| ken liffiton | ||
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"Sir, I can't believe this!" On this, my first trip to South America, I flew ten segments on AA by ERJ-140/135, F100, MD-80, 757, 767, and 777, stood by three times without the proposed $100 fee (may it rest in peace), and got op-upgraded once. :D Along the way, I visited five Admirals Clubs and one VIP lounge (MVD), but sadly missed out on seeing the Y cabin of the 777. Oh well. ;) Starting early in the morning, I traveled down the Mass Pike to the mess of ramps that somehow leads to the South Boston Bypass Road to the Ted Williams Tunnel to Logan Airport. With the Mass Pike now leading straight to the airport thanks to the latest segment of the Big Dig ($15 billion and counting!), which opened shortly after my trip, this won't be necessary in the future. I shivered my way into the terminal (minus any sort of coat, as I didn't care to haul one to a hot destination), ready for the trip ahead...
Check-in was slow but uneventful; AE had helpfully provided a separate line for elites flying to LGA or DCA, but apparently every passenger headed to those airports was elite, so the distinction didn't help greatly. The no bathrooms, no Admirals Club boarding area was unimpressive, but at least there was a jetway to the RJ. As a hint of the intense competition on Northeast shuttle routes, each passenger on the RJ received a personal complimentary raisin bagel (the whole thing!), as well as sufficient personal complimentary cream cheese to spread upon it. A bold entry by AA into the Northeast. ;) Service by our Jamaican flight attendant was friendly, though I had a bit of difficulty understanding her English. On approach into DCA, our pilot apparently mistook his task. Perhaps he thought he was landing an F-18 on a carrier deck rather than landing an RJ at DCA, or perhaps there was some confusion as to upon which runway he was supposed to land. However, I enjoy dramatic landings, so swooping to and fro over the Potomac before flying by National with a perfect view off the left side and finally making a tight left turn for a low approach to the runway made for a quite a ride. (At that point, I recalled that in the event of a water landing, it's a very bad idea to open the front doors of an RJ. ;)) Fortunately for us, ATC didn't find our approach sufficiently unusual to summon a F-16 to escort our aircraft. As I headed through the concourse, I noticed an AA flight ready to depart for ORD in about 25 minutes. Figuring I might be able to compress my flight schedule enough to head into Miami for dinner, I approached the gate.
There were very few passengers waiting at the gate (even for an F100), so switching flights was no problem. A few minutes later, we boarded and took off for ORD with a very light load. The view was great, with clear skies providing a view of partially melted-off snow over the plains. The distribution of the remaining snow in more shadowed areas created a pattern that made the fields look like a photo negative. It was interesting enough; who says the F100 has no IFE? :p The FA in Y seemed to disagree with AA's policy regarding food on short flights, as he was quite intent on parlaying the meager supplies provided to him into some sort of meal. Unfortunately, one can only eat so many bags of pretzels, so I ate a few and saved the others for later.
Upon arrival at ORD with three hours until my flight to MIA, I checked the departure monitors and noticed the flight before mine scheduled to leave in about 15 minutes. I figured I might as well give it a shot, and walked briskly over to the gate, arriving 10 minutes before scheduled departure. Unfortunately, the door to the jetway was already closed and the tug was getting ready to push the plane back. Oh well, it was worth a try! So, I found myself stuck at the ORD AC
for a few hours, which really wasn't all that bad. With the long wait, I managed to lose track of time a bit, but I still arrived at the gate 15 minutes before scheduled departure. Luckily, the gate agents hadn't decided to close the door without me, though they asked what had taken me so long. They were, however, nice about it!
On board, I headed through the 100% full plane to my exit row seat, only to find it taken. What's more, the occupant of my seat was asleep! I was a bit worried, until my fellow passengers "helped" the guy "wake up" and relocate to his proper place in 20E, the middle seat of the first exit row. He claimed he hadn't been able to find the right seat, yet appeared to know the woman in 20F. :rolleyes: We made our way through the takeoff queue, onto the runway, and... right past it, into the penalty box we went! This did not look good. After about 20 minutes, the pilot finally came on the intercom and reported that we would be returning to the gate to check out a warning light. Back to the gate we went, for an hour's wait with extensive, enlightening commentary provided by the high school group occupying the rear of the plane -- I guess the rearward position of the MD-80 exit row is not such a good thing! Warning light off, we took to the skies about 1:15 after scheduled departure for an uneventful flight to MIA, at least for those passengers without connections to make. Upon arrival at MIA, the FAs asked people without tight connections to wait and let others get off the plane first. Seemed reasonable enough, but apparently nobody was actually going to MIA, as 95% of the passengers rushed off the plane.
Even with the delay from Chicago, I still had three hours at MIA, as I had originally hoped to make my flights such that I could go someplace interesting for dinner. But upon surveying the mess of an airport that greeted me, I decided that hiding in the AC might be a better option. (If I hadn't just stepped off a plane, I wouldn't have been sure whether I was in an airport!) After a bit of wandering, I discovered a map indicating that there was a NEW Admirals Club in Terminal B. That sounded nice, so I started following signs for Terminal B through such a long array of passageways that I figured the tunnels might end somewhere under Manhattan. Fortunately, Terminal B finally presented itself, and I introduced myself to the friendly agent at the AC. Sadly, I was to find that "new" in fact meant "temporary," and thus this AC was lacking some of the amenities of the AC in Terminal E, most importantly Internet access! So, after entertaining myself with a drink and some CNN, I departed for the tunnel expedition to Terminal E, where I hoped to find Internet terminals and sundry other good things. I did find the computers -- all two of them -- occupied! Oh well. After a drink and a bit of plane watching (difficult with the frosted pattern on the windows!) I managed to find a free computer for a hurried e-mail exchange before rushing off to my flight.
My rush to the flight turned out to be of little use, as the gate agents didn't seem intent on getting to boarding. Rather, they stood around chatting, stopping only to argue with a passenger. We finally started boarding at scheduled departure time, with no announcement as to what was going on. On board, our captain was much more informative. Due to some instrument problem, we would be delayed for a bit, my second mechanical delay of the day. Fortunately, the delay was all of half an hour, not a big deal. We had a full load in Y, so I had a seatmate, an Australian gentleman who was quite pleased to have snagged an exit row seat at the airport. I was a bit sad to have lost the blocked seat next to mine, but at least I got a pleasant seatmate and exit row legroom. The Australian had been involved in some sort of mining project upriver of Buenos Aires for several years, and knew quite a bit about Uruguay. Apparently, its a good place to find an antique car; he had an old Mercedes being restored somewhere near Colonia, though it seemed that progress was scant on the restoration. The flight was uneventful; dinner, movie, sleep. I did discover that the $4 drinks in Y policy had been extended to South American flights; in the future, I guess I'll be forced to have my favored in-flight glass of wine in the AC instead. :p Sunrise arrived over the Rio de la Plata, giving me my first view of Uruguay, with Colonia jutting out across the bay from Buenos Aires. Just a few hours to go!
On the ground, I headed to the AC for some continental breakfast, thankful to have something to eat other than the sorry grilled sandwich presented as breakfast on the plane. I sat plane watching, filling out the highly unofficial looking photocopied Uruguay customs and immigration forms as I munched on pastries. I know I'm being an airplane nerd, but I'll ask anyway: I noticed that Aerolineas Argentinas 737-200s have a taut cable extending from the midpoint of the fuselage to the leading edge of the tail. I haven't seen other airlines' 737s with such a cable, and wonder what it could be for? My first thought was maybe it keeps the tail from falling off, but I sincerely hope that isn't the case! :o Any ideas? After using one of the Internet terminals, I came back out to the lounge and did a double-take at the plane parked at the gate outside. It seemed to have grown in the past half-hour; in fact, AA had pushed back the 767 I arrived on and replaced it with the 777 that followed from MIA. Eventually they would park the 777 elsewhere and bring back the 767 for our flight to MVD.
Back on board the plane after a few security questions and random searches, the FA gave me the most thorough exit-row briefing of the trip so far, the other extreme being the "you help me, OK?" briefing provided by my BOS-DCA FA. Fortunately, I wouldn't have to remember my instructions for long, as the captain announced a flight time of all of 27 minutes; EZE-MVD is 142 miles, about 40 miles shorter than a BOS-LGA shuttle flight. Though the flight was on the same 767 I arrived on from MIA, the EZE-MVD segment is actually a "change of gauge" continuation of the 777 flight from MIA. For this flight, I moved up a row to 20A, which has a slightly better view forward of the wing, but probably isnt so good for long hauls due to its limited recline. From my new seat, I was able to take a decent picture of the downtown area of Montevideo as we descended into MVD. During our taxi to the terminal, I started to wonder who taught our pilot to drive a plane, as he seemed to be tapping the brakes every 10 seconds or so, eliciting terrible groaning noises from beneath the plane. Apparently our 767 had taken a bit too much of this punishment! Upon deplaning, I looked back and realized the problem -- MVD is built on a hill! :o The runways are significantly higher than the terminal, so the pilot must brake on the way to the terminal to avoid rolling down the hill too quickly. MVD is similar to one of my home airports, DAD (Danang, Vietnam), though a bit larger. One long building contains international/domestic arrivals/departures, with no jetways; buses ferry passengers from plane to terminal. Fortunately, MVD features more efficient immigration procedures, and despite choosing the slowest line in the place (AA staff even cut in front of me, escorting an unaccompanied minor dressed head-to-toe in bright orange), I was out of the terminal and into Uruguay in reasonable time.
Once I got myself oriented at MVD, I stepped outside and enjoyed the sun (a big change from BOS) while waiting for the bus. Many buses stop by the airport on their way into Montevideo; the fare was 17 pesos (about $0.60). Meanwhile, buses headed the other way, to the resort town of Punta Del Este, stop by the airport on their way out of the city. The bus I took was an old, beat-up tour bus with no A/C, which appears to be typical for the longer suburban routes around Montevideo. The bus route ended at the Terminal Rio Branco downtown, and I wandered the city for an hour or two, sightseeing a bit and eventually coming to the hotel where I would be spending the next three nights. During my wanderings, I sat down on a park bench at the Plaza Independencia to have a drink of water and watch the locals go about their business. Unfortunately, I soon found myself much too involved in the local "business" with a new friend joining me on the park bench, a scruffy looking guy who wanted to know whether I was an undercover policeman. :o I quickly decided I had important business elsewhere. ;) My hotel was the Hotel Lancaster, on the Plaza Cagancha by Av 18 Julio. I chose it mainly because it was bookable on Expedia, rather than due to any special qualities. The tiny room and the lackluster breakfast actually fell short of the $20 a night rate, but my great ninth floor view of the plaza partly made up for the shortcomings. On the second and third days, I wandered the city taking photographs and getting a feel for life there. I intended to make a day trip to Colonia on the third day, but unfortunately didn't wake up early enough to make such an itinerary reasonable. Hence, I will simply have to make another run to EZE or MVD on the next dirt-cheap fare that comes my way. :) On the fourth day, I spent much of the day sitting in one of Montevideos nice parks, reading a book and enjoying the perfect weather before taking my favorite $0.60 bus back to the airport. All in all, in the four days and three nights from the time I stepped of the plane until I left MVD, I spent a total of just $80, including the hotel. Not bad for a few days relaxing in the beautiful weather and a bit of sightseeing.
After bumping my way to the airport in the back of the old bus, I had a snack at the airport restaurant, then checked in for my flight. The agent checking me in was a bit surprised as my many boarding passes spewed from the printer: "Sir, I can't believe this, but you are flying from Montevideo to Buenos Aires to Miami to Chicago to Washington DC to Boston. Did you mean to do that?" I explained that, um, I was going to have dinner with friends in DC. But the agent caught on quickly, and commented that at least I would be getting a lot of miles. (She seemed pleased about that!) Past a painless immigration check, I went to the AA VIP lounge. Im not sure why they don't call it an Admirals Club; UA's lounge at MVD is indeed called a Red Carpet Club. I immediately suffered a bit of reverse culture shock upon entering the lounge; it looked to be freshly renovated (even smelled new), and was stocked with a good assortment of snacks and beverages. The quiet, comfortable environment was entirely unexpected in an otherwise fairly spartan airport. And, my fellow passengers in the lounge seemed far too "VIP" to even consider taking the old bus to the airport. ;) Unfortunately, they would have to take at least one bus today, namely the bus from the terminal to the plane. We even got to ride the "VIP bus" to the airplane, said name seeming to stem from the fact that it had A/C, whereas the non-VIP bus featured open windows. Up the stairs we went for our hop to EZE. The taxi out of the MVD terminal was as unique as the taxi on the inbound flight -- due to the hilly terrain, the pilot had to taxi with the engines at substantially higher power than usual, so as to climb up to the runway. After takeoff, the under-30-minute flight was much like the EZE-MVD segment: hieverybody-taxi-takeoff-drinks-landing-hereweare-thanksforflyingaa-bye!
Going north, AA900 continues on the 767 to MIA, while the 777 flight starts from EZE. So, the 767 from MVD continued on without me while I relaxed in the AC awaiting the later 777 departure. That turned out to be an excellent choice, as the AC agent called me to the desk shortly before boarding and presented me with a boarding pass for 11J, explaining that Y was full so I would have to sit in J. This would make a nice introduction to the 777, as I hadn't previously flown on an AA 777 in the course of my mostly transcon AA flights. Fully boarded, we didn't seem to be headed anywhere. The captain announced that three of the 777's nine lavs were out of order, which could make for a rather unpleasant flight, especially with a full load. So, we would be delayed for a bit. This gave me a chance to rummage through my possessions and suddenly realize that the last place I had seen my digital camera was the seatback pocket at 20A on the 767 that had already departed for MIA! :o I headed to the galley and asked an FA about just what I should do to retrieve something I misplaced on another AA flight. Shocked, she gave out a yelp (yes, really!), and ran over to a couple of ground staff chatting outside door 2L. They reported that they did in fact have my digital camera, and the younger of the two men headed up the jetway to get it. While I waited by the door, I had a look at the LCD panel on the wall, which was displaying the current status of the toilets on board. Two of the three holding tanks were 100% full, and five lavs were displayed as out of service! This wasn't looking good. Fortunately, things brightened up when my camera arrived. The guy who had gone to get it reported that the other man there (apparently his superior) had planned to sell it, and I joked that it wasn't worth much anyway, as its just about the most abused (yet still functional) camera around. Everybody had a good laugh. Impressive service on the part of the EZE ground staff. The lavs were fixed within about half an hour, and we were off. Unfortunately, the FA who had been so worried for my camera was not to be the FA serving my side of the cabin for the evening. Instead, I got a rather cold FA who didn't seem to much care whether I enjoyed the flight. Fortunately, my seat was quite comfortable, save for the lumbar support with a mind of its own. The missing window at row 11 was a slight minus as well, but with the op upgrade plus my preferred assignment of a window seat, I really couldn't complain! Though I don't have a great deal of business class experience, I could tell that the food and service were subpar. My last trip in J was a short haul on Emirates (HKG-BKK), and the service level and food quality on that flight far exceeded what AA provided on EZE-MIA. The printed menu trumpeting AA's commitment to gourmet meals designed by the finest chefs seemed a bit misleading. I had the shrimp entrée, which was edible although the shrimp were rather tough. (Living in Vietnam much of the time, I suppose my shrimp quality standards might be a bit too high. ;)) At least the drinks were free, which is more than can be said for international Y with the latest cutbacks. For dessert, my FA specially brought me a pathetic-looking dish of melted ice cream, whereas the other passengers got a decent dessert. Just about every other AA employee I came across on my trip was friendly and helpful, but this FA seemed to have something against me. I spoke politely, never used the call button, but to no avail. If I had paid for J, I think I would have reason to be irritated, but with an op-upgrade -- oh well! The highlight of the trip, by far the most important feature of AA international J, was the Bose noise canceling headphones! Wow. Those are some NICE headphones. A fine creation from our friends in Framingham, MA. Forget the movies; forget the food and the FAs; listening to some crystal-clear, fully defined jazz on the IFE through those headphones was just sensational. :D After a great nap and an okay breakfast, my first trip in AA international J came to an end. Save for the disappointing FA, it was a fine trip. But it would be a while before I got to formally enter the USA...
Upon deplaning at MIA, I joined my fellow passengers on the infamous early-morning trek from the Terminal B gates to Terminal E immigration. My head-start from the op-upgrade helped quite a bit, and about 15 minutes later, I made it to immigration and just breezed through (though I have read that its unusual to get through so quickly.) I headed to the AC to make a quick check of my e-mail; then, once again cursing AA for only having two (occupied) computers at the MIA AC, I headed back to the AC desk to see about an earlier flight to ORD. The change yielded me a flight one hour earlier than my scheduled flight, and seat 10A on a 757 (the one featuring unlimited legroom thanks to the lack of seat 9A in the exit row). Not bad for a last-minute seat assignment! The AC agent reported that security at Terminal C could get crowded, so I would need to hurry over there immediately. Instead, I went through Terminal E security (all the while reassuring the screeners that I wasn't lost and did know what my boarding pass read), then wound my way through the tunnels of MIA over to Terminal C. The boarding call for our 757 was First Class, then everybody else, but with a light load it wasn't too much of a problem. I enjoyed my spacious seat and slept most of the way to ORD. The view descending into ORD was tremendous; we approached heading north over the lake, with a brilliantly lit morning view of the skyline. Landing and taxi brought us to gate K16...
Upon deplaning at gate K16, I checked the nearest monitor and noticed a flight scheduled to depart from gate K3 in about 15 minutes. Although my previous attempt at such a connection at ORD had failed, I figured it was worth a shot, and took off down the concourse. I arrived at the now-empty boarding area at K3 and presented the one of the GAs with my later boarding pass, asking if I could get on the flight. The reply: "Oh, another one. What, you think you can just have whatever you want?" Uh-oh. For a moment I wasn't sure whether she was joking or not. So, I took a gamble and replied "Yeah, and can I get a window seat?" in my best mock demanding tone. Fortunately, the GAs shared my sense of humor: GA 1: Oh, so you think you can just keep trying for
more? The exchange yielded a boarding pass, followed by a re-opening of the jetway door (wow, thanks!!), a run down the jetway, and the captain coming on the intercom to mention that departure would be delayed by a couple of minutes to take care of a last-minute passenger. :p I settled into my assigned seat 7A, pleased to again be assigned a good seat at the last moment. All told, I had spent a total of only five minutes inside the terminal. Once the captain had approved the new manifest featuring yours truly, we were off! Well, we thought we were off. It seemed as if UA had planes lined up for miles; perhaps they need to de-peak their hub operation as AA did? Anyway, after waiting for about ten UA planes to take off, we were airborne. Back across the frozen plains, we descended into DCA from the west, but the view of the Mall was obscured by clouds. After an on-time arrival, I freshened up a bit after the long trip and headed into the city.
Having cut my MIA connection from two hours to one, and my ORD connection from three hours to five minutes, I then had a total of seven hours to visit DC. So, I took the Metro to visit some people, then had dinner with friends at a Vietnamese restaurant in Wheaton, MD (Thanh Thanh, just north of the intersection of University and Georgia; recommended). I had a fine time in DC, though the cold got to me a bit as I hadn't packed much protection from the elements for my trip to hot, sunny Uruguay.
I arrived back at DCA about 50 minutes before flight time, and stopped in at the AC. The agent's computer told her that my status was invalid (funny, I was PLT just a few hours ago!); perhaps I had worn it out? ;) The agent let me in anyway, and informed me that the RJ to BOS was overbooked... fortunately, I had gotten my boarding pass for the coveted exit row single seat more than 24 hours ago in MVD, so I wasn't overly worried. At the gate, the agent was calling passengers up one-by-one to receive their boarding passes; in the end, it looked like nobody got left behind, but the flight was entirely full. I was thankful for my relatively spacious exit-row single seat. On board, the AE shuttle once again outdid themselves with a generous food selection, presenting a package somewhat similar to the snack on WN transcon flights. The snack pack included crackers with spreadable cheese, mini Oreo cookies (scaled to fit an RJ), and pretzel sticks. I suppose the highlight of the service is the free beer and wine. :p Upon arrival in BOS, we taxied toward the AE terminal, where vacant jetways awaited our arrival. Home at last! But wait, it would only be the finest AE bus service for our full flight. After waiting for gate-checked bags to be dragged out on the tarmac, we piled into the not-so-spacious bus for the ride over to the terminal. Talk about a lackluster ending!
Fortunately, AA decided to add some humor to our story's finale. The following afternoon, I was reading my mail and found an ad that AA had helpfully sent me to tell me all about the great features of their new Northeast RJ service: high frequency, free beer and wine, and jetways for every flight! Great, thanks for letting me know guys. :rolleyes: So, I sent e-mail to Customer Relations,
pointing out either they had a glaring error in their marketing, or perhaps AE wasn't on the
same page as the marketers. Customer Relations said they had forwarded my comments to BOS
management to correct the operational error. Okay, fair enough; lets see how it goes next
time around!
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