GetSetJetSet

If they'd just gone with a straight up milanese and somehow not made it soggy I would've been quite pleased. Their odd mashup was just not great.

GetSetJetSet

FOUR SEASONS, MEXICO CITY

Everything seemed much brighter in the morning, as things often do. I called the Four Seasons around 930am and told them I was already in MEX, and asked if my room was ready. The woman on the phone said no problem, come on down. As I hadn't unpacked before collapsing the previous night, I simply put my clothes back on, grabbed the bags and requested an Uber. Ten minutes later, we were pulling into the Four Seasons off of Paseo de la Reforma.

Even though the woman on the phone had told me the room would be ready, it was NOT in fact ready. I was not at all perturbed. A little background, I had booked this Four Seasons because I saw a rock bottom rate on Kayak. As this was through a 3rd party booking site, it came with NOTHING, no breakfast, no upgrade, etc...In the time since making this booking, I have started working with a wonderful TA that I found through FTalk. About a week before arriving in MEX, I asked him if he could speak with his FS rep to perhaps upgrade me. He informed me that he couldn't do anything since my booking was through a 3rd party site, BUT as my booking was still fully refundable, he would try to get the FS to agree to honor the same rate on a new booking through him AND provide the amenities.

In the end, he somehow got the FS to agree to an all in price that was actually $6 less than my 3rd party booking site + free breakfast daily + $100 F&B Credit + Upgrade if available. Needless to say, I cancelled the 3rd party booking as fast as I could.

So, the old "if available" upgrade...as I mentioned, this was a VERY low rate for a FS, and obviously it was for an entry level room. I was shocked and pleased to find the hotel had upgraded me several categories to an Executive Suite which was very spacious. For good measure, my TA even had some beers sent up to the room as a welcome. Fantastic stuff.

I was eager to get on the tourist trail, so I dropped my stuff and got moving. While I had been waiting for the room to be cleaned, I finalized my tourist itinerary. Before heading out of the hotel, I stopped at the concierge desk and arranged a day tour with guide/driver to Teotihuacan for the following day, dinner at Rosetta, and had her waitlist the taco omakase lunch at Pujol for Thursday.

Once out of the hotel, I started up Paseo de la Reforma towards the Independence Monument, from there, I looped around, went back past the hotel and through Parque Chapultepec. I continued through the park to the fantastic Anthropology Museum. After a long tour through the museum, I got an Uber to the Frida Kahlo house, then walked to the nearby Leon Trotsky house, where he lived in exile until being murdered there by Stalin's agents in 1940.

With this museum portion of the program wrapped up, I took another Uber (it ended up actually being the SAME driver, we both laughed) to Zocalo. I perused the square, went to the Metropolitan Cathedral, then meandered through the old town before stopping at Plaza Garibaldi for a coke.

At this point, I had accomplished all my Day 1 tourist goals, and after a grueling day of culture, I was hungry. I took another uber to El Pernita, which had been recommended by a local friend. I had some tacos there that were amazing. So good that I wish I had gone twice on this trip. After lunch, I walked back to the Four Seasons and relaxed for a bit before bed. Early start tomorrow...

I was up at 8:15am, and met my driver Aurelio at 9. We slogged through the AM traffic, then broke free of the city. As we cruised on the highway towards Teotihuacan, Aurelio showed me the favela-like neighborhoods on the outskirts of the city and began giving me some of the history of what we were about to see. We pulled into the first gate and saw a Quetzecotl (forgive my attempt at spelling it) temple. Then we moved the car to a second lot, walked through a palace where some of the priests used to live and he gave me his spiel on the pyramids, and the city, etc...Since Aurelio was an older gentleman, he then retired to the car, while I climbed the Pyramid of the Moon then walked down the Avenue of the Dead and climbed the Pyramid of the Sun. I had quite a strange experience while climbing the Pyramid of the Sun. I played lacrosse for the French National team, and I happened to be wearing a team windbreaker while climbing the pyramid. When I got to the half way point, I spotted a guy wearing a "Hong Kong Lacrosse" shooting shirt. We both studied each other and seemed to think "...!?" I could see we were both trying to figure out the score, so I asked him if he played for Hong Kong. He told me he actually played for Spain, but had traded one of their shooters for one of HKGs after a game. We had both played in World Championships the previous summer, so we talked about that, our teams, other teams, lacrosse in general, then exchanged names and both continued on. Given what a small community international lacrosse is, it seemed like an INCREDIBLY random place to run into someone. Small world.

I was very impressed by Teotihuacan. It's a huge site and the main pyramids are extremely impressive. I had been to Chichen Itza last year and this blew it away. When we wrapped up at the pyramids, we started back towards town and stopped into the 16th Century Acolman Monastery, then the Basilica de Guadeloupe, where there is a shroud that apparently draws 20mm pilgrims / year.

Back at the hotel, I had a little time to relax before heading to dinner at Rosetta, which came HIGHLY recommended from my friends. I thought the food was good but nothing exceptional. I wouldn't bother with a return trip, perhaps I caught them on an off night...though it wasn't that the food wasn't good, it was that it seemed not to be particularly imaginative. I was expecting something unique, not just a good version of the same sort of dish you can eat in any city. Oh well.

For my last full day in MEX, I did very little. It was nice to sleep late and be lazy. It's been a long couple of weeks, with a lot of things to do and see and a loooot of air miles. There won't be much in the way of rest when I get back to NY tomorrow, so it was nice to have a chill day.

In the end, the hotel managed to get me into Pujol off the wait list for Thursday. After the let down of Rosetta, I didn't have much in the way of expectations for the taco omakase. I was very wrong. It was absolutely phenomenal. One of the best meals I have ever had anywhere. If you come to Mexico City, TRY to get a reservation either for the regular tasting menu or the taco omakase. Just a flawless and delicious experience. I can't think of a single bad word to say about the restaurant, just go. According to some ranking, Pujol has been named the #12 best restaurant in the world for 2019 and the best in North America, I can't argue.

I thought that I would like Mexico City, but it was so much better than I expected. Teotihuacan (my main reason for coming) lived up to expectations, and the city itself is beautiful, clean, safe (at least it seemed that way to me), and has an unbeatable food scene. I would love to come back for a longer trip and just enjoy the pace of life and chill. As an added bonus, it seemed that there weren't huge numbers of tourists anywhere. If it fits your travel plans, VISIT. I will be sad to leave in the AM and head back to NYC via DFW...also lousy AA STILL hasn't processed any upgrades for my MEX-DFW tomorrow. 2-3 of the 8 F seats have been available all week and AA is still selling seats as per EF, yet here were are 15 hours to takeoff and this EXP is left twisting in the wind. So much for that 100 hour upgrade window!

The Four Seasons was fantastic as well. The upgrade was, as always, much appreciated. The room was huge, comfortable and most importantly had a deep tub and a comfy bed. The gym and pool are mediocre. Breakfast is set on a lovely patio in the courtyard, the offerings are pretty decent. The real stars of this hotel are the staff. They ALL went above and beyond and seemed to really be enjoying their work. When I saw the concierge in the lobby and she informed me that Pujol has found space for me, she was practically giddy. That kind of enthusiasm really makes a place special. I know there are many reasonably priced luxury hotels in MEX, but based on the attitude, diligence and efficiency of the staff here, they have won my loyalty.

GetSetJetSet

AA 1526
MEX-DFW
Airbus A319-100
N9012
Seat 14A (Coach)
Flight #56 of 2019

It was finally time to head home. MEX is NOT what I could call a great airport. I heard that a new airport was in some state of near completion...until the government shut down the work, and now we will be stuck with this decrepit point of entry for the foreseeable future. It's a shame that visitors have to get such a negative first and last impression of Mexico City, considering that CMDX itself is a great tourist destination and a wonderful city.

It had been a great trip, lots of awesome experiences, but I was ready to get home a bit. It would be roughly 3 weeks back in NY, mostly spent flying (a Cessna, not as a passenger) before setting off again for proper summer. I had been monitoring my flight all week, and 2-3 F seats of the tiny 8 seat F cabin remained open, and AA continued to sell seats, but the 100 hour EXP upgrade window came and went and I was not upgraded. I checked in at t+24 and was #1 on the list and still I was not upgraded. I went to the airport, got my BP and was still #1 on the list, no upgrade. When I arrived at the AAdmirals Club, still #1 , still no upgrade. Finally, about 30 minutes before boarding, someone new materialized, either a late check in, or a SDC'er who had CK status or an EXP whose rolling spend trumped mine and then I was bumped down to #2 . At this point, with only one seat showing open on EF, I knew I was cooked.

MEX is a sprawling, thoroughly 80's airport. While it was a horrorshow to enter the country, departure was very easy. Zero line at the AA desks, zero line for security and no immigration to stamp you out of the country at all. The AA Lounge is up two flights of stairs and looks about like every other shabby AAdmirals Club. It was nicer to sit there than at the gate.

About 5 minutes before boarding, #1 on the list finally cleared, and I of course did not. Thankfully this was a short one, 2h11m announced flight time. This A319, which had an oddly short registration (N9012), had ample legroom in the EXIT ROW. There were also power ports and individual IFE screens in every seat. I was not upset about not clearing the upgrade because of the lack of comfort, but because I feel I am getting a VERY poor value from AA for EXP status. After this failed upgrade, I have only cleared 33% of my upgrades in 2019, with zero attempts being the very difficult TRANSCON routes. For reference, I made EXP last year and have racked up almost 130k EQM already this year, with a rolling (12mo) EQD spend of ~$24/25k. I feel like I should be seeing a LOT more benefits. What exactly is the point of maintaining EXP if you clear such a low % of upgrades and AA makes it virtually impossible to use SWU? If things don't improve before the end of the year, I will have to think long and hard about continuing on with AA vs. returning to UA.

As you'd expect of a very short flight, it was rather uneventful. One more leg to wrap this trip up.

GetSetJetSet

AA 2292
DFW-JFK
Boeing 757-200
N196AA
Seat 2F (First)
Flight #57 of 2019

The thrilling conclusion! It's been quite a trip. About half way from MEX to DFW I thought to myself "oh lovely, I have to clear immigration and change terminals again...awesome."

As I mentioned on the way to MEX, DFW have these terrifying new Global Entry machines that just require a picture of your face to call up all of your info, no swipe of the passport necessary. While these bode poorly for our future freedoms and will be a great tool for our police state skynet robo overlords, they make for quick entry to the country, so at least that was painless. I went towards transit and looped over to the TSA Precheck security checkpoint at DFW. FATAL FLAW, it was a summer Friday. The Precheck line was YUUUUUUGE. The posted wait time for normal security was ~30 minutes and it was showing close to 20 minutes for Precheck. The elite line was only showing 6 minutes, so I bailed on precheck and went to the elite line. The security guy was like "you'll have to go through normal security screening though!" and I figured so, I can wait half as long and all I have to do is take my laptop out? I think I can live with that.

The guy in front of me, a CK as I saw on his BP, was of the same mindset. We both agreed a much shorter wait was well worth the "hassle" of removing shoes and laptops. As luck would have it, when we got up to the podium, in far less than 6 minutes, they were shifting their traffic pattern and both of us were pushed to the left, and that agent was instructed ONLY to process people with precheck. So, we both managed a very short wait and still didn't have to do a full security screening. Sometimes you get lucky.

After this lovely bit of luck, I figured I might as well pop into the Flagship Lounge, since I was entitled to visit as I had originated in MEX. I had about 20 minutes to relax there, then made my way to the SkyTrain. The Flagship Lounge is in Terminal D and my flight left from (I think) A (might have been B). I got to the gate 10-15 minutes before boarding, popped over to Dunkin' Donuts, grabbed a large coffee and sat down to await boarding.

While I had been unlucky with clearing the upgrade on MEX-DFW, my DFW-JFK upgrade had cleared at the start of the 100-hour window, which was surprising, because flights in or out of DFW are notoriously tough for AA elites. Even better, this was on a 752 instead of a 737, so we would have the internationally configured lie flats.

It ended up being a totally full flight in all classes. The AA 752 J seats do NOT have seatback IFE, on international flights, the FAs bring around tablets but for some reason they were not distributed on this flight. The one FA serving F seemed overwhelmed.

Since there was no IFE, I finished reading my book, "Dead Wake," about the Lusitania disaster. It was quite entertaining, so if that is a topic that interests you at all, I'd recommend picking it up. A meal was served. I had the grilled chicken with rice and asparagus. It was not bad at all. Oddly, there was no dessert. Usually after the meal service, but before landing the FA brings around warm cookies, not on this flight. The guy next to me had pre-ordered a kosher meal and after finishing that had a second meal from the leftovers that had been catered for the flight. Haven't seen that one before.

Not much else to say. Always a bit sad to wrap a trip up, but it was great to get home, see my gf and my parents and get some time at home. Soon enough it will be time to get back on the road.

GetSetJetSet

FOUR SEASONS MEXICO CITY




MEXICO CITY SHOTS








MEX-DFW AA EXIT ROW A319



DFW-JFK AA F 752 Seat

roadwarrier

Great report - thank you!

flyingeph12

GetSetJetSet

Truth! This was my first time to MEX and it blew my expectations away. I will have to go back for a much longer stop. That taco omakase at Pujol was one of the best meals i've ever had. The ability get great, dirt cheap tacos pretty much everywhere is also a nice perk.

GetSetJetSet

Thanks for reading, glad you enjoyed it ^

mad_atta

Great report! I visited CDMX for the first time this year too - what a great city. We made it to Pujol as well - such a great experience.

GetSetJetSet

Amazing right! I must have been living under a rock, I had no idea that CDMX was such a renowned destination for food or that Pujol was one of the top restaurants in the world.

flyingeph12

I think Latin America in general is underrated as a food destination—though that might be changing. For example, five years ago I think many would have seen Lima as a mere stopover point on the way to Cusco and Machu Picchu, but today it's become more of a destination in itself, with a number of the top restaurants in the world. I also think Santiago is very much underrated as a food destination. That said, it's nice visiting restaurants in underrated cities, because you can get a two- or three-star level meal without paying two- or three-star level prices.

GetSetJetSet

Please send me your Santiago suggestions. Heading there in Feb. '20. Thanks!