MIA-SJO
American Airlines (Coach)
Boeing 757
Seats: 25B and C
After a short bus journey from the Sofitel, we arrived back at Miami International for our flight to San Jose. The self-service check-in machine offered us the chance to buy access to group 1 boarding at $10 each but I declined on the basis that we had decided to check our bags and had no need to fight for overhead locker space. The machine wouldn't print our boarding passes without intervention from an AA supervisor. She explained that as a non-US Passport holders, someone from AA had to visually verify our Passport. The queue to check our bags moved quickly despite its length. Our bags tagged to SJO, we then walked to the end of the building in order to drop them off with the TSA; the art of integrated baggage handling being something yet to reach Miami! (I'm sure that the refurbished AA terminal will be different).
The security line was quick and we met up with our friends who were also attending the same wedding. They had spent a few nights in Miami and flown LX Business. The wait for our flight to board was spent listening to our friends tell us about Miami over a coffee. Though the flight was full, boarding was pretty quick with little of the overhead locker fighting that I have experienced in the past. Our friends were in the same seats as us, one row ahead. The two window seats and both HJK seats in rows 24 and 25 were occupied by a large family. I was half expecting them to ask if we would move to the AB seats so that they could have the aisles, but thankfully, they did not.
Mrs BiH looked around the cabin and then at me; she vowed never to laugh at my rapacious quest to earn miles by using our credit cards at every given opportunity! The safety video whirred into action and were treated to it in both English and Spanish. I gave it my full attention as we pushed back from the gate on time and made our way to the runway.
The single cart slowly made its way from front to back. As it reached me I was engrossed in an article about Albert Pujols. I asked for a ginger ale and returned to the article. A minute or two later, the man sitting in window seat, knocked over his Coca-cola and it 'hit' Mrs BiH on the leg. No great drama. It was made worse however, by the man deciding that Mrs BiH's tray table was in the way and so he tried to close it despite the half filled glass and three-quarter filled can of juice that was sitting on it. Cue more canned beverages spilling over people, seats and the floor. The chap seemed genuinely mortified at both exhibitions of silliness.
We arrived on time and despite being at the back of the plane, made it through immigration very quickly only to wait ages for our bags. I passed the time by withdrawing some Collones (local currency). Though I had checked the exchange rate before I left the UK, I didn't trust myself as I starred at the screen. I was reminded of Top Gear challenge where May and Hammond are on a Speedboat that goes tech on the Swedish coast. They find a cash machine and suddenly realise that they have no idea whether they are about to withdraw enough for a coffee or a slap up meal. Thankfully, the cash machine was located next to a Bureau de Change so I was able to verify the numbers I had in my head.
On exiting the Customs hall, I knew that our next flight was from the domestic terminal located around the corner from the main building. We were accosted by a SANSA Regional rep who insisted that the terminal was "far away" and that we could get a taxi for $10 each. I thanked her and explained that we wanted to "stretch our legs after a long flight".