We bought a one-way First Class ticket to Ecuador, intending to fly two weeks ago. After the broken ankle incident (see ‘Break a Leg!” blog entry), we finally used the tickets today. We have never actually paid for a First Class ticket before, so this was kinda exciting. Since we are moving to Ecuador, we were taking 6 suitcases plus an oversize 27″ iMac. It turned out that the cost of adding that baggage to an economy ticket was essentially the same price as upgrading to First Class, where luggage allowances are much more lenient.
Before leaving for the airport, I had to shoot myself first though. Ouch!
Actually it was a small prick, that I am told is similar to what diabetics must do daily. In my case, it was to prevent blood clots, which are a risk for those traveling with leg casts. I’ve never liked needles though, and the thought of shooting myself gave me the shivers.
We arrived at the San Francisco airport 2 hours before the flight, only to discover that there was not yet any wheelchair services. We waited around (in comfy chairs!) for half an hour, until someone came to wheel me through TSA and to the gates.
CAUTION! TERRORIST ALERT!
Yeah, well, I told them I could not stand up without the crutches, so they did an “explosive patch swipe” on me. When they swiped my stomach, it came up with “possible explosive.” Remember that shot I gave myself? I think it hurt more than just the needle in this case…
I was then taken into a private room where they proceeded to do very detailed swabbing of my entire body. The agent (a different one than first flagged me as dangerous) came and went half a dozen times, each with a swab from different parts of my body. After they found no positives this time, they went through each and every item in each of our 4 carry-ons.
During the entire process, I sympathized with the agents. They really do have a pretty bad job. People scream loudly if they get the screening level I did, but those same people would yell a lot louder if someone really did sneak a bomb on board.
All in all, we spent about half an hour through this process. We made it to our flight in plenty of time, so there was really no foul. Fun to tell the story though… 🙂
On Our Way
We finally boarded and got our obligatory glass of champaign to launch our First Class trip into retirement. Yeah!
Flying on American Airlines between San Francisco and Miami was a bit of a letdown for First Class though. I have been on lots of flight (economy class), where I have full entertainment center control on the seat in front of me. Yet, here we just had tiny TV monitors hanging from the ceiling, giving us only one movie choice — The Interns. I can’t think of a worse movie made in last year, and very highly, definitely, NOT one that i want to waste my time watching. It was better to stare off into space than see that massive piece of *&^%$. The leg from Miami to Ecuador only had the same small hanging monitor. At least the movie was better this time — Star Trek: Into Darkness. However, I had already seen it, and indeed have it in my iTunes to watch (and pause) as I wish, so more time better spent staring into space…
The First Class food was good though!
Miami Admiral’s Club
I hobbled off the gangplank, where there was a waiting wheelchair to take us to the Admiral’s Club. Last year, when we used the Club, everything was free. This time, we could get a glass of wine free, but everything else was charged for. I was curious about it, but we only stayed about 10 minutes, and were called to the front desk to be wheeled to the next gate.
One thing I discovered was that wheelchairs are NOT as nice a luxery as those of us walking may sometimes think. They are a downright nuisance, trying to get around tight corners, or through crowds. However, after going no more than 100 feet or so, we came across an electric cart that was available. One quick hop, and NOW we were in charge! Nyah, nyah to all those we whisk by. THIS is the way to travel in an airport! 🙂 Seriously though, it was a very long way from the arrival gate to the departure gate. There is no way I could have done it on crutches, and I am not sure we would arrived on time using a wheelchair. I am very grateful to the American Airline staff for their help in getting around both San Francisco and Miami airports.
Coming Home — One More Glitch
One last nice sunset, this time from the plane (again limited to an iPhone 4S, but you can kinda get the feel of it). We were sure getting tired of flying by this point though, and glad to get off the plane in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We hired a porter to help with our mountain of luggage, which was a huge help. As we entered the Customs area, we found the now-common button an agent pushes to bring up either a red light or a green light. We ended up with the Dreaded Red Light, which meant full inspection of every suitcase.
Oh dear. Everything goes through X-RAY first. The agent on the conveyer belt asked what all those big black areas were on the scanner. I said we had several hard disks (our lives are on those!), plus some other stuff. The agent sighed, and said “that is too much electronics. We have to confiscate some of it.” SAY WHAT??? (but I bit my tongue… I really did…).
Luck decided to smile on us at the end though. Not sure why, but after questioning the scans with “the big black boxes”, he opened two of Evelyn’s clothes suitcases first. After going through those two, he seemed to forget all about his initial question, and waved us through. The Power of Women’s Clothing! 🙂
Once outside Customs, we met Angel, the driver we had hired. He drove at his normal sane speed — unusual for Ecuadorian drivers, but we have used him several times, and he is an excellent driver. We arrived home in Cuenca a little before midnight. Carried suitcases to our condo. Said a few pleasantries with Jesse and Nanci (our neighbors, who were holding down the fort for us), and dropped into oblivion in bed.
The adventure in Cuenca will continue tomorrow…