Flying ATA

I flew ATA to Chicago and back for the Meshforum conference.

The good:

  • Nice comfortable seats.
  • They let me check in at a kiosk, and choose my seat – and exit rows were an option! I had nice legroom going out.
  • On the way back, I had switched my flight, but I got to the airport very early, and they put me on an earlier flight for no cost, not standby – a real ticket. The nice woman at the desk even offered me the seat behind the empty space where the exit door is – super legroom and a whole row to myself.
  • Midway. It is a lot closer and there’s much less bother and fuss there than O’Hare. There’s even a way to get downtown via the “L” subway.  

The less good:

  • No food. Lots of pretzels and soda, though.
  • Fee for switching my ticket, which had been a $300 round trip restricted fare, to a flight a day earlier – $142. That’s about the price of the one-way for the math-challenged. I think that’s high, even for a same-day switch. They did help me out when I got to the airport early, which did take some of the sting out.
  • Their LGA terminal shared space looks like it was rennovated. In 1969.

Bottom line – I’d use it again.