Adventures in Airports!

I'm gonna tell you all about my experience flying from Guatemala to Florida. This topic may not be of interest to everyone but you'd be surprised how many people enjoy knowing the minute details of traveling so they can be super prepared! I hope my story can help ease some traveling anxiety for someone. 😄

I bought my ticket thru Expedia. They rock. I have some dumb points account with them, but I don't care about that. I care about easy online searching, booking, paying, and follow-up. I love how I can check my itinerary and other things through their website. If I had a smartphone, I could have even used a virtual boarding pass. (I saw people actually scanning their phones at the boarding gate. Pretty cool.)

The plan: fly from Guate City to Orlando, Florida.
The actuality: the cheapest flight went from G.C. to Mexico City to Atlanta to Orlando. It took me all day. ALL DAY. Like 14 hours of travel. UGH. But the only other option was a flight on Spirit Airlines, which I've heard bad things about, and which cost more and had all sorts of add-on fees for baggage and such. Bleck. I prefer simplicity.
I paid $445.89 Canadian. Sweet!

My flight was partially with Aeromexico and partially with Delta. This is what caused all the confusion! I have enjoyed flying with Delta before, including my original flight from Canada to Guatemala. I was pleased to discover that Aeromexico was also a great airline. In fact, I dare to say they are better than Delta. The seats were more comfortable and the "snack" I got on my short flight was tastier than the "meal" I got on the longer flight with Delta. Two thumbs up!

La Aurora airport in Guatemala City. It's pretty nice, although there are shabby parts. They're working on it! 😊

Anyhoo, here's the rundown of the day I traveled out of Gaute to Florida.

Guatemala City to Mexico City
I left my airport hotel (Patricia's B&B) using their free shuttle at 4am. My flight wasn't until 6:50 so I had lots of time, but the hosts at the B&B suggested I leave at 4. *yawn*
At the Guatemala airport (La Aurora), they checked my passport five times. FIVE. There was a guard right at the entrance checking passports and boarding passes. Everyone else has to stand outside on the street.
I was through all customs by 4:30 am. Pretty quick and none of this "four hours before your flight" business that everyone had been worried about. I got my boarding pass but it was only printed for the first leg of my trip. The lady said that I had to pick up my checked bag at the Mexico City airport and gave me a sticker for it. Huh? This confused me. I think that other times I had flown, the checked luggage just went ahead to the final destination. Not true in this case.
This early, only McDonald's and a small café were open. I sat and waited, boarded my Aeromexico flight around 6;30, and took off on time.

Mexico City to Atlanta, GA, United States
On the flight to Mexico City, the flight attendants came around and gave everyone immigration forms to fill out. It was the same form that I've gotten when doing visa runs to Mexico, so I was pretty experienced with filling it out. (Travel tip: always carry a pen!) I was a bit confused at the part where it asked where I was staying in Mexico, so I left it blank. Later, the guard filled it in with "in transit".
The Mexico City airport was crazy confusing, but I believe it was a combination of switching airlines and crossing country borders. The line for checking passports took about 40 minutes. Then I had to go get my luggage from the baggage claim and walk it over to another place for "baggage for connecting flights". There, a guy checked the tag and put it on a conveyor belt. Weird.
After that, I didn't have a boarding pass. (Remember the Guate airport desk only printed one?) Yeah, so I go up to the lady at the stairs to "connecting flights" and she tells me I can't go through because I don't have a pass. She says to go to L2 and waves me off. Okey dokey! So then I walk through some doors and down a hall and up some stairs and back down the stairs and I can't get back to the lady, so back up the stairs ... so lost! Ha ha!
I asked a different lady and figured out I had to go to a Delta desk at L2 and get another boarding pass for the next two portions of my trip, from Mexico City to Atlanta to Orlando. Delta printed me two boarding passes and reminded me to pick up my luggage AGAIN in Atlanta. At this point, I'm wondering if all the baggage handlers have been fired and they're just getting customers to do their work.
After the boarding pass, it was time for checking my carry-on bag and that new machine where you stand on the footprints and raise your arms and it scans you. Lucky me failed the scan and got a full pat-down and palm swab right then and there. (Palm swab, you ask? They wiped both my hands with a wet cloth and then put the cloth in a detection machine, which gave a green light, yay.) The security dudes opened my carry-on and went thru it thoroughly but were very nice and of course I wasn't carrying anything bad so they let me through.
This whole process pretty much ate up the entire 1 hour and 36-minute layover I had, so I hoofed it to my gate and boarded almost immediately. Whew!
Note: I was stamped into Mexico on my passport but not stamped out. The flight attendant at the boarding gate took my Mexican immigration form. Strange.

Atlanta, GA, to Orlando, FL
Arriving in Atlanta, I was feeling more relaxed as now I knew I could speak English! I had a nice long 2.5-hour layover in Atlanta, which was great because I know how busy it can be there. It was all easy-peasy though. I got off the plane, picked up my baggage and put it on another conveyor for connecting baggage. I think this was because I was transferring from an international flight to a domestic flight (within the U.S.). Who knows? I was just relieved to see my poor beat-up luggage on the carousel. (Don't you just hate waiting at those things? I'm always worried my luggage will never show, or it will appear as a mangled mess with my clothes all hanging out!)
Atlanta Airport is HUGE and super nice. I took my time exploring, with the goal of finding a place to buy stamps and mail a letter to my friend in California. Never did find the post office. I walked the length of the airport, from the international terminal at T to my boarding gate at A. It was nice to stretch my legs. There is a train that goes between terminals for those in a hurry but I'm so glad I walked cuz I found the art thing pictured below between A and B, underground.

Between A and B concourses, underground, in Atlanta airport.

The ceiling was covered with leaves while birds sang and frogs chirped and geese honked. There was even a part where raindrops fell on the ground (using light, not water!). It was so peaceful and beautiful and made me a bit homesick. I read the plaque about the artist and learned he was from Illinois, so I think most of the animal sounds were from the Northeast and very similar to animals from home in Canada. I hung out in this section for several minutes just absorbing the calm. If you're in Atlanta airport, be sure to check it out! There were other art things around the airport, but this was the coolest.

Boarded my Delta flight from Atlanta to Orlando, simple. Quick flight, barely time for a drink, then landed in Orlando airport.
At this point, I was so super excited to see my family that I was almost bouncing as I exited the plane. It'd been two years since I'd seen my sister and two and a half since seeing my parents and my nieces.
As I picked up my baggage -- whew, it made it! -- I realized that we hadn't really prepared properly for this. My sister had agreed to pick me up at the airport, but we never really clarified WHERE. Baggage claim? Arrivals? Short-term parking?
On a whim, I tried texting her from my Guatemalan cell phone. It worked! My phone was getting a signal from T-Mobile. Thank goodness! We sent a few texts back and forth before figuring out we were both at B section, but on different levels. I finally found her (and my Dad, who was strolling around the airport looking for me) and we laughed and hugged and got in the van to drive to our rental house in Kissimmee. Success!

TIP: Next time, I will be more specific about where to meet the person picking me up from the airport! Baggage claim is on a different level than short-term parking... or something. I don't know! Ha ha! Of course, you can always have a help desk person page whoever you're looking for. 😄

So a long day of travel and one that I repeated on the way back in reverse. Yes, more baggage switching and long lines and security checks. But I made it! I'm hoping the next time I fly will be back home to Canada next fall. I miss the changing leaves and the brisk October air and frost on the ground and all that Canadian stuff.

I hope this was helpful and/or amusing. To all my traveling friends out there, may all your lines be short and your seats spacious! Buen viaje!