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Long weekend in Belize

Airports, Belize, Belize 2016, Business Class, Flights, guesthouses, hotels No Responses »

Apr 212016

I had a very long weekend coming up, and combined with the American Exec Platinum challenge it looked like a perfect time to get away to my 190th country visited – Belize! There were some excellent business class fares available, and even though they required an overnight in Dallas in both directions it looked like the perfect time.

I had always put off visiting Belize because I wanted to go for a week or more and get some serious diving in. However, with only a little over seven months left until my goal of visiting every country I opted for a shorter relaxing trip so that I had a but more intel for the next trip!

Put in a bit of a half day of work, then headed off to the Admirals Club for the first time in a few years to see what the upgraded food options were all about. There were pepperjack cheese cubes so I was happy…combine that with some decent brownies and some mushroom and brie soup, well, overall a very tasty and substantial snack:

Soon it was time to board the flight to Dallas for the overnight.

American flight 327
Washington DC, National (DCA) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Depart 15:40, Arrive 18:13, Flight Time: 3:33
Boeing 737-800, Registration N948NN, Manufactured 2014, Seat 5E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 19,248
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,208,763

Despite at 3:40pm departure, it was a dinner flight. Other than London-Chicago a month prior, this was my first domestic American flight in a few years and I was curious to see how they would do compared to United. Was pleasantly surprised to get a new 737-800 with sky interior, and everything felt new and clean. I was also glad to see that wine is still poured in “big boy” glasses, but boo to sourcing split cashews from Smisek’s Split Cashew Farm:

I had pre-ordered my meal online (a nice feature American offers so you can be disappointed in advance) and I went with the pasta…which was as bland as it looks and sounds. I had a couple bites, and passed on the rest in favour of more vino.

Mas vino and a pretty good chocolate chip cookie…but rather sad as a dessert:

Overall verdict? Just like United, it’s a meal that you could get for under $10 in any workplace cafeteria. It’s far from fine dining, but if you’re busy and rushed it will do the job.

Spent a nice night at the Westin DFW. I felt a cold coming on, and the hotel shuttle driver was kind enough to take me a couple miles away to the nearest CVS for Sudafed…at no charge. Definitely high marks to this property on service! Woke up feeling quite a bit better, went to the airport a little early where I grabbed Starbucks (of course) then went straight to my gate.

American flight 2345
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to Miami, Florida (MIA)
Depart 7:15, Arrive 11:01, Flight Time: 2:46
Boeing 737-800, Registration N809NN, Manufactured 2009, Seat 5E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 20,369
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,209,884

Unfortunately, my flight attendant was pretty much asleep as well, and dumped my seatmate’s pre-departure beverage in my lap. Ugh, fortunately it was “only” tea which wasn’t really hot…and also didn’t stain. She did apologize profusely at least.

I decided to go with the mimosa option…I was on vacation after all!

Another pre-ordered meal, the omelette. Fruit was dry and tasteless. I ate the eggs just for the protein, and left everything else behind…except a second and maybe third mimosa. Another blah and uneventful flight.

Didn’t have very long in Miami, but since the American Express Centurion Lounge was on my way to the gate I stopped in for a few minutes and a celebratory glass of Veuve. The place was absolutely packed with families so I made a quick retreat on to my next flight.

American flight 2476
Miami, Florida (MIA) to Belize City, Belize (BZE)
Depart 12:35, Arrive 13:50, Flight Time: 2:15
Airbus A319, Registration N90024, Manufactured 2014, Seat 2C
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 21,136
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,210,651

Feet on the bulkhead is apparently done in a much more classy fashion on American, with fuzzy pink socks:

Fortunately, the flight was pretty empty and not all the seats were taken in first despite some non-revs boarding at the last minute, so I was able to swap over to a window seat. We started off with warm nuts and some wine:

The nuts were, unfortunately, burned and chewy, so I had to give them a pass:

We were given a snack option of “cheese and fruit” or “spinach dip” – I went with the cheese which was two sad hunks of cheese and a few bruised grapes.

There was enough for seconds, so I asked to try the hummus…I wish I hadn’t. It was rather foul. One bite and done.

Soon, we were on approach to Belize:

Deplaned through stairs, immigration took a bit longer than it should have since it seemed several flights all arrived at the same time.

Once through security, you were dropped right into the domestic departures area. My hotel had arranged my onward flights for me, so all I had to do was give my name to them, and they put me on the next flight to San Pedro. Flights seemed to leave every 15-30 minutes at peak time, so it was really a piece of cake.

TropicAir flight 76
Belize City, Belize (BZE) to San Pedro, Belize (SPR)
Depart 14:10, Arrive 14:25, Flight Time: 15 minutes
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, Registration V3-HHL, Manufactured 2011, Copilot Seat
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 21,170
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,210,685

Even better the flight was completely full, so I got to sit in the copilot seat!

Off to San Pedro we go!

View out the window just after takeoff:

Plotting our course:

About 10 short minutes later, we were on approach to La Isla Bonita:

Deplaning at San Pedro:

San Pedro, the only place in the world you will find go cart traffic jams:

I spent the next three days doing absolutely nothing. Going for walks on the beach, playing in the water, reading in hammocks, basically doing nothing. Well, I did manage a few good eats…starting with rum punch:

Some conch fritters:

Some absolutely delicious curried lobster:

…and to finish it off some key lime pie that Madonna supposedly called “worth every calorie”

A few days later, I was completely sad to leave. I mean, how can you not miss views like this outside your room:

Apparently drinking hours were ending, and I was unfortunately going to have to go back to working hours:

The hammock I spent most of the weekend in, along with a friendly stray dog:

Home away from home, the Blue Tang Inn…fantastic hosts and facilities, I’d definitely go back again!

The hotel dropped me back at the airport, and it was nice checking in just 30 minutes before my flight home!

TropicAir flight 91
San Pedro, Belize (SPR) to Belize City, Belize (BZE)
Depart 15:00, Arrive 15:15, Flight Time: 15 minutes
Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, Registration V3-HHI, Manufactured 2010, Seat “3C”
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 21,204
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,210,719

No copilot seat this time, since they used the weight and balance excuse. Still had great views on takeoff:

Deplaning in Belize City, we were about 5 minutes before the skies absolutely opened up for a torrential downpour that seemed to last forever!

While waiting on my departing flight, I checked out Jet’s Bar in the airport. Jet is the proprietor who has been running this very small bar for years, and has all sorts of pictures of himself with famous people all over the walls. It feels like a bit of a tourist trap now, but was still cool to see while waiting on my flight.

Unfortunately, it was still pouring when we had to walk to the remote gate. At least American had a bucket of umbrellas for us to use. Didn’t matter, however, since the rain was so strong everyone still got wet. I felt worst for the people in the back of coach who had to wait on the stairway to board the flight as people screwed around trying to find their seats!

American Airlines flight 268
Belize City, Belize (BZE) to Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW)
Depart 17:09, Arrive 20:18, Flight Time: 3:09
Boeing 737-800, Registration N812NN, Manufactured 2009, Seat 4A
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 22,393
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,211,908

Dinner time flight, and that meant more warm nuts…this time not burnt:

Great sunset shortly after takeoff:

I finally got to try the famous American Lobster Mac and Cheese with Steak, and it was actually pretty decent. One of the best domestic meals I’ve had in a long time!

Cookie for dessert again. Ugh. I had a couple bites of the better-cooked part, and them passed on the rest.

Good overnight, woke up a little early to make sure I had time for coffee, and when I looked at my phone it was filled with alerts from TripIt, American, etc. I knew DC had been expecting an ice storm, and due to that, American had canceled my Dallas to DC flight. They’d rebooked me via St Louis since all the nonstops were full. I didn’t have much more faith that St Louis to DCA would operate since it was a regional jet, but I decided to let go and trust.

American Airlines flight 96
Dallas/Fort Worth (DFW) to St Louis, Missouri (STL)
Depart 10:15, Arrive 11:53, Flight Time: 1:38
McDonnell Douglas MD88, Registration N963TW, Manufactured 1999, Seat 3E
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 22,943
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,212,458

No more than 30 seconds after the door closed on the flight to St Louis, did I get a message from TripIt…St Louis to DCA had just canceled.

UGH.

They booked me on a St Louis to DCA that went two hours later…but by the time we landed in St Louis that flight had canceled as well. Ugh. I got to know the staff of the Admirals Club in St Louis quite well during my nearly 9 hours there, and they were great trying to help me rebook. I think I must have asked at least a dozen times, and I did finally get them to put me on a flight via Chicago and then onto DCA the next morning.

Right before we left, the next morning’s flight to DCA canceled as well. United had seats, and I had to push pretty hard, but eventually they did end up rebooking me on United. Thank God! I even managed to check-in with United online and then do a same day change to a slightly later flight so I could sleep in.

American Airlines flight 3243 operated by Envoy Air
St Louis, Missouri (STL) to Chicago, O’Hare (ORD)
Depart 19:05, Arrive 20:30, Flight Time: 1:25
Canadair CRJ-700, Registration N535EA, Manufactured 2010, Seat 1C
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 23,201
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,212,716

This was a good thing, because my 7:05p departure was over two hours late, and when we landed in Chicago we had to wait another hour for a gate due to ice there. It was nearly midnight before we rolled into a gate, and I rolled over the the Airport Hilton for convenience sake.

It was a good thing I did, because I woke up around 7a feeling like absolute death warmed over. Fever, chills, I was pretty sure I was about to meet my maker. Definitely the sickest I’ve been in years. Managed to same-day-change to an even later flight, and roll over for more sleep. By 11:30 I was able to struggle out of bed and put clothes on…and make my feverish way over to the terminal. Security was easy, and because I was dealing with a fierce headache (thanks caffeine withdrawl) I did manage to put down a venti iced americano from starbucks.

I needed food badly, and a McDonalds cheeseburger was the blandest thing I could think of, but after two bites, it wasn’t going to happen so I gave up.

United Airlines flight 616
Chicago, O’Hare (ORD) to Washington, DC National (DCA)
Depart 13:55, Arrive 16:47, Flight Time: 1:52
Boeing 737-700, Registration N23721, Manufactured 1999, Seat 3B
Miles Flown Year-to-Date: 23,813
Lifetime Miles Flown: 2,213,328

I know this flight happened. I know I looked pale. I know that after the first glass of ginger ale the flight attendant kept them coming…I’m sure I looked pretty rough. But, somehow, I made it back home. I’ve never been so thankful a flight had ginger ale on board since I got nasty food poisoning returning from Iraq. Got home, found out I had a temperature of 102.5 headed straight down the street to Urgent Care where the flu test came back negative…and crawled into bed where I spent most of the next 48 hours.

Exploring Haïti – The Flights

Airports, Flights, Haiti, Haiti 2012 3 Responses »

Sep 182012

A few months back when American not only offered to match by United status by giving me American Executive Platinum status for the balance of 2012, but also offered to let me keep it for 2013 if I flew only 55,000 elite qualifying points…well, immediate I started scheming how to get 100,000 elite qualifying miles on United as well as 55,000 EQP on American. It wasn’t going to be easy (and I’m still 15-20,000 short in planning on both with just over three months to go) but I knew I could figure it out. That said, when I found out American had a pretty good business fare to Haïti (a country I hadn’t been to) and that it made an easy four day weekend trip…well, I was curious.

See, one thing the last few years have travel have taught me is it’s just possible…maybe…that I don’t get the whole story about the world from CNN, Fox News, etc. I mean, it’s possible that the horrors they tell me about Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Somalia, North Korea are, well, maybe not exactly how day to day life unfolds there. Having been to all those places, and having learnt that basically what the media shows is maybe 2% of the real story, well, I was definitely interested in getting a bit more of the real story about Haïti for myself. To hear them tell it, Haïti is miles upon miles of never ending tent cities with people dying of cholera left and right. There are giant fissures in the ground from the Earthquake, and nothing resembling normality exists. Is it true? I had to see for myself. Flights booked, and I was off.

I’m going to split this report into four parts:

Part 1: The flights (this part)
Part 2: The hotel
Part 3: The sights, and what I saw
Part 4: The restaurants, food, groceries, etc

When I booked the trip, I had planned to fly all the way from DCA-DFW-MIA-FLL on the same day. However, a change in schedules made this impossible since the later Miami to Port-au-Prince flight was eliminated. I had two choices: go direct DCA-Miami-Haiti and lose approximately 2,100 elite qualifying points, or overnight in Dallas and then continue in the morning. I have a good friend I haven’t seen for a while in Dallas, so my choice was obvious! I’d take a late DC-Dallas flight after work, and then continue in the morning. The agent I spoke to on the phone was more than happy to make the change, and I was all set.

Got to the airport about 75 minutes before the flight, and TSA was relatively empty. Quick stop in the AAdmirals Club, where I had the most attentive bartender ever. He actually wandered the club with wine bottles, proactively offering refills to people where they sat. I’ve never had this before, and I’ve also never tipped as much for free drinks. He was absolutely fantastic!

American Airlines Flight 2021
Washington, DC National (DCA) to Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW)
Depart 18:15, Arrive 20:30, Flight Time 3:15
Boeing 737-800, Registration N930AN, Manufactured 2000, Seat 5E

There’s not too much to say about this flight. Typical mid-con dinner, although service was pretty poor. Crew disappeared as soon as possible, and we didn’t see them for the rest of the flight. I seriously thought I was back on United again! Arrived about 20 minutes late due to a detour around weather, but I was reminded how I love Dallas as an arrivals airport because I was curbside and meeting a friend for dinner in under five minutes. Absolutely fantastic!

American Airlines Flight 1442
Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW) to Miami (MIA)
Depart 7:30, Arrive 11:15, Flight Time 2:45
Boeing 767-300, Registration N39365, Manufactured 1988, Seat 3D

TSA line in the morning was quite short, even though for the 8th of 8 times with American I was denied Pre-Check. 6 of the 8 flights have been on international itineraries (which are rumoured to be ineligible for pre-check) but the other two I got denied as well. I think TSA hates me. Actually, I think TSA hates everyone, but that’s beside the point.

Once through security at oh-dark-thirty, it was time to wait in line for Starbucks. I saw a sign that a new Starbucks is being built in terminal D, which is fortunate, because the line at this tiny one inside a bookstore took nearly 30 minutes to clear the line at 6:30am. Don’t they know that people are dying a slow death while awaiting their caffeine transfusion? I mean seriously, people! At least it gave me a chance to check out the local Texas literature. I was afraid…very afraid! Please, let me have my caffeine and move on!

Flight to Miami was on a 767, which I was very interested to see. See, so far in all my flights with American I’d only been on domestic aircraft. Despite the majority of my trips being international, they were all in the Caribbean/South America, so no international planes. I knew this was a 767, but based on the United 767s known as the “ghetto birds” I didn’t have high hopes. I was actually surprised! It was a true international plane, although something straight out of 10-15 years ago. Seats were recliner-style sloped seats, and while decent for a domestic flight, I’d hate to be in these internationally. Oh well, I guess this is why international upgrades are (relatively) easy on American compared to United!

Arrived in Miami on time, and had a couple hours to kill, so was off to La Carreta for a delicious lunch. I’m going to have to completely stop skipping meals on flights into Miami, because the food at La Carreta is so delicious. Living in DC, I don’t get awesome Cuban food often, so La Carreta is a bit of a treat. I highly recommend their Cuban sandwich – it’s not only delicious, but also super inexpensive. Plus, you can get Materva! Mmmm!

Soon it was time to board the flight to Port-au-Prince, and the gate area was definitely a fascinating people-watching experience. It was split evenly between tall blonde Minnesotans on missionary trips, and people of Haitian decent returning home. I definitely felt like a bit of an outsider! The skies were looking a bit ominous as we boarded, and I was convinced the skies were about to open up.

American Airlines Flight 833
Miami (MIA) to Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP)
Depart 14:00, Arrive 15:55, Flight Time 1:55
Boeing 757-200, Registration N678AN, Manufactured 1998, Seat 5E

Shortly after boarding, Tripit pinged me with a 30 minute delay, then 60, then 90. I’m still not sure why I’m not getting flight updates from American, and I can’t find anywhere on my online profile to set it. I guess it doesn’t really matter – I don’t need multiples as long as Tripit is keeping me in the loop. As usual, I had to inform the flight attendants of the delay, since they were completely unaware. I swear, the airlines should pay me for providing this service! Heavy rains moved in, and finally just over 1:15 late we finally pulled away from the gate, and were underway.

Nothing too much to say about the flight. We ended up with a relatively tasty snack for such a short flight. There was no choice, it was salad, salad, or salad!

Arrival in Port-au-Prince was relatively uneventful. I was actually sort of surprised to see there was actually a jetway for us. Walked up it, down the hall maybe 2-3 minutes and down an escalator where….it dropped us at a bus! LOL! This is definitely the first time I’ve ever been teased with a jetway and terminal, only to be dumped at a bus when you went through them. After loading, we were driven a few minutes to what looked like a small makeshift building which appeared to only house immigration and baggage, and was covered in ads for American and cell phone companies. I found out later American had paid for the renovation of this building (and much of the airport) after the earthquake (gee, wonder who’s making a killing on this route) and thus almost seemed to “own” parts of the airport. A quick shot of the makeshift immigration hall:

After immigration, a welcome to Haïti from the local cellphone mafia:

Outside arrivals, where I waited for my driver:

On the way back, the driver tried to (once again) convince me I needed to be at the airport three hours before departure. Um, no. No way. I told him to pick me up at 7:15am (to give me time for some coffee first) and we’d be there by 7:45 for a 9:20 flight. Plenty of time. As predicted, arrived at 7:45, and immediately were surrounded by porters grabbing at my bags. I waved them all off, but they were persistent, all trying to get a hand on the bags to justify a few dollars tip. While I felt a bit obligated to stimulate the local economy, these people were clearly not hurting too much. With a steady stream of much more gullible visitors, I didn’t feel too obligated to let them assist me.

The whole terminal was operated by American, and it was just for their flights. The check-in line for economy appeared to be at least 30 minutes, but for business (which I had to ask for – there were no signs) there was only one person in front of me. The terminal was air conditioned, security and immigration were quick, and arriving at 7:45 was plenty of time.

American Airlines Flight 1608
Port-au-Prince, Haiti (PAP) to Miami (MIA)
Depart 9:20, Arrive 11:25, Flight Time 2:05
Boeing 737-800, Registration N833NN, Manufactured 2010, Seat 4E

Extremely uneventful flight, and nothing really to add here. Typical light morning breakfast/snack which I skipped, and before you know it, it was time to experience my first Miami arrivals. Walked a bit, took an escalator, took a train, walked some more, and was finally in the immigration hall. It was almost as bad as Dulles, but not entirely. Global Entry was a breeze, and there was also a special Global Entry customs line. Got the usual dirty looks from other passengers, and was through quickly, and ready to connect to my next flight. Grabbed a quick shower in the AAdmirals Club to wash off the morning sweat from Haïti, and onwards!

American Airlines Flight 2307
Miami (MIA) to Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW)
Depart 13:35, Arrive 15:40, Flight Time 3:05
Boeing 757-200, Registration N638AA, Manufactured 1991, Seat 3E

Another very uneventful flight – again, the best kind! Nothing to really say, so not going to say much. We were about 30 minutes late due to diverting around weather, but my arrival and connection were both in terminal C at Dallas, so it was very easy to make it.

American Airlines Flight 2442
Dallas/Fort-Worth (DFW) to Washington, DC National (DCA)
Depart 16:55, Arrive 20:35, Flight Time 2:40
Boeing 737-800, Registration N867NN, Manufactured 2011, Seat 4E

Again, a very uneventful flight with a good crew. Unfortunately, about 90 minutes into the flight I started feeling a bit “off” which I’d later find out was food poisoning. Not sure if it came from Haïti, or if it came from the grilled shrimp salad on the Miami to Dallas segment, but either way I woke up about 8 hours later at home feeling like absolute death which stuck with me for a few days. Oh well, small price to pay for an awesome adventure!

Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago to Washington, DC via Caracas!

Airports, Flights, Guyanas Trip, Trinidad and Tobago, United States, Venezuela No Responses »

Sep 162012

I’d arranged with my taxi driver the night before who dropped me off at the Hilton to pick me up in the morning at 5am for my 7am flight, despite the Caribbean Airlines people assuring me the night before when I’d tried to check in that I “had” to be there no later than 5am – hmmm, yeah, I’ve heard that story before. The day’s drama began when I tried to take the elevator to the lobby to check out. See, the Hilton Port-of-Spain is built into a hill, and you actually check in on the top floor…all the floors are down from there, and I was a good 6-7 floors below the lobby. Press the button for the elevator…nothing. Press again. Nothing. Used the house phone next to the elevator to call the front desk, yes, they would send someone. It took “someone” (who turned out to be the night manager) three calls to come, and finally he arrived with a maintenance guy who showed me just down the hall to the service elevator so I could get going. They had no idea what the malfunction was. Checked out, and finally on my way around 5:15 am for the 30 minute drive to the airport.

Check-in line was empty when I got there about 5:45, and I was plenty early. For some reason row 1 (the exit row, aka legroom) was still “blocked” so I was told to ask at the gate. There’s no exit immigration in Trinidad, so I decided to grab a quick coffee before hitting security, which had no line. Still got to the gate more than 45 minutes in advance, yes, row one was open, and I could even have seat next to me open. Score!

Caribbean Airlines Flight 300
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (POS) to Caracas, Venezuela (CCS)
Depart 7:00, Arrive 8:15, Flight Time 1:45
ATR-72, Registration 9Y-TTA, Manufactured 2011, Seat 1A

The irony of being on this flight is that almost exactly a year prior, I’d flown this exact same flight the only other time I’d been to Caracas – quite a funny coincidence I was now using it at the last minute to fly around hurricane drama. The last time they’d “informed” me when I arrived in Caracas that oops, my luggage was still back in Trinidad, so this time I insisted on wheeling it to the gate myself and gate-checking it. Hopefully this would solve the problem. Plane loaded up, maybe five free seats total including the one next to me, and we were off. There was a small snack box offered, but it looked far less than appetizing so I settled for a glass of water and an uneventful flight.

When we were about 10-15 minutes out from landing, it started to get really bumpy. Prop planes aren’t fun on the best of days, but the modern ones really aren’t too bad. We were getting blown side to side quite a bit, and there was some serious chop, which got worse the closer to landing we got. It doesn’t help that the runway in Caracas runs parallel to the water, and the approach is low over a very residential area. What looked to be less than 50 feet off the ground the pilot gunned the engines, and it was obvious we were starting to climb again. After about 5 minutes, he came on to let us know the wind was too bad and he didn’t feel able to land safely. We’d wait ten minutes and try again.

Circle around, and on approach, the same very windy, very bumpy conditions. Pilot came on to tell us that “air traffic control” had told us that the winds had died down significantly and it was ok to land now. We didn’t even make it as close this time, and we could see the start of the runway, but at around 100 feet off the ground the engines were gunned again, and we started to climb.

Captain came on again after a few minutes, and was obviously quite peeved with the airport. The winds clearly hadn’t died down, and it was pretty clear he was unhappy he’d had to try a rather scary and unsafe approach again. There would be no third try, we were off to our alternate at Curacao…where, after I asked the flight attendant, it was confirmed there was no Caribbean Airlines operation, so we’d just sit in the plane for an hour or two and wait for winds to die down. There goes my connection! ARGH!

That lasted all of about 3-4 minutes. Unfortunately, the pilot was now “more confident” about the landing in Caracas than he was about going to Curacao with our remaining fuel. Um, when your pilot says something like “of the possible options at this stage, the safest appears to be a landing in Caracas. I will ask the flight attendant to demonstrate the brace position” that’s when you get more than a little nervous. The “all the possible options” part seriously had me thinking he was considering ditching at sea, though, I’m sure that wasn’t an option. So, the brace position was demonstrated, we were told that after the flight attendant announced “BRACE BRACE” over the speaker we were to do it. The bad part is that she clearly didn’t speak Spanish, and the vast majority of the passengers appeared to not speak English, so the other passengers were having to translate. It was more than a little tense.

The approach seemed to be a little bit smoother this time, but we were still pretty all over the place, getting bumped around and blown side to side on the way in. Around 100-200 feet off the ground, the BRACE BRACE command was given, and head between the knees time it was. I have no idea how tall people would manage that anywhere other than the first row…and yes, that was my first thought. We slammed into the ground pretty hard…..but made it. I think it seriously took me at least ten minutes to stop shaking after we taxied in. It was definitely the scariest landing I’ve ever had by far.

Now, the question was, would I have a bag, and would I make the connection? I’d only had 1:40 originally, and now with the three approaches that was down to 55 minutes. Fortunately, the American agents in Trinidad had been at the counter rebooking people who hadn’t learnt of the cancelation in advance, so I managed to get them to print out and check me in for my Caracas to Dallas flight. Hopefully that would help! Bag showed up after a couple of minutes, and it was a quick walk/dash into the terminal. I found no English-speaking staff, but there was a sign for “international connections” so I decided to give it a try. Walking past the immigration counters, there was a desk for transfers…but nobody working it!

There was a security checkpoint that appeared to lead back into the departures area, so I showed my boarding pass to the military security guy and attempted to explain to him in Spanish what I was doing. Found out the couple in front of me had been trying to explain to him for 15 minutes with no luck, however, they didn’t have boarding passes. My explanation seemed good enough for him after he paged through every page of my passport looking at stamps, and he let me through. Once through security I was indeed in the departures area…but the American flight to Dallas wasn’t on the monitors!

Found the AAdmirals Club, and it was just a technology glitch. Was pointed to the right gate where boarding still hadn’t started. Score, it looked like everything would work out well after all!

American Airlines Flight 2108
Caracas, Venezuela (CCS) to Dallas (DFW)
Depart 9:55, Arrive 15:00, Flight Time 5:05
Boeing 757, Registration N656AA, Manufactured 1991, Seat 1E

Pretty uneventful flight. The only two interesting things were my seatmate and the breakfast. The seatmate was unusual because she hadn’t been seated two seconds before she was paging the flight attendant with the call button and asking for a Baileys. She spoke no English at all, but the flight attendant did understand “Baileys por favor.” I had to translate for her on the ground that there was no Baileys on the plane, so she wanted white wine. Flight attendant got that for her, and she was happy. Less than 10 minutes into the flight she was pressing the button again “white wine!” followed 10 minutes later by “mas!” Hahahah the flight attendants didn’t know whether to be amused or annoyed at her, but after somewhere around 5-6 pressings of the call button she passed out and slept the remainder of the flight.

The breakfast wasn’t interesting per se, just different than you normally see on American, so I thought I’d post a picture.

Immigration in Dallas was a breeze, took the AirTrain over to the C terminal, and they were just getting ready to board the flight to Washington.

American Airlines Flight 2442
Dallas (DFW) to Washington National (DCA)
Depart 16:55, Arrive 20:35, Flight Time 2:40
Boeing 737-800, Registration N813NN, Manufactured 2009, Seat 4E

Nothing at all unusual about this flight. Standard mid-con dinner service, decent crew, and kept entertained using GoGo Internet. Although things aren’t perfect on American, I can’t remember why I ever bothered with United. Yes, the international nonstops out of Dulles Airport were nice, but the combination of often surly staff, old planes with no WiFi, and frequent delays have me questioning it. I’m close enough to million miler that I’ll make sure I get that and requalify for 1K this year, but after that, it might be time to do some rethinking!

Washington National (DCA) to Georgetown, Guyana (GEO) on American and Caribbean Airlines

Airports, Guyana, Guyanas Trip, Trinidad and Tobago 2 Responses »

Aug 292012

Originally, this trip was prompted by a sale that Delta was having to Georgetown. Sale + country I haven’t been to = instant interest to me. However, when I discovered the Delta flight was a redeye in both directions, combined with the fact I have little interest in accumulating more Delta miles, meant I wasn’t as interested. However, I had the Guyana-bug now, and started looking for options. American had a fantastic discount business fare into the country next door of Trinidad and Tobago, so after a little exploring and figuring it out, I booked it. I would also help me towards the 55,000 elite qualifying points I would need to requalify for American Executive Platinum for 2013, so it was a no brainer. Flights booked, I was set.

Morning came way too early (I know DCA is only 2 miles from home, but seriously, why do I keep booking these 7am flights in 2012? I know I’m trying to conserve leave time, but really….) and I was off to DCA with plenty of time to spare. After only three visits so far, the AAdmirals Club agent recognized me, which I was pretty impressed with. At the new United, you’re lucky to get a grunt as they let you in, the American agents have genuinely thanked me for my business, and truly seemed appreciative. I know I’m always saying the airlines are all the same, but honestly, American seems to be making a real effort to thank customers. It’s not going unnoticed!

So, before you ask about the routing – yeah, the point of Dallas was to maximize miles. Fare was only a few dollars more, and the cost of 3-4 hours of sleep, but with only 4 months left to earn elite points, I needed the extra routing. Figured I could always sleep on the plane if needed.

American Airlines Flight 467
Washington National (DCA) to Dallas (DFW)
Depart 7:10, Arrive 9:15, Flight Time 3:05
Boeing 737-800, Registration N845NN, Manufactured 2010, Seat 5E

Great flight, decent crew, first meal choice. Other than that, there’s not too much to say. Flight had GoGo Wifi, but chose not to use it and slept most of the flight. Also the first time in eons that I actually had an airline breakfast that I chose to not only eat…but almost enjoyed. It was quite tasty! Mmmm….biscuits!

Landing was about 15 minutes late due to ATC, no excitement, and a short walk from one end of the D-terminal to the other, and I reached my gate just as boarding had started. I know some people think DFW is like MSP in that your walk can be FOREVER if you get unlucky, but fortunately on this occasion mine was short, and there was zero drama.

American Airlines Flight 2074
Dallas (DFW) to Miami (MIA)
Depart 10:20, Arrive 14:10, Flight Time 2:50
Boeing 757-200, Registration N635AA, Manufactured 1990, Seat 2E

Relatively short flight without too much to say. This was a lunch flight, and it was another excellent crew. Arrival was on time, got first meal choice, and really that’s all there is to say!

I know some folks feel the need to be “wined and dined” when they fly first, but I actually appreciate American’s relatively light lunch salads. Just enough to fill you up without making you feel gross.

I had about four hours to kill in Miami, so I did some e-mail and work in the lounge, and then decided since I was in Miami that I needed to have a bit of Cuban…so it was off to La Carretta for lunch. Delicious Cuban Sandwich (I can see this becoming a regular obsession in the future when I fly through MIA) and soon it was time to board the flight to Port of Spain.

American Airlines Flight 1819
Miami (MIA) to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (POS)
Depart 18:05, Arrive 21:50, Flight Time 3:45
Boeing 757-200, Registration N652AA, Manufactured 1991, Seat 4E

I don’t remember why, but decided not to take any meal photos. It was a generic mid-con type domestic meal, a generic chicken or pasta choice…and the chicken was actually quite tasty. Also on offer were fresh cookies before landing. Requested (and got) the “big boy” glass of red wine, which the excellent crew kept well-filled until landing in Trinidad. Killed most of the flight catching up on tv on my iPad – one of the best things I ever did was get rid of cable and just start subscribing to tv series that I like on iTunes. This way, I never waste evenings waiting for shows to come on, and I can just watch them when flying and I’d be doing nothing else anyways.

Transit airside is not possible in Port of Spain, so had to wait in a 5 minute queue for immigration, cleared with no drama, and then did the short walk to the departures area to check in for my flight with Caribbean. Had plenty of time, absolutely no drama whatsoever, and soon was in the security line to get back into the departures hall. A few notes: 1) Port of Spain has two terminals/wings, each with their own security. There was a 20 minute wait for security in the terminal I needed to go into, but zero in the other. Go figure. 2) Trinidad and Tobago has very strict laws against wearing camoflage clothing of all colours. Don’t even try it or customs will nail you. 3) Don’t count on lounge access. One of the two wings has a Caribbean Airlines lounge you can use if you’re in their business class or an elite in their frequent flier program, the other has a Priority Pass lounge….yeah, I was in the wrong one, and wasn’t going to pay $200+ more for business class on a 1 hour flight at 1am that I would likely crash on anyways.

Caribbean Airlines Flight 525
Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago (POS) to Georgetown, Guyana (GEO)
Depart 00:25, Arrive 1:35, Flight Time 1:10
Boeing 737-800, Registration 9Y-JMA, Manufactured 2002, Seat 5C

That said, time went by quickly, I managed to get a bulkhead aisle seat, and all was good. Beverage service was offered, and a beer was just what the doctor ordered. Landed on time in Guyana, and little to say here again. Immigration and customs were quite quick and efficient, I was one of the first through, and was out into the taxi queue in less than 10 minutes. Had a bit of a hard time finding the driver the hotel had sent (yeah, they said he would have a sign, but he didn’t….and he had no interest in searching me out. I was literally walking up to random people asking if they were him…and that’s how I eventually found him.)

But even then…he wasn’t going to drive me. He was “maybe waiting for someone else” so he pawned me off on some friend of his. Now, I’m going to be politically incorrect a second, but I was a bit nervous about the minivan he put me into. My driver was a spitting sterotypical image of Aunt Jemima, right down to the big flowing dress and mile-high do-rag. I was once told in DC that “do-rag” is an offensive term, but when wandering Guyana the next day I actually saw a vendor with a sign that said “DO RAGS $400” – so, I figure it’s at least the local term in Guyana! She was driving the minivan with her mid-teens friend/son/etc, and they refused to acknowledge that they spoke English, speaking in a very rapid creole.

All was fine, however, and 30-40 minutes later I was at my hotel, the Herdmanston Lodge. The night manager was waiting for me, quickly walked me to my room, got me bottled water, and left me alone – just what I needed at 2am! It was time to crash, and sleep a few hours to enjoy the very early morning daytrip I had booked the next day.