Moving Day: Tampa to Lima
We flew from Tampa to Lima with a change of planes in Atlanta. I was a bit nervous about possible delays at airport security (the Department of Homeland Security’s funding lapsed on February 14, and TSA employees had been working without pay for more than a month. Again.) So we opted in to “Touchless ID” and arrived at Tampa Airport extra early for our morning flight. Thankfully, there were no lines at TSA, and we sailed right through.
It’s worth mentioning that we had separate tickets for TPA-ATL and ATL-LIM. This is a travel hack I like to use:
Book a round-trip flight for the international flight between hub cities. Nowadays, we splurge on Premium Economy seats for long-haul flights.
Book domestic “repositioning” flights in Economy to and from the hub cities. Or plan to travel these short segments via train or bus.
In my experience, this approach yields significantly lower fares overall. But it carries an element of risk: if we miss the long haul flight, we’re responsible for the cost of a new flight. So I always make sure we have plenty of time to make the connection.
Anyway, I had booked an early flight to Atlanta so that we’d have a comfortable four hours to catch the flight to Lima. Ironically, our flight from Atlanta to Lima was delayed twice. Three pilots were required for our flight, and we had to wait for the third pilot to arrive from Cincinnati. We didn’t complain about the strict rules regarding pilot scheduling because they exist to keep passengers safe. Still, we couldn't help wondering why an alternate pilot could not be found at Delta’s largest hub airport. Pilot shortage? Scheduling issues? But I digress.
We ended up spending nearly eight hours at ATL, my second-least favorite large airport (after DFW). It wasn’t that hard to pass the time. We ate a decent restaurant meal that was practically free, courtesy of Delta meal vouchers. I used Priority Pass for a free session on a “HydroMassage” chair - a relaxing, head-to-toe massage with pressurized water jets. And while Terminal E at ATL is not an attractive building, there were many interesting art exhibits, and I was able do an art walk of more than three miles before our seven-hour flight.
