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!