Well, I am back from completing my 500K run.
I am back in Northern CA with 32 continuous waking hours and counting, so excuse typos.
I did National Airlines from Vegas to Miami for the partner segments (R/T).
3/28
MIA-SAL TACA 311 4:05p-5:51p
SAL-GUA AVIATECA 960 6:49p-7:39p
Stayed in Radisson Guatemala City.
3/29
GUA-SJO COPA 400 6:00a-7:25a
SJO-BOG LACSA 691 10:40a-1:45p
BOG-CCS AVIANCA 78 9:15p-12:05a (+1)
Stayed in Hilton Caracas.
3/30
CCS-MIA AEROPOSTAL 502 4:00p-6:10p
THOUGHTS:
I didn't miss any connections -- I was only worried about the 50 min connect time in SAL for my flight to GUA, but my flight was early, and the SAL airport is cleanly laid out and pretty small.
SAL: Only in the airport -- austere, clean and small. Quick connections.
GUA
: I highly recommend the Radisson Guatemala City
. I got an $85 rate, accrued 500 LP miles, and had a very nice suite, with kitchen, "living room", two doubles. Very new hotel, friendly staff. I was told that use of the business center (and Internet) was $10/hour, so I skipped it (plus I had to get up at 3am). Good food in the hotel. I am looking forward to coming back to Guatemala.
SJO
: Nice decent-sized US-style terminal. As MG said, this is the place to load up on coffee beans. Lots of American tourists in aloha shirts. I'll come back here.
BOG
: I had a 7 hour layover here. This is the most "secure" airport I have ever been in, at least if "security" is measured in terms of number of armed military-security types and # of checkpoints. Get your tax exemption across from the Iberia counter, as PG said. Everyone I talked to was very friendly (as with the whole trip). Someone on this board mentioned that they had a bag stolen here ... Must have been at the cambio, which is just outside the terminal. Man, advice for travel anywhere in the world -- even if the bags are at your feet, always have them leaning up against your legs so you'll feel if they're grabbed. Anyways, the international gate terminal is locked down, felt extremely secure. I enjoyed a few beers and wrote a bunch of postcards in the secure international terminal shopping area (expensive postage). .. I don't think I will be heading back to Colombia anytime soon because of terribly unsafe security situation.. Too bad. Perhaps things will improve in a few years.
CCS
: Took an expensive ($34) taxi at 1am into the city to the Caracas Hilton
. The taxi service from the airport is insanely expensive. I was unimpressed by the Caracas Hilton -- excellent location I guess, but the service was terrible and the place felt old (in the bad way). The view was awesome from my 19th floor room, steeply-rising cloud-shrouded green mountains with tall glass skyscrapers in the foreground. Just don't look down at street level -- trash everywhere, squatters.. The contrast between haves/have nots in Caracas is the worst I have seen in a while. I shared a cab to the airport -- this would be a good way to keep your cost down. $21 departure tax, the airport seemed to unairconditioned, and the plane was late, with no reason given. Caracas will not be my first destination on my next trip...
SUMMARY:
Not bad at all. This was a fun trip -- as fun as running from plane to plane can be! I didn't miss any connections. Grupo TACA: I was impressed by the excellent service and condition of the planes.. Copa: So this is where old planes go to die! Aeropostal: Fine.
Just about everyone I spoke to (in my passable Spanish) was very friendly and helpful. If you know any Spanish at all, make the attempt at communicating in that language -- I truly believe that most people are gratified when you attempt to speak their language -- you are the guest. I was sorry that this was just a mileage run and not a sightseeing trip. I'll be spending my miles (and extra $$$) in Central and South America -- as Latinpass intended -- beginning next summer.
Good luck to everybody still planning their runs.. I looked for likely LP candidates (do we fit a profile? I guess not..), but didn't see any. Since I am presently in a state of severe sleep deprivation, I'll check back in tonight and post anything else that pops up that might be of use to you.
Cheers,
NSW