Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
Oct 6, 1999, 10:23 am
#1
Original Member, Moderator: Hotel Deals and MilesBuzz
Original Poster
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Washington, DC
Posts: 14,257
Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta
I never post trip reports regarding business travel (too dull!) but I thought I would share this fun report with all of you.
My wife and 18 month-old son and I flew United to DEN on a completely full 757 in coach. Breakfast consisted of crunchy (yes, I said crunchy) overcooked pancakes and fresh fruit. I had to eat the pancakes without the syrup due to the fact that it is not smart to serve sticky syrup to a toddler in such a tight spot! Flight was uneventful and landed on time. The completely full 727 to ABQ was delayed for 50 minutes so we took the time to let Logan run off some energy. The airport was surprisingly empty. We leisurely ate a tasty steak sandwich at Steak Escape and headed towards our gate. Another uneventful flight.
Using a total of six UA car discount vouchers, I only had to pay taxes (grand total of $39.47 for three days!) on my full-sized Oldsmobile rental car from Avis. Car was brand-spanking new with a total of 23 miles on the odometer! Child seat fit perfectly and we were on our way!
Checked into the Hyatt Albuquerque. As a frequent guest of Hyatt, I found this location to be less than spectacular. The front counter staff was okay but the conciege was a real dingbat. The room had a view facing the direction of the balloon fista. Only major complaint about this location is the terrible valet parking staff. When calling for the car from the room, the phone was NEVER answered. The radio was always turned on to their choice of music at a loud volume even after I asked them to leave it alone. This was consistent regardless of who brought me the car and happened 5 times! I simply stopped tipping them. Upon check-out, I had the charge for parking removed from the bill.
Ahhh, the balloons.....absolutely amazing! The first event we attended was on a Sunday morning at 7am. That's right, 7am! Get up at 430am and am pleased that our child doesn't mind. Traffic was not as bad as we thought it would be but it still took almost an hour to cover the 10 miles and get a parking spot. Right before sunrise, the balloons light up (on the ground) and illuminate the entire park...simply breathtaking! After sunrise, they lift off! A total of 898 balloons participated this year; everything from your standard looking ones to balloons shaped like animals, soda cans, Jesus floating on clouds, a Canadian maple leaf, a balloon that looked to be flying upside-down...just a few that come to mind! The event draws almost 100,000 spectators and is wonderfully non-commercialized. The food booths prepared homemade goodies and handicrafts, very little in the way of corporate logos around. It felt like how an event would have been 20 years ago and was very refreshing. Of course, many of the balloons have commercial sponsorship. Another great opportunity at the event is the freedom to wander around the field while the balloons are filling up. No, I did not go up but rides were readily available!
After a visit to Santa Fe and a visit to the Atomic Energy Museum (bored my wife with this one...) we headed home on Monday. We originally planned to leave ABQ in the evening but decided it was time to go and went stand-by on an earlier 727 flight. Luck was on our side when we got to DEN as an earlier flight home to SEA was delayed by 2 hours and still had seats available for standby! We hopped onto the 757 and left DEN 5 minuted later. Total layover time: 13 minutes! I say we lucked out because if that flight had not been delyaed and we missed it, the next flight was completely full and the one after that was cancelled. I assume that means all the folks on the cancelled flight would have filled up the next one and we would have ended up in DEN for about 5 hours..waiting for our originally reserved flight. Whew! Lucky us. MEal was the very good smoked turkey sandwich with the full-sized chocalate bar!
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My wife and 18 month-old son and I flew United to DEN on a completely full 757 in coach. Breakfast consisted of crunchy (yes, I said crunchy) overcooked pancakes and fresh fruit. I had to eat the pancakes without the syrup due to the fact that it is not smart to serve sticky syrup to a toddler in such a tight spot! Flight was uneventful and landed on time. The completely full 727 to ABQ was delayed for 50 minutes so we took the time to let Logan run off some energy. The airport was surprisingly empty. We leisurely ate a tasty steak sandwich at Steak Escape and headed towards our gate. Another uneventful flight.
Using a total of six UA car discount vouchers, I only had to pay taxes (grand total of $39.47 for three days!) on my full-sized Oldsmobile rental car from Avis. Car was brand-spanking new with a total of 23 miles on the odometer! Child seat fit perfectly and we were on our way!
Checked into the Hyatt Albuquerque. As a frequent guest of Hyatt, I found this location to be less than spectacular. The front counter staff was okay but the conciege was a real dingbat. The room had a view facing the direction of the balloon fista. Only major complaint about this location is the terrible valet parking staff. When calling for the car from the room, the phone was NEVER answered. The radio was always turned on to their choice of music at a loud volume even after I asked them to leave it alone. This was consistent regardless of who brought me the car and happened 5 times! I simply stopped tipping them. Upon check-out, I had the charge for parking removed from the bill.
Ahhh, the balloons.....absolutely amazing! The first event we attended was on a Sunday morning at 7am. That's right, 7am! Get up at 430am and am pleased that our child doesn't mind. Traffic was not as bad as we thought it would be but it still took almost an hour to cover the 10 miles and get a parking spot. Right before sunrise, the balloons light up (on the ground) and illuminate the entire park...simply breathtaking! After sunrise, they lift off! A total of 898 balloons participated this year; everything from your standard looking ones to balloons shaped like animals, soda cans, Jesus floating on clouds, a Canadian maple leaf, a balloon that looked to be flying upside-down...just a few that come to mind! The event draws almost 100,000 spectators and is wonderfully non-commercialized. The food booths prepared homemade goodies and handicrafts, very little in the way of corporate logos around. It felt like how an event would have been 20 years ago and was very refreshing. Of course, many of the balloons have commercial sponsorship. Another great opportunity at the event is the freedom to wander around the field while the balloons are filling up. No, I did not go up but rides were readily available!
After a visit to Santa Fe and a visit to the Atomic Energy Museum (bored my wife with this one...) we headed home on Monday. We originally planned to leave ABQ in the evening but decided it was time to go and went stand-by on an earlier 727 flight. Luck was on our side when we got to DEN as an earlier flight home to SEA was delayed by 2 hours and still had seats available for standby! We hopped onto the 757 and left DEN 5 minuted later. Total layover time: 13 minutes! I say we lucked out because if that flight had not been delyaed and we missed it, the next flight was completely full and the one after that was cancelled. I assume that means all the folks on the cancelled flight would have filled up the next one and we would have ended up in DEN for about 5 hours..waiting for our originally reserved flight. Whew! Lucky us. MEal was the very good smoked turkey sandwich with the full-sized chocalate bar!
------------------
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Oct 6, 1999, 11:39 am
#2
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: May 1999
Posts: 46,817
Thanks MA. Great report. Sorry to hear of your difficulty at the Hyatt Albuquerque. Though I have not been there for about 8 years, I liked the place and had thought of it as just about the best in town. Those valet guys do drive me crazy- so much so that I ususally try to park my own car, particularly since all ours are 5 speeds and driving them is fast becoming a lost art!
Oct 6, 1999, 12:42 pm
#3
Join Date: Mar 1999
Location: SDF via MCO DFW, FSD, BDS, DSM, ORD, OMA
Posts: 612
Thanks for bringing back some fond, fun memories MileageAddict! I used to live about 20 miles from Indianola Iowa which is where the Nat'l Hot Air Balloon Championships were for quite some time. Even better was getting the tips & bribes from the balloonists when they would land in our fields and pastures! Always a very gracious kind of people. Mom used to work for Raven Industries (parachutes, balloons, that sort of stuff) and had lined up for me to take a balloon ride once. I chickened out. 
Cheers,
'toad
Cheers,
'toad
