Pre-trip Report: notzac needs a break, November 2009

[notzac]

What's almost as much fun as being on a trip? Planning one! (What's left of) my sanity has suggested that I need a break in November, with the aim of (a) not thinking about work and (b) requalifying QF WP. Almost all of my travel is personal, and a Piper Heidsieck income does not qualify me to flit about the world in QF J supping Charles Heidsieck... such a pity! Thus, I have to "cheat" my way there with a stack of domestic flights in what passes for First over in the US of A.

In theory, I could hit that goal in a week, including the flights to/from Australia - but that would be incredibly boring and nothing at all like a holiday. So I needed some other reasons -

• Visit friends in LA
• Go somewhere other than California
• Visit friends in Dublin

Right, time to get cracking - QF have great prices to take advantage of! (Don'tcha love competition!) Momentarily consider some great VA fares in their Y+ cabin, quickly realise that that would mean spending money earmarked for my status run and put that idea on the backburner for next year. With tix to the US paid for, it's time to look at what I'm going to do whilst over there...

Visiting friends in LA is simple enough. Going somewhere other than California was quickly becoming challenging; I would have liked to visit Tampa (Florida), but not at the prices AA now want for flying me there. What if I expanded to include Middle America in my definition of "not California"? Now things start getting interesting! I found a nice little fare to get to MEX -- and for bonus points, I can get a cheap-ish BA fare to DUB from there. A cunning plan is forming!

Given I was going to check out Mexico City anyway, I got to thinking: what about Havana? I'd seen several completely breathtaking photos of the city over the last few years, and I had to admit that going somewhere without Americans has a certain charm. Add to which, what with Mexicana being due to join oneworld during October 2009 - it would give me an opportunity to employ my OWE bennies with another member carrier. So, add a MEX-HAV-MEX in to the mix!

Rounding things out, I've got a few boxes to tick in Europe - lunch with a friend in MXP, visit our Swiss office near ZRH - and given how LON-centric BA are (and inconvenient MA would be), sticking to oneworld airlines could prove tricky, expensive and needlessly time consuming. I point-blank refuse to get on another FR flight and U2 don't go where I want, exactly - so I started looking at *A carriers. As it just so happens, a combined LH/LX fare will get me where I need to go at an almost-reasonable price, so *A it is. Now, to get me a status match...

Spanner #1: friend in Dublin isn't sure if he's going to stay there or move to Amsterdam. Annoying, but no big deal - looks like IB have a great fare MEX-MAD-AMS and vv, so if he moves there I take a different carrier. BA also appear to have some respectable fares ex-AMS for the intra-Europe flights - so even if it's a bit inconvenient, that could work out nicely - just need to wait for him to work out what he's doing. Spanner #2: Tori Amos announces her Australian tour, and of course it's right when I'm going to be in the US. Quickly jump on the QF site, find out to my surprise that a date change won't be too complicated or very expensive. What's more - there's an opportunity to get JQ30 MEL-SYD and then QF11 SYD-LAX - double First lounge goodness! Sold!

~~

Much, much more to come; so far I've got some good stories to share about booking fares with AA and the fun and games of trying to do just about anything Cuba related, plus learning how Hilton hotel status works and seeing what I can score from that. Those I'll have to write about another time, as it's time for sleep now...

 

[Slats7]

Sounds like a very exciting trip

 

[notzac]

notzac's guide to booking AA fares

If you want to book a set of AA flights and pay in AUD, there are three ways to do it:

• Employ the services of a TA
• Buy online at americanairlines.com.au
• Hold a booking on the aa.com site, then ticket using the AU call centre

Each has its' pros and cons - the TA I use has no problems quoting the fares I want given a specific route, so this is probably the least amount of hassle, however the consolidator he uses for AA doesn't necessarily have the best prices so it's usually the most expensive (by a margin of 5 - 15%). Booking online at americanairlines.com.au often yields quite reasonable prices, but it has limited capacity for complex routing - so that option is out. What I'm left with is setting up a booking on aa.com, then calling the AU call centre to have it repriced and ticketed. Not nearly as complex as it might sound, here's what I did:

• Go to aa.com, set up a return reservation for my chosen city pair (ONT-MEX), search by "Price & Schedule", show all results
• Choose routing that I'm happy with, referring back to the QF Airline Earning Table and the Status Credits chart to be sure I'm going to earn what I think I'm going to earn
• Complete reservation, ensure FF number is entered correctly and choose my seats - thankyou AA for being ahead of the game on this level!
• Note down record locator, call AA Australia on 07 3329 6060, give the agent the aa.com record locator and complete payment.

From my experience, AA Australia use very generous exchange rates when repricing .. which almost-but-not-quite makes up for the $60 service charge that gets levied. At least there's no AmEx surcharge!

The other option that I've not mentioned is to book online and pay using either the AA US or UK websites; you have to fudge the billing address but it otherwise works just fine. I've avoided doing so because I'm trying to avoid AmEx forex fees and it can potentially cause problems if you need to reissue the ticket (has happened to me before - paid in GBP with an AUD card, no one quite knew how to fix it).

In any case, I decided to actually do the sums and work out what the costs were for the options I had:

Option one, via travel agent: $1162.00
Option two, via AA Australia website: fare not available
Option three, via AA US website and Australia call centre: $1033.20 + fee

For reference, the fare quoted on the AA US website was USD $890.96 - so even after the fee, the price from AA Australia weren't too bad if you consider that I'd probably pay the difference or more in forex fees for paying in USD.

The e-mail confirmation came back fairly quickly, confirming the status on the booking (OWE shows up as EMD) and all the seating allocations. Forward e-mail directly to TripIt for immediate iCal and iPhone gratification!

 

[straitman]

notzac,

How complex is your routing:?:

I have just booked LAX-DFW-TPA, PBI-DFW-SEA-SFO-LAX and the prices came out the same via AA website and the Americian Airlines Australia web site.

 

[notzac]

notzac,

How complex is your routing:?:

Nothing too complicated I would have thought - ONT-DFW-MIA-MEX and vv.. If you try to price that as a return trip, you get the price but miss out on segments - if you try to price as a multi-segment trip, you get the routing but the price jumps 50%.

It's always worthwhile to see what the AA Australia website can bring up though - sometimes you can find either the same or better pricing, and it's certainly easier buying online.

 

[drron]

I thoroughly second your reccomendation of at least trying the aa.com.au site.On my recent trip a simple YUPP ORD-MSP turned out to be spot on with the US site even taking into consideration the $60 fee.And of course no fourex fees on the CC.

 

[serfty]

Certainly on purchases over AUD1000 it can be worth holding and paying the $60 fee.

I used the US address method on a similar routing last month and the USD895 cost came through as AUD1099, almost exactly the same as notzac's.

I always firstly search on AA.com, then try the .au portal. For simple route, the .au portal is often cheaper.

e.g. Today the .au portal returns LAX/SFO in P vv for AUD393.30, AA.com returns USD327.30. That is spot on (XE.com Conversion - 327.30 USD to AUD)

 

[notzac]

So, with a couple days to go before take off, lets do a quick summary:

Final flight routing:

..which translates to: MEL-SYD-LAX,ONT-DFW-MIA-MEX-HAV-CUN-MEX-LHR-AMS-LCY-ZRH-LHR-MXP-LHR-AMS-LHR-MEX-MIA-DFW-ONT,LAX-SFO-SEA-SFO-LAX-SYD-MEL. I keep reminding myself how much fun this is going to be.. :shock:

How it was booked:

In hindsight, it would probably have made sense to book this as an ATW fare - but at first it was going to be a simple trip to the US with a couple SC runs thrown in. I got bored with that idea fairly quickly, added a few return flights here and there and ended up with the mess above. Details:

MEL-SYD-LAX-SYD-MEL (JQ, QF): booked online with Qantas. Was initially MEL-LAX-SYD-MEL, then plans changed and I needed to be in Melbourne when I was booked to be in the US. I thought I was being clever by inserting a JQ segment up front (double First lounge goodness!) - though this had an annoying side effect of making the ticket unchangeable later on down the track, as I tried to change back to the direct MEL-LAX-MEL (QF extended the "cabin redefinition" to January or some such). C'est la vie, I fully intend on being alcoholically enhanced whilst over the Pacific to compensate for the whY seating!

ONT-DFW-MIA-MEX-MIA-DFW-ONT (AA): the SC run par excellence. I wanted to visit Mexico City anyway, and this was just about the best routing I could find. A couple tight-ish connections, but it shouldn't be a problem. Booked as per above post (notzac's guide to booking AA fares).

MEX-HAV-CUN-MEX (MX): the Cuba experience. I couldn't find any way of booking this online; Mexicana has the only decent schedule of all the carriers offering MEX-HAV vv. and they only accept online purchases for flights to Cuba from pax with Mexico-issued CC's. Stupid policy. TA to the rescue! The only issue I see is that the flight has been ticketed through a consolidator (Hahn Air) rather than through MX, which I hope doesn't become a problem when I'm trying to check in.

MEX-LHR-AMS-(LCY-ZRH-LHR-MXP-LHR-AMS-)LHR-MEX (BA): my virginal BA flights. Ticketed through my TA again so as to puchase in the currency of my choice. The flights in brackets were purchased subsequent to the MEX-LHR-AMS vv. flights; my TA reused the PNR to keep things easy for me.

LAX-SFO-SEA-SFO-LAX (AA, AS): a quickie run up the west coast to see a friend in Seattle and to top off my WP requalification. Reservation held online, called the BNE AA office to pay - was asked why I'd booked on the US site (told them I couldn't get the routing to come up on the AU site) and had the handling fee waived. Score!

Hotels:

For most of the nights I was going to need a hotel, it just so happened that a Hilton property was either the best on price, location or both. Given that there were multiple Hilton stays, I decided to find out what I could get out of it - as it so happens, a FT thread pointed me in the direction of a fast track to Hilton HHonors Gold. Whether or not this is of any benefit to me is debatable, but it'll be another shiny card to add to the collection for limited effort - so why not!

I'll be staying at:

• Doubletree Hotel Ontario - close to ONT
• Hilton Hotel MEX - can't get closer to MEX! Staying two nights, once in each direction.
• Hampton Inn Mexico City - got favourable reviews on TripAdvisor (I know I know..) but it looks OK and it's only for a few nights
• Hotel Florida - the one non-Hilton property, for my first night in Havana
• Hilton Hotel Ontario - didn't feel like staying at the Doubletree twice, an overnight stop on the way back in to the US
• Homewood Suites Seattle - looks ordinary but is only for an overnight stop and is well placed for visiting friends in Seattle

Hilton properties were all booked online on the Hilton website, as this seems to be the only way to guarantee points earning and stay credits (forgive the newbie mistake if I've overlooked something here..?) - if nothing else, it was certainly the most painless and "brain-free" process of booking accommodation I could come up with on a Saturday morning (definitely a consideration, given how hungover I was at the time - pre-wedding-party the night before! )

Apart from that, I'm staying with friends or will be in the air overnight. For the balance of the Havana trip, I'll be staying in "Casa Particulares", basically bed and breakfasts (more info). Supposedly the best way to see any of the "real" Cuba and almost certainly better than most of the available hotels (at least, unless you want to spend $$$$$).

Booking a hotel for Havana was interesting - my TA was unable to get me a hotel room for a single evening, as all he could really find me was consolidator packages with a minimum 3 night stay. However! There is a v good website (comparitively speaking..) run by Habaguanex Hotels that allowed me to make a reservation for a single night online. I couldn't find any complaints regarding their services, so hopefully everything works out OK.

Visas:

Cuba is also the one country I need to get a visa for - Australian citizens need to have a tourist visa to enter the country. Because I've arranged the flights myself, I also needed to get the visa myself. It's a fairly simple process, made complicated by the first effort coming back to me with my name misspelt - quite how they managed that, I don't know.

That being said, the Cuban consulate was more than happy to make amends - all I needed to do was return the incorrect visa (no need to send them my passport a second time).

Other:

I'm not big on planning things outside of accommodation and transport - however I figured a guide for Havana might be a good idea. The Cuba Junky website I linked to above has a few recommendations, and so I've arranged a tour guide to show me around the city and nightlife over two days. The cost? Around $100. Can't complain! He's also going to sort out Casa Particular I'll be staying in (I'm sure he'll get something out of it, but if it saves me the effort..)

For Mexico City I've jotted down a few things I want to see, but that's about it. Trying real mexican food is definitely on the cards! For everywhere else I'm visiting friends and colleagues, so I'll have quite a busy schedule.

Lastly - I think trying to keep all of this organised would have driven me around the bend if it wasn't for TripIt. With a complicated itinerary, TripIt really comes in to its' own - and the iCal/iPhone integration is fantastic!

Three and a half days to go!!

 

[Bundy Bear]

Thanks for the great pre trip report thread;

When will you be in Amsterdam.

I will be in Amsterdam from Nov 16 to Nov 19.

 

[notzac]

I will be in Amsterdam from Nov 16 to Nov 19.

I miss you by about a week - I don't get in to Amsterdam until the 24th. Sorry!

 

[tuapekastar]

Excellent and useful summary there notzac! Hope the trip goes very well.​

 

[docjames]

Sounds awesome!

FWIW: There are three "Hotel Florida"'s in Havana, and also a hotel floridida! One is a hostel, just make sure when the cab driver drops you off, he takes you to the correct one. We got dropped in completely the wrong part of town, at 1am, when the city was under curfew after hurricane Ike.

We stayed twice at one of them (near the old part of town) - a word of warning, the chambermaids have sticky fingers. DONT leave anything valuable in your room, DONT leave soaps / deodorants / toiletries etc in your room, unless they are in a LOCKED bag. They'll steal anything trinkety etc so really, leave everything you dont want to lose LOCKED in your bag (or the safe). Dont expect it to be awesome (not up to western 4*/3* standards), but it's clean at least.

When we reappeared for our second stay there (all prebooked tour stuff), they were trying their best to hide from us!

Other than that, Cuba was amazing, wish I could go again.

 

[notzac]

FWIW: There are three "Hotel Florida"'s in Havana, and also a hotel floridida! One is a hostel, just make sure when the cab driver drops you off, he takes you to the correct one. We got dropped in completely the wrong part of town, at 1am, when the city was under curfew after hurricane Ike.

Thanks for the heads up! I'll make sure I have the address written down and will definitely be keeping things locked up while I'm there :shock:

 

[notzac]

Update time! I'm currently enjoying my last evening in Mexico City and - seeing as I have reasonable Internet access at the moment - I thought it would be a good time to update the trip report. Let's rewind the clock to nearly a week ago...

Flight 1: JQ30 MEL/SYD
Track Flight Status for (JQ) Jetstar Airways 30
On-time performance: Terrible
Craft: A332
Crew: Average
Seat: 44J

First flight of many! I was unsure how they were going to handle tagging my bag through (especially seeing as there was a screw-up with the eticket - the JQ sector became "unticketed" and the QF service centre "fix" was to buy me a new ticket on a different PNR :shock, so I made sure I got to the airport early, armed with a print-out of the original eticket just in case.

The check-in lady tapped furiously away at the computer and made several attempts - each time the bag tag printed out with no connecting flight. She was an absolute star though - insisted that it should definitely work somehow, and finally got me a bag tag connecting all the way through to LAX! Couldn't issue BPs though.

After all of that I was sorely in need of a drink, and found a colleague of mine who was on that mornings' QF93 to LAX. We went through security and I popped upstairs to have a quick word with the FLounge concierge .. I asked nicely about being allowed to break the guesting rules, and was told it would be fine "as your colleague is at least flying with QF". Score! Colleague v impressed with the FLounge and having real food for brekkie (as compared to the "snack bar" downstairs). She'll be able to use her newly minted EXP-ness next time to get herself in - suffice it to say, she's looking forward to the next flights to Australia!

We both had brekkie (poached eggs on toast with sides and generous lashings of Taittinger for me!), I had my massage and we sat back to wait for the flight. Her flight was called, mine was .. not yet called. I was starting to sweat the minimal connection time in SYD, when finally they called the JQ flight. I'd managed to secure 44J for the flight up, and it would appear to be equally as good as 44B - v decent legroom and normal recline. I had a seat mate for this flight, but he was asleep when I got on board and remained asleep for the duration of the flight.

We finally got to the other end of the runway about an hour later than we were due to be there, and didn't make up much time on the way to SYD. Finally off the aircraft, raced down to the transit section - I was the only person going through the transit security checkpoint at the time, so was given the full treatment (random, my foot!). Still, the staff were nice about it. Went to go get my BP from the QF/BA counters underneath the escalators .. the check-in lady needed to see all my documentation again, noted that I was in an awful seat and would you like an exit row sir? Yes I would, please! I got my BP and was told to move it if I wanted a cheeky champagne in the First lounge before the flight (her words, not mine).

I went upstairs, did a spot of duty free shopping and went upstairs again to the FLounge. V busy, but still able to get a glass of something nice and a ramekin of cashews before the flight. After seeing the SYD FLounge when it's actually busy (QF11, QF73 and QF107 all in various stages of departing for the US), I *much* prefer the MEL FLounge. Far more relaxing! I just hope QF sees fit to keep the FLounge there. To be continued!

 

[notzac]

Flight 2: QF11 SYD/LAX
Track Flight Status for (QF) Qantas Airways 11
On-time performance: Early
Craft: A388
Crew: Average
Seat: 79J

My first flight in VH-OQB (have previously flown -OQA and -OQC, both in J), and my first A380 Y experience. Quite the letdown when you know just how good it is upstairs! I walked all the way down the length of the plane to my seat and found myself with an Important American Businessman for my seat mate. His first (and almost only) words to me were "I'd hoped you wouldn't make the flight" ... nice. Seeing as I'm kvetching about it, he was also way too big (not fat, just big) for the seat and frequently encroached in to my seat space.

On to the good stuff - the new Y seats are actually reasonably comfortable for what they are. When coupled with awesome amounts of legroom and empty space where 79K would otherwise have been, it's not a bad spot to be if you're stuck in Y. 79H by comparison is actually pretty bad, for one reason - during the night section of the flight they close the curtain, which runs right up against where you would have your feet out. Best case scenario, you have people tripping over you and waking you up. Worst case scenario, you have people stepping on your feet and injuring you. Still, I wasn't in that seat so I didn't care so much..

I've never been one to use the AVOD system much; I'll generally use my laptop or iPhone to keep myself entertained. I was expecting to have laptop power and couldn't find a power source (*) - queue more disappointment when I found out that the USB port won't charge an iPhone - so that more or less killed all of my personal entertainment options. Over to AVOD then. I've gotta say - the AVOD on the A380 is really very good. Crazy amount of things to choose from, I watched a stunning jazz duo of James Morrison and Deni Hines with band. Great stuff.

Food wise, I had a small problem. I'd not placed any SPML requests in the off-chance that it would help for any op-ups; The closest they could do for me was some chicken thing with veggies, so I attempted to pick out the chicken and eat the rest. It was your usual dose of QF Y prison food, so nothing to write home about. I suspect that I wasn't very successful in avoiding the chicken in the meal - I got sick during the flight (I managed to avoid disgracing myself but only just..) I was offered some oxygen "ya know, sometimes people can't cope with the pressurisation blah blah blah" :shock: .. I declined the offer and walked around for a while, my stomach eventually decided to stop trying to tie itself in to complicated knots and I finally got a little sleep.

At the end of the flight, waiting for the air bridge folk to do their thing, I finally managed to engage the FA sitting opposite me in a little conversation. We chatted about what he was doing on his layover "nothing really, I'm too old to spend the entire time in LAS" and I got around to asking if there was in-seat power for the 79H/J seat pair. It turns out that there is - you need to raise the AVOD unit for 79J, as the power point is hidden behind the 'arm' for the AVOD unit. Something to file away for the next time I'm stuck in Y on a QF A380!

--

The next couple days of my trip were mostly unexciting - I hung out with a friend of mine who lives in WeHo; we ended up going to the Huntington Botanical Gardens (which I can highly recommend if you're looking for something to do in LA that isn't a LA thing to do!) and went to a couple parties. Quite late on the Saturday night, I got driven out to the Ontario area to start my very first mattress run... continued in the next post!

 

[notzac]

Hotel 1: Doubletree Ontario Airport

Check-in was non-complicated; handed over my Hilton Racing card and drivers licence, got handed back a key card and a stack of warm cookies. Walked (and walked and walked) to my assigned room at the back of the property. Really not a great deal to write about - it's an airport hotel - but the room was clean, the bed was comfy, the Internet was free and the cookies were tasty. Caught up on e-mail and crashed out, seeing as I had to be up at no later than 6am to shower and get ready for all the flights.. :shock:

Got checked out the following morning, consumed what was apparently coffee (oh how I miss Melbourne), hopped on the shuttle to ONT airport. I was going to write free shuttle, but tips are always required..

ONT airport is actually pretty nice. Friendly check-in staff that issued all the required BPs and priority tagged my bag all the way through, friendly TSA staff (really) and I was very quickly waiting at the gate area for an anticipated on-time departure...

Flight 3: AA551 ONT/DFW
Track Flight Status for (AA) American Airlines 551
On-time performance: Early
Craft: MD82
Crew: Average
Seat: 5E

So, the one big downside to departures from ONT is that there's no Admiral's Club lounge. Still, the airport is clean and relatively calm, so no big deal. I'd also signed up for a complimentary 1 month trial for the T-Mobile hotspot service prior to going overseas - so I had time to check some e-mail and people watch.

The flight was oversold and finally they managed to get enough volunteers for IDBs ($250 travel voucher plus confirmed space on the next flight). Sounded a reasonable deal, but I wasn't giving up my seat! It was also fun watching people get all disappointed when a PA was made "please be aware that F has checked in full, so folk still waiting for an upgrade will be seated in the main cabin this morning" ..

Service? I have no idea what it was like, I slept through it.

A nice early arrival in to the D terminal of DFW, with the AC around 100 metres away and the next gate another 50 metres away. Score! The DFW D lounge was really very nice - not crowded at all, a barman who was visibly pleased at seeing a $1 bill after hearing an aussie accent and seeing a drink chit (mm, strong Bloody Mary!) and great view of the tarmac and runway. My chariot for the next flight pulled in to the gate right on schedule, so it was time to board the next flight...

 

[notzac]

Flight 4: AA1246 DFW/MIA
Track Flight Status for (AA) American Airlines 1246
On-time performance: Early
Craft: B752
Crew: Average
Seat: 3B

Nothing really exciting with this flight .. I dozed on and off, though I will note that AA understand that a gin tonic should be served with lime, not lemon (hint, QF)! I suspect that there may have been some sort of lunch service, though I may well have not been awake for it. I can't remember!

Plane arrived just shy of the advertised schedule and I made for the AC at terminal D. My QF WP card solicited a comment that I was entitled to use the MIA Flagship Lounge in terminal E, but given that there wasn't that much time (and that the MIA/MEX flight was also in terminal D) - it wasn't recommended. A few drink chits later I was told to go upstairs and enjoy myself. The MIA terminal D AC is nothing to write home about; no views but plenty of seats and of course there was T-Mobile WiFi to take advantage of. Soon enough it was boarding tiem for my last flight of the day...

Flight 5: AA2115 MIA/MEX
Track Flight Status for (AA) American Airlines 2115
On-time departure: Late
Craft: B738
Crew: Fabulous!
Seat: 5E

Well. Boarding was all done on time, the gate agent checking BPs made sure she took my green Visa Waiver thingy "don't want you to have any trouble getting back in to the United States next time sir" and was comfortably ensconced in my seat with "champagne" in hand (served in a plastic cup - you stay classy, AA), when the pilot jumped on the tannoy to mention a minor mx issue that would hopefully be cleared up soon.

At this point, the flight attendants notched up a gear. Refills were provided sans asking and meal orders were duly taken for after departure. Angel (real name, I kid you not) confirmed that the pasta option was indeed vego, so that's what I ordered. We made it to the other end of the runway at around 40 minutes past schedule, so not much to complain about really!

After take off, the FAs kept busy throughout the F cabin - having a quick chat with pax, making sure everyone who wanted a drink had one, getting warmed nuts and meals out pronto before returning for another round of bevvies. Sincerely, the best service I've had by a long long shot in ages; up there with my last QF J experience.

The meal was actually pretty good - v cheesy pasta, salad and a slice of cake to round the meal out. Probably the best AA premium cabin meal I've had, but not entirely up to par with QF premium cabin catering. Still, not complaining!

During the course of the flight, both FAs wanted to know what an Aussie was doing on a flight from Miami to Mexico - so I told them about my status run and how I was off to Cuba as well. We probably chatted for a good 15 minutes; Angel asked what sort of wine I preferred - Red, seeing as the White was a Chardonnay (and I'm a member of the ABC club) - I stuck to gin for the rest of my flight, but a certain bottle of California Merlot ended up in a duty free baggie for me (which I'm drinking right now, and it's v yummy. If you're interested, it's a 2007 Merlot from Helena Ranch).

Freebie booze aside, I count that as one of the best flights I've ever had. I've written in to AA to compliment both FAs for their stellar service.

Arrivals in to MEX is kinda similar to the US. During the course of the flight I had to fill out two bits of paper - a "Visa Waiver" equivalent and a customs declaration. The Visa Waiver form was stapled to my passport (a la USA), bags collected and then x-rayed and out in to the arrivals hall.

I found my way to the Hilton MEX lobby (turn left after passing through Customs, walk until you see the Hilton logo, go up a set of escalators and in to the lift) where I was promptly checked in. They had never seen a Hilton Racing card before - so my card got passed around to all the staff to check it out. Weird, but whatever works..

Hotel 2: Hilton Mexico City Airport

The Hilton MEX is frankly v ordinary. It's possibly on the same level as the Ontario Doubletree; I guess that it commands the premium it does because of the location, which can't be beat. The bed was comfortable, the cookies were non-existant but the Internet was free and a complimentary bottle of water was provided. Note that bottled water in Mexico is basically a requirement for aussie stomachs - the tap water in Mexico is dubious at best.

Check out the following morning was relatively prompt; I decided to have brunch at the attached restaurant to get my first taste of "real" mexican food (which is quite simple but tasty) and then sat in the lobby area watching planes land and take off before arranging a taxi to the next hotel in the downtown area. One thing I noticed is that planes taking off out of MEX use a substantial amount of runway; I assume this is due to the elevation of Mexico City (2240 metres above sea level). Note also that I arranged a taxi through the hotel concierge and didn't just walk downstairs to get a taxi from the airport -- taxis in Mexico City are notorious for foreigner extortion etc. and I'd rather pay a small financial penalty rather than playing russian roulette with whatever cab driver I end up with! Nothing to really be worried about (taxis from official ranks ("sitios") or organised through a hotel are perfectly safe), but definitely something to be aware of.

More on Mexico City, continued in the next post!

 

[notzac]

The Hilton MEX concierge arranged my taxi for me, and it was a private driver in an unmarked car. I was a little nervous, but apparently this is fine and normal. The fare was MXN$230 (which I rounded up to MXN$250). The drive to the next hotel was .. interesting. I personally don't have the fortitude to drive in conditions like this! Mexico City drivers have this interesting habit of inventing lanes and turning across traffic when they need to go somewhere. I'm actually surprised that there were no accidents on the way to the hotel; I was certainly expecting one! After around 20 minutes we arrived at the next hotel...

Hotel 3: Hampton Inn and Suites Mexico City

Situated in the historical downtown district, two blocks away from Zocalo (the main city square), the Hampton Inn has been the nicest hotel to date. The staff are all multi-lingual (even the maids had a little english!) and are all super friendly and quite helpful. Useful things about this hotel:

* It's cheap (USD$99 per night, advance rate)
* It's got a reasonable complement of facilities (in particular, free Internet, laundrette facilities, business centre, complimentary brekkie spread)
* The location is outstanding
* The room is pretty reasonable

I've struggled to think of downsides - here's what I've come up with:

* No minibar
* No room service dining (there are restos downstairs, but they're technically separate businesses)
* No in-room safe (but there's a safe-box at reception)

I would happily stay here again. It's definitely no W, but it's more than reasonable for the price paid.

So - Mexico City. Wow, quite a bit of a culture shock. For anyone thinking of doing the SC run I'm doing and turning around overnight in MEX - don't. Mexico City is an amazing cultural experience, and you'd be doing yourself an incredible disservice by not staying at least one day to see a little of the city!

Things to keep in mind:

* The altitude. I flatter myself by thinking I'm relatively healthy and fit, but I ran short of breath after a morning of walking around. It really does take quite some getting used to!
* The pickpockets. Don't put your wallet in your back pocket or carry around a handbag if you can avoid it - I've been very careful and I've only had two attempts made for a (fortunately) non-existant wallet in my back pocket.
* The language. Many people have a little English, but make the effort to learn some Spanish. It really really helps (and I'm wishing I had made the time to attend all my Spanish classes!)
* The smog. Air quality is pretty terrible - it's thin air to start with, but the smog (and lack of sanitation) is pervasive. There are streets that stink.

Things to be impressed by:

* The people. No matter what people say about the Mexican folk, a very large percentage of them are incredibly friendly and v helpful. Sure, there are some that see "tourist" and try to take advantage of that, but that happens anywhere. Stay on guard, but be prepared for the wonderful people as well.
* The architecture. Oh. Wow. This is an ancient city by Australian standards, and the architecture is incredible. There is the obvious Spanish influence, but the utterly jaw-droppingly amazing cathedral and the ruins of the Temple Mayor are truly a sight to behold - and I've only barely scraped the surface!
* The food. Lots of dubious places to eat, but the Mexican food we have in Australia is way too fancy. "Real" Mexican food is very simple, with loads of flavour. Some of it doesn't look appetising, some of it doesn't even sound appetising, but avoid the bland resto's with "international" food and eat what the locals do (obviously, be careful). Your taste buds will thank you!

I'm kicking myself for only allowing two days here, and I'd encourage anyone to come and see this amazing city for yourself.

Tomorrow - the Mexicana (and Cuba) experience begins! Internet access is mostly non-existant in Cuba, so I suspect I won't be able to post anything after landing and until back in Mexico in a week or so.

So. Freaking. Excited!!!

 

[notzac]

So, update time again. Will be a fairly short missive - not a great deal of time to commit thoughts to a forum post.

I got checked out of the Hampton Inn fairly promptly and - having heeded all of the dire warnings about taking unlicensed taxis in Mexico City - I had arranged for a taxi to show up to take me to the airport. The trip cost MXN $180, which seemed quite reasonable - I was again reminded that I never ever want to drive in Mexico City though!

So, my very first Mexicana flight. How do they treat a oneworld elite? Not too badly, as it turns out. I was dropped off just outside the check-in area for Mexicana, and walk through to check in. Mexicana seem to group their flights by region; there was an area for Canadian flights, an area for North American flights, a couple desks for other flights and a section behind some panelling labeled 'Mexicana elite'. Assuming (correctly) that this is their J pax and shiny card holder check-in area, I wandered through and presented my e-ticket and documentation. Turns out they'd never seen a QF card before, and wasn't sure if it was 'zafira' or 'esmeraldo'. Helpfully, their system prints out both the QF and ow status on to the boarding card, so they were able to confirm everything. My card got passed around to all the check-in staff, which I thought was entertaining. Much like the US outbound customs "system", they removed the visa waiver form from my passport and attached it to the boarding card - they confirmed it would be taken from me at the gate.

I got directions to the lounge and left to go through security.. where I found I had a bit of a problem. You see, flights departing Mexico City airport are allowed exactly no liquids/gels etc. of any kind (including those under 100 mL). Not wanting to throw them out, I raced back to the check-in area - the staff were surprised to see me again - I quickly explained my story and they mentioned that the restriction was only supposed to apply to flights bound for the USA, but sometimes security were "weird". Fortunately they hadn't sent my bag through, so I was able to deposit my liquid baggie and go back through security.

The Mexicana international lounge is thoroughly unexciting. The staff at the lounge were pleasant enough - I was checked in promptly and handed a block of chocolate as a gift - but the seating and amenities have definitely seen better days. WiFi is free, but you need a username and password from the lounge staff. The booze is free, but the selection is a bit limited. Food selection is mostly non-existant - they had a small brekkie spread, but no snack food. There is apparently a restaurant going in where a gym used to be, which should be completed by the end of the year. All in all - probably not worth going there, especially when the American Airlines lounge one floor down is substantially better. Free WiFi, snack food and booze (no drink chits or tips required!) and they were perfectly happy to have me as a guest - even if I "should" have been using the MX lounge. Soon enough, it was time to board...

Flight 6: MX 321 MEX/HAV
Track Flight Status for (MX) Mexicana 321
On-time departure: On-time
Craft: A320
Crew: Friendly
Seat: 12D

At the boarding gate (mental note - it takes a good 10-15 minutes to walk from the lounge to the gate areas if you're at one of the far gates), the staff were handing out Cuban Health Department questionnaires and taking Visa Waiver forms in preparation for boarding. The form wasn't anything exciting (who are you? are you sick?) and soon enough boarding was opened. From the announcement, it seemed as though they invited elite pax to board at their leisure, though my command of Spanish is shaky at best.

The things I noticed on boarding:

• The J seats look rather comfy (much like QF domestic J)
• The plane is spotless
• The seats in Y are bloody hard!

I had me an exit row seat, which at least had reasonable legroom. The FA came by to confirm I was OK to sit in the exit row seat - and like all other Mexicana FAs I've encountered thus far, she had an excellent command of the English language. I was worried that not speaking much Spanish would get me ejected from the exit row, but it wasn't a problem.

During the flight, the FAs looking after the main cabin managed a full drinks and meal service - no option for a SPML, but I was at least able to remove the ham from the ham and cheese foccacia I was served. Staff remained v pleasant throughout. Seat didn't get any more comfortable though.

Landing in to HAV is .. interesting. With most airports that I've flown in to, there's a reasonable amount of infrastructure, buildings or whatever else surrounding the airport. Not so with HAV - fields, more fields and then runway! Inbound security is annoying at most international airports, but HAV takes it to new and entertaining extremes - queue for a good 30 minutes to go through immigration (side effect of landing just after a VS 747 I imagine), queue for at least another 15 minutes to go through x-ray, hand over health form, finally collect luggage and go through a fresh round of baggage checking before finally making it landside! Gotta keep the locals employed I guess...

So - Cuba. A totally different world. I went upstairs to the departures hall to exchange my stash of Euros for Convertible Pesos (shorter queues) then back downstairs to find a taxi. The dispatcher asked me in a few different languages where I was going - I told her Hotel Florida - she waved down a taxi and told me I would pay CUC 25 for the journey. The taxi ride was great; the driver had an excellent command of English, pointed out a bunch of interesting landmarks on the way to the hotel and didn't scare me once with his driving or navigational capabilities.

I'll leave it there for the moment - next up is all about Cuba and then the flights back to civilisation!

 

[samh004]

Sounds like you’re having a hell of a time. Might have to think about going myself some time.