Sunday, September 26

We left ARI at 8 AM and flew to IQQ and then to SCL. I thought it was interesting to see a US military plane at IQQ.

I wish LanChile would let you deplane at a stop and then re-board so I could see the inside of ZCO, CCP, LSC and IQQ, but I guess they don’t because they wouldn’t be able to turn an A320 in 20 or 30 minutes. At the stop, a flight attendant walks down the aisle and counts passengers using one of those handheld clicking devices. After everyone boards the plane, she does another count. US airlines do a mental count, which I would think is more subject to error.

We had a 10 hour layover before the AA flight to DFW, so we took the Centropuerto bus to Santiago. We wanted to take Tur-bus because they have nicer seats for only 200 pesos more, but the waiting Tur-bus pulled away just before we got on and a Centropuerto bus pulled up.

We took the Metro yellow line and spent some time walking around Plaza de Armas and the neighborhood, buying some souvenirs from the sidewalk vendors.

I called my wife around 3 PM, and she said that AA had called her and said our flight was cancelled, and that we had been re-booked on Delta. She said AA gave her two phone numbers (Santiago numbers) for me to call. I called both numbers. One didn’t work at all, and the other rang and rang with no answer.

We took Tur-bus back to the airport, arriving at 5:10 PM. There was no one at the AA ticket counter because they don’t open until 5:30 PM. At 5:35 PM I entered the Delta line, assuming that since I had been re-booked on Delta, all I would need to do is check in with Delta. After half an hour I finally got through the line and handed over my luggage. The agent did some typing, and then he asked us for our tickets. I said that our tickets were electronic AA tickets, and that we had been re-booked on Delta. He said that we would need to get paper tickets from AA. He said when we get our tickets, don’t wait in line again; just come back to him at the desk, and he will exchange them for boarding passes.

By that time, the line at the AA ticket counter was getting long. We entered the line and waited. We waited for an HOUR. We finally reached the end of the line at 7 PM. The Delta flight leaves at 8:30 PM, which didn’t leave much time left. It took 15 minutes for us to get our paper tickets.

What is wrong with AA? They re-book us on Delta but don’t actually do anything such as print paper tickets? They give me two phone numbers to call, but neither works. I don’t understand why Delta still wants paper tickets. It’s not like Delta is some third world carrier that can’t accept electronic reservations.

During the wait in the AA line I realized that we were not going to have time to eat dinner, so my brother stayed in the line and I went to Dunkin’ Donuts to get 12 donuts, coffee for me and a Coke for my brother.

At 7:15 PM we went back to the Delta counter. The agent who took our luggage wasn’t there any more, and everyone else thought we were trying to cut in line. I heard people hissing at us, and I recognized the people who were next in line. They were right behind us for an hour in the AA line! I said, “Didn’t you notice us waiting in the American Airlines line in front of you?” They confirmed that they recognized us, but said that they had to get on the Delta flight leaving soon. I said, “So do we, and we already waited in line at Delta.” They went to the next agent anyway and refused to let us use the next agent. Typical selfish Americans.

The Delta agents who don’t work behind the counter (you know, the people who stand around, organizing the queue instead of doing any useful work) were confused about what was going on. The first thing they said when we approached the counter was “What flight are you on?” I said 8:30 to ATL. They said, “You have to go on standby.” I said “No I do not. I already waited in this line an hour ago and checked in my luggage. I was re-booked on Delta by AA, and I spend the last hour in line at AA to get my paper tickets.”

The idiots repeated that we would have to go standby, and I repeated the fact that we most certainly were not going on standby. Finally one of the idiots found our boarding passes on the desk that the first agent had printed out before he left.

You would think that for an airline on the verge of bankruptcy, they would stop ****ing around with their customers like that, insisting that you have to go standby instead of listening to the fact that the passenger’s luggage has been in their possession for over an hour. If I didn’t have to leave for a business trip two days later, I would have told them to shove it, go back to AA, and fly AA home the following day.

When I sat down in seat 30H on Delta, I suddenly remembered how horribly tight is Delta coach. My brother, being two inches taller than I, couldn’t even sit with his legs facing straight forward.

With all the delays checking in, and spending a few minutes exchanging currency, we were one of the last people to board the plane in zone 9 (last zone # for Delta). There was someone sitting in 29H but 29J was empty. I thought, whew, at least one of us won’t get crushed by a selfish seat recliner. I also noticed a lot of empty seats further back and was hoping to move back there and lay down over three seats.

Then the standbys started boarding. Those empty seats in the back started filling up, and someone sat in seat 29J. Worse yet, after take-off, Mr. 29J reclined his seat and left it that way for the entire flight.

Mr. 29H didn’t recline his seat (or maybe just a little), so after a couple of hours into the flight, I switched seats with my brother. My brother still had no legroom, but at least he wasn’t being crushed.

That nine hour flight was a very long nine hours. We had such a horrible flight on Delta that we were miserable for the rest of the following day. I got two hours of sleep on that flight, and that’s only because I can sleep just about anywhere. My brother got no sleep at all. To add insult to injury, the meal sucked. I had lukewarm chicken with dry bread. Thank goodness I thought of going to Dunkin’ Donuts earlier.

I am teaching Delta a lesson and booking zero travel on them for the rest of the calendar year.


Summary

We had a wonderful time. It was over all too soon. The pictures of the Strait of Magellan and the mountains don’t do justice to actually being there. The people are friendly, honest and helpful. People don’t freak out and wave their hands around when they see someone smoking. They don’t drive big giant SUV’s, and they use turn signals. I still have my watch set to 24-hour time (more convenient IMHO).

I guess if I had to pick something negative, it would be that downtown Arica could use better street signs, but that’s it!

Between the two of us, we spent 310,000 pesos (just under $500) plus $250 for the five days of rental car during the nine day visit.

Other than the return flight, my brother and I had a great time.


Here are the pictures again but in a smaller size (one step above thumbnail):

Waffle House for breakfast
old house Arlington TX
on the way to SCL
landing at SCL
LanChile flight
Hostal Fitz Roy in Punta Arenas
Breakfast at hostal
hostal cat
hostal TV
view of Punta Arenas
Fiat rental car
Strait of Magellan
Fuerte Bulnes
cannons at Fuerte Bulnes
Punta Santa Ana
view from Punta Santa Ana
another view from Punta Santa Ana
Route 255
restaurant next to border
Chile border control office
Argentina border
Chile welcome sign
Chile map
Strait of Magellan
ferry to Tierra del Fuego
beach
Rte 255 nothing around
Rte 255 estacionamientos
PUQ jetways
view from PUQ to PMC
PMC airport
PMC reserved parking space
Centropuerto bus to Santiago
Residencial Vicky
Il Successo restaurant
Santiago Metro
Cerro Santa Maria
view of Santiago from Cerro Santa Maria
Andes mountains
Cerro San Cristobal
view from Cerro San Cristobal
CPO airport
beach on approach to ANF
Peugeot rental car in Arica
Residencial Real in Arica
El Morro de Arica
beach in Arica
rocky beach in Arica
paved part of Route 11
gravel part of Route 11
view above Putre
downtown Putre
dark and unpaved part of Route 11
IQQ airport
US military plane at IQQ
flight from IQQ to SCL
Plaza de Armas in Santiago