Buenos Aires Via Mexico City on Aeromexico Business Class
Nov 29, 2013, 2:21 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
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Posts: 407
Buenos Aires Via Mexico City on Aeromexico Business Class
TRIP REPORT ARGENTINA VIA MEXICO CITY - AEROMEXICO
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
AEROMEXICO
AM 409
Aircraft: 787-8
Actual seat: 3C
Depart: JFK John F Kennedy airport
Arrive:MEX (Benito_Juárez_International_Airport)
Sched.Departure: 3:00pm Actual Departure : 3:00pm
Sched.Arrival: 7:55pm Actual arrival: 6:59pm
Thanksgiving Weekend and instead of spending time stuffing my face with turkey, I am heading to the warmth of Argentina. This is my final continent to visit and I can't believe it's taken this long for me to get to South America but with fares in Business class quite low during thanksgiving, why not take a few days and explore Buenos Aires. Another first I get to fly with Aeromexico. Normally I am always on Delta metal but Aeromexico (apart of Skyteam) was far cheaper and has the new Boeing 787.
Surprisingly there is not a lot of travel reports with Aeromexico nor much about Aeromexico's Boeing 787.
Three reasons for this trip, first time to Argentina, first time on Aeromexico and first time on the 787.
My travel day begins...
Surprisingly, I thought the traffic would be bad heading to JFK on the busiest travel day of the year, but 20mins from the upper west side (Manhattan) I was at JFK terminal 1 and 2.5hrs early. After a short wait, quick check-in by the friendly agent I headed towards the main security check point which was packed but in the middle was a row for business Class/First Class. After 5-10 min wait I was finally in front of the cold TSA agent, but this time they were not yelling, nor asking me my full name, just a nod and handed back my passport and boarding pass, moments later I was through security. I miss Pre-check though. Terminal 1 is only International flights and no US Carriers.
Aeromexico uses the Air France lounge for their premier customers and as a skyteam Elite Plus member (diamond medallion Delta) I have the options of Korean Air and the Alitalia lounge but since I have been to the other skyteam lounges before I decided to stay in the AF lounge, especially since they have (French) champagne.
The last time I was in the lounge, I was flying late on AF to Paris, but at 12:45pm there was not much in the food department, in fact with utter disappointment there was only chips and cupanoodles for lunch. Definitely not premium affaires. I was quiet looking forward to the petite fours. Needless to say I grabbed some noodles filled up my glass or two of champagne and began to relax. After what seemed like a bottle to myself I was loving the chips and noodles on offer ha.
Air France lounge
noodles and chips
glass of champagne
About 45mins before boarding I checked expertflyer to see how full the plane was and the plane was at 20% in Premier and 40% full in coach, but at boarding it was 100% full up front.
After 2 hours and a bottle or three, boarding was called. I had heard Aeromexico does not serve pre-boarding champagne so, why not get nice and relaxed before the flight, quick shot and off to the gate I went
I was one of the last passengers to board, and the excitement of boarding the brand new Boeing 787 and my first trip to South America was making me feel like a little school boy waiting to see Star Wars for the first time.
Aeromexico Dreamliner
Once on Board I was greeted and turned left to see a full front cabin. Right away the ambience of the plane was quite elegant. Everyone was already seated and my seatmate a beautiful young sophisticated Mexican women (and perhaps filthy rich, wearing all prada with a gap t-shirt) let me slide into my seat 3A. The seats face towards the windows, by the way which are huge! The Seats are nice with a ledge to the left (in line with the bottom of the headrest) with an outlet, usb port and headphone jack. In front a large 16inch video screen with a port to plug in your iPod, laptop to view on the large screen. I noticed my footwell was much smaller than my seat mate. Before I could explore more, the flight attendants was offering, water and orange (as I predicted from a couple other reports) but right next to that. CHAMPAGNE! They were offering all three and in glasses. Of course I helped myself to a glass.
Pre-Departure champagne
16 inch screen
window seat (tight)
Boarding door was closed and we pushed back on time heading toward the runway. The weather on the East coast was bad today with snow, sleet and rain but we soon took off a few moments after departing the gate. The climb was expectedly very turbulent.
cold heavy rainy day to travel
About 20mins later the crew began their service and were offering beverages as well as handing out menu's and headphones. I did not try the headphone since I have my own Bose, but I will try them on the trip back and report back. The crew were friendly but not overly talkative, which I can only assume since I spoke in English. I do speak some broken spanish but didn't wait to make a fool of myself but they always smiled at me, maybe because I always give a huge smile back, or maybe because I am always buzzed with champagne! Joke...ok maybe sometimes... when I travel. ha
Champagne, cola light and nuts (not warm)
Forward section of 787 Dreamliner
I was not sure what to expect for dining, but needless to say I was looking forward to it. I also noticed on the Menu that they only serve pre-departure champagne on international flight excluding the US (except for flight to and from New York JFK). Now I know why the other reports I have read from LAX did not get champagne. I love NY.
I ordered the Beef and was expecting somewhat of a 3 course meal but unfortunately the salad, main coarse and the dessert were all on one try. The salad was a little pathetic and I must admit the presentation was not the best. Delta certainly doesn't provided much more of a higher standard in courses served on board. But then again I have never flown Delta to Mexico which is often not considered BusinessElite flights, so maybe this was as good as it gets on flight from the US to Mexico. The Salad was mediocre but the beef was succulent and the tirimasu divine, even though it was tiny. My champagne was always full and my happy buzz was continuing delightfully.
Dinner
Once the tray was collected they brought out cheese, fruit and crackers as well as ice-cream served on a dessert cart. I was smiling ear to ear or maybe because I finally hit the "I am drunk" face. So I needed to switch it up and ordered a Bailey's Irish cream with my ice-cream.
icecream
They say the cabin pressure and moisture is much better for you on the Boeing 787 but I did not notice it as much, maybe easier to breath through my nose and ear pressure was not so great or maybe the point was to not feel much difference than being on the ground.
There are 2 lavatories in premier, one in the front and one right at the boarding door 2L. It literally opens up to the boarding door. The door to the bathroom is quite unique, it's a full door rather than a concertina fold style but still ones the same way flush up agains the wall. The bathroom had a wonderful smell of potpourri and view out the window to the engine. The toilet was automatic and as well has as a hand wave sensor. The faucet also was hand wave sensor.
toilet window
Engine
The windows on the plane are huge and they aren't scratched and greasy, either. The views were spectacularly clear.The window dimmers don't work on the ground but once in the air you can dim them. I had read about the new windows and wondered how it all worked. The windows let in a lot of light and as you push the button it becomes darker, like a blue light. But when you go all the way to black out or more like blue out it still lets in the light, it's ok but think it would bother me to not have a dark cabin for overnight flights with the early morning sun.
window at its darkest
window at its darkest - engine
Since the front of the cabin was full, I didn't want to get out my SLR camera to take pics, so I was using my iPhone, and of course with the new seats upfront if you drop something in between you could be S%%*outofluck and that moment of thought, my dumb ... dropped the iPhone right between the seat and the hard wall as I was pushing the button to put the seat into full flat bed.
Great I could imagine getting to Mexico City and having to have maintenance come on board and pull the seat apart and maybe the thought of missing my connection to Argentina. Idiot I am! The beautiful young women offered to help me and we tried everything to reach behind but alas nothing. I spoke to the female flight attendants and they gave me an ice tong. Yeah don't think thats going to work. I tried, again, fail. I went to hand back the tongs and the male purser said he would help.
I was not sure how but I was hoping. As he worked to figure out how to get it, I kept waiting for him to give-up and let maintenance deal with it. Thats the attitude I sometimes would get on an American/Canadian/Australian airline but he was not giving up. He worked every angle trying to rip the seat apart but couldn't quite get it, but with me holding the cushions up, another flight attendant with a coat hanger and Antonio laying on the floor with a flashlight we were getting close. It was not working, so I grabbed the plastic coat hanger and snapped it and we tried again this time with the coat hanger acting like a hook. A few minutes later, my iPhone was back in my hands. I was so ever grateful for their customer service. It took 20 minutes or so but we got it back.
AVOD on Aeromexico B787 are not as substantial as Delta's international configured aircrafts. (This 787 currently flies to New York, Paris and Tokyo) but did have 4 options of new releases and about couple of choices of classic films. The moving map, wasn't working. Interestingly there is chat feature of the entertainment system with 4 people ready to chat, perhaps mingle but it also felt a little odd so I decided not to partake.
30mins before landing announcements were made and I filled out the landing card. Aeromexico has a new terminal at MEX and everyone now has to transit through immigration and customs, like the US. Once off the plane and through the jet bridge (which reminds me why don't we have glass air bridges like the they do in Europe and Mexico, Argentina in the US)? I headed to towards immigration.
arrival Mexico City
The way the immigration desks are set up, they are not as intimating at US immigration. In fact the booths seems like low information desk spread across an open floor. To the left, Foreigners and to the Right Mexicanos. A quick scan of my passport and landing card placed in my passport, she waved me on. Very easy process. I picked up my luggage and headed to customs. There is a customs officers standing at a machine and instructs you to push the buzzer. If lights up green you go on, if it lights up red, you get searched. Right there and then I felt like I was in some sic-fi thriller, my destiny awaits with a simple push of a button.
Jackpot, I got the green. I placed my luggage on the x-ray machine, though I saw people walk past them with their luggage. Little confused by this, but will have to pay more attention on the trip back. I dropped the luggage off at the transfer desk then up an escalator to security then into Terminal 2.
Pretty quick process, of course having airside transit would be better but this was relatively painless. It did help that I was one of the first foreigners off the plane, no wait at immigration and priority tags worked well with my luggage first off the belt.
All in all so far my perception of Aeromexico is quite positive. My connection flight to EZE however is on the older 767-200. What will that be like...
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
AEROMEXICO
AM 409
Aircraft: 787-8
Actual seat: 3C
Depart: JFK John F Kennedy airport
Arrive:MEX (Benito_Juárez_International_Airport)
Sched.Departure: 3:00pm Actual Departure : 3:00pm
Sched.Arrival: 7:55pm Actual arrival: 6:59pm
Thanksgiving Weekend and instead of spending time stuffing my face with turkey, I am heading to the warmth of Argentina. This is my final continent to visit and I can't believe it's taken this long for me to get to South America but with fares in Business class quite low during thanksgiving, why not take a few days and explore Buenos Aires. Another first I get to fly with Aeromexico. Normally I am always on Delta metal but Aeromexico (apart of Skyteam) was far cheaper and has the new Boeing 787.
Surprisingly there is not a lot of travel reports with Aeromexico nor much about Aeromexico's Boeing 787.
Three reasons for this trip, first time to Argentina, first time on Aeromexico and first time on the 787.
My travel day begins...
Surprisingly, I thought the traffic would be bad heading to JFK on the busiest travel day of the year, but 20mins from the upper west side (Manhattan) I was at JFK terminal 1 and 2.5hrs early. After a short wait, quick check-in by the friendly agent I headed towards the main security check point which was packed but in the middle was a row for business Class/First Class. After 5-10 min wait I was finally in front of the cold TSA agent, but this time they were not yelling, nor asking me my full name, just a nod and handed back my passport and boarding pass, moments later I was through security. I miss Pre-check though. Terminal 1 is only International flights and no US Carriers.
Aeromexico uses the Air France lounge for their premier customers and as a skyteam Elite Plus member (diamond medallion Delta) I have the options of Korean Air and the Alitalia lounge but since I have been to the other skyteam lounges before I decided to stay in the AF lounge, especially since they have (French) champagne.
The last time I was in the lounge, I was flying late on AF to Paris, but at 12:45pm there was not much in the food department, in fact with utter disappointment there was only chips and cupanoodles for lunch. Definitely not premium affaires. I was quiet looking forward to the petite fours. Needless to say I grabbed some noodles filled up my glass or two of champagne and began to relax. After what seemed like a bottle to myself I was loving the chips and noodles on offer ha.
Air France lounge
noodles and chips
glass of champagne
About 45mins before boarding I checked expertflyer to see how full the plane was and the plane was at 20% in Premier and 40% full in coach, but at boarding it was 100% full up front.
After 2 hours and a bottle or three, boarding was called. I had heard Aeromexico does not serve pre-boarding champagne so, why not get nice and relaxed before the flight, quick shot and off to the gate I went
I was one of the last passengers to board, and the excitement of boarding the brand new Boeing 787 and my first trip to South America was making me feel like a little school boy waiting to see Star Wars for the first time.
Aeromexico Dreamliner
Once on Board I was greeted and turned left to see a full front cabin. Right away the ambience of the plane was quite elegant. Everyone was already seated and my seatmate a beautiful young sophisticated Mexican women (and perhaps filthy rich, wearing all prada with a gap t-shirt) let me slide into my seat 3A. The seats face towards the windows, by the way which are huge! The Seats are nice with a ledge to the left (in line with the bottom of the headrest) with an outlet, usb port and headphone jack. In front a large 16inch video screen with a port to plug in your iPod, laptop to view on the large screen. I noticed my footwell was much smaller than my seat mate. Before I could explore more, the flight attendants was offering, water and orange (as I predicted from a couple other reports) but right next to that. CHAMPAGNE! They were offering all three and in glasses. Of course I helped myself to a glass.
Pre-Departure champagne
16 inch screen
window seat (tight)
Boarding door was closed and we pushed back on time heading toward the runway. The weather on the East coast was bad today with snow, sleet and rain but we soon took off a few moments after departing the gate. The climb was expectedly very turbulent.
cold heavy rainy day to travel
About 20mins later the crew began their service and were offering beverages as well as handing out menu's and headphones. I did not try the headphone since I have my own Bose, but I will try them on the trip back and report back. The crew were friendly but not overly talkative, which I can only assume since I spoke in English. I do speak some broken spanish but didn't wait to make a fool of myself but they always smiled at me, maybe because I always give a huge smile back, or maybe because I am always buzzed with champagne! Joke...ok maybe sometimes... when I travel. ha
Champagne, cola light and nuts (not warm)
Forward section of 787 Dreamliner
I was not sure what to expect for dining, but needless to say I was looking forward to it. I also noticed on the Menu that they only serve pre-departure champagne on international flight excluding the US (except for flight to and from New York JFK). Now I know why the other reports I have read from LAX did not get champagne. I love NY.
I ordered the Beef and was expecting somewhat of a 3 course meal but unfortunately the salad, main coarse and the dessert were all on one try. The salad was a little pathetic and I must admit the presentation was not the best. Delta certainly doesn't provided much more of a higher standard in courses served on board. But then again I have never flown Delta to Mexico which is often not considered BusinessElite flights, so maybe this was as good as it gets on flight from the US to Mexico. The Salad was mediocre but the beef was succulent and the tirimasu divine, even though it was tiny. My champagne was always full and my happy buzz was continuing delightfully.
Dinner
Once the tray was collected they brought out cheese, fruit and crackers as well as ice-cream served on a dessert cart. I was smiling ear to ear or maybe because I finally hit the "I am drunk" face. So I needed to switch it up and ordered a Bailey's Irish cream with my ice-cream.
icecream
They say the cabin pressure and moisture is much better for you on the Boeing 787 but I did not notice it as much, maybe easier to breath through my nose and ear pressure was not so great or maybe the point was to not feel much difference than being on the ground.
There are 2 lavatories in premier, one in the front and one right at the boarding door 2L. It literally opens up to the boarding door. The door to the bathroom is quite unique, it's a full door rather than a concertina fold style but still ones the same way flush up agains the wall. The bathroom had a wonderful smell of potpourri and view out the window to the engine. The toilet was automatic and as well has as a hand wave sensor. The faucet also was hand wave sensor.
toilet window
Engine
The windows on the plane are huge and they aren't scratched and greasy, either. The views were spectacularly clear.The window dimmers don't work on the ground but once in the air you can dim them. I had read about the new windows and wondered how it all worked. The windows let in a lot of light and as you push the button it becomes darker, like a blue light. But when you go all the way to black out or more like blue out it still lets in the light, it's ok but think it would bother me to not have a dark cabin for overnight flights with the early morning sun.
window at its darkest
window at its darkest - engine
Since the front of the cabin was full, I didn't want to get out my SLR camera to take pics, so I was using my iPhone, and of course with the new seats upfront if you drop something in between you could be S%%*outofluck and that moment of thought, my dumb ... dropped the iPhone right between the seat and the hard wall as I was pushing the button to put the seat into full flat bed.
Great I could imagine getting to Mexico City and having to have maintenance come on board and pull the seat apart and maybe the thought of missing my connection to Argentina. Idiot I am! The beautiful young women offered to help me and we tried everything to reach behind but alas nothing. I spoke to the female flight attendants and they gave me an ice tong. Yeah don't think thats going to work. I tried, again, fail. I went to hand back the tongs and the male purser said he would help.
I was not sure how but I was hoping. As he worked to figure out how to get it, I kept waiting for him to give-up and let maintenance deal with it. Thats the attitude I sometimes would get on an American/Canadian/Australian airline but he was not giving up. He worked every angle trying to rip the seat apart but couldn't quite get it, but with me holding the cushions up, another flight attendant with a coat hanger and Antonio laying on the floor with a flashlight we were getting close. It was not working, so I grabbed the plastic coat hanger and snapped it and we tried again this time with the coat hanger acting like a hook. A few minutes later, my iPhone was back in my hands. I was so ever grateful for their customer service. It took 20 minutes or so but we got it back.
AVOD on Aeromexico B787 are not as substantial as Delta's international configured aircrafts. (This 787 currently flies to New York, Paris and Tokyo) but did have 4 options of new releases and about couple of choices of classic films. The moving map, wasn't working. Interestingly there is chat feature of the entertainment system with 4 people ready to chat, perhaps mingle but it also felt a little odd so I decided not to partake.
30mins before landing announcements were made and I filled out the landing card. Aeromexico has a new terminal at MEX and everyone now has to transit through immigration and customs, like the US. Once off the plane and through the jet bridge (which reminds me why don't we have glass air bridges like the they do in Europe and Mexico, Argentina in the US)? I headed to towards immigration.
arrival Mexico City
The way the immigration desks are set up, they are not as intimating at US immigration. In fact the booths seems like low information desk spread across an open floor. To the left, Foreigners and to the Right Mexicanos. A quick scan of my passport and landing card placed in my passport, she waved me on. Very easy process. I picked up my luggage and headed to customs. There is a customs officers standing at a machine and instructs you to push the buzzer. If lights up green you go on, if it lights up red, you get searched. Right there and then I felt like I was in some sic-fi thriller, my destiny awaits with a simple push of a button.
Jackpot, I got the green. I placed my luggage on the x-ray machine, though I saw people walk past them with their luggage. Little confused by this, but will have to pay more attention on the trip back. I dropped the luggage off at the transfer desk then up an escalator to security then into Terminal 2.
Pretty quick process, of course having airside transit would be better but this was relatively painless. It did help that I was one of the first foreigners off the plane, no wait at immigration and priority tags worked well with my luggage first off the belt.
All in all so far my perception of Aeromexico is quite positive. My connection flight to EZE however is on the older 767-200. What will that be like...
Last edited by nycflyer75; Mar 2, 2014 at 5:08 pm
Nov 29, 2013, 2:24 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
Programs: DL DM 1MM, DL reserve, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 407
PART 2.
TRIP REPORT ARGENTINA VIA MEXICO CITY
AEROMEXICO
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
After making it into the departure area of MEX I walked around for a few minutes checking out what they had on offer. They seem to offer a large Duty Free area with Duty Free electronics across the way. Upstairs theres a restaurant (forgot the name) and a "chili's too" which looked like a regular chili's not sure for the name. There were a few lounges side by side with Aeromexico Premier lounge next to the cool entrance to the American Express lounge. One thing to note, there is a domestic and international side to MEX terminal 2, yet they are both past security so not sure why there's an international side and a domestic side. You can walk to either side. There is also two Aeromexico lounges one for the international side and one for the domestic side. Since I will be transiting at MEX on the way back to JFK I thought I would relax in the International lounge then check out the domestic one on the way back.
I was greeted at the entrance and walked around to find somewhere to sit. The place was getting packed, soon enough I found myself somewhere to sit and before I could get comfortable, a server come up to me asked if I wanted anything. I am not sure how it all worked thinking it might be an extra paid service so I declined.
The self service bar had premium liquor with tequila being prominent and selection of wine. There were two cold dishes and snacks available, nothing special but enough to satisfy the tummy. Since I was sobering up from too much champagne, I decided to stick to Cola light for the time being.
The wait staff seemed to always be there when someone needed something and were quite efficient. The same waiter who had approached me before asked if I would like my quiche and panini heated up, but I declined. But moments later I thought it would have been nice to have it heated up, but oh well.
bar inside the international lounge
self service
I began working on my laptop for the next 2hr and then it was time to board. I headed over to the gate (which happened to be in the domestic side). They had already boarded most of the aircraft when I showed up. Passing the line to the premier line I was warmly greeted and handed over my passport with my boarding pass and Mexico landing card. She looked at my passport and asked me to see her colleague at the desk, which I assumed was to check I had the print out of repriocity fee paid. All US, Canadian and Australian passport holders must pay a reciprocity fee to enter Argentina. It is retaliation to make Argentines pay to enter these 3 countries. I showed my printout and off I went to board the 767-200 in Skyteam livery.
AEROMEXICO
AM 28
Aircraft: 767-200
Actual seat: 3D
Depart: MEX Benito_Juárez_International_Airport
Arrive: EZE Ministro Pistarini International Airport
Sched.Departure: 10:55pm Actual Departure : 11:35pm
Sched.Arrival: 11:20am Actual arrival: 11:20am
Boarding was through the front door 1L into the old plane. Right away you can tell the seats are not as wide as they on the Boeing 787 and quite close to your seatmate. Settled in to my seat and right away offered water, orange juice and of course my favorite...Champagne.
no AVOD on this 767-200 aircraft
Pre departure Champagne
The forward cabin was 100% full tonight. Normally I prefer window seats but since this was an overnight flight I decided on the Aisle in the middle section so I could get up when I wanted to and not have climb over my seatmate. Boarding was completed on time and they shut the cabin door, however we sat at the gate for over 30mins, which I can only assume we didn't want to arrive too early into EZE. The flight attendants came around and handed out the amenities kits which were more like iPad bags. Totally not a fan of these amenities kit, perhaps reusable for something else, but definitely not a fan.
Amenities kit
Amenities kit
Once we were airborne the flight attendants were quick to get on their feet and serve drinks and dinner. Most of the cabin went to sleep and quite frankly I was tired too but since this was a new airline for me, I had to stay up and try what they had to offer and of course report back to my fellow flyertalkers. I order but of course champagne, but no nuts served this time. After drinks, I was offered an iPad for my entertainment, and it too did not have much of a selection but I took one anyway.
lay flat bed 170degrees
ipad
Dinner was served, again all on one try, but quite frankly it was a late flight that better to serve it all in one hit so get some rest eye. The meal was delicious but the crockery for Aeromexico could be updated to something little more fresh and modern.
Dinner
Chocolate Cake
A quick note, there is only 1 bathroom for all of Premier which I found odd, I would assume at least 2 bathrooms. While I was waiting in line I struck up a short conversation with one of the passengers, who seemed familiar to me but nonetheless I thought nothing of it. He was sitting right next to me. When I came out of the bathroom another passenger was talking a pic of them together.
Ready to sleep, I thought about scanning the iPad for some movies and right there was a movie starring my seatmate. Gael García Bernal. I remember him in a few movies. Cool! Anyway I never made it through any of the movies, I pretty much crashed for the night. In fact I slept right through Breakfast and woke up on initial decent. So I can't report on that, though they did give me some Cafe con leche before we landed.
Tired but excited, I had landed in South America and was looking very much to experiencing Buenos Aires. When we got to the gate and announcement was made for all American, Canadian and Australian citizen to see the gate agent when stepping off the aircraft. I showed my receipt and off I went to immigration and customs. Hola Argentina!
TRIP REPORT ARGENTINA VIA MEXICO CITY
AEROMEXICO
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
After making it into the departure area of MEX I walked around for a few minutes checking out what they had on offer. They seem to offer a large Duty Free area with Duty Free electronics across the way. Upstairs theres a restaurant (forgot the name) and a "chili's too" which looked like a regular chili's not sure for the name. There were a few lounges side by side with Aeromexico Premier lounge next to the cool entrance to the American Express lounge. One thing to note, there is a domestic and international side to MEX terminal 2, yet they are both past security so not sure why there's an international side and a domestic side. You can walk to either side. There is also two Aeromexico lounges one for the international side and one for the domestic side. Since I will be transiting at MEX on the way back to JFK I thought I would relax in the International lounge then check out the domestic one on the way back.
I was greeted at the entrance and walked around to find somewhere to sit. The place was getting packed, soon enough I found myself somewhere to sit and before I could get comfortable, a server come up to me asked if I wanted anything. I am not sure how it all worked thinking it might be an extra paid service so I declined.
The self service bar had premium liquor with tequila being prominent and selection of wine. There were two cold dishes and snacks available, nothing special but enough to satisfy the tummy. Since I was sobering up from too much champagne, I decided to stick to Cola light for the time being.
The wait staff seemed to always be there when someone needed something and were quite efficient. The same waiter who had approached me before asked if I would like my quiche and panini heated up, but I declined. But moments later I thought it would have been nice to have it heated up, but oh well.
bar inside the international lounge
self service
I began working on my laptop for the next 2hr and then it was time to board. I headed over to the gate (which happened to be in the domestic side). They had already boarded most of the aircraft when I showed up. Passing the line to the premier line I was warmly greeted and handed over my passport with my boarding pass and Mexico landing card. She looked at my passport and asked me to see her colleague at the desk, which I assumed was to check I had the print out of repriocity fee paid. All US, Canadian and Australian passport holders must pay a reciprocity fee to enter Argentina. It is retaliation to make Argentines pay to enter these 3 countries. I showed my printout and off I went to board the 767-200 in Skyteam livery.
AEROMEXICO
AM 28
Aircraft: 767-200
Actual seat: 3D
Depart: MEX Benito_Juárez_International_Airport
Arrive: EZE Ministro Pistarini International Airport
Sched.Departure: 10:55pm Actual Departure : 11:35pm
Sched.Arrival: 11:20am Actual arrival: 11:20am
Boarding was through the front door 1L into the old plane. Right away you can tell the seats are not as wide as they on the Boeing 787 and quite close to your seatmate. Settled in to my seat and right away offered water, orange juice and of course my favorite...Champagne.
no AVOD on this 767-200 aircraft
Pre departure Champagne
The forward cabin was 100% full tonight. Normally I prefer window seats but since this was an overnight flight I decided on the Aisle in the middle section so I could get up when I wanted to and not have climb over my seatmate. Boarding was completed on time and they shut the cabin door, however we sat at the gate for over 30mins, which I can only assume we didn't want to arrive too early into EZE. The flight attendants came around and handed out the amenities kits which were more like iPad bags. Totally not a fan of these amenities kit, perhaps reusable for something else, but definitely not a fan.
Amenities kit
Amenities kit
Once we were airborne the flight attendants were quick to get on their feet and serve drinks and dinner. Most of the cabin went to sleep and quite frankly I was tired too but since this was a new airline for me, I had to stay up and try what they had to offer and of course report back to my fellow flyertalkers. I order but of course champagne, but no nuts served this time. After drinks, I was offered an iPad for my entertainment, and it too did not have much of a selection but I took one anyway.
lay flat bed 170degrees
ipad
Dinner was served, again all on one try, but quite frankly it was a late flight that better to serve it all in one hit so get some rest eye. The meal was delicious but the crockery for Aeromexico could be updated to something little more fresh and modern.
Dinner
Chocolate Cake
A quick note, there is only 1 bathroom for all of Premier which I found odd, I would assume at least 2 bathrooms. While I was waiting in line I struck up a short conversation with one of the passengers, who seemed familiar to me but nonetheless I thought nothing of it. He was sitting right next to me. When I came out of the bathroom another passenger was talking a pic of them together.
Ready to sleep, I thought about scanning the iPad for some movies and right there was a movie starring my seatmate. Gael García Bernal. I remember him in a few movies. Cool! Anyway I never made it through any of the movies, I pretty much crashed for the night. In fact I slept right through Breakfast and woke up on initial decent. So I can't report on that, though they did give me some Cafe con leche before we landed.
Tired but excited, I had landed in South America and was looking very much to experiencing Buenos Aires. When we got to the gate and announcement was made for all American, Canadian and Australian citizen to see the gate agent when stepping off the aircraft. I showed my receipt and off I went to immigration and customs. Hola Argentina!
Last edited by nycflyer75; Mar 2, 2014 at 5:05 pm
Dec 2, 2013, 5:38 pm
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
Programs: DL DM 1MM, DL reserve, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 407
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
HOTEL BOCA BY DESIGN SUITES
Arrival in Buenos Aires
When arriving in Argentina, you have to have your photo taken and thumb print recorded for entry. Interestingly, I filled out the customs form that was handed to me on the aircraft and in one of the section was a question regarding declaring your cell phone, make, model and series. I found this to be a very odd question but nevertheless I filled out the form. The immigration officer didn't even look at my customs form and just handed it back to me. Stamped, I was finally in Argentina. Walking towards Baggage claim, there's a duty free store filled with a large selection of items, everything priced in US dollars. I only spent a moment looking around before I heard the belt begin. soon enough my bags appeared and I headed to customs. When I got to the X-ray machine before exiting customs I thought I would hand it in my form, but nope that never happened. Actually it was a pretty easy ride through.
When exiting customs, to the left is Taxi's and Remis (car service/limo). I decided to get a car service there since I wanted to pay with a credit card. 295 Argentinean pesos. I was met with a man who escorted me out into the beautiful sunny warm Buenos Aires air to what I thought would be nice car service, but in fact it was a regular small car. Once in the car, the driver drove like he was a formula 1 car race driver, I am used to NYC cabs but this guy made me put my belt on and had my hands in a brace position!
It was pretty smooth Fast and Furious, but smooth traffic until we reached to 9 July Ave. which was absolute chaos. I felt like I was in Napoli, Italy. 45min later we pulled up to the hotel and a delightful bell boy grabbed my suitcase and I entered the Hotel Boca Junior suites.
The hotel is what I think one of the first Soccer (Football) themed hotels. Honestly I didn't book the hotel for soccer, in fact I have never watched a game and the only soccer player I know is David Beckham. I picked this hotel after reading reviews on trip advisor and also or the awesome price for a suite. I normally only stay at Hilton hotels or SPG hotels since I have status with both hotels, but those prices were through the roof and for the hotel boca, Breakfast and high speed internet were included in the price. The other hotels were triple the price.
The hotel is an a small alley way which is close to the InterContinental hotel. It's one block from 9 Julio ave and there are several mini-marts and banks to get cash out.
Check in was complete and I was able to enter my room right away since it was 12pm. The elevators are quite small and the lighting, well lets just say if you go up with beer goggles from the bar you sure will see crystal clear including your pores with the industrial lighting, but the minute the doors open you enter a floor like a corridor to a club, the lighting is dark with large humans size paintings of perhaps famous soccer players. Once you enter the room it quite large. Simplistic but very nice. The lighting was beautiful with a large floor to ceiling windows are completely across the room. Unfortunately I was on the 4th floor so no view other than to an office a building across the little alley.
Hotel Boca
Lounge area
Restaurant/bar
bar
hallway
Mini-bar
Chairs
bedroom
TV
The bathroom was quite large with subtle lighting and had nice amenities; shampoo, conditioner, shower-cap, tissues and shower-gel. It also had a Bedit and nice deep jacuzzi. Great water pressure too. The power outlets at the hotel are the three prong australian style outlets and the bed was nice and comfortable but the bedding could have been a little better quality. On the desk was a wonderful Nespresso machine, which I thought was apart of the service of the hotel but it wasn't and cost 28 Pesos per serving.
amenities
Bath
coffee machine
The layout of the hotel is pretty cool, on the 1st floor is the gym manned by a buff fitness guy and the equipment basic but high quality weights, and machines. There is a nice pool area with an outdoor tanning area.
Pool
Gym
On the main floor is a nice seating area next to a bar, and a restaurant. The hotel is very aesthetically pleasing and the staff are very accommodating and can transition smoothly right into perfect English.
Breakfast at the hotel is included and there is a smorgasbord of pastries, fruit, cold cuts and cheeses as well as hot dishes - Bacon and scrambled eggs. I read reports that it was only a continental breakfast so I was surprised to see two hot dishes. The eggs were a little runny but the bacon scrumptious. But my favorite was the Argentine Pastries. In fact I took several of the pastries back to the room for afternoon tea each day. I am not sure what they are called but they had the most amazing taste of Dulce de leche chocolate covered soft cookie thingy I have ever tasted. Nothing compared anything we get in the United States. I pretty much couldn't stop eating them. Deliciouso!
breakfast bar
breakfast bar 2
eggs
outside Breakfast area
I was pretty surprised that room service was so cheap, actually in general food is extremely cheap in Argentina. I went out to dinner with an old friend of mine from New York who now lives in Argentina and after a night out of an amazing BBQ meat place and bottle, yes a bottle of wine at 207 pesos ($33) for two people. Amazing. The bottle of wine in NYC alone would have been about $60. It was also one of the best meals I have ever had.
I throughly enjoyed the food and the empanadas are incredible. They are baked with much more flavorful filling than the ones I have had in NYC. One of my nights in Buenos Aires, I decided to order in after an exhausting day sightseeing , I was pretty surprised that room service was so cheap, actually in general food is extremely cheap in Argentina. The food was delicious but what really blew me away was the Dulce De Leche Ice Cream, it was incredible. Now living in a city of NY that is so diverse that I can't find ice cream like this, or maybe I just don't know where to look, but most certainly I have to have more of it.
Hamburger
ice cream
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
HOTEL BOCA BY DESIGN SUITES
Arrival in Buenos Aires
When arriving in Argentina, you have to have your photo taken and thumb print recorded for entry. Interestingly, I filled out the customs form that was handed to me on the aircraft and in one of the section was a question regarding declaring your cell phone, make, model and series. I found this to be a very odd question but nevertheless I filled out the form. The immigration officer didn't even look at my customs form and just handed it back to me. Stamped, I was finally in Argentina. Walking towards Baggage claim, there's a duty free store filled with a large selection of items, everything priced in US dollars. I only spent a moment looking around before I heard the belt begin. soon enough my bags appeared and I headed to customs. When I got to the X-ray machine before exiting customs I thought I would hand it in my form, but nope that never happened. Actually it was a pretty easy ride through.
When exiting customs, to the left is Taxi's and Remis (car service/limo). I decided to get a car service there since I wanted to pay with a credit card. 295 Argentinean pesos. I was met with a man who escorted me out into the beautiful sunny warm Buenos Aires air to what I thought would be nice car service, but in fact it was a regular small car. Once in the car, the driver drove like he was a formula 1 car race driver, I am used to NYC cabs but this guy made me put my belt on and had my hands in a brace position!
It was pretty smooth Fast and Furious, but smooth traffic until we reached to 9 July Ave. which was absolute chaos. I felt like I was in Napoli, Italy. 45min later we pulled up to the hotel and a delightful bell boy grabbed my suitcase and I entered the Hotel Boca Junior suites.
The hotel is what I think one of the first Soccer (Football) themed hotels. Honestly I didn't book the hotel for soccer, in fact I have never watched a game and the only soccer player I know is David Beckham. I picked this hotel after reading reviews on trip advisor and also or the awesome price for a suite. I normally only stay at Hilton hotels or SPG hotels since I have status with both hotels, but those prices were through the roof and for the hotel boca, Breakfast and high speed internet were included in the price. The other hotels were triple the price.
The hotel is an a small alley way which is close to the InterContinental hotel. It's one block from 9 Julio ave and there are several mini-marts and banks to get cash out.
Check in was complete and I was able to enter my room right away since it was 12pm. The elevators are quite small and the lighting, well lets just say if you go up with beer goggles from the bar you sure will see crystal clear including your pores with the industrial lighting, but the minute the doors open you enter a floor like a corridor to a club, the lighting is dark with large humans size paintings of perhaps famous soccer players. Once you enter the room it quite large. Simplistic but very nice. The lighting was beautiful with a large floor to ceiling windows are completely across the room. Unfortunately I was on the 4th floor so no view other than to an office a building across the little alley.
Hotel Boca
Lounge area
Restaurant/bar
bar
hallway
Mini-bar
Chairs
bedroom
TV
The bathroom was quite large with subtle lighting and had nice amenities; shampoo, conditioner, shower-cap, tissues and shower-gel. It also had a Bedit and nice deep jacuzzi. Great water pressure too. The power outlets at the hotel are the three prong australian style outlets and the bed was nice and comfortable but the bedding could have been a little better quality. On the desk was a wonderful Nespresso machine, which I thought was apart of the service of the hotel but it wasn't and cost 28 Pesos per serving.
amenities
Bath
coffee machine
The layout of the hotel is pretty cool, on the 1st floor is the gym manned by a buff fitness guy and the equipment basic but high quality weights, and machines. There is a nice pool area with an outdoor tanning area.
Pool
Gym
On the main floor is a nice seating area next to a bar, and a restaurant. The hotel is very aesthetically pleasing and the staff are very accommodating and can transition smoothly right into perfect English.
Breakfast at the hotel is included and there is a smorgasbord of pastries, fruit, cold cuts and cheeses as well as hot dishes - Bacon and scrambled eggs. I read reports that it was only a continental breakfast so I was surprised to see two hot dishes. The eggs were a little runny but the bacon scrumptious. But my favorite was the Argentine Pastries. In fact I took several of the pastries back to the room for afternoon tea each day. I am not sure what they are called but they had the most amazing taste of Dulce de leche chocolate covered soft cookie thingy I have ever tasted. Nothing compared anything we get in the United States. I pretty much couldn't stop eating them. Deliciouso!
breakfast bar
breakfast bar 2
eggs
outside Breakfast area
I was pretty surprised that room service was so cheap, actually in general food is extremely cheap in Argentina. I went out to dinner with an old friend of mine from New York who now lives in Argentina and after a night out of an amazing BBQ meat place and bottle, yes a bottle of wine at 207 pesos ($33) for two people. Amazing. The bottle of wine in NYC alone would have been about $60. It was also one of the best meals I have ever had.
I throughly enjoyed the food and the empanadas are incredible. They are baked with much more flavorful filling than the ones I have had in NYC. One of my nights in Buenos Aires, I decided to order in after an exhausting day sightseeing , I was pretty surprised that room service was so cheap, actually in general food is extremely cheap in Argentina. The food was delicious but what really blew me away was the Dulce De Leche Ice Cream, it was incredible. Now living in a city of NY that is so diverse that I can't find ice cream like this, or maybe I just don't know where to look, but most certainly I have to have more of it.
Hamburger
ice cream
Last edited by nycflyer75; Mar 16, 2014 at 10:18 am
Dec 2, 2013, 6:30 pm
#7
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: LAS
Programs: DL PM, UA PS, Hyatt Globalist, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 4,904
We need photos of your seatmates
Great TR, always interested to see Skyteam partners. Interestingly your NYC-MEX flight looked great (hard product wise) but MEX-EZE seemed meh ...
Great TR, always interested to see Skyteam partners. Interestingly your NYC-MEX flight looked great (hard product wise) but MEX-EZE seemed meh ...
Last edited by amolkold; Dec 2, 2013 at 6:59 pm
Dec 2, 2013, 7:54 pm
#9
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
Programs: DL DM 1MM, DL reserve, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 407
Their service to EZE is pretty bad and needs a major upgrade especially compared to their 787.
Last edited by nycflyer75; Mar 16, 2014 at 10:17 am
Dec 2, 2013, 8:26 pm
#10
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
Programs: DL DM 1MM, DL reserve, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 407
Buenos Aires - Thanksgiving week
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
Partos Aires - Thanksgiving week
Buenos Aires is a beautiful city mixed with stunning architecture, flora and fauna and beautiful people of Buenos Aires called Porteño. There are so many distinct neighborhoods, but the one I love the most would be Palermo Soho neighborhood, a fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants,cafe's, bars and street culture in a heritage area with beautiful street lined trees. This is somewhere I could see myself hanging out or even living, meeting friends for brunch! Another neighborhood I love is Recoleta.
I notice so many people taking a siesta across July 9 Ave in the warm sun
Obliesco
Evita
Beautiful architecture
Galleria Pacifico
Pink House Casa Rosada
House
Alfresco dining
Showtime
Nightlife near the hotel - reminds me of NYC 10 years ago when it used to be fun going out!
Subway system - Subte
Palermo
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
Partos Aires - Thanksgiving week
Buenos Aires is a beautiful city mixed with stunning architecture, flora and fauna and beautiful people of Buenos Aires called Porteño. There are so many distinct neighborhoods, but the one I love the most would be Palermo Soho neighborhood, a fashionable area for fashion, design, restaurants,cafe's, bars and street culture in a heritage area with beautiful street lined trees. This is somewhere I could see myself hanging out or even living, meeting friends for brunch! Another neighborhood I love is Recoleta.
I notice so many people taking a siesta across July 9 Ave in the warm sun
Obliesco
Evita
Beautiful architecture
Galleria Pacifico
Pink House Casa Rosada
House
Alfresco dining
Showtime
Nightlife near the hotel - reminds me of NYC 10 years ago when it used to be fun going out!
Subway system - Subte
Palermo
Last edited by nycflyer75; Mar 2, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Feb 7, 2014, 7:54 am
#14
Join Date: Sep 2001
Location: Arizona, USA
Posts: 2,403
Awesome.
Although I don't think Aeroméxico looks all that impressive, it doesn't look terrible either.
The Hotel Boca looks a whole lot like the Hotel Mío, Buenos Aires (one of my favorite hotels in the world.) Perhaps they have the same owner or at least the same interior designer.
The photo of the napping guy is particularly fantastic.
¡Buen Viaje!
Although I don't think Aeroméxico looks all that impressive, it doesn't look terrible either.
The Hotel Boca looks a whole lot like the Hotel Mío, Buenos Aires (one of my favorite hotels in the world.) Perhaps they have the same owner or at least the same interior designer.
The photo of the napping guy is particularly fantastic.
¡Buen Viaje!
Mar 2, 2014, 4:16 pm
#15
Original Poster
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: New York city, NY
Programs: DL DM 1MM, DL reserve, Hilton Diamond, SPG Platinum, Hyatt Diamond
Posts: 407
Part 1: JFK-MEX
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
AEROMEXICO
AM 31
Aircraft: 767-200
Actual seat: 2C
Depart: EZE (Ministro Pistarini International Airport)
Arrive:MEX (Benito_Juárez_International_Airport)
Sched.Departure: 1:00pm Actual Departure : 1:00pm
Sched.Arrival: 8:15pm Actual arrival: 6:59pm
After an awesome time in Buenos Aires, I had arranged for a car service to take me to the airport. When the driver arrived, he was wearing plain clothes and drove a regular old family sedan, but nonetheless, He arrived on time and we set off for the airport. Coming from New York City I am accustomed to light conversation or none at all, but my driver was literally Barbara Walters on 20/20. I felt like I was being interviewed, but soon I caught on he simply wanted to practice his English, and well why not. I was asked every question under the sun during the 35min drive to the airport. Once we arrive I gave him a nice tip and the last words out of his mouth "I love you" haha. Nice guy.
As I check in for my flight to Mexico City, there was no wait in the skypriority lane. Soon I was off to immigration which was quick and easy.
The Lounge for Aeromexico is the recently joined Skyteam airline - Aerolineas Argentinas which was in the new part of the airport and quiet a hike. About 10mins later... yes 10mins later after a good speed walk and sweaty I was welcomed into the lounge. The lounge was sufficient, but nothing special. A few sandwiches, coffee machine and drinks. No champagne...grrrrr. There were two shower stalls as well.
terminal
lounge
Lounge
lounge
the part of the terminal
I relaxed in the lounge before noticing everyone had left. I had asked the front agent if they would announce boarding when I walked in, and sure enough they didn't. The board showed on time but it was getting close to departure so I decided to head to the gate. As I got closer I hear Sir are you headed to Mexico City, and realized, they were waiting for me. I was the last person to board the flight. Eeek!
Once on board I was greeted by a friendly older male flight leader. He was prompt to offer me a glass of champagne. Now you ask, why did I want to take AM when their planes are old and out of date hard product, put quite simply, A this was a revenue ticket and B I really wanted to check out their 787 on the JFK-MEX-JFK flights. The flight was completely full upfront. I chose an aisle seat in the middle so I could get out without disturbing my seatmate.
Aeromexico
seat 3C view
champagne
pre-departure champagne
Since we had boarded everyone 10mins early, they handed out amenity kits and iPad which unfortunately had the same old movies that I had on the flight coming down. But since I didn't have anything on my iPhone to watch I had to deal with a long day flight using their iPads.
lunch
Drink cart
Once the lunch meal was served which was very tasty, well other than the salad which was just hate to say it but gross! The crew were pleasant, but the flight leader was an exception, truly lovely older man. I conversed with him a few times and he seem interested to chat too. I decided to take a nap for a fews hours and woke famished. They snacks were ok, but the dessert was amazing! In fact I had to have two slices, right away I need to get to the gym as I land! Of course I wanted to wash down the cake with a glass bottle of champagne.
snack
snack
We arrived quite early into MEX which was great since I had an overnight layover. I thought about seeing something of Mexico, but honestly I just wanted to sleep. Once arriving in Mexico City, I headed towards immigration, this time it was busy, lots of flights arriving, though compared to flying home to NYC it was a 20 min wait. I like the way they set up their immigration counters like information booths, a little less in your face.
Part 2: MEX-EZE
Part 3: HOTEL BOCA Buenos Aires
Part 4: BUENOS AIRES
Part 5: EZE-MEX
Part 6: NH Aeropuerto T2 México Hotel
Part 7: MEX-JFK
AEROMEXICO
AM 31
Aircraft: 767-200
Actual seat: 2C
Depart: EZE (Ministro Pistarini International Airport)
Arrive:MEX (Benito_Juárez_International_Airport)
Sched.Departure: 1:00pm Actual Departure : 1:00pm
Sched.Arrival: 8:15pm Actual arrival: 6:59pm
After an awesome time in Buenos Aires, I had arranged for a car service to take me to the airport. When the driver arrived, he was wearing plain clothes and drove a regular old family sedan, but nonetheless, He arrived on time and we set off for the airport. Coming from New York City I am accustomed to light conversation or none at all, but my driver was literally Barbara Walters on 20/20. I felt like I was being interviewed, but soon I caught on he simply wanted to practice his English, and well why not. I was asked every question under the sun during the 35min drive to the airport. Once we arrive I gave him a nice tip and the last words out of his mouth "I love you" haha. Nice guy.
As I check in for my flight to Mexico City, there was no wait in the skypriority lane. Soon I was off to immigration which was quick and easy.
The Lounge for Aeromexico is the recently joined Skyteam airline - Aerolineas Argentinas which was in the new part of the airport and quiet a hike. About 10mins later... yes 10mins later after a good speed walk and sweaty I was welcomed into the lounge. The lounge was sufficient, but nothing special. A few sandwiches, coffee machine and drinks. No champagne...grrrrr. There were two shower stalls as well.
terminal
lounge
Lounge
lounge
the part of the terminal
I relaxed in the lounge before noticing everyone had left. I had asked the front agent if they would announce boarding when I walked in, and sure enough they didn't. The board showed on time but it was getting close to departure so I decided to head to the gate. As I got closer I hear Sir are you headed to Mexico City, and realized, they were waiting for me. I was the last person to board the flight. Eeek!
Once on board I was greeted by a friendly older male flight leader. He was prompt to offer me a glass of champagne. Now you ask, why did I want to take AM when their planes are old and out of date hard product, put quite simply, A this was a revenue ticket and B I really wanted to check out their 787 on the JFK-MEX-JFK flights. The flight was completely full upfront. I chose an aisle seat in the middle so I could get out without disturbing my seatmate.
Aeromexico
seat 3C view
champagne
pre-departure champagne
Since we had boarded everyone 10mins early, they handed out amenity kits and iPad which unfortunately had the same old movies that I had on the flight coming down. But since I didn't have anything on my iPhone to watch I had to deal with a long day flight using their iPads.
lunch
Drink cart
Once the lunch meal was served which was very tasty, well other than the salad which was just hate to say it but gross! The crew were pleasant, but the flight leader was an exception, truly lovely older man. I conversed with him a few times and he seem interested to chat too. I decided to take a nap for a fews hours and woke famished. They snacks were ok, but the dessert was amazing! In fact I had to have two slices, right away I need to get to the gym as I land! Of course I wanted to wash down the cake with a glass bottle of champagne.
snack
snack
We arrived quite early into MEX which was great since I had an overnight layover. I thought about seeing something of Mexico, but honestly I just wanted to sleep. Once arriving in Mexico City, I headed towards immigration, this time it was busy, lots of flights arriving, though compared to flying home to NYC it was a 20 min wait. I like the way they set up their immigration counters like information booths, a little less in your face.