Carq

Last year AA run an amazing “promotion” for Brazilians, selling tickets for 1/10 of their real price. I already had my vacations planned (here and here) and hadnīt any schedule left to take real advantage of it, but I couldnīt pass on this opportunity and ended up booking a business ticket to spend the weekend in NYC on my birthday, which eased the negotiations at home for travelling alone and then a business ticket to Miami for a Disney family vacation. Iīll make two small reports, covering what is more unique on those trips.
My flight to JFK was through GRU airport, where I went to the other lounges that I hadnīt been before (Latam and Admirals Club). The flight was on AA’s 777-300ER and I stayed one night on Conrad New York.
My flight to Miami was direct from BSB, the first leg being operated by a 757. When I was booking, the return flight operated by AA was a day flight, so I choose the less cheap night flight operated by Latam on a 767. I stayed at Homewood properties in Orlando (near Universal, recently renovated) and Miami (new property on Brickell). On the airports I went to VipClub Lounge in BSB and Avianca and Latam Lounges in MIA.

Carq

I left my car at the airport and took an Azul flight from BSB to GRU. I had already checked-in online but had to print a boarding pass on an AA kiosk. Going through security and immigration was fast and I first went to Latam Lounge.
The lounge is spacious, has different areas and even a napping room. Its décor is nice but the furniture is a bit uninspiring, especially compared to Star Alliance lounge. There were good food and beverage options.























I spent 30 minutes there then went to the new Admirals Club, right next to it. Being it an AA lounge, I thought it was great, with average food offerings and good seat options.

















Another 30 minutes and I went to the Executive lounge, which has the better food options of the GRU lounges, in my opinion (more about them here).
Finally I spent the rest of my time at the Star Alliance lounge, which has the best seats, ambiance and drinks (especially the ginger caipirinha) of the GRU lounges.





Boarding started on time and I was seat on 3A, on the front mini-cabin. I hadnīt flown on AA new business class yet and was quite impressed by its quality. The seat is spacious, comfortable, has great privacy and an excellent IFE system, with Boose headphones.



Service was also very good throughout the flight and the only food was average. I slept well and had a yogurt before landing. I left the plane extremely impressed, especially considering that my flight with them on first class was a fiasco.





The line on immigration was really short, but for the first time ever I was directed to a room for secondary analysis. I thought I would have to answer some dumb questions, but I just had to wait 5 minutes and my passport was stamped. I went to take the Airtrain but it wasnīt working to Terminal 8, so I took a bus to Federal Circle, Airtrain to Jamaica station and then a one hour ride to WTC metro station. A 5 minutes walk and I arrived at Conrad NY at 9am.



I booked a suite through Visa Luxury Hotel Collection, which offers free breakfast (so I got 1k points from my gold status), room upgrade, late checkout and U$25 credit. I was granted an early check-in and was upgraded to a room with view of the Hudson River. There was also a promotion some time ago offering a U$100 credit on VLHC, but the difference in the room rate wouldnīt make it worth. Luckily, I received the U$100 credit.





The suite was spacious and modern, with a large walk-in shower and a partitioned toilet between the bedroom and living room. I enjoyed the fact that the corridor in front of the shower and toilet featured ceramic tiles, which adds a cleanness aspect to the room, in my opinion. Iīm not a big fan of carpets all over the room.















I requested Shanghai Tang toiletries and received a pack of each brand available on Conrad (Shanghai Tang, The Refinery, Tara Smith and Aromatherapy Associates). Unfortunately, I was travelling with just a carry-on, so I left them behind. I also read in my room about children activities in the hotel and saw it mentioning the Wall Street bull stuffed toy, so I also requested one as a souvenir to my children.



I got out for a walk and walked from Wall Street to Columbia University, passing by Washington Square, Union Square and Central Park. It was a beautiful sunny day and the city wasnīt crowded, so it was a pleasant 8 miles walk. I also liked the surroundings of the Hotel by the Hudson River, as it was a Saturday there were lots of families, dogs and people enjoying the day.

















As I got back to the hotel, I was planning to use the room credit on the rooftop bar, but that wasn’t possible. So I ordered shrimps saltimbocca, a steak, mashed potatoes and mushrooms. The shrimps and mashed potatoes were very good, the steak too done (I think they misunderstood my medium request) and the mushrooms were unappealing. Overall it was good, but I found the total price of U$80 too expensive.



I went out again to Brooklyn to try to get some good pictures of Manhattan skyline and the Brooklyn bridge, but it started to rain and I couldnīt wait for some night shots.



I slept well and went down for breakfast. The free breakfast consisted of one option of the continental menu and coffee, which I found rather weak. I ordered pastries, an egg ciabatta and an orange juice, adding U$20 to my breakfast, which I found again expensive. The food was very good, though.



I went for some shopping on Time Square and got back for my late 3pm check-out. After a delicious milk shake and hamburger on Shake Shack, which is on the same building as the hotel, I took the subway back to JFK. TSA lines werenīt too bad and I waited for my flight on whatīs supposed to be the Admirals Club, but itīs just a messy lounge while a new lounge is being executed.
Boarding was on time again and this time I was seated on 9J, on the main business cabin. The mini-cabin feels better but the seats are so well laid out that even in the main cabin there is enough privacy that you don’t feel you are on a cabin with other 39 passengers.



Service again was attentive and friendly and food was weak. I slept well again and had some fruits and yogurt for breakfast.





The flight landed 10 minutes ahead of schedule, at 8.40am. When I was booking my flight back to BSB, I inadvertently wrote on my itinerary a 6.40am landing and booked a flight departing from GRU at 10am. With only 70 minutes connection time, I thought Iīd never make to that flight so I booked another one leaving later. But with no checked bags, a fast walking pace, online check-in and the 10 minutes early arrival, I made to the gat with 15 minutes to spare.
Overall, this was a great quick weekend trip and this AA business class exceeded all my expectations. Considering that I paid for this ticket only U$400, it was a great birthday present.

wheniamawake

Your pictures look great! Makes me want to plan my own trip to NYC now... Looking forward to the rest.

Non-NonRev

Yes, great photography! Your choice of subjects on your Manhattan walk really caught the feel of how old (Flatiron Building) and new (1 World Trade Center) coexist. Your skyline shot is epic.

Some American chefs have trouble with medrum orders (grills are often set up for optimizing medium rare orders) - so sometimes a medium order comes out medium well.

Carq

Thanks. Now that you are living in London, that should be easier.

Thank you. Last time I was in the city was three years ago, so there are definitely some new buildings and others close to being finished. Unfortunately Calatrava`s train station wasn't opened yet. I know it may be a questionable building, but I was curious about it.

Non-NonRev

If you ever make it to Chicago take a hour's journey up to Milwaukee where Calatrava's art museum sits on the Lake Michigan waterfront.

Carq

I took an Uber with my family to BSB airport. Check-in took a while but I never had a nicer representative as this one from AA. He was talkative, apologized several times for the delay and was extremely kind with my daughters.
Security area for international departures is small, with only two screening positions and only one was working, so the small line was moving very slow. Immigration control was fast, on the other hand.
As there are few international departures from BSB (and some are being discontinued), the partitioned international area is small. VIP Club lounge is the only one available in the area. AA doesnīt have any arrangements with them, so their passengers on business class or with elite status donīt have a lounge to use in BSB. VIP Club accepts Priority Pass or Diners Club, though, so I waited for boarding there.
VIP Club lounge for domestic flights is fantastic but it seems to be underused every time I got there, so they probably took a more conservative approach when designing the international one. The lounge is nice but small, with some sets of sofas, a communal table and three round tables. Food and drink options were good.





















Boarding started on time. AA operates the BSB-MIA route with 757s and the four of us were seated on row one, which was a bad decision. Noise and light from the galley were a nuisance during the flight.
The seat is not very comfortable because when it is reclined, the three parts of it stays in different angles. The pillow and blanket were good but the amenity kit was the old (and discontinued?) version. There were in ear headphones available on the seat and later the Bose headphones were distributed. The IFE system is limited and the screen is small, but I liked that there are two trays, one on the seat and the other on the front console, so itīs easier to get out of your seat once you finished your meal.









Service was ok but I had a hard time rocking my daughter to sleep with the lights, noise, narrow single aisle and cart service. Food was weak and even ice cream was bad this time. No water bottle was given and I skipped breakfast trying to sleep a bit more, but the relatively short (7 hrs) flight and uncomfortable seat resulted in a light sleep.







I knew when I booked this flight that the cabin would be outdated, but I still thought it was better than taking a flight to Sao Paulo or Rio de Janeiro. And even though the reverse herringbone seats on AA are great, I find impossible to fly them with my two year old daughter as the privacy provided by them is great for solo travelers but impractical to assist or supervise young ones. Only the staggered seats would be an option.
We landed on time, immigration line wasnīt long but for the second time in a row I was directed for secondary as the officer said he couldnīt process my passport. I really donīt know what the problem is, as Iīve entered with this same passport several times before. Just like the time before, no questions were asked and I was cleared in five minutes.
I rented a car on Hertz but after 5 minutes on the road I had to return and exchange the car as there was a gecko inside and it would be a nuisance with the children. Four hours late, we arrived at Homewood Suites at Universal Studios.
The hotel location is good and the room was nice, with a separated living room with kitchen and a bedroom with two queen beds. Breakfast was basic but there was some food offered on happy hours, which my wife enjoyed. The hotel has recently been renovated, which was nice. I donīt know how the hotel was before, but the renovation left the impression that this was a new hotel straight from the 90’s. I didnīt have a chance to take pictures of the rooms tidy, but the color scheme is the same as the pictures below.





I stayed four nights and the hotel was good for my needs. I changed my reservation three times to take advantage of rate drops.
Iīd have preferred to book a hotel through Amex FHR or Visa VLC, but itīs hard to find hotels offering rooms with kitchen on them.
The last two nights I stayed at Homewood on Brickell. I choose this hotel because it was 3 months old. Location was ok, furniture and décor was nice, breakfast was good and the room had a decent view.







The room had one king bed and a sofa bed, but there wasnīt any door separating them , so although the room was listed as a one king bed one bedroom suite, it felt more like a studio, with a bathroom between the rooms. Thinking about it, Iīm actually confused if I really got a bedroom suite.
I wouldnīt stay there again as I didnīt liked the layout, the shower had low pressure and the room faced the metro track, so from 6am until late night you could hear the trains passing. It wasnīt very loud but it was surely noticeable.
When I bought the tickets, the MIA-BSB leg operated by AA was a day flight, so for U$100 more per person (on bug rate) I choose a codeshare night flight operated by TAM. Later AA changed its flight to a night one also, but Iīm glad I returned on TAM.
TAM operates on Concourse J and uses VIP Lounge Miami. The lounge is spacious but it was busy, with a few seats unoccupied. Food and drink options were reasonable.











I then checked Avianca VIP Lounge (using Priority Pass), which is located on the same space but on opposite direction. The room is smaller but was empty and the food options were better there.















TAM operates this route with a 767, which is a huge upgrade from AA’s 757. The seats are on 2-2-2 configuration, which isnīt the best option overall but the best for travelling with small children.



The seat is comfortable and reclines to a full 180°. Amenity kit was very good for business class, with blue cases for men and wine for women. On the picture below there are socks and toothbrush missing, as I used them on flight.









The IFE system and screen are very good, as was the food and drinks offers. The gnocchi was tasty and any carrier offering guarana gets a bonus mark.
This time I slept better but the flight duration is still a bit short for that. I skipped breakfast and my only complaint on this flight would be that the cabin lights were dimmed low but were never turned off, so the cabin didnīt get dark.







We landed on time in BSB and itīs a real joy to arrive on an international flight on your home city and head straight home, without needing to take one more domestic flight.
It was a pleasure taking these trips, specially paying 1/10 of their price. For the first time in years I donīt have any other flights scheduled in the future, so Iīm really looking forward to the next bug. With a free schedule, Iīll probably buy a ticket for each two months period.