Miami, FL – Guatemala City, Guatemala | AA981 | 5E

Ah yes, Super Bowl weekend in Miami – the city of sin was sinning more than ever with the presence of so many celebrities (saw one paparazzi at the airport trying to get a photo of a woman and her daughter – she refused, not sure who it was – but definitely someone from LATAM) and athletes gathering in on place.  Happy the Saints won, well deserved.

MIA was a complete zoo this morning – there was a long line for security and a long line on the runway for us to get out.  Coupled with the fact that a navigation instrument had to be fixed before take off (just love those), the flight was delayed for about 1 hour.  Not so bad, spent most of the time emailing and working on various documents.

Flight was very smooth and the food was very decent.  I must say, traveling with people is so much more fun than going solo.

San Jose, Costa Rica – Ft Lauderdale, FL | AA2112 | 5B

Flight back home was slightly delayed, but to be honest I did not care much.  The last three days had been extremely intensive with only about 3 hours sleep in 48 hours.  Must say it felt like college – worked with a great team and the feedback was positive.  I had the option to stay an extra day to go canyoneering, but decided to go home as I am leaving on Monday again – this time to Guatemala.  Landing in FLL is so much more hassle-free than having to deal with MIA – this also marked the first time that I did not have to go to the “ROOM” for immigration purposes as I finally have my residence.  Only negative of landing in Ft Lauderdale is the drive home.  In any case, flight was smooth, Captain did have us in a holding pattern for a while.

FT Lauderdale, FL – San Jose, Costa Rica | AA2113 | 6B

My first trip in 2010 and I am feeling like a complete rookie – I have lost my nimbleness at the airports and am constantly checking to see if I have everything with me.  Definitely need to get back into the groove, and I think Feb will be a busy month.  After Costa Rica, I am heading to Guatemala, NYC, and Nicaragua – thinking I should be back to my old self.

I was pleasantly surprised by the cabin renovations of the 737-800.  New monitors, new seats – plane was clean.  Service was great and flight left on time – what more is there to say.

The people I am traveling with were giving me a hard time because I got an upgrade…this is the last month that I will be an Executive Platinum member – only made Platinum in 2009.  Will definitely miss that status and it is not easy to come  by – a lot of flying.

To Orlando and Back via Tampa

I flew to Tampa last Thursday, January 28th, on Delta 8174 from LGA to TPA to meet my client and then we drove to Orlando. Middle seat and the flight was delayed. Oh well.

Spent 6 days in Orlando with my client for their big annual customer education event. Yesterday we drove back from Orlando to Tampa and I flew from Tampa to Albany on Southwest #3943. The flight was fairly empty and i had an empty middle seat next to me. Landed early which was awesome after being away for six days.

When I get some energy in the next day or so I’ll post about how the lack of magic at Disney.