We flew first class to Nashville on Delta, but the 'food' wasn't music to our ears

THE VIEW FROM FIRST CLASS: I decided to pay more than $1,000 each for my wife and I to fly roundtrip to Nashville, the country music capital, to celebrate her birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary. Amid lingering fears of the coronavirus, I welcomed our two roomy seats and our own bin for carry on luggage, below.

 

Are we more susceptible to being overcharged as we get older?

 

Editor's note: I've added more photos of the great food we ate in Nashville during our visit, as well as listed some of the great country music stars we heard live.

By VICTOR E. SASSON

EDITOR

HACKENSACK, N.J. -- Our last real vacation was a trip to New Orleans in April 2019 so I decided to splurge on the airfare to Nashville for a weeklong stay last month.

First-class seats on Delta were a little over $1,000 each, but I welcomed the prospect of ordering a couple of margaritas and a nice salad or an Impossible Burger with a side of great fries.

After all, we were celebrating my wife's birthday and our 20th wedding anniversary even as the lingering coronavirus still made us worried about being in crowds.

So, I booked two first-class tickets online for our flights from Newark to Atlanta and a change of planes to Nashville's international airport.

But it turns out we were ripped off by Delta.

Margaritas and chips

Tickets in steerage cost about $300 each or less for the same flights.

So, for an extra $700 0r so, I got a couple of margaritas after we took off, and when I asked what food was being served, the cabin attendant showed me a basket with small bags of mini graham crackers,  pistachio nuts and potato chips!

ON THE WAY HOME: I made sure to eat a good lunch at the Nashville airport before we left for home via Atlanta last Sunday -- a Mushroom Toast with a crisp Romaine lettuce salad and shaved cheese, and a cold beer to wash it down.

Problems with Delta

This was the first time -- and likely the last time -- I used Delta Airlines, and as I was booking the trip I was offered $400 off our airfare, if I applied for a Delta-branded American Express credit card.

I filled out the application, but by the end of the purchase, I wasn't approved, and I couldn't even charge our air fares to PayPal for some reason.

So, I had to charge the full $2,000+ to another credit card, losing the $400 discount. The next day, I got an email the American Express card was approved.

When the card arrived in the mail a week later, I called Delta and asked the airline to reverse the charges and put them on the Amex card so I could get the $400 discount.

Delta refused to do so.

$2,000 return ticket

Our flight home last Sunday was scheduled to leave Nashville around 2:30 in the afternoon, and when I called Delta to see if we could get on an earlier flight, I was told yes, but I would have to pay another $1,000 each -- the fares went up, I was told.

I can't make this up. Delta's greed knows no bound.

Bring lots of money

Nashville is booming. And it's expensive for tourists, especially if you want to enjoy fine dining and see the big country music stars.

We attended three major concerts and paid about $200 each for seats each time, plus service fees totaling $100 or so.

I bought all of our tickets on my smart phone, a difficult process for a senior like me. I wonder now if I couldn't have called the venues directly and bought my tickets over the phone, eliminating the "service fees."

The biggest disappointment was the Grand Ole Opry -- "the show that made country music famous" -- where promotional material holds out the promise of you seeing the biggest country stars among up and comers and a house band.

Last Saturday night, from our $200 seats, we saw a lot of performers in their 70s and bands we never heard of, even a really funny comedian, but no stars like Darius Rucker, who was shown on the cover of the program.

Big country stars

We did see and hear Darius Rucker at a fund-raiser on Aug. 23, 2022, for the bus drivers and other support staff for tours of big stars like Rucker, as well as performances by the Brothers Osborne, Scotty McCreery and Brad Paisley.

At an award show, the Academy of Country Music Honors, on Aug. 24, 2022, we loved a song-and-dance number by Kelsea Ballerini. 

Nashville also boasts the country's only National Museum of African American Music, where you can see videos and listen to bands and singers. 

UNOBSTRUCTED VIEW? StubHub, an online ticket agency, promised we'd have an "unobstructed view" of the stage from our seats at the Academy of Country Music Honors, an award show with performances by Kelsea Ballerini and others. We paid a total of $422 with fees. 

AWARDS: Singers Miranda Lambert, above, and Shania Twain were among the country stars receiving awards at the show in the historic Ryman Auditorium, where the hard, wooden church pew seating was torture.

FROM FINE DINING TO FOOD HALL: We ordered and shared a comforting side dish of Chipotle Sweet Potatoes ($13), above, at Marsh House, a fine-dining seafood restaurant in the Thompson Hotel. The neighborhood is called The Gultch. Our entrees were sea scallops ($42) and red fish ($38), below.

MARGARITAVILLE HOTEL: In the hotel's JWB Grill, I enjoyed Local Trout served over garlic spinach and red chilies ($30), and Charred Broccolini ($8), below.

WORTH THE DETOUR: For lunch, I loved the Broccoli Melt ($14), above, at Cafe Roze in East Nashville, a neighborhood across the Cumberland River. We took a Lyft there and back. Unfortunately, the noise level was uncomfortably high.

BREWED IN NASHVILLE: This bottle of porter ($6), a dark beer, was so good I ordered a second to wash down my sandwich. But I couldn't find another restaurant that served it, even though it is brewed in Nashville.

BIG BREAKFASTS: If you're a fan of big breakfasts, Kitchen Notes in the Omni Nashville Hotel is the place that serves them. My Yogurt Parfait, above, was $9. Coffee and orange juice are $6 each.

MUSIC OMELET: My wife's Music City Omelet ($18) was stuffed with ham, roasted peppers, onion and cheddar cheese and served with house potatoes.

COMPLIMENTARY BISCUITS: Our breakfasts came with these addictive biscuits, served with honey, butter and jam.

ASSEMBLY FOOD HALL: Mushroom Tacos at Chilangos Tacos in the Assembly Food hall downtown, above, were $10.50.

DESANO PIZZA: A 9-inch Verdura Pizza in the food hall was $13.75.

WEBB PIERCE'S CADILLAC: At the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum in Nashville, you can see a Cadillac convertible festooned with pistols, a saddle and more that belonged to Webb Pierce, above and below. Pierce had more No. 1 hits in the 1950s than any other artist.