Thursday, May 2nd
I was finally headed to Russia. After weeks of waiting on visas and wondering if I was going to be able to go at all, the day of my departure was at hand. All the days I spent waiting and sweating over my visa are behind me. The dang thing showed up two days ago. Cutting it close, to be sure, I finally had all the paperwork I needed and was on the way to the airport. My bride was taking me on her way to work. That meant I would be several hours early, but at least I would not have to leave a car in the pay-to-park lot for two weeks. As mentioned, I had been waiting a lot for things on this trip so waiting a few hours extra for my flight was no big deal. I would make time for a big breakfast and I had plenty of books on my tablet. Another plus of arriving early, I was able to talk the Delta agent into checking my bags through to Moscow. Not normally a big deal, but I was switching airlines and would be flying Aeroflot the rest of the way.
Made it to JFK in New York on time, and my good luck for the day must have been used up with my baggage check through to Moscow. I had to change from the domestic terminal to the international terminal. No big deal. You normally take a walk or hop a bus, but not at JFK. I had to walk out of the in-transit area down the street, and then go back through security all over again. Dang it. Made it out of one terminal and into the next, only to be told the Aeroflot boarding pass I was given in Raleigh was no longer good and I needed to go to the counter and get a new one. Only problem was no one was working the counter. Finally found some help, only to learn no one would be at the counter for two more hours. I walked by a TSA checkpoint with absolutely no one in it on the way to find food.
I was second in line to get a boarding pass when the counter reopened. The guy in front of me had an extra wide, widescreen TV, of all things, to check in. That only took me an extra 40 minutes to get the second boarding pass for my flight. When I made it around the corner to the TSA checkpoint, every line was full and spilling out into the airport proper for some 150 feet. Well, crud, this was going to be a fun couple of hours. In reality, the line moved quicker than I thought it would, and I was through in a little over an hour. I found the gate and read for a while. I overheard a guy talking about dogs and asked him what kind he had. Turns out he had more dogs than I do. Anyway, we struck up a conversation and talked dogs, hunting, guns, and travel until time to board the plane. It was nice to have someone to talk to.
Aeroflot’s “Comfort Plus” is worth the extra few dollars it costs to travel this way. The seats were huge and comfortable. I was able to board the plane quickly (turns out I got off just as quickly). Getting on quickly did not do much for maintaining my schedule. The fact that everyone was on board and the doors closed two minutes early went for naught. We ended up sitting on the tarmac for two hours waiting for a slot to take off in. I really do not like traveling through JFK. On the bright side, once airborne, the inflight service was wonderful. The food at this level was as good as I would pay for at a restaurant. I had Filet Mignon for one meal and lamb chops for another. The audio-visual system worked perfectly and I ended up with no one beside me. Lots of extra room to take advantage of.
These are the seats that come with Aeroflot “Comfort Plus” there was plenty of elbow room, and leg room including foot rest that popped up recliner style when you leaned the seat back. The dangley things in the center are reading lights and there is room just below them for a water bottle.
The food selection was top shelf and the taste was restaurant quality. The hands down best food I ever had on a plane.
