I checked in online, but needed to have my boarding pass printed and drop my bag at the bag drop. This was also my first time at LGA, and as a non-international flying (other than to Canada) airport in NYC, it was a very different experience to JFK. I was at Terminal D, the Delta terminal, which I thought was ideal
First off, a number of the check-in desks were outside! For some reason I felt a bit strange handing my bag to someone in a DL uniform outside the terminal, but as he was able to print me the boarding pass that I needed, and the fact that he was about 50 metres away from the indoor check-in guys, I dismissed the subtle worry that he was not a genuine DL ground crew.
Security was nice and quick, with the body scanner thingy, and the facilities at the terminal was quite basic, without much in the way of shops etc apart from a couple of food/drink outlets. It was also quite busy, as a number of flights were delayed rather severely, including the LGA to IAH service before mine, by over 4 hours… That said, there were sockets and Ipads on quite a lot of tables at the gate, from which you could order drinks/food, and check the flight status. So I plugged my computer in and started clearing some of the work emails and sending replies to my outbox so that they would all send by the time I reach my hotel in Houston.
Just as I was feeling quite thankful that I wasn’t on the delayed earlier flight, the expected departure flight for mine was pushed back due to the late incoming flight. These US domestic services often have a tight turnaround schedule – you watch the passengers get off the incoming flight, then maintenance people do their check, bags are loaded, and then you’re boarded and off you go. So it seems to me that there isn’t usually much leeway in terms of catching up when the first flight is delayed.
Anyway, I watched my departure time being pushed back and back, in the end by about 90 minutes, and we were finally boarding. As most of you will be aware, DL has a zonal boarding system, and as my seat was towards the front, my boarding pass stated zone C. In preparation for the flight, I decided to top up my water bottle, and also to use the facilities quickly, as they weren’t far from the gate. When I got back, there was still a long queue of people waiting to board, so I asked a lady in the queue to see which “zone” was being boarded, and she told me it was still the people with children and those that require assistance/priority boarding. So I sat myself back down, and started taking a quick browse at those Ipads, and impatiently waiting for my turn to board.
It was quiet for a while, and then about 10 minutes later, I saw the ground crew picking up the mic again and watched his lips say “would Mrs … W.. come to Gate X, this is the final boarding call”. Needless to say, I was mortified, and rushed to the chap without any further delay. With a quick beep, I ran onto the plane, trying to avoid eye contact with any pax…
With hindsight, I should’ve checked with the DL agent, rather than someone who was in the queue, or at least check with more than 1 person 
I calmed down after a while, probably after we were airborne. We were on an Embraer 175, which was really small, and quite bumpy, but the seats were incredibly comfortable I thought. There was a quick drink service with some pretzels or cookies, and the pretzels were really very average at best.
As there were fewer than 100 pax, there were just 2 CC on board, and they were absolutely brilliant. They were really attentive, and going up and down throughout the flight. During the flight I went to the back to ask them whether I had held the plane back even further and to apologise, and they cheerful responded that they weren’t even aware that anyone was late. Phew…!
4 hours later we arrived at IAH, and with no immigration to clear, a quick bag pick-up, and a half an hour taxi ride later, I got to my hotel, by which time it was about 11pm. Bed time and ready for Monday bright and early!
I don't think I'll ever be able to forget it...
