Mats

AA963
São Paulo/Guarulhos to Dallas/Fort Worth
777-300
Seat 1J

The Premium Services/Five Star agent picked me up and we walked down to the gate. She was in frequent communication with the gate staff so as to find a quiet time to board.

They do not use carts or limousines at Guarulhos, but it was not a long walk. And I was impressed by the new, spacious terminal. It's a world of difference from Terminal 2.

Once at the gate, we bypassed the crowd went through a series of doorways and lifts, which brought us close to the aircraft entrance. No need for creepy questions or foot swabbing (though the agent had to be wanded before she entered the airplane.)

On board, the same purser from the inbound flight, Deborah, was there to greet me. Hugs, a kiss on the cheek, and a warm welcome. Another crew member, a Swiss gentleman, came right over to say hi, and to say how happy they were to see me again. The first and business class crews shared some responsibilities, and each of them introduced themselves to the passengers in first class. They were genuine and thoughtful every step of the way.

The Captain was less welcoming. He blathered on about how American is a "proud participant in the Federal Air Marshall program," and that passengers who use the washrooms must be seated immediately upon exiting the washroom, and that the law blah blah blah criminal offenses blah blah. Is he studying to be an assistant principal at a lousy junior high school? Will they have a Pledge of AAllegiance?

To be fair, the first officer was cheerful and friendly, and we made brief small talk in the front galley.for

We made a speedy departure out of São Paulo, and headed off over Amazonas to Bucaranga, Colombia, the Cayman Islands, and the edge of the Yucatan. The flight was 1h10 shorter than planned(!)


Fool that I am, I left the menu on board. From my memory...

I had the risotto, which was amazing: it was full of fresh vegetables, not even slightly overcooked. I wasn't even sure if I was hungry, but I devoured it. I consider it impressive to produce such perfect vegetables on an airplane.

There were multiple passes of warm bread.

I slept until about two hours prior to arrival.
Breakfast was the same as the outbound (or at least almost the same). The fruit wasn't quite as good, which is strange for Brazil. But the bread, jam, and yoghurt were perfect. I once again knew better than to ask for "Fresh Brew" and had tea instead.

DFW
There was no queue at Global Entry. The agent asked if I had anything to declare, and that was it.
Bags took about 20 minutes or so, probably because all of the flights arrived at the same time.
There was some form of law enforcement officer making a big fuss of carrying a rifle around the Customs Hall. It must be hard to get through life trying to compensate for so much.

Grand Hyatt DFW
I remain a fan of the Grand Hyatt. One exits the Customs Hall and it seems to take just seconds to get to a room.
The only bummer is that they do not offer "day rates" or useful early arrival rates for those of us coming from South America. I had to pay for two nights, which made me unhappy. I think it was more frustrating because I couldn't get an answer out of them. I tried email, fax, and multiple phone calls until I finally reached a snippy phone agent who booked me for two nights (unapologetically). I called the hotel, mind you, not the central reservations number.

My bitterness mellowed once I got to a calm, quiet room with a big, cozy bed.

Above all, The Grand Hyatt has finally come to its senses and abandoned the revolting June Jacobs toiletries. Did enough people notice that they did not want to take a shower with soap that smelled like turnips and scallions, or whatever was in there? Sayonara, June. The new stuff is from Balmain.