My husband and I are back in Maui after the first half of our million mile run. I took some notes along the way, so here are my observations of the trip.

Taca (for NICA) 514 MIA-MGA. Check-in in MIA was extremely slow. We were second in line and waited for about 30 minutes. I was glad we were there early as the line got much longer by the time we left. The flight departed on time and arrived several minutes early. Newer aircraft--roomy, good meal and good service.

Copa 318 MGA-GUA After reading some of the previous posts on here, I tried to get our Copa boarding passes in MIA. They wouldn't give them to us, but did call MGA and told us that there would be someone waiting for us in a red jacket when we got off the plane that would have them. When we arrived nobody was there and after some confusion we were able to talk one of the TACA flight attendants into calling the COPA counter and explaining our situation and taking us to the transit area so that we could avoid customs. Approximately 30 minutes later a Copa rep came by and took our passports and tickets and returned about 15 min. later with our boarding passes. The flight was supposed to leave at 6:35 p.m. By 7 p.m. we were still waiting and there was no sign that our next flight even existed as there wasn't even a rep at the counter. Finally someone showed up and about one hour later we were leaving. We then made an unscheduled stop in SanSalvador to drop off passengers from an earlier flight that was cancelled. We were about two hours late getting into GUA. Customs in GUA was a breeze. We stayed at the Marriott there. I had called in my flight numbers before we arrived and they had a shuttle driver waiting there for us. It was a 5 or 10 minute shuttle ride to the hotel, which was very nice and only $85 per night. Everyone that we ran into at Marriott spoke good English.

Aviateca 961 GUA-SAL Fast check in at GUA. $20 airport tax. Quick flight-on time. Stayed in trasit in SAL (you don't need to do anything special to stay in trasit here). The TACA Salon was closed for repairs that day.

Taca 623 SAL-SJO (this was listed as a Taca flight, but we took a Lacsa aircraft--Taca assured me that this would count for Taca with the Latin Pass program)On time flight, newer aircraft, good food. Easy customs. We stayed at the InterContinental which was gorgeous. We paid $190 p/nite before tax for a concierge floor room which included cocktails and appetizers in the evening and breakfast in the morning. The service and rooms were impeccable. There was someone waiting at the baggage area with a shuttle (again I called ahead with our flight numbers). It was about a 20-30 minute ride to the hotel. One thing to keep in mind that I was not aware of, is that the shuttle only runs one way, you have to get a cab back to the airport for $13 USD, there are plenty of them at the hotel. There was a nice modern mall across the street from the hotel. The guide lists this property has having a casino, but it is closed. Wish we would have had a few more days here.

SJO-CCS Lacsa 610 Had we been checking luggage we could have missed this flight. The line was at least three hours long. We were able to go to the express check in desk which only took about 10 minutes. Also if you are only staying one night you need pay only a $2 airport fee in SJO. If you like coffee this is the place to pick up some coffee beans, they are cheap here. The flight was about an hour and 15 min. late leaving, they said that they were waiting for the crew to arrive. Newer aircraft, good service and food. Not all of the announcements at this gate were made in English. Easy customs into CCS. We stayed at the Inter-Continental. I orginally had reservations at the Best Western, but after talking to two people from Caracas online, I changed them. I mentioned this to several people from Caracas that were sitting next to us on flights and they said that this was a good idea since the Best Western is in a bad part of the city and one that is having alot of problems with crime since the mudslides in Dec. Again, I notified the hotel ahead of time of our arrival and they had a driver there to pick us up. He was a good driver and I didn't feel in danger, although it was plain to see that with some cabs it could have been a harrowing ride into the city. The ride took us about 45 minutes or so and cost $22 USD per person each way. I was glad to get through the tunnels as the air was very bad there. The rooms at this InterContinental were nothing like SJO. At first they put us in a 1st floor (basment) room that looked like an old room at a Motel 6--after complaining, they found something on the 6th floor with twin beds. This was much better, but not what I would expect for $190 p/nite at this type of hotel. It was extremely outdated with dirty carpet and old furniture. The hotel itself was nice and we felt quite safe. We had room service dinner which was excellent. I also worked out in their gym which had good weight equipment, but was crowded. They had the windows open, which made the air seem like you were working out behind a bus. Not good!

CCS-MIA Aeropostal 500 Fast check-in. Allow an extra 15-20 minutes for all of the extra check points. There was more security getting out of Caracas than we encountered anywhere. Had to show our passports and boarding passes at least four times and got a pat-down at the gate. The departure fee was $21 USD (we didn't have correct USD change, but they would prefer it). The flight left and arrived on time and again the service was very good. I had ordered special meals, which were delicious (mushroom crepes and fresh fruit) and looked better than the normal meal.

All in all, the trip went very well. We felt safe throughout. The people were extremely friendly everywhere and for the most part spoke English and Spanish. I know limited Spanish and found it handy a few times, but you could pick up a translation guide and do fine. We used only USD and AMEX without any problems. Bottled water was easily accessible. All of our flights on this run were in full fare coach, which I was surprised to see included alcoholic beverages at no extra charge. I had one glass of Chablis which was decent for Chablis.

I can't wait for our next run in May from LAX-LIM, LIM-UIO, UIO-BOG, BOG-UIO, UIO-LIM, LIM-CUZ, CUZ-LIM and LIM-LAX. I did book the LIM-CUZ trip on a V-Fare which I confirmed with two agents and Juan, the head of Taca's mileage program. All of them said that without question it would count for Latin Pass.

Good luck to Natural Springwater and all of the rest of you embarking on your adventures. You will have a great time!