A week in Costa Rica via American
Sep 6, 2014, 3:02 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 24
A week in Costa Rica via American
First post! As well as first trip report.
I'm pretty new to the miles and points game but after some lurking on FT and occasionally reading OMAT, I decided to go out of the US for my next vacation.
I found the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo deal of 4 nights get 2 free, and spontaneously decided that I was going to Costa Rica for my next vacation.
I decided to start my own blog to record my travel for mainly myself and family members but feel free to check out the pictures:
http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/
American 1297 LGA-MIA
Boeing 737
August 19, 2014
Seats 4A,4B
Breakfast
I was ready to start my vacation. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed due to a plane problem. The pilot kept telling us to hold on just ten more minutes, which then became ten more minutes, etc. The purser on this flight didn't really care about offering drinks or helping calm people down about missing their connection. She pretty much said, "Sorry I can't do anything, why don't you just hope that your next flight is delayed so that you can catch it? You never know! Could be like this plane and be delayed due to plane problems." I made sure to give myself plenty of time to connect in Miami since I read horror stories about the airport, so I wasn't too worried about catching my connection.
Finally we took off and the purser started to heat up breakfast. She came through once to ask if anyone wanted water, then asked everyone for their breakfast order. I had pre-ordered mine online before my flight but she didn't seem to know. So I re-ordered the egg quesadilla with a cranberry orange muffin and orange juice.
I have to say that the quesadilla and fruit were really disgusting. I pretty much ended up eating the potatoes and muffin, and was thankful I had a blueberry muffin in the lounge, or I would have been even more hungry.
American 1378 MIA-LIR
Boeing 737
August 19, 2014
Seats 4E,4F
Lunch
I boarded my next flight to Liberia, Costa Rica on another Boeing 737 but this time it was considered "Business Class" (there was no first class though). The purser, Anna, on this flight was amazing. She served beverages as soon as you sat down, knew my name and what I had ordered, asked if I still wanted the beef (that I pre-ordered) or if I'd like the pasta instead, and asked if I'd like a refill whenever my Diet Coke got low.
My beef fillet came with asparagus, mashed potatoes, a side salad, and cheesecake. Honestly, the cheesecake was great but the rest was...not. It must be my sweet tooth.
After 20 minutes of finishing my meal, we were descending! And Anna gave out customs forms. I forgot to bring a pen (I seem to only forget to have one on me when I need one) so I figured the airport would have one near customs that I could use.
I got off the plane, got to customs, only to find no pen. Not a single one. I got to the counter and told the person I had no pen and asked if he had one I could borrow. There was one next to his desk, but it barely worked. I guess other people thought there would be a pen at customs also because quite a few people lined up behind me to use the pen after. I filled out the customs form the best I could with the pen that barely worked and he just looked at the passport, stamped it, and I was on my way (a great perk to being a US citizen!). Then you have to put your bag through an x-ray and you were on your way. I headed out into the area labelled for passenger pick-up and found my name in a sea of signs.
Next: Andaz Peninsula Papagayo
I'm pretty new to the miles and points game but after some lurking on FT and occasionally reading OMAT, I decided to go out of the US for my next vacation.
I found the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo deal of 4 nights get 2 free, and spontaneously decided that I was going to Costa Rica for my next vacation.
I decided to start my own blog to record my travel for mainly myself and family members but feel free to check out the pictures:
http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/
American 1297 LGA-MIA
Boeing 737
August 19, 2014
Seats 4A,4B
Breakfast
I was ready to start my vacation. Unfortunately, my flight was delayed due to a plane problem. The pilot kept telling us to hold on just ten more minutes, which then became ten more minutes, etc. The purser on this flight didn't really care about offering drinks or helping calm people down about missing their connection. She pretty much said, "Sorry I can't do anything, why don't you just hope that your next flight is delayed so that you can catch it? You never know! Could be like this plane and be delayed due to plane problems." I made sure to give myself plenty of time to connect in Miami since I read horror stories about the airport, so I wasn't too worried about catching my connection.
Finally we took off and the purser started to heat up breakfast. She came through once to ask if anyone wanted water, then asked everyone for their breakfast order. I had pre-ordered mine online before my flight but she didn't seem to know. So I re-ordered the egg quesadilla with a cranberry orange muffin and orange juice.
I have to say that the quesadilla and fruit were really disgusting. I pretty much ended up eating the potatoes and muffin, and was thankful I had a blueberry muffin in the lounge, or I would have been even more hungry.
American 1378 MIA-LIR
Boeing 737
August 19, 2014
Seats 4E,4F
Lunch
I boarded my next flight to Liberia, Costa Rica on another Boeing 737 but this time it was considered "Business Class" (there was no first class though). The purser, Anna, on this flight was amazing. She served beverages as soon as you sat down, knew my name and what I had ordered, asked if I still wanted the beef (that I pre-ordered) or if I'd like the pasta instead, and asked if I'd like a refill whenever my Diet Coke got low.
My beef fillet came with asparagus, mashed potatoes, a side salad, and cheesecake. Honestly, the cheesecake was great but the rest was...not. It must be my sweet tooth.
After 20 minutes of finishing my meal, we were descending! And Anna gave out customs forms. I forgot to bring a pen (I seem to only forget to have one on me when I need one) so I figured the airport would have one near customs that I could use.
I got off the plane, got to customs, only to find no pen. Not a single one. I got to the counter and told the person I had no pen and asked if he had one I could borrow. There was one next to his desk, but it barely worked. I guess other people thought there would be a pen at customs also because quite a few people lined up behind me to use the pen after. I filled out the customs form the best I could with the pen that barely worked and he just looked at the passport, stamped it, and I was on my way (a great perk to being a US citizen!). Then you have to put your bag through an x-ray and you were on your way. I headed out into the area labelled for passenger pick-up and found my name in a sea of signs.
Next: Andaz Peninsula Papagayo
Sep 7, 2014, 5:25 pm
#2
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 24
Andaz Peninsula Papagayo Review
All the pictures are on my blog! http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/
From when you "enter" the Papagayo Peninsula, the roads change. There are manicured gardens, lined up palm trees, and statues to greet you. There is definitely a high amount of security, about three gates and security guards to pass through before you even reach the hotel. The Papagayo Peninsula has the Prieta Beach Club, Marina, Four Seasons Papagayo, and the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo. There is a roundabout taking you to different parts of the mountain to these four locations.
As we pulled into the Andaz entrance, I knew I would love this hotel.
The lobby or as they call "Andaz Lounge" is beautiful and open spaced (like most of the other buildings at the resort). As soon as I got out of the car door, Cesar took my bags, greeted me and led me through the Andaz Lounge to a couple of seats. He asked if I would like a drink and checked me in. While he was checking me in, I took some pictures.
As soon as he checked me in, he asked if I wanted the welcome amenity or the points for being a Hyatt Diamond member. I took the welcome amenity since I was curious what it would be. Cesar said it would be a surprise, but most people love it.
He took us to a golf cart that already had our luggage in the back and asked if we would like a tour of the property or to go straight to the room. Since we're on vacation, I figured we had the time to take a tour of the Andaz.
As we were being shown around, the Andaz had spectacular views wherever you looked. Cesar showed us the different restaurants, told us what the specialties at each restaurant were, told us about the shortcut to the gym and spa from our building, the pool hours and everything else you could imagine. He handed me a map of the resort with an event calendar and gave us a tour of the room.
I had booked the Andaz Daily Rate at 20% off using my Elite status as a Hyatt Diamond member, then applied a Diamond Suite Upgrade to get my suite confirmed. I have to say that I definitely got my money's worth on the room.
The room is huge! Very beautiful, and nicely decorated.
Outside of the room, there are at least two umbrellas at all times since it was the "rainy season."
On the last night of my stay, housekeeping put about 2 extra of each bathroom amenity (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc.) even though I didn't finish using the first set! I had to take one set home because they smell so amazing.
And just like my host, Cesar, said I would, I loved the Diamond Welcome Amenity. They had three granadillas waiting for us as well as instructions on how to eat it.
I'm not sure if housekeeping or someone else did this, but they let us a local snack on our second to last day there. They were some sort of cracker with sugar and some honey to dip it in. It was delicious!
The GM and his assistant left me a note saying to enjoy my stay, which was really sweet. His assistant, Maria, even met with me as I was checking out to make sure I enjoyed my stay.
All the pictures are on my blog! http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/
From when you "enter" the Papagayo Peninsula, the roads change. There are manicured gardens, lined up palm trees, and statues to greet you. There is definitely a high amount of security, about three gates and security guards to pass through before you even reach the hotel. The Papagayo Peninsula has the Prieta Beach Club, Marina, Four Seasons Papagayo, and the Andaz Peninsula Papagayo. There is a roundabout taking you to different parts of the mountain to these four locations.
As we pulled into the Andaz entrance, I knew I would love this hotel.
The lobby or as they call "Andaz Lounge" is beautiful and open spaced (like most of the other buildings at the resort). As soon as I got out of the car door, Cesar took my bags, greeted me and led me through the Andaz Lounge to a couple of seats. He asked if I would like a drink and checked me in. While he was checking me in, I took some pictures.
As soon as he checked me in, he asked if I wanted the welcome amenity or the points for being a Hyatt Diamond member. I took the welcome amenity since I was curious what it would be. Cesar said it would be a surprise, but most people love it.
He took us to a golf cart that already had our luggage in the back and asked if we would like a tour of the property or to go straight to the room. Since we're on vacation, I figured we had the time to take a tour of the Andaz.
As we were being shown around, the Andaz had spectacular views wherever you looked. Cesar showed us the different restaurants, told us what the specialties at each restaurant were, told us about the shortcut to the gym and spa from our building, the pool hours and everything else you could imagine. He handed me a map of the resort with an event calendar and gave us a tour of the room.
I had booked the Andaz Daily Rate at 20% off using my Elite status as a Hyatt Diamond member, then applied a Diamond Suite Upgrade to get my suite confirmed. I have to say that I definitely got my money's worth on the room.
The room is huge! Very beautiful, and nicely decorated.
Outside of the room, there are at least two umbrellas at all times since it was the "rainy season."
On the last night of my stay, housekeeping put about 2 extra of each bathroom amenity (shampoo, conditioner, body wash, etc.) even though I didn't finish using the first set! I had to take one set home because they smell so amazing.
And just like my host, Cesar, said I would, I loved the Diamond Welcome Amenity. They had three granadillas waiting for us as well as instructions on how to eat it.
I'm not sure if housekeeping or someone else did this, but they let us a local snack on our second to last day there. They were some sort of cracker with sugar and some honey to dip it in. It was delicious!
The GM and his assistant left me a note saying to enjoy my stay, which was really sweet. His assistant, Maria, even met with me as I was checking out to make sure I enjoyed my stay.
Sep 8, 2014, 2:36 pm
#4
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 24
Lunch was provided when we went on our adventure tour with CostaRicaBestrips. For that lunch we ate at the Borinquen Resort.
We chose not to go to the Four Seasons since you can only go there to eat, and you can't use any of their facilities for water sports and whatnot. We didn't really want to go just for food.
We didn't rent a car, so we didn't really have the option of going into town somewhere.
Sep 14, 2014, 9:16 pm
#5
Original Poster
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: NYC
Posts: 24
American 1322 LIR-MIA
Boeing 737
August 25, 2014
Seats 4E,4F
Lunch
(Photos on http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/)
I was really sad to leave our beautiful suite at the Andaz.
We had breakfast, went to the beach and chilled for an hour or so before going back to pack.
We packed our things, called the front desk to ask for a golf cart so we wouldn't have to go up hills with our luggage. The golf cart came pretty quickly.
Since there's only a few flights that go in and out of Liberia Airport, everyone seemed to be checking out at the same time. It's pretty chaotic. Luckily, when I called, the person at the front desk had prepared everything for me. So all I had to do was look over my charges, and sign the receipt.
Once we were dropped off, we asked an attendant where to go, and they said we had to pay our departure tax before checking in. We went to the line, it wasn't too long, about a 10 minute wait.
Credit cards are charged as cash advances (which I read from research) so I paid with cash. They scan your passport and give you a piece of paper with your info, but you have to fill out the back. And as if I didn't learn my lesson about this airport from before, I didn't have a pen...again. I went to the standing desks that everyone was filling out their papers on and asked around to see if I could borrow a pen. A nice lady said I could if I used it before she found her itinerary. So I filled it out as quick as possible and returned her pen. I am so grateful for her pen because there are no pens at this airport, not even if you ask anyone that works there.
Once I had the paper filled out, I went back to the check in line. The regular line gets insanely long! Luckily I had access to the priority lane since I was in business class. So it took about 2 minutes for her to check us in and off we went to the security line.
The security line was short and quick. As soon as you're done at the security line, there are escalators to take you to the gates. If you look to the right, there's a VIP lounge. It's a pay-to-access lounge, and they don't take priority pass (according to the desk attendant there, they don't take priority pass yet but will soon).
There are three main stores at the airport, but they are all Britt stores which is their local coffee/cacao producing company. There are a couple restaurants, a duty free store (don't bother), and a jewelry/wooden souvenirs.
I boarded without any trouble and I was basically on the same plane as the one I took to get to Liberia. Nothing too exciting.
For our meal we were served Chicken Breast that actually tasted decent. And of course I had another Diet Coke. The service was nothing special or too different from the way here.
Everyone seemed to be watching the American Ninja Warrior program on the flight. I even got into it, and people started to cheer out loud. As soon as the episode ended, we began to descend. Maybe I'll start to watch that show when I'm bored at home someday.
I landed and walked what seemed like about 20 minutes through the airport to reach the passport kiosks and the Global Entry section. There was no one else using it. But the lines that separate the US citizens vs non-citizens and the lines that further separate the US citizens into Global Entry and the automated passport kiosks was a mess. I had to ask about 2 agents to figure out where I'm actually supposed to go.
After scanning my passport through Global Entry, I basically just walked out of the airport.
Boeing 737
August 25, 2014
Seats 4E,4F
Lunch
(Photos on http://fancyworldtravel.blogspot.com/)
I was really sad to leave our beautiful suite at the Andaz.
We had breakfast, went to the beach and chilled for an hour or so before going back to pack.
We packed our things, called the front desk to ask for a golf cart so we wouldn't have to go up hills with our luggage. The golf cart came pretty quickly.
Since there's only a few flights that go in and out of Liberia Airport, everyone seemed to be checking out at the same time. It's pretty chaotic. Luckily, when I called, the person at the front desk had prepared everything for me. So all I had to do was look over my charges, and sign the receipt.
Once we were dropped off, we asked an attendant where to go, and they said we had to pay our departure tax before checking in. We went to the line, it wasn't too long, about a 10 minute wait.
Credit cards are charged as cash advances (which I read from research) so I paid with cash. They scan your passport and give you a piece of paper with your info, but you have to fill out the back. And as if I didn't learn my lesson about this airport from before, I didn't have a pen...again. I went to the standing desks that everyone was filling out their papers on and asked around to see if I could borrow a pen. A nice lady said I could if I used it before she found her itinerary. So I filled it out as quick as possible and returned her pen. I am so grateful for her pen because there are no pens at this airport, not even if you ask anyone that works there.
Once I had the paper filled out, I went back to the check in line. The regular line gets insanely long! Luckily I had access to the priority lane since I was in business class. So it took about 2 minutes for her to check us in and off we went to the security line.
The security line was short and quick. As soon as you're done at the security line, there are escalators to take you to the gates. If you look to the right, there's a VIP lounge. It's a pay-to-access lounge, and they don't take priority pass (according to the desk attendant there, they don't take priority pass yet but will soon).
There are three main stores at the airport, but they are all Britt stores which is their local coffee/cacao producing company. There are a couple restaurants, a duty free store (don't bother), and a jewelry/wooden souvenirs.
I boarded without any trouble and I was basically on the same plane as the one I took to get to Liberia. Nothing too exciting.
For our meal we were served Chicken Breast that actually tasted decent. And of course I had another Diet Coke. The service was nothing special or too different from the way here.
Everyone seemed to be watching the American Ninja Warrior program on the flight. I even got into it, and people started to cheer out loud. As soon as the episode ended, we began to descend. Maybe I'll start to watch that show when I'm bored at home someday.
I landed and walked what seemed like about 20 minutes through the airport to reach the passport kiosks and the Global Entry section. There was no one else using it. But the lines that separate the US citizens vs non-citizens and the lines that further separate the US citizens into Global Entry and the automated passport kiosks was a mess. I had to ask about 2 agents to figure out where I'm actually supposed to go.
After scanning my passport through Global Entry, I basically just walked out of the airport.
