors like those in Delta’s new Business Elite and United’s P.S. business class products, American’s Flagship transcon in business class falls short by a few inches in regards to legroom and seat width, but unless you’re nearing 7 foot tall my guess is that you’ll hardly notice. Seat review websites like seatguru mention that this is one of very few rows in business that is correctly aligned with the window, so cloud-gazers will have to lean forward if seated in a different row. Seat controls are, shall we say: “old school”, using manual levers and lacking the multiple and sometimes confusing seat controls of more modern seats. Winged headrests make it easy to nap and recline is sufficient for short term snoozing. Duvets and full pillows are provided as well.

Service:Service from the flight attendants and gate agents was standard. Everyone was attentive and helpful but nothing extraordinary when considering this is business class.

Summary:While I would have preferred an updated seat with a few more recline and lumbar options, I was pleased overall. Decent food selection, inflight wi-fi and abundant entertainment options helped to make the flight very pleasant. With as little as I had to do to get the upgrade, I was impressed.

Rating:3.5 hops (of 5).