AS287 was a full flight with all the passengers moved over. Takeoff was fine, but was surprised when gogo didn't work until late into the flight. It turns out we were in Mexican airspace for most of the flight. The original plane I was on flight
AS9277 went much more northern on its routing. Perhaps that was due to the thunderstorms we were skirting around. I saw a nice electrical storm off to the left an hour or so into the flight- they can sure light up the sky. Some light to moderate turbulence, I was able to finish a few more movies. Dinner was...chicken again
This was very tasty, served in a Germanic style with spaetzle and purple sauerkraut. Dessert was a pre-packaged brownie, and there was no snack basket as the flight was round trip catered.
Arrival into gate 212 was exciting as always, as we had a bus ride to TBIT. Around 40 minutes after arrival our bags showed up, and we cleared customs. It seemed everybody from our Cuba flight was sent to secondary- the agents did not say anything about my rum, but did inquire about the canned goods I had. Mentioned they were canned fruit, and was waived on.
We walked to the bag recheck area expecting to see an Alaska agent meeting our flight. This did not happen, and we could not check our bag to ANC as mentioned earlier, the agents in HAV do not have access to enough of Alaska's system. So we had to trek our bags down to T6, wait in line and recheck our bags onto AS175. Others had to do the same. This was further annoying as we were planning on reclearing TSA at TBIT and going to the Admirals Club for a quick shower before our redeye.
I ended up getting a burger at The Habit Burger Grill, a triple pattied one with real beef. Stopped at the Boardroom for a quick diet coke, and went onboard. Just before pushback, I was actually upgraded. As I was in row 17 with an empty middle, I gave the upgrade to my companion. I slept for 99% of the uneventful flight, and after landing to the north in ANC (rare), welcomed the cooler temperatures in the jetway. I was glad to be home. 2 hours later I was at work, yippee.
Thanks for reading my narrative. Overall HAV is an exciting place to visit, and I'd be interested in returning some day. Alaska has some great contract agents in Havana. However be flexible with your return, as it looks like the 3/14 AS287 was cancelled yet again. But I'd like to get out of town and see a bit more of the country in the future. And somehow get a hold of more CUP's as that's where the real value is.