Guatemala with 5U
Apr 15, 2017 | 3:56 am
#1
Original Poster
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: PIT
Programs: OZ Diamond, TK Elite, UA Refugee
Posts: 11,011
Guatemala with 5U
Background
I study in Switzerland at a university that does "academic travel" every semester where students take a class through the semester, and then the class travels to a destination relating to the class. This semester I took a Latin American politics class and we traveled to Guatemala for about 2 weeks in March. My professor had booked us on IB, but of course being a UA Gold, I didn't like the idea of flying OW across the pond. I also wanted to visit my Grandparents who are in Florida, so I convinced my professor, who also enjoys his miles, to let me book my own flights. beyond the strange routing, those flights were not very special. Just two OJs, one on AC PY from ZRH-IAD, TPA-ZRH, and the other on UA for IAD-GUA and GUA-TPA. The highlight flights of the trip was the internal 5U, TAG Airlines, flights from GUA-FRS to get to Tikal. This Trip Report is for those flights, an interesting short hop, that I'm sure not many have been able to experience. I had a wonderful time in Guatemala, and have some pictures of the non-flying activities if there is enough interest, though it will take me some time to upload all the pictures. Also, I apologize for any bad quality pictures, these were all taken with my phone.
GUA Airport March 18
I had arrived earlier in the week into GUA, but I had been on the midnight UA flight and was very tired. Hence, this evening flight was a good chance to check out the airport. We arrived about an hour before departure, normally that would be cutting it close with a large group of 20 students, but the domestic side of things at GUA is pretty quick. Both international and domestic flights check in at the same area, with 5U's check in in the back.
Check in was done quickly, although I was one of the first, the entire group was through in about 15 minutes, which is astounding considering there were two agents. No seat assignments were given, it is open seating when you get on the plane. The boarding passes were printed on receipt paper instead of normal boarding pass stock. Here's a picture of the one from the return, I forgot to snap one for the outbound.
The 17:15 flight to Flores!
After check in, I went up to grab some food before heading through security. The domestic terminal is below the international terminal. There is only one x-ray machine, but as I went ahead of the rest of the group, I went through quickly. The seating area is small, basically one room with a group of seats and three "gates", although it looked to me like only two were used.
There was another group that was flying AV, and they showed up two hours early for there flight! Boy was I glad our professor was a local, and familiar with airline travel so we showed up when we did. Boarding started about 10 minutes before departure. It was a complete free for all, no announcement, just an agent walking in to the gate, all of the locals stood up, myself and a few of the group followed behind, and the rest of our group behind us when they caught on. We walked out onto the tarmac to the aircraft.
5U 120
Saab 340
Dep. 17:15
Arr. 18:15
March 18
As mentioned before, seating was a free for all. Thankfully, because I had gotten in line early, I was able to snag 1A right at the door. This offered the most leg room for the short hop, but also the best views, IMO. Only negative is that there is no tray table. It had been a while since I had flown a 340, so it was nice to try one again. The aircraft was showing its age, but 1A is at least comfortable for short hops.
Boarding was done quickly, and the door was closed. The safety announcement was done in both Spanish and English by the lone flight attendant. Soon after we taxied off and were in the air relatively quickly.
Soon after we get into the air, the FA sprang into action. Amazingly for such a short flight, flight time was a little under 40 minutes, a bag of chips, cookies, and a juice box/water were served. The plane was completely full with 95% of the aircraft part of our group.
Very shortly after I gave my trash back to the FA, we started our quick descent across the Guatemalan jungle before landing at the very small FRS. Sitting on the tarmac was another 5U aircraft, this one the Embraer 110
Seconds after the engine shut down, the door was opened and we walked across the tarmac to the small arrivals building where the single baggage carousal sat. We got our bags and went outside to begin our Tikal adventure.
That's the end of part one. I will upload the return flight after I get back from lunch, and if people are interested I can upload some pictures from the rest of the trip when I get the time. Thanks all for reading and looking!
I study in Switzerland at a university that does "academic travel" every semester where students take a class through the semester, and then the class travels to a destination relating to the class. This semester I took a Latin American politics class and we traveled to Guatemala for about 2 weeks in March. My professor had booked us on IB, but of course being a UA Gold, I didn't like the idea of flying OW across the pond. I also wanted to visit my Grandparents who are in Florida, so I convinced my professor, who also enjoys his miles, to let me book my own flights. beyond the strange routing, those flights were not very special. Just two OJs, one on AC PY from ZRH-IAD, TPA-ZRH, and the other on UA for IAD-GUA and GUA-TPA. The highlight flights of the trip was the internal 5U, TAG Airlines, flights from GUA-FRS to get to Tikal. This Trip Report is for those flights, an interesting short hop, that I'm sure not many have been able to experience. I had a wonderful time in Guatemala, and have some pictures of the non-flying activities if there is enough interest, though it will take me some time to upload all the pictures. Also, I apologize for any bad quality pictures, these were all taken with my phone.
GUA Airport March 18
I had arrived earlier in the week into GUA, but I had been on the midnight UA flight and was very tired. Hence, this evening flight was a good chance to check out the airport. We arrived about an hour before departure, normally that would be cutting it close with a large group of 20 students, but the domestic side of things at GUA is pretty quick. Both international and domestic flights check in at the same area, with 5U's check in in the back.
Check in was done quickly, although I was one of the first, the entire group was through in about 15 minutes, which is astounding considering there were two agents. No seat assignments were given, it is open seating when you get on the plane. The boarding passes were printed on receipt paper instead of normal boarding pass stock. Here's a picture of the one from the return, I forgot to snap one for the outbound.
The 17:15 flight to Flores!After check in, I went up to grab some food before heading through security. The domestic terminal is below the international terminal. There is only one x-ray machine, but as I went ahead of the rest of the group, I went through quickly. The seating area is small, basically one room with a group of seats and three "gates", although it looked to me like only two were used.
There was another group that was flying AV, and they showed up two hours early for there flight! Boy was I glad our professor was a local, and familiar with airline travel so we showed up when we did. Boarding started about 10 minutes before departure. It was a complete free for all, no announcement, just an agent walking in to the gate, all of the locals stood up, myself and a few of the group followed behind, and the rest of our group behind us when they caught on. We walked out onto the tarmac to the aircraft.
5U 120
Saab 340
Dep. 17:15
Arr. 18:15
March 18
As mentioned before, seating was a free for all. Thankfully, because I had gotten in line early, I was able to snag 1A right at the door. This offered the most leg room for the short hop, but also the best views, IMO. Only negative is that there is no tray table. It had been a while since I had flown a 340, so it was nice to try one again. The aircraft was showing its age, but 1A is at least comfortable for short hops.
Boarding was done quickly, and the door was closed. The safety announcement was done in both Spanish and English by the lone flight attendant. Soon after we taxied off and were in the air relatively quickly.
Soon after we get into the air, the FA sprang into action. Amazingly for such a short flight, flight time was a little under 40 minutes, a bag of chips, cookies, and a juice box/water were served. The plane was completely full with 95% of the aircraft part of our group.
Very shortly after I gave my trash back to the FA, we started our quick descent across the Guatemalan jungle before landing at the very small FRS. Sitting on the tarmac was another 5U aircraft, this one the Embraer 110
Seconds after the engine shut down, the door was opened and we walked across the tarmac to the small arrivals building where the single baggage carousal sat. We got our bags and went outside to begin our Tikal adventure.
That's the end of part one. I will upload the return flight after I get back from lunch, and if people are interested I can upload some pictures from the rest of the trip when I get the time. Thanks all for reading and looking!
Apr 15, 2017 | 2:34 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2001
Location: Lake Oswego, Oregon or Costa Alegre take your pick
Programs: AS MVP, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,125
Guatemala domestic reminiscences
Sounds like they have come a long way from 25 years ago. There was a nicer airline Aviateca for more money. We chose cheaper option from GUA to Flores. It was funky local airline that used old PanAm planes.
I recall they didn't bother to put their own safety cards in the seat backs. The old PanAm ones were "Xeroxed". The raggedy paper copies were then replaced in seat backs still bearing the previous owner's logo. It was cheap but a bit scary. In retrospect I have flown on worse.
I recall they didn't bother to put their own safety cards in the seat backs. The old PanAm ones were "Xeroxed". The raggedy paper copies were then replaced in seat backs still bearing the previous owner's logo. It was cheap but a bit scary. In retrospect I have flown on worse.
