MEX1K
Sep 27, 01, 2:02 pm
I hadn’t wanted to make this trip even before a new breed of evil had changed our world, so it was with a supply of Xanax and a ton of resentment towards the corporate world that was forcing this trip upon me that I boarded AM005, a 767, MEX-CDG bound on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Departure was scheduled for 1430 and the travel agent had advised me there was a 50/50 chance it would be cancelled; I certainly hoped so, nobody should have been forced to fly under the circumstances. No such luck. I arrived at the AM counter, asked if the flight was leaving, and was immediately directed to AF check-in, this being a code share operated by AM and my ticket being on AF. I was checked-in quickly by a pleasant AF agent, assigned seat 2J in C class, and then directed to the new AM airside lounge to await the departure. The lounge was full of well-dressed French and Mexican travelers; it appeared I was the only American; I certainly felt like it. The lounge was bright, airy, modern and I seemed to be the only one depressed enough to pop a Xanax and stare out the window; the rest of the crowd was busy helping themselves to a full selection of canapés (same as the MEX UA Intl. F lounge---same caterer I guess) and decent booze.
During the entire check-in process, I had not noticed any enhanced security, although at MEX, everyone except US carriers does a final passport check before boarding, which was announced in the lounge at 1400 and I headed out to the gate. At 1500, it was announced that there was a delay, as the crew was busy determining an alternate route that would not require us to overfly the US, and we were reassured that the flight was leaving. It appeared to be full. We boarded at 1520, my coat was immediately taken, and I was offered a drink; whatever I would like. I happen to like Scotch, which was served in a glass with a European amount of ice (1/2 cube). Someone told me you aren’t supposed to mix Xanax with alcohol, so I did, since the old rules didn’t seem to apply any longer. My seatmate, a hyper French investment banker kinda guy, boarded shortly thereafter, nodded to me, and proceeded to fill our immediate area (including my seat back pocket) with a ton of papers and other reading material, which he proceeded to scan intensely and then tear up, throwing the pieces on the floor…just the kind of guy I love to fly with. This was the first time I’d taken AM to Europe, not really being a fan of Mexican national carriers, and I wasn’t expecting much. AM combines F and C in what they call Clase Premier; the seat wasn’t of the new high-tech generation, but was electric and comfortable enough. Friendly flight attendants passed out newspapers and amenity kits. In fact, these were the friendliest AM attendants I have ever seen, and I’d actually seen one of them before in a much-less-than-friendly mode on a LAX-MEX run. For amenity kit fans, the AM kit is among the best there is in any class. Not only the usual stuff, but 3 kinds of aromatherapy from Danielle Ryman and two kinds of Hermes stuff; cologne and cream I think, and an Evian spray. The cabin is in a 1-2-2 configuration; unfortunately I hadn’t scored one of the 1’s and even more unfortunately, neither had my seatmate, who continued to pour over and then rip up financial documents. As I write this, I can only hope he has lost more money in the market than I have. Before takeoff, one of the FA’s came over and picked up his mess, for which he gave her a nasty look.
During taxi, the captain introduced himself, apologized for the delay and announced the flying time as 12h20, heading directly to Havana, up to Bermuda and then over to CDG. This is about 1.5 hours longer than the over-the-US route. After the safety demos, an airshow program was projected on the main screen; individual video screens were at the seat. We took off at 1555, meaning I would miss my connection in CDG for LHR.
My chief complaint about AM and MX service is that they take forever to get the drinks to you; this flight was no exception. However, after about a half-hour, the FA’s came through with menus, and took drink orders. Drinks were then served from a cart, along with mixed nuts and a plate of canapés. Rouquefort mousse on a Belgian endive leaf, cherry tomatoes stuffed with tapenade and surprise, surprise, something with salmon. Not bad at all.
I tend not to save airline menus, so this is from memory. AM offers what they call nouvelle Mexican “Sun and Spice” cuisine, and this particular flight’s menu was developed by a chef from Puerto Vallarta who’s name escapes me, as does the name of his restaurant. I give AM an A for effort, B for presentation and C+ for actual taste. To begin with, there was a salmon and shrimp appetizer with jicama slaw, which was pretty good. The Sun and Spice china is pretty happening too…kinda like Picasso meets Rufino Tamayo. There were several choices on the menu, as well as a special insert which featured one of the chef’s dishes, along with a recipe, in case anyone actually wanted to recreate what I am sure was an outstanding treat (I had the sea bass in polenta crust instead) in their own home. Each course was served individually. My fish was fine, if a bit dry.
Wines were nothing special but the list was varied; two basic vintage French reds, two whites, I had the Spanish Paternino 1996 Special Reserve, which was quite good. There were two Mexican wines on the menu from L.A. Cetto; absent were two national vineyards I would have expected; Monte Xanic and Chateau Camou; both spoken about very highly by the kind of people who go around speaking very highly about wine, as opposed to someone like me, who goes around drinking it.
For dessert, I had the cheese course instead of the pretty appealing looking cake, however, there was no port nor dessert wine, so I was forced to take my next Xanax with the Rioja, then changed into sweats and woke up 2 hours out of Paris. No inflight entertainment for me, although there were several current film selections to choose from. After I awoke, my seatmate slept for a while longer, until he had what must have been a premonition about the stock market crash, because he jumped up with a shout and look of sheer terror on his face. He drew quite a few looks from all over the cabin.
Breakfast was served soon after I awoke. I only had juice, fruit and yogurt. The fruit was a combination of oranges, mango, grapefruit and papaya on a disk of sweet coconut gluey stuff surrounded by some chocolate syrup. As I went to change into street clothes, I noticed the scrambled eggs were being served in a creatively shaped corn husk (again, A for effort). There was also a pancake option. We landed at 1200 local time and disembarked about 15 minutes later. I had missed my LHR connection by almost 3 hours, however, I was directed to the AF transit desk, where I was immediately booked on a flight at 1330 and assured that my luggage would be on it as well. Yeah, right.
I spent about forty minutes in the AF L’Espace lounge, which was okay…the nicest AF one I’ve been in at CDG. Great cheese, fresh bread, other snacks, full assortment of booze and soft drinks. Free internet access. Headed to the gate and was bussed to the plane, an A-320. Pre-departure choice of champagne, orange juice or Evian. On-time departure, flying time 45 minutes. Once in the air, non-memorable canapés were served and there was a full liquor/beverage service. Arrived at LHR, where I was actually quizzed about the purpose of my trip, why I had come from Mexico, (asked for a business card when I said I lived there) and felt that security had been tightened. The cynic in me was quite upset to see his luggage on the carousel.
Summary: AM J was surprisingly good, friendly, comfortable and tried very hard in terms of food innovation. Significantly better than business on DL, it’s SKYTEAM partner. If you ever have the chance, check it out. J to Europe from Mexico is often cheaper than from the US and I read AM is having a special 21-day advance purchase J class RT fare promo of $US2800.
After 5 nights in London on a not-planned for vacation, thanks to prime suspect bin Laden, I was more than ready to get back to Mexico. Upon the advise of KL, I arrived at LHR terminal 4 at 0755 for Fl. 1008 to AMS at 0955. There was no wait at the business class check-in, so I found myself with 1hr. and 59 minutes to kill before departure. I passed right through security, picked up a book to get rid of my extra GBP’s, and headed to the KL lounge. Supposedly, according to the press release at the reception counter, this was a new concept in lounges recently launched by KL. In reality, unless there was a higher concept that went completely over my head, it was a windowless room with a central bar area, surrounded by a sitting area, smoking area, café-style area and business-style area. The bar was stocked with pastries, juices, coffee, cheese, booze…nothing out of the ordinary but fine. I happened to notice the boarding time on my connecting AMS-MEX pass was two hours later than the scheduled departure, so I checked with the agent, who checked with the system, and who then told me, “It’s delayed,” as she handed me the pass and went back to work. Glad I asked, %*(#$.
Boarding was announced at 0930, the gate was close-by, there was a passport check as they took my boarding pass and then I found myself waiting in a long line to board. Turns out this was a security line; there was a final (and for some people, comprehensive) security check. There was another passport/ticket match, and random secondary searches. The guard looked at me and said, “go right on board.”
The aircraft was a 767, with comfortable business class seating, including footrests. Juice and coffee was offered and coats were hung by the efficient, if a bit cold, flight crew. After takeoff, a breakfast tray was offered; cold meat sandwich, whole wheat wrap filled with sweet (Dutch?) apple stuff, fruit and yogurt. Plastic utensils were on the tray; the guy behind me said something about them and the FA said, “We aren’t taking any chances.”
Landing at AMS was about ten minutes behind schedule at 1215, and I checked on my 1440 connection; still two hours late at 1640. I thought briefly about making a tour downtown to a “café”, however, decided not to. I headed to the KL business class lounge; a huge room with several service bars throughout, each stocked with the same booze, snacks, etc. Not much different from LHR only much, much bigger and it had windows. The lounge was packed and since I had the better part of 4 hours to kill, decided to wait before I started drinking. I read for a while, and if anyone is looking for some serious intellectual stimulation to help kill four hours in an airport and keep their mind off cataclysmic terrorist events, I would strongly recommend Hollywood Wives, The Next Generation, by Jackie Collins. Based on the various departure announcements being made (several “delayed” NW flights from the previous day were announced), I decided the people in London actually had gotten me on the first possible flight home and the didn’t have some sort of KL kickback.
At 1440, it was announced the MEX flight was delayed another 20 minutes; departure at 1700, so I started to drink; two rather small Bloody Mary’s and then switched to Heineken on tap. I headed to the gate at 1530 as recommended by the on-going announcements in the lounge; due to increased security, passengers should proceed to gate no later than 1.5 hours before flight time. Of course, I was at the gate in 15 minutes, max. The gate wasn’t even open yet, so I joined the crowd outside.
After waiting around for an eternity and reading the chapter where this one wife, who has been cheating on her husband, decides to…sorry, never mind…we boarded at 1700, and I was seated in row 77?, upper deck, emergency exit, C class. I was greeted at the top of the stairs by an FA who took my coat, and I found my seat. It wasn’t all that appealing; but the legroom was good. Soon I was offered champagne or OJ in a plastic glass; champagne was barely chilled and bad. Menus and socks/eye-things/headsets were handed out The upper deck filled up quickly and we finally made it off the ground at 1740. Route was same as the way over, Bermuda, Havana, Mexico. Flying time 11:55.
After takeoff, the relatively friendly and efficient FA’s took drink and dinner orders. Drinks were served from the cart, along with a package of mixed nuts. Someone has since told me that leaving AMS, the only thing to have on KL is the Indonesian meal; I had the fish (butterfish, spinach, potatoes). Dinner was served on a tray, everything at the same time, with plastic utensils (naturally). There was a non-memorable salad and appetizer; it looked like a coach meal, and the only non-plastic thing on the tray was the bowl my fish was served in, which looked like my dog’s bowl, until I took the lid off, and all similarities ended. Let’s just say the Science diet looks much more appealing. Are you getting the feeling I don’t like KL’s food service? Wines were below average; there was a Fetzer red that is cheap in my Mexican supermarket and we have to pay outrageous taxes on US wines.
Dessert was port (Fonseca non-vintage) and cheese, not bad, followed by chocolates. After the trays had been cleared, the FA’s came through with bottles of water and aluminum amenity kits that were stocked with the basics, and some seemingly trendy skin care products called SOMA (or something like that). Movies were on individual screens; nothing appealed to me, so I put on the airshow and read. FA’s consistently came through with water or whatever else you wanted to drink, in the galley, a box of snacks (chips, chocolate bars, etc.) was available, and at mid-point, they came through with some sandwiches (choice of meat or cheese). I slept for about two hours in the least comfortable business class seat I have ever been in on a long-haul.
Two hours prior to landing, another meal service. Can’t remember this one really well…brie with lentils and a hot quiche, or something cold and sweet. I had the first one; not good at all. Customs forms were handed out about 45 minutes prior to landing as well as thank-you gifts (collectable Delft? miniatures of Bols gin in the shape of Dutch canal houses). We landed exactly 2.5 hours late and had to wait longer than usual for C class bags to come off.
Summary: Despite the friendly, efficient FA’s and their on-going service, KL is the worst business class I have flown between Europe and Mexico. Lousy food and wine, uncomfortable seats and bad amenities. I’ll be flying AM again soon. It was a nice surprise.
[This message has been edited by MEX1K (edited 09-27-2001).]
During the entire check-in process, I had not noticed any enhanced security, although at MEX, everyone except US carriers does a final passport check before boarding, which was announced in the lounge at 1400 and I headed out to the gate. At 1500, it was announced that there was a delay, as the crew was busy determining an alternate route that would not require us to overfly the US, and we were reassured that the flight was leaving. It appeared to be full. We boarded at 1520, my coat was immediately taken, and I was offered a drink; whatever I would like. I happen to like Scotch, which was served in a glass with a European amount of ice (1/2 cube). Someone told me you aren’t supposed to mix Xanax with alcohol, so I did, since the old rules didn’t seem to apply any longer. My seatmate, a hyper French investment banker kinda guy, boarded shortly thereafter, nodded to me, and proceeded to fill our immediate area (including my seat back pocket) with a ton of papers and other reading material, which he proceeded to scan intensely and then tear up, throwing the pieces on the floor…just the kind of guy I love to fly with. This was the first time I’d taken AM to Europe, not really being a fan of Mexican national carriers, and I wasn’t expecting much. AM combines F and C in what they call Clase Premier; the seat wasn’t of the new high-tech generation, but was electric and comfortable enough. Friendly flight attendants passed out newspapers and amenity kits. In fact, these were the friendliest AM attendants I have ever seen, and I’d actually seen one of them before in a much-less-than-friendly mode on a LAX-MEX run. For amenity kit fans, the AM kit is among the best there is in any class. Not only the usual stuff, but 3 kinds of aromatherapy from Danielle Ryman and two kinds of Hermes stuff; cologne and cream I think, and an Evian spray. The cabin is in a 1-2-2 configuration; unfortunately I hadn’t scored one of the 1’s and even more unfortunately, neither had my seatmate, who continued to pour over and then rip up financial documents. As I write this, I can only hope he has lost more money in the market than I have. Before takeoff, one of the FA’s came over and picked up his mess, for which he gave her a nasty look.
During taxi, the captain introduced himself, apologized for the delay and announced the flying time as 12h20, heading directly to Havana, up to Bermuda and then over to CDG. This is about 1.5 hours longer than the over-the-US route. After the safety demos, an airshow program was projected on the main screen; individual video screens were at the seat. We took off at 1555, meaning I would miss my connection in CDG for LHR.
My chief complaint about AM and MX service is that they take forever to get the drinks to you; this flight was no exception. However, after about a half-hour, the FA’s came through with menus, and took drink orders. Drinks were then served from a cart, along with mixed nuts and a plate of canapés. Rouquefort mousse on a Belgian endive leaf, cherry tomatoes stuffed with tapenade and surprise, surprise, something with salmon. Not bad at all.
I tend not to save airline menus, so this is from memory. AM offers what they call nouvelle Mexican “Sun and Spice” cuisine, and this particular flight’s menu was developed by a chef from Puerto Vallarta who’s name escapes me, as does the name of his restaurant. I give AM an A for effort, B for presentation and C+ for actual taste. To begin with, there was a salmon and shrimp appetizer with jicama slaw, which was pretty good. The Sun and Spice china is pretty happening too…kinda like Picasso meets Rufino Tamayo. There were several choices on the menu, as well as a special insert which featured one of the chef’s dishes, along with a recipe, in case anyone actually wanted to recreate what I am sure was an outstanding treat (I had the sea bass in polenta crust instead) in their own home. Each course was served individually. My fish was fine, if a bit dry.
Wines were nothing special but the list was varied; two basic vintage French reds, two whites, I had the Spanish Paternino 1996 Special Reserve, which was quite good. There were two Mexican wines on the menu from L.A. Cetto; absent were two national vineyards I would have expected; Monte Xanic and Chateau Camou; both spoken about very highly by the kind of people who go around speaking very highly about wine, as opposed to someone like me, who goes around drinking it.
For dessert, I had the cheese course instead of the pretty appealing looking cake, however, there was no port nor dessert wine, so I was forced to take my next Xanax with the Rioja, then changed into sweats and woke up 2 hours out of Paris. No inflight entertainment for me, although there were several current film selections to choose from. After I awoke, my seatmate slept for a while longer, until he had what must have been a premonition about the stock market crash, because he jumped up with a shout and look of sheer terror on his face. He drew quite a few looks from all over the cabin.
Breakfast was served soon after I awoke. I only had juice, fruit and yogurt. The fruit was a combination of oranges, mango, grapefruit and papaya on a disk of sweet coconut gluey stuff surrounded by some chocolate syrup. As I went to change into street clothes, I noticed the scrambled eggs were being served in a creatively shaped corn husk (again, A for effort). There was also a pancake option. We landed at 1200 local time and disembarked about 15 minutes later. I had missed my LHR connection by almost 3 hours, however, I was directed to the AF transit desk, where I was immediately booked on a flight at 1330 and assured that my luggage would be on it as well. Yeah, right.
I spent about forty minutes in the AF L’Espace lounge, which was okay…the nicest AF one I’ve been in at CDG. Great cheese, fresh bread, other snacks, full assortment of booze and soft drinks. Free internet access. Headed to the gate and was bussed to the plane, an A-320. Pre-departure choice of champagne, orange juice or Evian. On-time departure, flying time 45 minutes. Once in the air, non-memorable canapés were served and there was a full liquor/beverage service. Arrived at LHR, where I was actually quizzed about the purpose of my trip, why I had come from Mexico, (asked for a business card when I said I lived there) and felt that security had been tightened. The cynic in me was quite upset to see his luggage on the carousel.
Summary: AM J was surprisingly good, friendly, comfortable and tried very hard in terms of food innovation. Significantly better than business on DL, it’s SKYTEAM partner. If you ever have the chance, check it out. J to Europe from Mexico is often cheaper than from the US and I read AM is having a special 21-day advance purchase J class RT fare promo of $US2800.
After 5 nights in London on a not-planned for vacation, thanks to prime suspect bin Laden, I was more than ready to get back to Mexico. Upon the advise of KL, I arrived at LHR terminal 4 at 0755 for Fl. 1008 to AMS at 0955. There was no wait at the business class check-in, so I found myself with 1hr. and 59 minutes to kill before departure. I passed right through security, picked up a book to get rid of my extra GBP’s, and headed to the KL lounge. Supposedly, according to the press release at the reception counter, this was a new concept in lounges recently launched by KL. In reality, unless there was a higher concept that went completely over my head, it was a windowless room with a central bar area, surrounded by a sitting area, smoking area, café-style area and business-style area. The bar was stocked with pastries, juices, coffee, cheese, booze…nothing out of the ordinary but fine. I happened to notice the boarding time on my connecting AMS-MEX pass was two hours later than the scheduled departure, so I checked with the agent, who checked with the system, and who then told me, “It’s delayed,” as she handed me the pass and went back to work. Glad I asked, %*(#$.
Boarding was announced at 0930, the gate was close-by, there was a passport check as they took my boarding pass and then I found myself waiting in a long line to board. Turns out this was a security line; there was a final (and for some people, comprehensive) security check. There was another passport/ticket match, and random secondary searches. The guard looked at me and said, “go right on board.”
The aircraft was a 767, with comfortable business class seating, including footrests. Juice and coffee was offered and coats were hung by the efficient, if a bit cold, flight crew. After takeoff, a breakfast tray was offered; cold meat sandwich, whole wheat wrap filled with sweet (Dutch?) apple stuff, fruit and yogurt. Plastic utensils were on the tray; the guy behind me said something about them and the FA said, “We aren’t taking any chances.”
Landing at AMS was about ten minutes behind schedule at 1215, and I checked on my 1440 connection; still two hours late at 1640. I thought briefly about making a tour downtown to a “café”, however, decided not to. I headed to the KL business class lounge; a huge room with several service bars throughout, each stocked with the same booze, snacks, etc. Not much different from LHR only much, much bigger and it had windows. The lounge was packed and since I had the better part of 4 hours to kill, decided to wait before I started drinking. I read for a while, and if anyone is looking for some serious intellectual stimulation to help kill four hours in an airport and keep their mind off cataclysmic terrorist events, I would strongly recommend Hollywood Wives, The Next Generation, by Jackie Collins. Based on the various departure announcements being made (several “delayed” NW flights from the previous day were announced), I decided the people in London actually had gotten me on the first possible flight home and the didn’t have some sort of KL kickback.
At 1440, it was announced the MEX flight was delayed another 20 minutes; departure at 1700, so I started to drink; two rather small Bloody Mary’s and then switched to Heineken on tap. I headed to the gate at 1530 as recommended by the on-going announcements in the lounge; due to increased security, passengers should proceed to gate no later than 1.5 hours before flight time. Of course, I was at the gate in 15 minutes, max. The gate wasn’t even open yet, so I joined the crowd outside.
After waiting around for an eternity and reading the chapter where this one wife, who has been cheating on her husband, decides to…sorry, never mind…we boarded at 1700, and I was seated in row 77?, upper deck, emergency exit, C class. I was greeted at the top of the stairs by an FA who took my coat, and I found my seat. It wasn’t all that appealing; but the legroom was good. Soon I was offered champagne or OJ in a plastic glass; champagne was barely chilled and bad. Menus and socks/eye-things/headsets were handed out The upper deck filled up quickly and we finally made it off the ground at 1740. Route was same as the way over, Bermuda, Havana, Mexico. Flying time 11:55.
After takeoff, the relatively friendly and efficient FA’s took drink and dinner orders. Drinks were served from the cart, along with a package of mixed nuts. Someone has since told me that leaving AMS, the only thing to have on KL is the Indonesian meal; I had the fish (butterfish, spinach, potatoes). Dinner was served on a tray, everything at the same time, with plastic utensils (naturally). There was a non-memorable salad and appetizer; it looked like a coach meal, and the only non-plastic thing on the tray was the bowl my fish was served in, which looked like my dog’s bowl, until I took the lid off, and all similarities ended. Let’s just say the Science diet looks much more appealing. Are you getting the feeling I don’t like KL’s food service? Wines were below average; there was a Fetzer red that is cheap in my Mexican supermarket and we have to pay outrageous taxes on US wines.
Dessert was port (Fonseca non-vintage) and cheese, not bad, followed by chocolates. After the trays had been cleared, the FA’s came through with bottles of water and aluminum amenity kits that were stocked with the basics, and some seemingly trendy skin care products called SOMA (or something like that). Movies were on individual screens; nothing appealed to me, so I put on the airshow and read. FA’s consistently came through with water or whatever else you wanted to drink, in the galley, a box of snacks (chips, chocolate bars, etc.) was available, and at mid-point, they came through with some sandwiches (choice of meat or cheese). I slept for about two hours in the least comfortable business class seat I have ever been in on a long-haul.
Two hours prior to landing, another meal service. Can’t remember this one really well…brie with lentils and a hot quiche, or something cold and sweet. I had the first one; not good at all. Customs forms were handed out about 45 minutes prior to landing as well as thank-you gifts (collectable Delft? miniatures of Bols gin in the shape of Dutch canal houses). We landed exactly 2.5 hours late and had to wait longer than usual for C class bags to come off.
Summary: Despite the friendly, efficient FA’s and their on-going service, KL is the worst business class I have flown between Europe and Mexico. Lousy food and wine, uncomfortable seats and bad amenities. I’ll be flying AM again soon. It was a nice surprise.
[This message has been edited by MEX1K (edited 09-27-2001).]