The 3rd Millenium's first MHD
 

Greetings from the Mexicana lounge Guadalajara, Mexico.

As usual, I continue to be impressed with Mexicana. There've been a few hiccups, like today's meals (a touch bland, melted and re-frozen ice cream,) and some of their equipment and lounges look a bit tired. But staff is still amazingly friendly and helpful, and every MX flight I've taken has departed essentially on time, and more importantly, arrived early.

When I inquired at check-in at ORD about carrying on my 22", lap-top, and satchel, I was happily given 3 "Distinguished Passenger" tags to eliminate any problems at security or the plane. Another impressive area is what can only be described as "swarms" of agents, crusing the terminal looking for people with that "now what?" look on their face. Several approached me at the same time, and directed me to the regular check-in line. When I asked for business class, one agent escorted me to the counter.

The lounge in GDL is small, tiny even, reminiscent of the Empress lounge in BKK, in years gone by. But for you beverage connoisseurs (or winos, as the case may be) there is a HUGE selection of hard liquor, beer, and wine, not to mention juices, pop, bottled water, and so on. There's also a good selection of snacks, including Empress Hotel high tea type sandwiches, great cookies (of which I'll most likely consume the lot of), nuts, chips, and all the usual stuff. And when I entered, the agent asked me if the Air Conditioning was OK, and switched the satellite TV to English stations. And you've probably noticed that I have Internet access, using my laptop.

Bypassing customs and/or immigration is a no go however. All international arrivals park on the tarmac and use a mobile lounge to get passengers to the terminal. You are then herded into a large closet that passes for a customs hall. Eventually, the pressure of the crowd will push you towards an immigration agent, much like the way water always flows out the bathtub drain.

The formalities, or lack thereof, took 5 seconds tops. He pulled the immigration card from my passport, without looking at the passport, stamped it twice, wrote in 30 (days) and sent me on my way. Likewise, customs pulled me out of the X-ray line, had me push the button, and I was done. Next time I might try the 50 minute connection at 1am, but it'll probably be close. There's a hotel right at the terminal if I miss my connection, so worst case, I'll grab a room.

Next stop, SFO.

Great to hear that things are going OK. I tried to do the YYZ-ORD-GDL two-step (and then back to ORD-YYC (instead of PVR) but they are not offering the 8PM flight out of ORD next week on Friday so I will do my regular YYZ-ORD-MEX-PVR-MEX-LAX-YYC. It's too bad since it would have shaved about 12 hours off my travel time!

I must ask ... as a neophyte to this website but a frequent flier nonetheless(AC SE) ... what the heck is a MHD? Also, what is the ... YYZ-ORD-GDL two-step?

Welcome to the board Vasbyte! A MHD is a Mexican Hat Dance, a fun and profitable way to stick it to the airlines, in the words of one its inventors, Ken hAAmer above.

If you search this forum using MHD you will find a number of threads that outline in detail what it is. However, it is basically a way to get cheaper flights across Canada by travelling via Mexican locations.

The most avid MHDers seem to be Ken, Blondebomber, and MapleLeaf, who was written up in the Globe a couple of weeks ago. My apologies if I forgot anyone.

Vasbyte: I would suggest you use the search function and search for either MHD or Mexcian Hat Dance, you'll be amazed to learn about it after you finish reading all those posts!

To start see:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum5/HTML/001033.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum5/HTML/001267.html
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/Forum5/HTML/001362.html

HAVE FUN!

[This message has been edited by BlondeBomber (edited 01-12-2001).]

My education continues ... Thanks!

I don't think that I can resist the temptation any longer. I've decided to try for a MHD in April, mainly as a mileage run. I have a weekend (Fri-Mon) and my plan is YXU-CUN in J, which currently lists at ~$1400. It looks as if the regular routing would be YXU-YYZ-YVR-LAX-MEX-CUN and back the same way. However, I noticed on ITN that I can do YVR-MEX via ORD, which gives an extra 1000 miles and gets into MEX about 30 min before the LAX flight. Would such a flight be a legal routing on this trip, and does anyone have any other suggestions for upping the mileage? I'll do an O/N in MEX before going to CUN, but I think I'd rather fly than lie around on the beach.

I was just checking out some routes on ITN. I don't know if it would be legal routing (or feasible), but I can get almost 17K miles by going YXU-YOW-YVR-ORD-LAX-MEX-CUN and back the same way. Any thoughts?

Only that you can come back the same way (ORD-YVR) if the schedule works (might be too long a trip though).

You will have to get a travel agent to do more than an 8 segment booking.

I just wanted to check something in my planning for a mhd. I'm not absolutely sure I understand the routing codes given in Expedia. Is it the case that where it says From-To, then any or all of the airports listed are legitimate connections? If that is the case, then is it possible to cascade routings? So, if one can go YVR-LAX via ORD, then is it possible to go ORD-LAX via DFW or OMA or whatever. Eventually you run out of time, obviously, but I'd like to know the options.

Whats the highest numbers of miles anyone has received in one MHD? What would that routing be?

If route cascading is allowed (and I plan to check with my travel agent shortly), it should be possible to rack up huge mileages if you have the time.

What is route cascading??

back seat: Suppose that you're doing a regular mhd from YXU-YVR via MEX, the normal route would be YXU-YVR-LAX-MEX. However, if you look at UA YVR-MEX they allow for YVR-ORD-MEX. and if you look at ORD-MEX, then you can go via LAX. So, if the airlines allow you to do this, your mhd could be, for example, YXU-YOW-YVR-ORD-LAX-MEX and back. That one is just doable in a (long)day. In principle, you could just criss-cross the country for as long as you have time. I'm going to check with my travel agent to see if this is permitted and I'll post the answer.