Trip report Mexican Business Class - DFW-MEX-EZE-MEX-DFW
Oct 16, 2007, 2:19 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Pennsylvania
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Posts: 439
Trip report Mexican Business Class - DFW-MEX-EZE-MEX-DFW
First of all, let me just mention that we booked to travel on Mexicana purely on the basis of the fare. When researching the flights, the cost to fly coach on AA non-stop from DFW to EZE was coming in at around $1,300 per person. A search on Kayak for business class fares on the same dates brought up a fare of $1,295 in Business Class, including taxes. So, it was a bit of a ‘no-brainer’ – business with one stop for less than the price of coach, non-stop. My main priority was to secure a more comfortable seat, and that’s just about as much as I got with MX. This trip report is not intended to be a list of gripes, just the observations of a very seasons road warrior who has experienced every business or first class from British Airways to Air Zimbabwe!
Prior to the trip, I tried to find out as much as I could about Mexicana’s business class. There isn’t much out there, even within the confines of this veritable mine of useful information. Most of what I turned up was propaganda issued by Mexicana about their repeated winning of some ‘best business class in Latin America’ award. Being a born skeptic, I didn’t place too much store in what I read.
Anyway, check-in at DFW on October 6th was a breeze. Got there 2 hours before departure and we were the only ones checking in. Even though they had a ‘Clase Ejecutiva’ line, it didn’t matter. We were checked in within 5 minutes. The desk agent made shapes at inputting our AAdvantage numbers into the reservation, but I was dubious she had actually done so when the boarding passes didn’t reflect our membership numbers. As I found out on the return leg, if the number is input correctly, it will appear on the BP. So a retro credit request will have to be done for the outbound segments at some point in the future - grrr. I asked if they had a lounge and after some conversation between two of the desk agents, I was told that American had a lounge in the terminal (D). When I asked if I could get in using my MX boarding passes, I was told ‘no – you have to be a member’. Just as well I am a member!
Fast forward to boarding time, some hours later. One of my pet peeves is when people stand In line for boarding before the flight is called. Of course it happened on this occasion. They started boarding (about 30 minutes late) and first called people traveling with kids or those who needed more time to get on the aircraft. Just about everyone with any class of infirmity, major or minor, jumped up to board, along with their various entourages. Those folks accounted for about one quarter of the pax on the plane. Business class was then called.
The aircraft was a very new A318, clean and appearing to be in good shape. We settled into seats 1A and C. Boarding was completed quickly – the small plane was only about half-full in both classes (it seats 112 total, I believe.) The J cabin has a 2x2 layout, with 3 rows for a total of 12 seats. The seats were cloth covered and had a decent divider between them, complete with pull-out cocktail tray, just as you see on every domestic F product in the U.S. In terms of comfort, I have no complaints. The recline was also similar to domestic F, and the seats had bendable ‘wings’, although the wings were quite small and didn’t hold their positions very effectively. Even being in the bulkhead seats, I had plenty of legroom, a 6'3". There was a cut-out for extra room at the bottom of the bulk-head.
The safety briefing was done over the IFE system, from the drop-down screens that are common on Airbus aircraft. Interestingly, when the video got to the section where it said "the flight attendants are now pointing out the nearest emergency exits", there was no sign of cabin crew! During both the English and Spanish versions of the video, they were a no show. They also allowed the woman opposite us to have her 2 or 3 year old child lying over her lap, unrestrained, for take-off. Very dodgy!
When the doors were closed, coats were taken and drinks were offered. Not sure if alcohol was an option, as we plumped for a water and an orange juice.
After take-off, the curtain to the rear of the J cabin was closed, as was the curtain by the galley. The IFE started up. A Mexican version of Eye On American, with general interest pieces and music videos. Headphones were provided - note that your own headphones won't work with the IFE system as they are of the two-plug variety. There were several audio channels to pick from. Throughout this trip, I didn't once use the MX IFE. I was too busy with my brand new iPod Touch.
Menus were presented shortly thereafter. The menu was a 12 page affair, in both English and Spanish, with a recipe included at the back, for whatever reason. A wine list was tucked inside – another 4 pages. Lunch from the U.S. was as follows:
Appetizer:
Grilled salad, with butter lettuce, radicchio, grilled yellow and green zucchini, and seared salmon, with a light ranch dressing. (Suggested wine pairing: Blend Especial 3V Casa Madero – Parras, Coahuila, Mexico)
Choice of:
Tortellini with tomato basil sauce with parmesan cheese and parsley (Wine pairing: Suggested wine pairing: Blend Especial 3V Casa Madero – Parras, Coahuila, Mexico)
OrSteamed chicken breast stuffed with chorizo, goat cheese and raisins, served with creamy cilantro salsa verde, saffron rice, tender string beans and red pepper (Wine pairing: J. Lohr Cabarnet Sauvignon Seven Oaks, Paso Robles, California)
Assorted breads
Dessert
A cart was rolled out into the aisle and drinks were offered as the tray was presented. The salad was tiny and pretty nasty. The seared salmon was practically invisible, and dry. Once that was cleared away, I opted for the chicken. That was even worse than the salad. It looked like something preserved from a 1980’s flight on some eastern European airline. The dessert was a crème caramel – just about the best part of the meal. Breads were either brown or white rolls.
The wine list, I will note here, because it isn’t half bad. Choices on all flights we took were as follows:
2006 Chardonnay Tribu – Tupungato, Argentina
2005 Casa Madero 3V – Parras, Coahuioa, Mexico
2002 Casta Del Sur Los Maitenes Malbec – Mendoza, Argentina
???? J Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon – Paso Robles, CA
Veuve Clicquot Brut
My wife initially asked for just a red, curious to see which one she would be given or if a choice would be offered. The FA poured a glass of the J Lohr cab. The funniest thing was, each time she returned to fill the glass, she insisted on pouring a different red, saying that she wanted our opinion as to which was the best, as she knew nothing about wine. I thought that was cute, if a little presumptuous. (The answer, in order of best-worst was: the Malbec, the Cab and, sadly if not unsurprisingly, the Mexican wine). After the meal, tea and coffee was offered and that was the last we saw of the FA until we started our descent. She disappeared off to the back of the plane to chat with her fello FAs. The case of the mysterious disappearing MX flight attendants was to become a common them throughout our trip…
To be continued, with the saga of MEX connections and the MEX-EZE segment…..
Prior to the trip, I tried to find out as much as I could about Mexicana’s business class. There isn’t much out there, even within the confines of this veritable mine of useful information. Most of what I turned up was propaganda issued by Mexicana about their repeated winning of some ‘best business class in Latin America’ award. Being a born skeptic, I didn’t place too much store in what I read.
Anyway, check-in at DFW on October 6th was a breeze. Got there 2 hours before departure and we were the only ones checking in. Even though they had a ‘Clase Ejecutiva’ line, it didn’t matter. We were checked in within 5 minutes. The desk agent made shapes at inputting our AAdvantage numbers into the reservation, but I was dubious she had actually done so when the boarding passes didn’t reflect our membership numbers. As I found out on the return leg, if the number is input correctly, it will appear on the BP. So a retro credit request will have to be done for the outbound segments at some point in the future - grrr. I asked if they had a lounge and after some conversation between two of the desk agents, I was told that American had a lounge in the terminal (D). When I asked if I could get in using my MX boarding passes, I was told ‘no – you have to be a member’. Just as well I am a member!
Fast forward to boarding time, some hours later. One of my pet peeves is when people stand In line for boarding before the flight is called. Of course it happened on this occasion. They started boarding (about 30 minutes late) and first called people traveling with kids or those who needed more time to get on the aircraft. Just about everyone with any class of infirmity, major or minor, jumped up to board, along with their various entourages. Those folks accounted for about one quarter of the pax on the plane. Business class was then called.
The aircraft was a very new A318, clean and appearing to be in good shape. We settled into seats 1A and C. Boarding was completed quickly – the small plane was only about half-full in both classes (it seats 112 total, I believe.) The J cabin has a 2x2 layout, with 3 rows for a total of 12 seats. The seats were cloth covered and had a decent divider between them, complete with pull-out cocktail tray, just as you see on every domestic F product in the U.S. In terms of comfort, I have no complaints. The recline was also similar to domestic F, and the seats had bendable ‘wings’, although the wings were quite small and didn’t hold their positions very effectively. Even being in the bulkhead seats, I had plenty of legroom, a 6'3". There was a cut-out for extra room at the bottom of the bulk-head.
The safety briefing was done over the IFE system, from the drop-down screens that are common on Airbus aircraft. Interestingly, when the video got to the section where it said "the flight attendants are now pointing out the nearest emergency exits", there was no sign of cabin crew! During both the English and Spanish versions of the video, they were a no show. They also allowed the woman opposite us to have her 2 or 3 year old child lying over her lap, unrestrained, for take-off. Very dodgy!
When the doors were closed, coats were taken and drinks were offered. Not sure if alcohol was an option, as we plumped for a water and an orange juice.
After take-off, the curtain to the rear of the J cabin was closed, as was the curtain by the galley. The IFE started up. A Mexican version of Eye On American, with general interest pieces and music videos. Headphones were provided - note that your own headphones won't work with the IFE system as they are of the two-plug variety. There were several audio channels to pick from. Throughout this trip, I didn't once use the MX IFE. I was too busy with my brand new iPod Touch.
Menus were presented shortly thereafter. The menu was a 12 page affair, in both English and Spanish, with a recipe included at the back, for whatever reason. A wine list was tucked inside – another 4 pages. Lunch from the U.S. was as follows:
Appetizer:
Grilled salad, with butter lettuce, radicchio, grilled yellow and green zucchini, and seared salmon, with a light ranch dressing. (Suggested wine pairing: Blend Especial 3V Casa Madero – Parras, Coahuila, Mexico)
Choice of:
Tortellini with tomato basil sauce with parmesan cheese and parsley (Wine pairing: Suggested wine pairing: Blend Especial 3V Casa Madero – Parras, Coahuila, Mexico)
OrSteamed chicken breast stuffed with chorizo, goat cheese and raisins, served with creamy cilantro salsa verde, saffron rice, tender string beans and red pepper (Wine pairing: J. Lohr Cabarnet Sauvignon Seven Oaks, Paso Robles, California)
Assorted breads
Dessert
A cart was rolled out into the aisle and drinks were offered as the tray was presented. The salad was tiny and pretty nasty. The seared salmon was practically invisible, and dry. Once that was cleared away, I opted for the chicken. That was even worse than the salad. It looked like something preserved from a 1980’s flight on some eastern European airline. The dessert was a crème caramel – just about the best part of the meal. Breads were either brown or white rolls.
The wine list, I will note here, because it isn’t half bad. Choices on all flights we took were as follows:
2006 Chardonnay Tribu – Tupungato, Argentina
2005 Casa Madero 3V – Parras, Coahuioa, Mexico
2002 Casta Del Sur Los Maitenes Malbec – Mendoza, Argentina
???? J Lohr Seven Oaks Cabernet Sauvignon – Paso Robles, CA
Veuve Clicquot Brut
My wife initially asked for just a red, curious to see which one she would be given or if a choice would be offered. The FA poured a glass of the J Lohr cab. The funniest thing was, each time she returned to fill the glass, she insisted on pouring a different red, saying that she wanted our opinion as to which was the best, as she knew nothing about wine. I thought that was cute, if a little presumptuous. (The answer, in order of best-worst was: the Malbec, the Cab and, sadly if not unsurprisingly, the Mexican wine). After the meal, tea and coffee was offered and that was the last we saw of the FA until we started our descent. She disappeared off to the back of the plane to chat with her fello FAs. The case of the mysterious disappearing MX flight attendants was to become a common them throughout our trip…
To be continued, with the saga of MEX connections and the MEX-EZE segment…..
Last edited by OWdevotee; Oct 16, 2007 at 2:37 pm
Oct 16, 2007, 3:35 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2000
Location: Pennsylvania
Programs: ConciergeKey 4MM, Bonvoy Titanium, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 439
Mex-eze
Deplaning at MEX was a breeze. We arrived at one of the gates at the far end of the terminal, and had to trek about 15 minutes to the lounge pavilion, which is just inside security, if you are originating your trip in MEX.
As we had 3 and a half hours to kill, we were looking forward to kicking back in the lounge. We headed up to the MX lounge, which was, I think, on the 3rd floor. All the airline lounges are located in the same area, usually two to each floor. Our BPs were examined and we were waived into the lounge. The MX lounge is divided into two areas, for reasons which escape me. One is a smaller room, complete with TVs, computers with internet access, various Spanish language reading materials, very uncomfortable chairs and a few flat screen TVs. There is also a bar area which has a few small sandwiches and cookies on offer, along with a bar tender who will bring your choice of beverage to you at your seat. He didn’t speak English and I had a swine of a time making my very limited Spanish understood. The second part of the lounge is far bigger, and far busier. It has the same amenities, but also has a fully equipped gym, which was glass-fronted and totally devoid of users when we walked by. There is also a kids play room. The same uncomfortable chairs were in both rooms. There is no smoking area in either side of the facility. We decided we didn’t care much for the lounge, so we bumped down two levels to the Admirals Club. A much more relaxing and refined experience.
At 9pm, the AC closed and we undertook the epic voyage back down to the other end of the terminal to our gate. Boarding started at 9:45 and was pretty much the same organized chaos we witnessed at DFW. When we got to the gate agent, she asked us where our Mexican immigration forms were. We didn’t have any. This is where my blood pressure started to boil. We were told that, even though we were transit passengers, we had to clear Mexican immigration on arrival. She told us to run, fast as we could, from gate 4 back to gate 19 (where the lounge pavilion is), clear immigration and get back to the gate as quickly as we could. Carrying two heavy bags complete with laptops, etc., we booked it, fast as we could at 8,000 feet altitude (or whatever MEX is at), to immigration. Luckily, there were only three people in line before us. A very friendly immigration agent told us to get our rears in gear to get back to gate 4. He suggested waving down a buggy to get us there faster. Needless to say, there wasn’t a buggy to be had. So I took the bags, and the Mrs. took off as fast as she could to see if they could hold the plane for us. I ran as fast as I could, under the circumstances, probably injuring a few people along the way as I busted my way though the crowded terminal, two heavy, swinging bags in tow! The Mrs. arrived at the gate about 2 minutes before I did. She was told we were too late, and the flight had closed. Down the jet bridge, we could see the doors were still open. The gate agent must have enjoyed just busting our chops, because she relented within a minute or two, and allowed us to board. Dripping with sweat, and gasping for breath, we got on and plonked ourselves down in row 7, the last row in the J cabin. We sat there for a good 30 minutes before the doors were closed. A painful lesson learned – you have to clear immigration in MEX, regardless of whether your staying, or connecting. In my opinion, this is just absurd. Totally absurd.
The aircraft was a 767, which had certainly seen its fair share of service over the years. It wasn’t in bad shape, but it was evident from the dated walls and overhead panels that MX’s claim to having ‘the most modern fleet in the world’ (much touted in their advertising materials and IFE) is sorely betrayed by their 76’s.
The J cabin on this aircraft is huge. There are 7 rows of seats, 2x2x2, broken into a cabin of 4 rows forward of the entry door and 3 rows aft. Every seat was taken. The seats are blue, fabric covered types. The space between them seemed vast. I believe the pitch is 180cm/72 inches. They recline to about the same extent as the int’l J product on American 767’s (obviously I’m not talking about the NGBC product). This seemed to me to be an awful waste of aircraft real estate. With such a generous pitch, they could easily fit either a more suitable seat (i.e. a flat bed), or at least substantially increase the recline of what they already have. Even with the seats in front of me in full recline. It was no bother to get in or out of even the window seat.
The seat adjusts 3 ways using manual buttons. One button reclines the seat-back, one raises or lowers the leg rest, and one extends the leg rest. There is also a manual ‘flip out’ foot rest on the bottom of the leg rest, which can be height-adjusted. Again, there were winged headrests, but they suffered the same inability to retain their position as witnessed on the A318. Waiting for us on our seats was a pillow (a scrawny little thing of the sort you find on domestic, U.S. flights) and a blue blanket (again, very like a domestic U.S. blanket). There was also a bottle of water tucked into the seat-back pocket. Coats and jackets were collected and stored, while water, sparkling wine or juice were offered by another FA.
Take off was on time, after which the purser came around and introduced himself. A nice touch. Another FA then offered hot towels. Not the wet wipe type – proper cloth. I don’t know what they poured over the damn things, but the smell was disgusting. Not perfumed, it smelled like lamb or something equally unappealing on a wash cloth. Sadly, I didn’t realize it until I had slapped the thing up to my face, and the aroma haunted me for several minutes. Most bizarre!! Anyway, that was the last FA we saw until we were a whole two hours into our flight. Not so much as a drink was served during that time. When eventually they did surface, the FAs brought menu cards and amenity kits (socks, eye shade, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste and moisturizer).
The menu was as follows:
Appetizer:
Caesar and parmesan country salad with mixed tender lettuces, crushed black peppercorns, carrot strips, panela cheese, red onions and cherry tomatoes (Wine pairing: Veuve Clicquot)
Choice of:
Vegetarian crepes with a light tomato poblano salsa and manchego cheese (wine pairing: 3V)
or
Chicken breast with southeast essences, beans with epazote, tomato and a touch of red onion (wine pairing: 3V – they must work on commission with this stuff)
or
Beef filet marinated in soy and lime, served with wild rice with apple and celery, snow peas and béarnaise sauce (wine pairing: Malbec)
Assorted breads and butter
Dessert
Neapolitan flan
Coffee or herbal infusions (i.e. tea)
Chocolate l’Atelier du chocolat with a light flavor of mandarin (whatever this was, it never appeared, either outbound or on the return)
The FAs entered the aisles with their carts, presented the trays and served your drink of choice. The silverware was, well, silver. Given that we were so far into the flight already, I wasn’t really interested in the food, but I was determined to try it out for the sake of this report. The “Caesar salad” was quite decent, but not really like any Caesar salad I’ve ever had before. I think it is fair to say it really was just a mix of lettuce and cheese. The dressing was more ranch than anything else. By the time the apps were cleared, the trolley was in the aisle again with the entrees. They started at the very front of the cabin, meaning a) we were the last ones to get serves, at which point only one of the three choices (the crepes) was left, and b) what was left was stone bloody cold. In any event, the crepes was just a plate full of cheese covered mush, with more peppers that anything else, and sadly I can’t eat peppers. So I polished off the flan and kicked back, declining tea, coffee and port.
Once the trays were cleared, the FAs hid again. Perhaps they were having their own meals. At three and a half hours into the flight (!!) they wheeled around a cart offering DigiPlayers. The main screen enterainment was already underway (for the second time, the first having been abandoned due to poor picture quality issues). They were showing The Fantastic Four on the main screen, although they shut this off in the J cabin after handing out the handheld units. I declined the DigiPlayer, as I just wanted to sleep at this point. However, the unit did seem to have a decent screen size and, from what I could tell, looking over at the guy next to me, a good choice of recent movies, plus TV shows, games and short features.
Sitting in row 7, I repeatedly heard the Velcro being pulled open on the dividing curtain immediately in my left ear. This got old very quickly. Coupled with the incessant squeaking of the overhead compartments during chop, I didn’t get much shut eye. Although the seat was extremely comfortable, I just couldn’t drop off. Apart from their movement up and down to the back of the plane, the FAs didn’t so much as look at the pax from the time they served dinner to the time breakfast was produced, about 2 hours prior to landing (way to early, given it was a cold breakfast and dinner was served so late). If you were hungry or thirsty during the cruise, there were some sodas, ice and water in the galley area that you could help yourself to. There was also a selection of some mysterious sandwiches, the smallness of which has to be seen to be believed. These things were the size of quarters, I kid you not!
The lights were turned on full blast before they started coming around with the carts for breakfast. The menu was as follows:
Fresh orange juice (from a carton)
Ham and cheese croissant
Fruit yogurt
Assorted breakfast breads, preserves and butter
(Curiously the menu also suggested a wine pairing for breakfast – the Veuve Clicquot again)
Pretty standard stuff, from the read of the menu, right? Well, it was bad. Ice cold, stale breads. The croissant was pathetic and inedible, and slathered in mayo. Getting a cup of tea was an ordeal, and forget about milk or cream. It’s powdered stuff or nothing – on all the flights. Getting a second cup of tea was impossible – even when I asked as my tray was being taken away, my request was ignored. Oh well.
We landed in BA on time. Deplaned quickly and cleared immigration. Our bags arrived in about 30 minutes, which wasn’t bad. No priority treatment for J baggage.
Overall, the flight was uneventful. Despite my inability to sleep, the seat was comfortable, and I have to keep telling myself that that is exactly what I paid for.
More to come. Will post the return trip log when I have time later this week.
As we had 3 and a half hours to kill, we were looking forward to kicking back in the lounge. We headed up to the MX lounge, which was, I think, on the 3rd floor. All the airline lounges are located in the same area, usually two to each floor. Our BPs were examined and we were waived into the lounge. The MX lounge is divided into two areas, for reasons which escape me. One is a smaller room, complete with TVs, computers with internet access, various Spanish language reading materials, very uncomfortable chairs and a few flat screen TVs. There is also a bar area which has a few small sandwiches and cookies on offer, along with a bar tender who will bring your choice of beverage to you at your seat. He didn’t speak English and I had a swine of a time making my very limited Spanish understood. The second part of the lounge is far bigger, and far busier. It has the same amenities, but also has a fully equipped gym, which was glass-fronted and totally devoid of users when we walked by. There is also a kids play room. The same uncomfortable chairs were in both rooms. There is no smoking area in either side of the facility. We decided we didn’t care much for the lounge, so we bumped down two levels to the Admirals Club. A much more relaxing and refined experience.
At 9pm, the AC closed and we undertook the epic voyage back down to the other end of the terminal to our gate. Boarding started at 9:45 and was pretty much the same organized chaos we witnessed at DFW. When we got to the gate agent, she asked us where our Mexican immigration forms were. We didn’t have any. This is where my blood pressure started to boil. We were told that, even though we were transit passengers, we had to clear Mexican immigration on arrival. She told us to run, fast as we could, from gate 4 back to gate 19 (where the lounge pavilion is), clear immigration and get back to the gate as quickly as we could. Carrying two heavy bags complete with laptops, etc., we booked it, fast as we could at 8,000 feet altitude (or whatever MEX is at), to immigration. Luckily, there were only three people in line before us. A very friendly immigration agent told us to get our rears in gear to get back to gate 4. He suggested waving down a buggy to get us there faster. Needless to say, there wasn’t a buggy to be had. So I took the bags, and the Mrs. took off as fast as she could to see if they could hold the plane for us. I ran as fast as I could, under the circumstances, probably injuring a few people along the way as I busted my way though the crowded terminal, two heavy, swinging bags in tow! The Mrs. arrived at the gate about 2 minutes before I did. She was told we were too late, and the flight had closed. Down the jet bridge, we could see the doors were still open. The gate agent must have enjoyed just busting our chops, because she relented within a minute or two, and allowed us to board. Dripping with sweat, and gasping for breath, we got on and plonked ourselves down in row 7, the last row in the J cabin. We sat there for a good 30 minutes before the doors were closed. A painful lesson learned – you have to clear immigration in MEX, regardless of whether your staying, or connecting. In my opinion, this is just absurd. Totally absurd.
The aircraft was a 767, which had certainly seen its fair share of service over the years. It wasn’t in bad shape, but it was evident from the dated walls and overhead panels that MX’s claim to having ‘the most modern fleet in the world’ (much touted in their advertising materials and IFE) is sorely betrayed by their 76’s.
The J cabin on this aircraft is huge. There are 7 rows of seats, 2x2x2, broken into a cabin of 4 rows forward of the entry door and 3 rows aft. Every seat was taken. The seats are blue, fabric covered types. The space between them seemed vast. I believe the pitch is 180cm/72 inches. They recline to about the same extent as the int’l J product on American 767’s (obviously I’m not talking about the NGBC product). This seemed to me to be an awful waste of aircraft real estate. With such a generous pitch, they could easily fit either a more suitable seat (i.e. a flat bed), or at least substantially increase the recline of what they already have. Even with the seats in front of me in full recline. It was no bother to get in or out of even the window seat.
The seat adjusts 3 ways using manual buttons. One button reclines the seat-back, one raises or lowers the leg rest, and one extends the leg rest. There is also a manual ‘flip out’ foot rest on the bottom of the leg rest, which can be height-adjusted. Again, there were winged headrests, but they suffered the same inability to retain their position as witnessed on the A318. Waiting for us on our seats was a pillow (a scrawny little thing of the sort you find on domestic, U.S. flights) and a blue blanket (again, very like a domestic U.S. blanket). There was also a bottle of water tucked into the seat-back pocket. Coats and jackets were collected and stored, while water, sparkling wine or juice were offered by another FA.
Take off was on time, after which the purser came around and introduced himself. A nice touch. Another FA then offered hot towels. Not the wet wipe type – proper cloth. I don’t know what they poured over the damn things, but the smell was disgusting. Not perfumed, it smelled like lamb or something equally unappealing on a wash cloth. Sadly, I didn’t realize it until I had slapped the thing up to my face, and the aroma haunted me for several minutes. Most bizarre!! Anyway, that was the last FA we saw until we were a whole two hours into our flight. Not so much as a drink was served during that time. When eventually they did surface, the FAs brought menu cards and amenity kits (socks, eye shade, lip balm, toothbrush, toothpaste and moisturizer).
The menu was as follows:
Appetizer:
Caesar and parmesan country salad with mixed tender lettuces, crushed black peppercorns, carrot strips, panela cheese, red onions and cherry tomatoes (Wine pairing: Veuve Clicquot)
Choice of:
Vegetarian crepes with a light tomato poblano salsa and manchego cheese (wine pairing: 3V)
or
Chicken breast with southeast essences, beans with epazote, tomato and a touch of red onion (wine pairing: 3V – they must work on commission with this stuff)
or
Beef filet marinated in soy and lime, served with wild rice with apple and celery, snow peas and béarnaise sauce (wine pairing: Malbec)
Assorted breads and butter
Dessert
Neapolitan flan
Coffee or herbal infusions (i.e. tea)
Chocolate l’Atelier du chocolat with a light flavor of mandarin (whatever this was, it never appeared, either outbound or on the return)
The FAs entered the aisles with their carts, presented the trays and served your drink of choice. The silverware was, well, silver. Given that we were so far into the flight already, I wasn’t really interested in the food, but I was determined to try it out for the sake of this report. The “Caesar salad” was quite decent, but not really like any Caesar salad I’ve ever had before. I think it is fair to say it really was just a mix of lettuce and cheese. The dressing was more ranch than anything else. By the time the apps were cleared, the trolley was in the aisle again with the entrees. They started at the very front of the cabin, meaning a) we were the last ones to get serves, at which point only one of the three choices (the crepes) was left, and b) what was left was stone bloody cold. In any event, the crepes was just a plate full of cheese covered mush, with more peppers that anything else, and sadly I can’t eat peppers. So I polished off the flan and kicked back, declining tea, coffee and port.
Once the trays were cleared, the FAs hid again. Perhaps they were having their own meals. At three and a half hours into the flight (!!) they wheeled around a cart offering DigiPlayers. The main screen enterainment was already underway (for the second time, the first having been abandoned due to poor picture quality issues). They were showing The Fantastic Four on the main screen, although they shut this off in the J cabin after handing out the handheld units. I declined the DigiPlayer, as I just wanted to sleep at this point. However, the unit did seem to have a decent screen size and, from what I could tell, looking over at the guy next to me, a good choice of recent movies, plus TV shows, games and short features.
Sitting in row 7, I repeatedly heard the Velcro being pulled open on the dividing curtain immediately in my left ear. This got old very quickly. Coupled with the incessant squeaking of the overhead compartments during chop, I didn’t get much shut eye. Although the seat was extremely comfortable, I just couldn’t drop off. Apart from their movement up and down to the back of the plane, the FAs didn’t so much as look at the pax from the time they served dinner to the time breakfast was produced, about 2 hours prior to landing (way to early, given it was a cold breakfast and dinner was served so late). If you were hungry or thirsty during the cruise, there were some sodas, ice and water in the galley area that you could help yourself to. There was also a selection of some mysterious sandwiches, the smallness of which has to be seen to be believed. These things were the size of quarters, I kid you not!
The lights were turned on full blast before they started coming around with the carts for breakfast. The menu was as follows:
Fresh orange juice (from a carton)
Ham and cheese croissant
Fruit yogurt
Assorted breakfast breads, preserves and butter
(Curiously the menu also suggested a wine pairing for breakfast – the Veuve Clicquot again)
Pretty standard stuff, from the read of the menu, right? Well, it was bad. Ice cold, stale breads. The croissant was pathetic and inedible, and slathered in mayo. Getting a cup of tea was an ordeal, and forget about milk or cream. It’s powdered stuff or nothing – on all the flights. Getting a second cup of tea was impossible – even when I asked as my tray was being taken away, my request was ignored. Oh well.
We landed in BA on time. Deplaned quickly and cleared immigration. Our bags arrived in about 30 minutes, which wasn’t bad. No priority treatment for J baggage.
Overall, the flight was uneventful. Despite my inability to sleep, the seat was comfortable, and I have to keep telling myself that that is exactly what I paid for.
More to come. Will post the return trip log when I have time later this week.
Oct 16, 2007, 5:37 pm
#3
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: Over the Bay Bridge, CA
Programs: Jumbo mas
Posts: 38,638
Yes it is. But then again, we do the same in the USA to our connecting pax, and IIRC, Canadia does too. I don't know of any other countries that do, but I'd be most curious to learn of this, as I'd not have expected your surprise @ MEX and have previously considered it as a connecting point to South America.
Oct 17, 2007, 11:02 am
#4
Join Date: Nov 2002
Location: DCA
Posts: 1,413
In this territory the US leads the way, and since it did not use to be this way in Mexico, they seem to be following the US' terrible example...
Oct 17, 2007, 2:39 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2006
Location: MLB
Posts: 445
Yes it is. But then again, we do the same in the USA to our connecting pax, and IIRC, Canadia does too. I don't know of any other countries that do, but I'd be most curious to learn of this, as I'd not have expected your surprise @ MEX and have previously considered it as a connecting point to South America.
Oct 19, 2007, 7:15 am
#6
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: Mid-Levels, Hong Kong
Programs: AA EXP, CX MPC GLD, MR PLT, SPG PLT, National Exec.
Posts: 686
First, Great report! Thanks for the info on MX.
My girlfriend and I just got back from BA day before yesterday and I had contemplated booking Mexicana because of the times to and from SFO. But opted for LAN and AA combo. All I can say is how glad I am I did that instead of Mexicana!
My girlfriend and I just got back from BA day before yesterday and I had contemplated booking Mexicana because of the times to and from SFO. But opted for LAN and AA combo. All I can say is how glad I am I did that instead of Mexicana!
Oct 22, 2007, 9:27 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2000
Location: AA-Plat 7 Mil, UA-Plat 2 Mil, BA - Silv., KLM/AF- Plat, Bonvoy-Plat.
Posts: 821
I did this same trip about a month ago....again because of the great fare. I was quite pleased with the service. The FAs were most attentive and the food from DFW-MEX was miles better than what I had on AA. I too was unaware of the necessary immigration formalities when transiting MEX but got lucky as they didn't make me clear immigration. They did however on the return. J class was only about half full going and coming on the MEX-EZE sectors and I too thought the seat was fine. I def. didn't wait two hours before I was served a drink. Supposedly they are getting new lie flatter seats next month so I'll report back on that. For $1200ish roundtrip one can hardly complain about the offerings. And supposedly they are going to match my AA EXP status so in the future I can buy a cheap economy ticket and be upgraded all the way to EZE for free 5 days in advance.
Jan 25, 2008, 11:30 am
#9
Suspended
Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 17,769
I did this same trip about a month ago....again because of the great fare. I was quite pleased with the service. The FAs were most attentive and the food from DFW-MEX was miles better than what I had on AA. I too was unaware of the necessary immigration formalities when transiting MEX but got lucky as they didn't make me clear immigration. They did however on the return. J class was only about half full going and coming on the MEX-EZE sectors and I too thought the seat was fine. I def. didn't wait two hours before I was served a drink. Supposedly they are getting new lie flatter seats next month so I'll report back on that. For $1200ish roundtrip one can hardly complain about the offerings. And supposedly they are going to match my AA EXP status so in the future I can buy a cheap economy ticket and be upgraded all the way to EZE for free 5 days in advance.
Jan 26, 2008, 1:52 pm
#10
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: BCN-BUE-PSA-GRU
Programs: BA Gold - A3 Gold - FB Gold - IHG Plat - SPG Gold -Hyatt Platinum
Posts: 1,581
Great to find this report as Im flying NYC-MEX-EZE-MEX-NYC next month. I was not expecting very much, at least comfortable seats for sleeping and some good movie.
If anyone had any recently experience on MX 767 I will like to hear it. BTW I saw that MX is going to fly MEX-MAD on a 340???
If anyone had any recently experience on MX 767 I will like to hear it. BTW I saw that MX is going to fly MEX-MAD on a 340???
Mar 16, 2008, 11:31 am
#11
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: Los Angeles
Programs: UA, skymiles, AAdvantage, continental one pass, ANA, Hilton, SPG
Posts: 411
just as an aside... i had an interesting experience booking mx from lax to cun (cancun) for xmas. (only alaska or mx goes nonstop from la to cancun) i originally did it by booking by phone with mex. it was about 2 grand a person for their business class. i know how stuff goes so i'd book it to at least hold it. Then a few weeks later i checked on line. their business r/t was now 800 bucks. what? so i called mx and spoke with an agent. i told him how much the price changed. so he goes, "yeah, so what do you want?" i laughed and said "i'd like the cheaper one". So we had to cancel my old one and book a new one. what a price difference.
look, if i was depending on my flight for business in mexico i might fly alaska. this is a vacation. no connecting flights. if the whole thing is an hour late i wont sweat it. i've learned through this forum to bring a snack on the plane and try to roll with it. my impression can only go up from there.
i hear they have new portable ife's for biz class. i hear the food can be great. i look forward to checking it out.
look, if i was depending on my flight for business in mexico i might fly alaska. this is a vacation. no connecting flights. if the whole thing is an hour late i wont sweat it. i've learned through this forum to bring a snack on the plane and try to roll with it. my impression can only go up from there.
i hear they have new portable ife's for biz class. i hear the food can be great. i look forward to checking it out.
Mar 22, 2008, 4:49 pm
#13
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,688
odd thing, though, is that he made it out from the first gate without being forced into customs...my recollection of flying into any American airport from abroad is that you are forced to go through customs due to the gate/terminal design. I can see the confusion if the OP managed to get out of the arriving gate and roam freely through the airport without having to cross customs/immigration.