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A cornucopia of AM questions for SFO (MEX) EZE Trip

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A cornucopia of AM questions for SFO (MEX) EZE Trip

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Old Apr 15, 2015, 8:46 pm
  #1  
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A cornucopia of AM questions for SFO (MEX) EZE Trip

My only prior AM experience was an SFO/MEX front cabin RT on a 737. Eh, but it was ok.

Note that I've already checked the Skyteam website (which has grossly-outdated lounge info, as well as the AM website, which is not very informative). This doesn't mean I've clicked on every possible click.

(1) SFO Lounge access for the late SFO/MEX flight. Last time (day flight) when I asked the check in agent about the available Salon VIP @ SFO, she just told me there wasn't any available. I proceeded to the old int'l terminal DL lounge, where we were greeted with a warm welcome. For an 11pm flight, the only option may be the domestic (landside) DL lounge, although can I access the CI lounge, which should be open?

(2) SFO/MEX - I am assuming a cold snack plate and needing the call bell for all but the most cursory post-departure service.

(3) MEX - I expect that I must go through all migratory formalities during the connection - does this include baggage claim and re-check? Or just my person? How are the AM lounge shower facilities?

(4) MEX/EZE (day flight - 787) - I assume it is a lunch/snack or breakfast/snack service. Any comments on the meals, beverages, general service, and IFE are welcome, as well as where to sit. I've chosen aisles in the mid-section for now.

Fewer questions about the return, because I know there's the AR lounge as well as my access to the AX lounge. How is the 738 / breakfast service on MEX/SFO?
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Old Apr 29, 2015, 7:49 am
  #2  
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la bump ...

Also, any experiences here with AM special meals?
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Old Apr 29, 2015, 8:21 am
  #3  
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Migración y aduana will be greeting you at MEX.

Btw, SFO has a Centurion Lounge too - but it's in the UA terminal, some distance for many of us to travel.

Other than that, I've not flown Aeroméxico in many years. ¡Feliz viaje!
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Old May 3, 2015, 11:43 pm
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Shower facilities at the AM MEX lounge are adequate, nothing fancy.
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Old May 4, 2015, 9:33 am
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Originally Posted by JDiver
Migración y aduana will be greeting you at MEX.
What about baggage claim and re-check? Necessary if transferring to an international flight, or not?
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Old May 4, 2015, 8:16 pm
  #6  
 
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I have a similar question. I'll be flying AM LAX-MEX-LIM with a 4hr 45min layover. During my LIM-MEX-LAX return, I will have a 2hr 21min layover. I have some questions about AM's transit process at MEX, as the following quote leaves me with questions:

Originally Posted by AeroMexico
AeroMexico Link: Traveling Through Mexico Without a Visa
Foreign passengers who are in transit do not go through immigration in Mexico City.
Passengers without a Mexican visa who are traveling to a third country and changing planes in Mexico City will be required to pay a fee of $ 25 USD ($ 50 USD round trip) when checking in at airports outside of Mexico.
  • Connection time in Mexico City cannot exceed 24 hours from arrival in Mexico City.
  • Flights from Mexico City must be nonstop, without intermediate stops within Mexican territory. Mexican authorities do not allow double transit without a visa, with exceptions granted to citizens of Peru and Brazil with an origin or final destination in Asia. (Special privileges also apply to the following flights: Monterrey - Las Vegas, Hermosillo – Phoenix, San Jose del Cabo – San Diego and Tijuana – Narita).
  • When boarding flights at any international airport in Mexico, passports and/or travel documents will be collected by Aeromexico ground personnel and turned over to the captain of the flight crew.
  • When passengers deplane in Mexico City, documents will be turned over to National Immigration Service personnel. Passengers will be escorted to the transit hall of the Mexico City International Airport by an agent of the National Immigration Service, and will remain there until boarding time for their connecting flight. Passports and/or travel documents will be returned upon boarding the connecting flight.
  1. As a US citizen with no requirement for a visa, will I have to pay the USD$25 fee?
  2. Do they really hold on to my passport the entire time I'm at the airport? Can I walk around the terminal and find food?
  3. Is it feasable to attempt to enter Mexico, get a stamp, and then go back through security for the sake of keeping my passport on me during a transit of almost 5 hours? Though, I highly doubt this would be an option during the 2 and a half hour transit on the trip back.
If anyone has any experience with transiting MEX, any advice would be helpful.
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Old May 5, 2015, 6:59 am
  #7  
 
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Originally Posted by Dilemma
I have a similar question. I'll be flying AM LAX-MEX-LIM with a 4hr 45min layover. During my LIM-MEX-LAX return, I will have a 2hr 21min layover. I have some questions about AM's transit process at MEX, as the following quote leaves me with questions:

  1. As a US citizen with no requirement for a visa, will I have to pay the USD$25 fee?
  2. Do they really hold on to my passport the entire time I'm at the airport? Can I walk around the terminal and find food?
  3. Is it feasable to attempt to enter Mexico, get a stamp, and then go back through security for the sake of keeping my passport on me during a transit of almost 5 hours? Though, I highly doubt this would be an option during the 2 and a half hour transit on the trip back.
If anyone has any experience with transiting MEX, any advice would be helpful.
I think that info from the Aeromexico website is out of date and/or just plain wrong. In the Mexico forum, there's a whole thread about transiting in MEX, and there isn't a single mention of fees or of flight crews collecting passports. Here's the procedure for international-international transfer, from post #65 of the thread I linked to above, dated June 2014:

So procedure was, as others have said:

a) Arrive MEX
b) Clear immigration (with no option on form for 'transit' so I picked 'other')
c) Pick up bags
d) Clear customs (my bags were searched)
e) Make your way upstairs to departures
f) Queue to check-in for next flight
g) Get boarding pass, drop bags
h) Head through security
i) Head to gate
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Old May 5, 2015, 8:13 am
  #8  
 
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Agreed with snic -- I've never heard of those procedures mentioned on the Aeromexico site -- especially them taking your passport!

Far as I know, you still always have to go through immigration and customs on arrival, even for an int'l-to-int'l connection. And MEX workers are unbelievably slow in delivering checked bags coming from any Latin American destination (they run the drug-sniffing dogs over each bag before putting it on the belt), so when flying EZE-MEX-SFO, you'll need to allow at least one hour just for any checked bag to be delivered.

Only caveat is that I don't fly AM internationally, so perhaps I'm wrong on their procedures.
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Old May 5, 2015, 8:48 am
  #9  
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Originally Posted by snic
I think that info from the Aeromexico website is out of date and/or just plain wrong. In the Mexico forum, there's a whole thread about transiting in MEX, and there isn't a single mention of fees or of flight crews collecting passports. Here's the procedure for international-international transfer, from post #65 of the thread I linked to above, dated June 2014:
It sounds like a procedure for passengers who generally need a visa to enter Mexico (like the TWOV procedure that the USA used to have).
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Old May 5, 2015, 10:23 am
  #10  
 
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Originally Posted by DarrenChannel
And MEX workers are unbelievably slow in delivering checked bags coming from any Latin American destination (they run the drug-sniffing dogs over each bag before putting it on the belt), so when flying EZE-MEX-SFO, you'll need to allow at least one hour just for any checked bag to be delivered.
That sounds like a pretty good argument for not checking a bag! How strict is AM about carry-on bags that are somewhat bigger than "legal"?
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Old May 5, 2015, 12:14 pm
  #11  
 
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Originally Posted by snic
That sounds like a pretty good argument for not checking a bag! How strict is AM about carry-on bags that are somewhat bigger than "legal"?
AM does have those size-measuring devices at the gates, but in my flights with them, I haven't seen them checking carry-ons. Would assume that so long as your carry-on isn't noticeably oversized, it would be okay.

In biz class, AM allows a carry-on of up to 40 lbs; in economy, it's 22 lbs. (Carry-on dimensions are equal though -- 45" combined L+W+H., whether biz or econ.) And of course there's the one personal item (laptop, briefcase, etc) of up to 6.6 lbs.
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Old May 5, 2015, 2:22 pm
  #12  
 
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Some relatives flew SFO-MEX-EZE in March and were allowed to use the Air France lounge at SFO
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Old May 16, 2015, 9:34 am
  #13  
 
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Originally Posted by bkkth
Some relatives flew SFO-MEX-EZE in March and were allowed to use the Air France lounge at SFO
I've used it as well when flying AM, but it's only open during the midday flight, not the redeye.
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Old Jul 11, 2015, 1:02 pm
  #14  
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I've just answered my earlier questions.
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Old Aug 7, 2015, 2:42 pm
  #15  
 
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Originally Posted by keithguy
Shower facilities at the AM MEX lounge are adequate, nothing fancy.
There are showers in the AM MEX lounge? I didn't think there were...must have missed them.
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