Category: Vacations

Personal vacations!

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Westin Los Cabos Resort

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Arrival

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Westin Los Cabos Resort

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – “Explore Los Cabos”

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Departure

First, an apology: the lighting in many of these shots are terrible – but as we had been awake for roughly 20 hours I was far too lazy to retake them. The room itself was amazing; we were upgraded from a studio to a two-bedroom suite (a nice surprise!) and had a hot-tub on the balcony. Talk about relaxing!

The Room

Thankfully, my girlfriend managed to snag some shots in the morning.

The Property

Exploring the property took a fair amount of time given how spread out things were, but we were given a map which helped. The views were spectacular. Though a timeshare was not in my immediate future, I could definitely see myself coming back. Multiple pools, a small convenience store, and some excellent restaurant options makes this an excellent choice.

One of the restaurants on the property has a pool-side bar and will bring food to your lounge chair! I opted for the Acapulco style ceviche (with huge chunks of octopus, shrimp, and fish), while my girlfriend had the fried calamari. Thoroughly delicious.

Fried calamari
Acapulco style ceviche

El Ciruelo

For our last night in Cabo, we opted to have dinner at El Ciruelo – a restaurant at the top of a neighboring hill. Though technically part of the “Baja Point” property, it is becoming a part of the Westin resort in the very near future. Since the start of the incline is rather steep and it was already dark, we caught a ride in a golf-cart on both the way up and down. I won’t bore you with the details, and leave you to drool over our dinner. Enjoy!

Closing Thoughts

Though I didn’t take advantage of the timeshare offer, I can definitely see myself returning in the future. Between the weather, location, and the options for activities and dining, it’s a spectacular option for staying in Cabo.

Some miscellaneous shots while wandering with my camera:

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Departure

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Arrival

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Westin Los Cabos Resort

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – “Explore Los Cabos”

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Departure

Before we knew it, it was time for us to return home – vacations are never long enough! We had arranged for round-trip shuttle service between the airport and our hotel, so we were promptly picked up and deposited at the airport. Though our driver insisted that we needed to leave the hotel by 4:30 AM, we found that the airport counters and security are not open until 5:00 AM. Adding to the fun: most stores and restaurants are closed until 6 or later, depending on the store.

Our initial flight from SJD to MEX was fairly uneventful. We were once again on a regional jet operated by Aeromexico Connect, and we were asked to not use headphones until we reached 10,000 feet. Another interesting quirk: Aeromexico doesn’t serve alcohol before 11:00 AM local time, but all alcohol is complimentary after 11:00 AM.

While taxiing, my girlfriend was able to snap a few gorgeous shots of planes, including a Boeing 727 used by the Polícia Federal! We quite a few Dreamliners, as well as a plane with livery I couldn’t recognize in the least… it almost looks like a funky Alitalia color scheme. If you can figure out who’s flying this plane, let me know!

Aeromexico Salon Premier

Instead of the Heineken sponsored lounge that we visited during our first time through MEX, we opted to grab some caffeine and libations at one of the larger Salon Premier lounges.

This lounge is one of three that are located in the mezzanine – to reach it you have to either take the elevator or climb the stairs near security. The lounge itself was quite spacious with two circular bars that served alcohol as well as coffee and tea. There was plenty of seating available with easy access to power outlets. Tucked away in the furthest corner were coolers for self-serve beer, water, and juice as well as a few snacks.

MEX-ATL

Probably the most frustrating part of the return was the experience while waiting to board the flight from Mexico City to Atlanta. A Delta representative let us know that we would need to get freshly printed boarding passes from Delta (our Aeromexico boarding passes would not allow us to board). Getting new boarding passes took nearly 15 minutes even though there was nobody in line before me, simply because the gate agents were talking to each other instead of paying attention to passengers – thoroughly disappointing.

Once we had received our new boarding passes, we got to experience the new TSA security measures for US-bound flights. While I understand the premise of asking the same question multiple times to ensure that you get the same answer, I tend to find this works best when the question isn’t immediately repeated. For example, I was asked how long I had stayed in Mexico three times… one right after another.

The remaining of the boarding process was fairly uneventful, but shortly after approaching the runway, we were turning back to the gate. There it was: the dreaded maintenance delay. Thankfully, we had planned for a 3 hour layover in Atlanta, so we made it to our connection with 10 minutes to spare (sans dinner).

Finally on our way, we were given physical menus to select our lunches from. I opted for the arroz con pollo while my girlfriend opted for the pasta. The chicken was slightly drier than the flight to Mexico, but the rice (really a pearl couscous) was quite good. The charcuterie plate was probably my favorite part of the meal, though.

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Arrival

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Arrival

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Westin Los Cabos Resort

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – “Explore Los Cabos”

Westin Los Cabos Trip Report – Departure

The Offer

A few months ago, I received an invitation to visit Westin’s newly renovated resort property in Los Cabos. Given the price of the stay, I had a hard time saying no! I knew that this was going to be a timeshare pitch, given my experience at the Westin Lagunamar, so I had mentally prepared myself for the whole spiel prior to arrival.

The routing was a little wonky since the direct flight from Atlanta was not available on the days I was considering, so we had a second layover in Mexico City. Though I wasn’t able to fly on a Dreamliner as I had hoped, I was still able to give Aeromexico a shot.

The Club at ATL

With some time to kill upon arrival at Atlanta, we headed to Concourse F for our flight to Mexico City. Though there is a SkyClub, I opted instead to visit The Club (a member of PriorityPass). Unfortunately, since we were flying on a Sunday and it was before 12:30 PM we were not served any alcohol due to Georgia state law.

There were various cookies, chips, and breakfast items when I initially arrived, but they were in the process of setting out the lunch items.

ATL-MEX

Since the flight from Atlanta to Mexico City is a short three and a half hours, Delta opted for a 737. Unfortunately since it was using ground-based WiFi, it was only available while we were flying over the US.

Our Ride – B737

Upon boarding, we were offered orange juice, champagne, or mimosas as our pre-departure beverages. Since we were heading out on vacation, our choice was clear. 😉

Champagne!

Shortly after reaching cruising altitude, we were given our option for meals – chicken or vegetable lasagna. I wasn’t really feeling pasta, so I opted for the chicken. Expecting a single tray of food, I was quite surprised when we were given a multi-course meal instead!

Our lunch started with olive-oil crostini with what I think was  cheese and candied sweet potato. Also present was a Caesar salad and Tiramisu.

Once our appetizers were done, the small plates were cleared and replaced with our entree. The sweet potatoes with our entree weren’t nearly as sweet as those with our appetizer (thankfully!), and the chicken wasn’t as dry as most airline meals.

Mexico City

Since this was my first time visiting the Mexico City airport I planned for a longer layover than normal – just over five hours. While it might have been a little unnecessary, I prefer to err on the side of caution for international connections when Customs are involved. Thankfully, it went fairly smoothly and we had some time to explore.

MEX-SJD

Our last flight of the day was on an Embraer ERJ-190 operated by Aeromexico Connect. Though the first row had substantial legroom, which we were quite grateful for, the presence of oxygen tanks in the overhead bins meant that we had to stow our bags a few rows back. Something to keep in mind!

Excellent legroom… terrible storage
Second Row for Comparison

The only snack available for this short flight was a nut medley (cashews, peanuts, sunflower seeds and so on).

Mixed Nuts

Overall, the flight was a smooth one. I was very surprised that we were asked to not have headphones on or use electronic equipment below 10,000 feet. I’m not sure if that is something that is unique to Aeromexico or Aeromexico Connect, but I can’t remember the last time I was asked to remove my headphones on a plane.

Onward to Paris!

With some luck, I managed to come across some affordable flights from New York (Kennedy) to Charles de Gaulle (CDG) for next year . Flights from Raleigh to JFK were almost as expensive as those from JFK to CDG, so I opted to use miles for that set of flights. With some nesting, the total price came in under $940. Not bad for two tickets, eh?

The tricky part with nested flights is that any checked bags will have to be collected and re-checked. I tried to give us 5 hours on either side of the international leg to account for this, but with JFK (or any New York airport, for that matter…) anything is possible.

Nested Flights

With some stays last year in San Diego, I was able to rack up enough Hyatt points for a week at Hôtel du Louvre! Located directly across from the Louvre museum and the Tuileries gardens (where the Arc de Triomphe is), it is also a short walk from Notre-Dame de Paris. Hard to beat that location!

Thanks to my status, I was able to select Comfort+ seats at booking even though it was an international flight. My Global Upgrade Certificates are expiring soon, so I won’t be able to use them, yet, but my new ones should be available in February. The Delta One cabin on the A330 is arranged in a reverse-herringbone configuration with the Comfort+ seats behind the middle galley. There seems to be quite a few Delta One seats open, so I’m cautiously optimistic!

From SeatGuru

@Delta & @AeromexicoUSA Complimentary Upgrades and Upgrade Certificates

With all the recent schedule changes and the announcement that Delta Medallion members would receive both complimentary upgrades on Aeromexico flights as well as the ability to apply both types of Upgrade Certificates to flights operated by Aeromexico,  I logged in to see if any other flights had been affected.

Flight changes are not uncommon when booking months in advance, so I was not surprised when my return flight was now affected. Instead of flying directly to Atlanta, I now have to route through Mexico City.

Old route in red, new route in blue

With the change, and the new perks available (and two regional upgrade certificates coming up on expiration), I figured I would give Delta a call to see if I could apply them to the return. After a few minutes with the representative working on it, they confirmed that upgrade space was available if they changed my first leg (SJD-MEX) from a Delta ticketed flight to an Aeromexico ticketed flight. A few more minutes on hold and I had received my Aeromexico PNR and had selected seats on all the returns.

While there are still a few kinks to work out, the overall integration was very smooth!

Have any of you received complimentary upgrades on Delta partners or applied upgrade certificates on partners? Let me know!

Delta Schedule Change Fallout

Schedule changes are really no surprise in the travel game, but they are decidedly not fun. A few days ago I received an automated call from Delta to let me know that there was a schedule change that would make one of my connections in an upcoming trip illegal. Taking a deep breath, I logged in and started poking around to see what had happened.

Alas, it was what I had feared – the flight from JFK to Mexico City had been shifted. While it involved a huge upgrade on the equipment involved (a 787-800 with 2x2x2 seating to a 787-900 with 1x2x1 seating), it led to only an hour and a half to make my way through Immigration and Customs, and then manage to board my next flight. With the flight having a history of 30+ minute delays, this was clearly not going to work.

Thankfully, a Delta agent was happy to get things sorted out and rebook me with legal connections. Unfortunately, I won’t be flying on a Dreamliner this year after all. 🙁

Aeromexico 787-800; excitement! #Dreamliner @Boeing

Credit: Aeromexico

I’m really looking forward to being able to take a ride on Aeromexico’s 787 service from New York-JFK to Mexico City, on my way to Cabo San Lucas. Thanks to stockpiled Citi ThankYou and Chase Ultimate Rewards points, I was able to book two business class tickets for half the price I would spend, otherwise.

Credit: SeatGuru

The -800 variant is arranged in a 2x2x2 configuration in business class, which means there’s limited aisle access, so getting in and out might get a little tricky. Shouldn’t be any more awkward than the Club World seating on British Airways 777s! 😉 Note that the -900 variant, also flown by Aeromexico, has a 1x2x1 configuration with aisle access for all! Aeromexico is also known for having an excellent in-flight experience, so I’m quite looking forward to seeing just how it stacks up, in person!

For those not aware, the 787’s cabin is pressurized to 6,000 feet as opposed to the standard 8,000 feet on most aircraft. This means the body is able to absorb oxygen more easily. What’s not to love about that? The Dreamliner also has an advanced air filtration system that also increases cabin humidity – moist tissues are happy tissues! As someone who spends (what some might consider) an obscene amount of time in the air, I am really looking forward to this experience. Check out all the tech that goes into this amazing plane!