Miami, FL – New York, NY | AA 1876 | 2B

Having been spoiled from my previous flight, this 757 did not have an upgraded cabin – back to the old and falling apart cabins that I am all to used to on the 757.

I guess I was running a bit late today, as I was self-checking in I was denied my boarding pass, had to run to agent, then to gate – they were boarding the last group by the time I made it there.

My neighbor was on phone talking A LOT of smack – between call waiting and a lot of drama I tried to immerse myself into my book as fast as possible.  I have yet to be on a flight that offers internet access – looking forward to that day. 

Aside from the chatter box, the flight was uneventful – tomorrow I am already on my way back to Miami.  Up next, Chicago…

San Juan, PR – Miami, FL | 9D

I do not remember my flight number and I already trashed my boarding pass.  The plane I was on, Boeing 757, had just been overhauled.  I must say that the cabin was absolutely gorgeous – the business class had American Airlines new Business seats.  Even the economy seats were upgraded – and let’s not even mention the bathroom – what I pleasure it was to go .

Seriously, what a difference a new, modern, and clean cabin does for perception…wonder what the timeline is to upgrade all the America Airlines fleet.

Up next, NYC…

Miami, FL – San Juan, PR | AA 1299 | 9D

The flight was completely uneventful, on time, and without any real incidents.  However, two observations:

 

1. Why is it that people have such problems opening the bathroom door on airplanes.  Sitting in 9A I was able to see the difficulties that passengers have reading the “PUSH” sign or “Vacant / Occupied” – maybe instead of showing people how to fasten their seatbelts, they should give instructions on opening bathroom doors
2. Very tall big guy sat next to me and was not respecting the armrest or my seat space.  This has to be my biggest issue when flying…RESPECT MY “ME” ZONE

Anyway, today I am back to Miami – in the same seat – let’s see who will be seated next to me…

United 7614 OHare to Kansas City, 9/22/09

Main parking lot full at O’Hare so I’m in some other county in Illinois. 90 minute drive plus shuttle bus to tram to a 45 minute flight to a 90 minute drive. Should have just drove to Topeka.

Miami, FL – Guatemala City, Guatemala | American Airlines AA983 | 5E

I had heard from people that landing in Guatemala City airport can be “exciting” – it is in a valley and winds can be tricky…I had forgotten about this until we were landing – and HOLY COW was it freaky…quick drop, bumpy, and rough…definitely not the way I enjoy my landings.

Heart beat was up there and hands were gripping the “oh shit” armrests with the force of HE-MAN.  I am expecting takeoff not to be an issue at all – but I should not hold my breath for that either.

On a side note, I am in Antigua – what a beautiful city…

Mexico City, Mexico – Miami, FL | American Airlines 2114 | 6F

Early morning flights are always a bitch – getting up at 4AM is never fun – unless of course you are going freediving.  Everything went more than smooth and I actually passed out for most of the flight – did not have breakfast or watched any movie.

Immigration was quick and easy…it was ALL GOOD – except that I missed my cougar.

Miami, FL – Mexico City, Mexico | AA 2115 | 6E

Courgar Love - boarding pass with a flirt

American Airlines made my day at the counter – the image above says it all…I was checked in by a good looking cougar who started talking to me about my trip – not the usual counter questions.  Needless to say, after a few lip pouts and eyelash flatters I started to get the feeling that she was flirting with me…as I left and looked down on my boarding pass – expecting to find a circle – I found a heart – HAAAAAAAAA…no delay, mechanical problem, or bad service could bring my down now – my day and flight was made.

Of course I had to twitter and Facebook this experience – one of my collegues said, and I quote: “The things you do to women, Leander. Powerful.” – just oozing with sarcasm…

Thank you American Airlines – and particularly you Ms. Cougar where ever you are for the love…

Tampa, FL – New York, NY | Delta #1508 | 12C

Blogging from 30,000 feet – that has been a long time coming. I have to say that the GoGo InFlight works pretty well and I’d definitely pick an airline if the cost was competitive to be able to have Internet access. A lot of people say they don’t want it, but I love it.

Anyway, the flight started out uneventful enough. And then HE boarded. You know him. The huffing and puffing guy who gets to the gate late with too much carry-on luggage and then gets aggravated when the overhead bins are full. He then proceeds to stomp his feet, look around with that, “do you know who I am” look, and then tries to jam his dirty bag into the bin with no regard to whose stuff got their first. I didn’t have anything in the overhead bin so I wasn’t particularly concerned – until stuff started falling out of the bin. On my head. I am not kidding. First a guy’s jacket. He apologize. Then a woman’s hairbrush. A hairbrush? Really? Yes. She apologized too. The only one who didn’t apologize was the guy who was too busy stuffing his back into the bin. Finally a flight attendant shuffled him down the aisle and he went to torment someone else.

The rest of the flight has been fine so far. According to FlightAware.com I have 42 minutes and 309 miles to go.

Los Angeles, CA – Miami, FL | AA 456 | 2A

B/W view from plane

So I was supposed to be back in Miami yesterday – unfortuntately my flight was canceled due to a windshield failure, AA did not have any replacement plans at the time and there were no other flights that would get me into Miami the same day.

While AA was nice enough to provide me with a hotel room for the night, they only gave me two $10 vouchers (lunch and dinner) which barely got me a coffee. I did write them, explained the situation, and recevied a 15,000 mile credit on my Advantage account.

So today my day started very early – 4AM to catch a 6:15AM flight direct to Miami. The flight was extremely uneventful and the pilot very boring compare to the last one coming to Miami.

Now I just hope I remember where I left my car parked…

Miami, FL – Los Angeles, CA | AA 271 | 4H

Being that it was just memorial weekend I was under the assumption that MIA would be a complete zoo – it was actually pretty quiet all considering.  Just to make sure I got to the airport two hours prior to departure.  The flight was absolutely packed and pretty much everyone on the flight was passed out – the 3 days of partying in Miami must have gotten the best of people…Memorial Day Weekend is also home to a huge HIP HOP conference in Miami.

The captain must have been a stand-up comedian prior to being a pilot – and honestly he was pretty good – found myself laughing a few times.  Told us there were a lot of things he could tell us about our flight path, but thought there was not real point to it and we would see him as just another babbling captain.

Aside from the in-flight entertainment (and I do not mean the DVR) the flight was uneventful – just the way I like it.