Arrived rather early to Benito Juarez International Airport, as my secretary had advised me that the holiday travel crowds were especially large this day. Luckily, MX's separate security line for J class pax was well organized, so I was able to circumvent the long lines and was in the lounge 2 hours before our planned boarding time.

The new MX International J class lounge was quiet (surprisingly so, especially considering the long lines). I checked email and then browsed the newspapers for the latest news. I also verified the flight status for my connecting UA flight 823 ORD-EZE, and was pleased to see it still with an on-time planned departure.

One thing I have always wondered is what the guest policy is for this lounge, and today I just put it to the test. Two friends that were travelling to LAX and have no status on *A wanted to join me, so I met up with them at the 3rd floor reception. As I rolled out the charm and hoped for the best, the friendly MX agent surprised me with very little resistance, and just explained that whilst the policy is one guest per person -- she would make an exception.

At about 1415, I departed the lounge and headed for our programmed gate, number 27. Boarding was scheduled for 1420, but didn't happen until 1440 - our original departure time. Our aircraft was a B757, and the flight was oversold, so the boarding process took some time (with the additional hand-carry checks, etc.) so we didn't push back until 1500.

I was one of the first pax to board, and was greeted by the Purser. Coat hanged, welcome drink & newspapers/magazines came out shortly thereafter. J cabin was also full - a blessing for MX, as it's been months since I'd seen a full J cabin and for that matter a full flight. I didn't see any MX staff in J (they share this trait with United), so that was also a novelty.

As we leveled off after take-off, the purser announced our flight time at 3'25'', putting us at O'Hare at 1900 local time (35 minutes behind schedule). I wasn't too happy about this, as I was hoping to either meet up with some of you or at least do some last minute Xmas shopping. I wanted all the time in ORD I could get. As I tried to organize my thoughts as to how I would make best use of my time at ORD, the Movie menu came out (MX has the Sony personal video players in J). I decided on " About Adam ".

I had skipped breakfast so I was actually quite hungry. I hadn't gotten around to eating much at the lounge so as my stomach continued to radio my brain with complaints that were now bordering on profanity, I anxiously awaited the food service. Of course, given my recent experiences with MX my taste buds were not too optimistic�. then again, everything tastes much better when you are starving�

After the video players, the drink service cart came out. A positive surprise here, as the drink service included assorted nuts and now (somewhat) improved choice of tequilas, including 1800 special edition. Unfortunately no Sangrita, but limes and salt were promptly provided. By the way, the Veuve champagne MX used to serve is still nowhere to be seen.

Meal service followed. No hot towels. No menus. Appetizer was a salad with hearts of palm, which I would characterize as adequate - although the balsamic vinaigrette has almost no trace of balsamic vinegar�� Bread rolls were warm up and just what I needed to occupy my stomach. Main courses were chicken or pasta. The pasta looked nasty, so I opted for the chicken, which looked better but tasted just like what the pasta looked like. Alas, the 1800 tequila was OK so I decided to have another couple of those�. After all, I was going to be able to eat something at the UA ORD F lounge.

Rest of the flight was uneventful, the service was OK, it cooled off after the initial warm reception. We arrived in ORD 25 minutes behind schedule.


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Gaucho100K

Doesn't sound too, too bad! Thanks!

Well... my last MX Ejecutiva report was a lot more negative, I do agree it is a (small) improvement.

Sounds pretty unexciting, but then, compared to Aeromexico...

Actually, my experience is that AeroMexico has consistently better service than Mexicana - both for domestic and international service.

Do you think it makes a big difference (is it work it) for award travel in J vs Coach? the difference is 35,000 vs 60,000. Alot when you consider LAX-MIA is 25,000/40,000.

Any ideas?

I think its all a factor of how many miles you have. I dont do all my award travel in J, I would say about 40% is Y. There are not really that many differences as the seats for J on MX are really bad and now that f&b up front has also been severed....