JVPhoto

I haven't been to many weddings to which I attribute to being in my very early 30s and that a majority of my friends cannot legally get married...or that none of us have any real desire to. So I was happy to find out that one of my oldest (being the amount of years we've known each other, she's younger than I) was getting married in Cabo.
I thought oh great...Cabo. Bleh, never much of a desire to go here (will explain before) but found out they were renting a bunch of villas in the upscale Pedregal community and all we had to do was show up.

United F LGA-IAH

So going to we had to make a connection but was happy on the way home the day offers a non-stop flight. Also was nice that I could get the flight out of LGA since I rarely ever fly from here (in fact I've only flown INTO it once in the past 3 years and I think out in maybe like 5). 5:45am flight isn't a biggie with traffic or anything so not like EWR would have been that bad. The United Club opens at 5:45 so at least I thought I could pop in and check it out.



I end up getting there about 4:20 so I walk around for a few minutes and just look at the terminal which had a fair amount of vagrants sleeping around the food court. I thought I was at the Port Authority Bus Terminal.
The entrance to the UC is in this hallway with a clear view of the red coats who were looking at IDs for Premier Access and PreCheck lanes. I didn't notice them doing much and right at 4:45 when the UC was opening I noticed the far one was having people put stuff in sizers.
Maybe 1 trip out of all of mine each year do I not check a bag. My duffel bag doesn't seem oversized or anything but I never put it in a sizer and didn't want to fuss with this guy. So as I noticed he was busy with 2 people the guy closer was free so I went up with it on the opposite side of him and said PreCheck and got on down the aisle.



The gates for UA looked like they had been updated recently with slick new white computer terminals and signs and what not. I was flying at 5:45 and my two friends at 6:30 and all 3 on our flight ex-IAH. So one of them ended up already being there so sat with her after picking up some bottled Itoen green tea at the Cibo Express kiosk which is now the vendor that is also in the re-done EWR food & dining. This is a change I love.

Boarded on time and everyone was down and settled.

A tale of two travelers. While it was 19F in NY I was dressed for the 80F that awaited me. Next to me the gent from Houston in his tassle loafers was a nice guy as I briefly asked him if he travels through IAH often and said he lives there. I wanted to just double check that all of the terminals and train links were airside while looking at the map.



F was full and in the back was maybe 40 people. FA offered us drinks. I totally would have had a screwdriver at 5:35am but went for some tea. He also then came around and was taking our food orders which was either French Toast Souffle or Cheese Quiche a la the new updated UA domestic F menus.

We pushed back and turned around and then sat. And sat. And sat for about 10-12 min without moving. Captain came on saying something about air pressure in the engine wouldn't hold and couldn't get them to start. So we had to wait to be towed back to the gate and they would bring some air compressor truck to try and start them and we would be on our way. That came and after about 15 min no luck. Now I am getting nervous. Jetway wasn't connected so wouldn't have been able to get off and try and get with my friends on the 6:30 flight. Started looking at UA and Expedia or anything to find later flights that day from IAH to SJD--from what I could tell if I missed the flight I wouldn't be able to get to Cabo until the next morning.
So once that didn't work the captain said they were connecting the jetway and mechanics needed to get on and figure things out. Eventually they did and they closed up shop in a hurry and got us off and on our way. Leaving 1:15 late but with our quick flight time we ended up arriving :45 late.



When the FA did orders (Front to Back) I noticed he asked myself, the 1K man next to me and the GS across the aisle for our choices w/o mentioning a 2nd. The rest of the pax he asked "Is it okay if that isn't available to take the other option?"
I went for the cheese quiche as it seemed more savory with the sausage, potatoes. The souffle had a bowl of fruit 3x the size of mine and then the souffle was a bit smaller than I expected for the main item. I was happy with the quiche, it had some flavor, good texture and everything else was nice.





We touched down at IAH at C18 and I had to make it to E18. I have only been to IAH once before and that was just in/out flying the Dreamliner when it made its debut between the hubs. This made me realize how big it was but I also wasn't sure if taking/waiting for the tram was going to be worth it so I went ahead and hoofed it. Luckily I had about an hour before the next flight so it wasn't a big deal. I was hoping I could check out the United Club (simply for the sake of going) but as my friends were already at the gate waiting for me I just went over and waited for them.





United F IAH-SJD

Boarding announcements started on time. Since I was going on a leisure route I knew it was going to be overhead space issues time, so I wanted to get on and put my bag up. As I heard for military I made my way over and then there was the GlobalServices call to which a husband/wife went in. I was in the G1 chute then and this other woman walks up and the GA says "It's for GS, it will say GS on your BP, you are not GS" but she just kept walking in and I ended up sitting next to her (not status on her BP).
Sure enough as the Sammy Hagar fans trundled down the aisle there were bags that could have easily fit a water cooler in them. From what I could tell as we were finishing up boarding about 7 rollers had to come up and get gate checked.

The crew for the most part was nice and in pretty good spirits. They did PDBs without a fuss. Someone asked for champagne and they said they don't have any (more on that later). Pushed back on time without any issues so all the worries of the morning gone and time to sit and relax for the next 2.5 hours.



The FAs in front doing boarding swapped for the ones who were in the back. A younger girl kept things running in the galley while a very sweet woman who I thought was Amanda Lepore (google her) moonlighting as an FA took care of us in the cabin.
Instead of going front to back the FA went to Row 4 and took the order from the GS couple. She asked a lady in front of me and then myself. After that she did the rest of the cabin front/back asking about 2nd choice.



I devoured the cheeseburger. It's been around UA for a while but mostly on regular domestic flights which I rarely take. When I fly dom it is usually p.s. SFO/LAX-JFK. This one has been updated it seems with the pretzel bun. A long with it was the potatoe salad which needed some s&p. About 45 min before landing we got fresh baked* (I saw the FA take frozen pucks out of a tin) chocolate chip cookies which were much tastier than what they used to serve.

Touch down in Los Cabos. Jetway didn't have power and after about 12-15 min they pull up some air stairs. The back opened first and I thought great now I'll be behind the whole plane at immigration. About 90 seconds later (was hard to see them doing it) they brought up the air stairs for the front.
I always feel when you deplane by stairs you know you are going somewhere warm (at least in all my cases going to Hawaii, Jamaica, Caymans, Mexico, Bahamas and such).


My friends being further back I had to wait about 20 min for them to come out.
Not a big deal as when you exit there is a direct shot to get a margarita. Pretty tasty too! I was surprised when he started squeezing fresh lime and orange into it. He said $13 but I said I wanted to pay in pesos which was 130MP...a good exchange rate! It would have been 195MP at what the cambio is giving.


We found out we were picking up 3 friends of the groom who were on the ORD AA flight right behind ours and then made our way to Pedregal.







After settling in for a bit and making some margaritas we freshened up and changed and were going to all make it down to the Marina to eat. Being about 35 guests spread over 4 villas it was sort of "head down and we will meet in this area or just find something and text me where you are". Someone had called a cab (big van) for the 3 of us and he dropped us off and said $20. Fudge I knew we should have brought it up before we got in. Oh well whatever we'll do it on the way back. We just walked around and then instead of dealing with any fuss stopped at some place called Ole Ole because the fajitas stuck out at me. They sucked. Didn't come out sizzling or with any of the traditional sides. Whatever just put up with it we are right in the middle of rip off zone and all of us have only had 3-4 hours of sleep before our flights so we were crashing fast.
No other friends in sight we then went to go get a cab back. I sent the two girls to talk to the drivers and show a bit of boob. It is about a 10 min drive to where we are in Pedregal and everyone was still saying $20. After the one with biggest boobs kept saying "quince" they relented for a $15 cab ride. If we had filled these vans with 7-8 of us it would have been fine.

Lights out at 9:45 and a nice 12 hours of sleep!

JVPhoto

Pedregal - Cabo San Lucas, Mexico













While the rest of the group from the wedding went golfing, whale watching, paddle boarding, etc the 3 of us opted to just veg out at our villa and then walk around and explore. The community sits up on the cliffs and feature some very beautiful homes. But finding water access was a bit tricky. Going off Google Earth we knew it was possible. So we decided to explore then saw a guy washing his Mercedes and asked him how and he gave us directions that would meander through Pedregal and finally get down to the beach.

TOMFORD

Flyertalk's self-proclaimed fashion guru approves of your TF sunglasses!

And the last photo is great. Looks like a wonderful place to relax.

JVPhoto

Yes! Much loved with a Wayferer style but a bit different.
I thought I left them in a fitting room in Cape Town but I NEVER lose anything. I had resigned to thinking I lost them and was checking out and dropped my room key. Knelt down to pick it up and saw them camouflaged on the carpet under the chair.

TOMFORD

My solution to losing eyewear is to get prescription on everything. That way you'll be blind if you take them off... so you never take them off

JVPhoto

20/20 baby so no dice.

And yes Cabo the town I can't stand. But it's quite idyllic where we are staying.
More posts mañana.

2919scott

All the cabs in Cabo are $$$, the only way to make it cost effective is to fill them up. The only thing that's still a good price is 2 X 1 during happy hour. The rates for golf, hotels, meals, etc. is often equal to what you'd pay in the U.S.

JVPhoto

The Wedding

JVPhoto

United F SJD-EWR



With the weather looming the 7-10th(ish) and a travel waiver in place I was curious to see what would happen with our non-stop flight out of Los Cabos.
I of course had some weird dreams about flights/airports the night before but I woke up to check on the flight status of our plane leaving EWR as it was going to boomerang us back. In my head I figured if the plane got out that would be a good sign in that at least it would be parked in SJD with any delays vs. canceling and rebooking our outbound.
Got out 20 min late and arrived into SJD early and it seemed that the weather was going to cooperate in the evening with our scheduled 9:20pm arrival.



Transcabo shuttle company was taking 11 of us to the airport that day and even with them showing up 25 min late it still gave enough time to get to the airport with the 45 min drive from Pedregal. I wasn't expecting too many crowds being a Monday at SJD and sure enough things seemed to go pretty well compared to what I've seen leaving CUN on a weekend where you can spend over an hour in the general line to check your bag.



Wandered a round a bit and then got a margarita and snack at the bar in the 1-4 gate area which was more calm than the section that you dump out in after security/duty free.

Boarding was listed at 1:45 and it wasn't until I happened to walk by and noticed that at like 1:35 they were already boarding EWR. IAH was leaving from there before and I thought they were still on that flight.

The Leisure Route Armada!



In front of each plane there is someone with a destination sign as well as someone at the first air stairs checking BPs who will direct you to the back one if you are in the 2nd half of the plane.

Captain was in the galley talking to the FAs and said we were going to make good time and he wanted to put us down in EWR before 9pm. After the final 3 pax got on they closed up shop early and our departure time was 2:20 and from my watch our wheels were OFF the ground at 2:18.

FAs did PDBs with neither a pleasant nor sour attitude, just went through the motions.
Time to eat with the "re-invented" First Class Domestic & North America dining.
-Nuts w/ drink
Choice of:
-Chicken pot pie w/ green beans
-Chicken & cheese enchiladas w/ Mexican rice
-Dill salmon salad w/ sesame dressing & French onion soup



I've been eating like crap the past few days so I would have gone for the enchilada but went for the salad instead.
The piece of salmon was nearly as long as the fork, very substantial. Basic greens with some peppers, carrot and celery.
French onion soup wasn't so much a fan of. Good flavor but the consistency was a bit gelatinous...made me think of the texture of hot & sour soup.
Screw the cookie. Not like the recent new ones. This was dry, looked bleached white and little flavor. Not worth the calories went for the Mui-Bon chocolate bar I picked up in the airport.

I didn't see any of the enchiladas go by.

The pot pie was more of two pieces of flakey dough with the filling sort of smothered on top of that with some multigrain rice and green beans on that plate. A side bowl had what looked like to be some sort of pineapple spicy slaw.

We touched down in EWR early and were at the B gates which to me usually means a wait for bags. I only had a carry on but one of us in the party had checked a bag (her sewing kit, scissors etc as she was tailoring the gown) so with GE I walked right to the claim and they were in about row 20 and I saw them about 4-5 min after that. Bags were about another 15 min after that.

Instead of waiting for them to put on their coats and walk through the normal customs line I went about 70m ahead and through the GE lane so I could call the car. The guy looked me up and down asked where I was coming from & I said Los Cabos.
"You're traveling alone?" skeptical tone (looks around me to see my bags)
-No, I'm with those 2 girls in the red and grey.
...."Okay, welcome home."
The only other time I've ever talked to anyone coming in with Global Entry was when I flew back alone from a Santo Domingo from a birthday party. Most of the other people flew back on Jet Blue. Officer asked me why I didn't fly back with them and how I could afford United (?) and I said because I wanted to get miles and keep status.

LH4116

Nice report as usual! Cabo looks AMAZING at least by judging the pictures, and certainly a nice place to have a wedding. Were you responsible for the photography, or were you just there as a guest? Also how is the safety in those parts of Mexico?

United looks fairly decent as always, though the meal on the return flight looked a bit weak considering the long flight time. Also where's the Sundae? :P

JVPhoto

I thought the first guy was just ripping us off then I noticed it the whole way through in that all the taxis are 8-10 seater vans. Not so nice when it is just 4 of you.
The 2nd night we went to The Office on the beach and that was a bit more exciting than the Marina.



I still feel I had more of a Mexican experience on the R train this morning with the Marriachi band.

She hired a wedding photographer. She originally had asked me but we agreed that we would rather have me there just enjoying the time and taking a few photos/portraits of her (which I didn't post here) but since I had the camera I took a few other things as well.

If you dumped me in the Marina and said guess where you are I would have said San Diego. There's not much scary or crazy going on here. I feel you would get in a fight with a fellow Spring Break drunk college bro hot head before anything happened with a Mexican. The ATM machines give out dollars. The cab drivers are trained to find the room keys on passed out tourists to take them back to their hotel once they find out which one it is.

Was only 4:10min flight time. The salad was pretty big as I mentioned. I had a small snack before boarding and then my small chocolate crisp bar before landing and I was fine.

Bretteee

I went to Cabo in 1980; there was just one Aeromexico DC-9 at the air port.

Makes me want to return.

I can't believe all you get in UA F is a cheeseburger. They used to serve the same one in economy about 5 years ago.

JVPhoto

My Dad had a fishing boat down there and was partners in a charter company from like 1997-2005. I had never gone down with him and the only time I had was a day on the stop of a cruise along Mexico in college with my roomates so can't comment on what it was like in the 80s but I would imagine much sleepier then.

I didn't know UA would have served food in Y on a 2 hour flight 5 years ago but I was happy with the burger for the 2 hours we were in the air from Houston