RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 14683 times:
MIAMI - TENERIFE (A332 - AIREUROPA):
At MIA waiting for AirEuropa (UX) to open the counters:
After the check in, I liked the detail of the envelope for the boarding pass, small detail that I haven't seen in on my trips to MAD in AA, AV or IB:
Air Europa does not have a VIP room yet at MIA, I had a couple of hours left so I decided that it was worth it to go to another concourse to use the Admirals Club, but I needed a pass from AA, which they were very quick to print for me:
At the entrance to Admirals, they gave me a couple of drinks vouchers:
Being at the Admirals Club I saw this beauty from American Airlines:
At the gate:
Inside the A332 that will take me to TFN:
Uniforms, china, linens, etc. has been designed by Agatha Ruiz de la Prada, a famous Spanish designer:
The two choices had seafood and I am allergic, so I explained this to the F/A but told her to not to worry, that I wasnt that hungry anyway, but she said that she would try to find me a solution.
The chips look "cheap", but they were actually very satisfying. They also give you a bag of nuts:
The appetizer was excellent:
After I finished the appetizer the F/A approached me with a plate of veal and potatoes and apologize for the presentation, but this was a crew meal that she decided to exchange for one of mine. I was truly thankful, I was expecting maybe a coach meal or something. I appreciated her solution:
Ice cream, for me, the best dessert:
"Equator"??
I went to know the capital city for a couple of hours. A few images of Santa Cruz de Tenerife:
The auditorium design by famous architect Calatrava:
The square at the small town of La Candelaria:
TENERIFE - MADRID (B738- AIREUROPA):
TFN:
VIP Room:
The only delayed one, my flight of course!!:
At the gate:
I found very curious the use of these cars to guide the planes to the gate through the dense fog:
The 738 was very uncomfortable, but I was hungry and the food was OK:
At MAD my luggage did not arrived but they sent it to my hotel the next day:
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Reply 1, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 21 hours ago) and read 14698 times:
MADRID - ROMA (A321 - IBERIA):
At the VIP room "Salvador Dalí" of Iberia at the T4 of MAD:
Very decent pitch on this A321:
At FCO looking for the train that would take me to the city:
Trenitalia trains look bad but they are OK inside:
Rome was amazing as usual, a few pics:
Do they sell this in the US? I haven't seen them:
ROMA - MADRID (A319 - IBERIA):
At "Termini" station to take the train back to FCO:
Inside the "Leonardo Express" to FCO:
At T3 of FCO:
This time inside a A-319 with a terrible pitch:
MADRID - TENERIFE (A332 - AIREUROPA):
After security at T2 of MAD:
At the VIP room at the T2:
At the gate for my flight to TFN:
We took a bus to the remote position:
This F/A was a real witch. To my luck the crew changed at TFN for my flight to MIA:
BTW, are digital cameras also prohibited at landing and departures?
Our neighbor; I didn't know this livery for Aerosur:
The breakfast on the flight to TFN; it wasn't great:
TENERIFE - MIAMI (A332 AIR EUROPA):
This time I have the option of meat which to my surprise was very good:
Everything looks great but because of my allergies to seafood only the salad for me please:
Mushroom soup, which was very good:
Good meat:
About mid-flight a small sandwich, I liked it, I was not expecting it:
Pre-arrival meal, the quiche was great. One thing I loved from UX was the bread; it is so fresh and hot that it tasted like if it was baked on the plane!
Bottom line, I liked UX. It is basic business class and it had small delays but when you compare what my company paid for BIZ: US$1,300 instead of almost US$4,000 in IB or AA, it is definitely a great option. They (UX) also told me that on March, they will have it MIA-MAD non stop which is great!
And if you can, go to Rome in December, it is just AMAZING!
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
Rogerbcn From Andorra, joined Sep 2006, 1136 posts, RR: 19 Reply 3, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 16 hours ago) and read 14178 times:
Hola Ricardo!
Thnaks for this informative TR.
I like this UX longhaul product and it seems to be quite popular, at least here on a.net as it is the second TR we can read in a few weeks.
Quoting RICARIZA (Thread starter): After I finished the appetizer the F/A approached me with a plate of veal and potatoes and apologize for the presentation, but this was a crew meal that she decided to exchange for one of mine. I was truly thankful, I was expecting maybe a coach meal or something. I appreciated her solution:
That's a very nice touch. Have you thought about writing to UX telling them about it? Maybe they could think of some dishes without any seafood on them, as well.
BTW, how about the entertainment system?
I assume you go through passport control in TFN, don't you?
TFN's lounge seems a lot nicer and better furnished than MAD's one.
Salut!
Roger
[Edited 2009-12-13 20:20:13 by rogerbcn]
"At reise er at leve" H.C. Andersen (Travelling is Living)
RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Reply 4, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 13 hours ago) and read 13971 times:
Hello Roger...
Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): That's a very nice touch. Have you thought about writing to UX telling them about it? Maybe they could think of some dishes without any seafood on them, as well.
I will, it was a great crew.
Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): BTW, how about the entertainment system?
not so good. 8 movies but only two new releases and no games and the maps are very dated.
Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): I assume you go through passport control in TFN, don't you?
Yes we did.
Quoting Rogerbcn (Reply 3): TFN's lounge seems a lot nicer and better furnished than MAD's one.
not really, but neither was great.
BTW, do you know if digital cameras are considered an electronic device that you can't use during take off and landing? I found that odd, only one F/A said that to me and she was very rude, I will also write UX about that, I have her name.
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
Quoting RICARIZA (Thread starter): Bottom line, I liked UX. It is basic business class and it had small delays but when you compare what my company paid for BIZ: US$1,300 instead of almost US$4,000 in IB or AA, it is definitely a great option
- Service does look a bit on the weak side, however for saving like this, it's something you can overlook.
= Ok. That is very unacceptable ... especially from a Spanish airline! Perhaps a neo-colonial wrote it .
Anyways, thanks for an interesting TR. UX seems to offer a true value for money J product ... for that price, I think you got a pretty decent fare. Interesting comparison to cheap FI's offerings.
Akhmad From Netherlands, joined Sep 2005, 2332 posts, RR: 53 Reply 7, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 5 days 2 hours ago) and read 13332 times:
Hola RICARIZA,
Great covering of two Spanish airlines. I really enjoyed it.
Quoting RICARIZA (Thread starter): After I finished the appetizer the F/A approached me with a plate of veal and potatoes and apologize for the presentation, but this was a crew meal that she decided to exchange for one of mine.
What a nice gesture!
Quoting RICARIZA (Reply 1): The breakfast on the flight to TFN; it wasn't great:
I agreed. It look quite uninspiring.
From your experience I gather that UX is better service wise than IB as UX offers J at a competitive price and the in-flight service is courteous.
Quoting BA319-131 (Reply 5): Service does look a bit on the weak side, however for saving like this, it's something you can overlook.
kinda, yes.
Quoting Akhmad (Reply 7): From your experience I gather that UX is better service wise than IB as UX offers J at a competitive price and the in-flight service is courteous.
No, to be honest my experience with IB in J has been very good, but the price was too much this time.
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Reply 9, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 4 days 11 hours ago) and read 12948 times:
Quoting Abrelosojos (Reply 6): Anyways, thanks for an interesting TR. UX seems to offer a true value for money J product ... for that price, I think you got a pretty decent fare. Interesting comparison to cheap FI's offerings.
Quoting Akhmad (Reply 7): Great covering of two Spanish airlines. I really enjoyed it.
Thank you!
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
Reifel From Germany, joined Feb 2005, 1135 posts, RR: 1 Reply 11, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 19 hours ago) and read 12627 times:
Thank you for this nice report. I like Air Europa a lot and this is some kind of niche route which is quite special. Nice to see that they perform quite well.
I was looking through Amadeus who is offering some kind of "acceptable" options in terms of schedule (not of service) and actually it's not easy to find a lot of Airlines having a decent schedule from TCI to MIA. Actually most airlines will make you fly to mainland Spain (and from there even further to another European (LHR for BA) or US (EWR for CO) gateway, making it a 2 stop connection. Only exception is AA/BA with only one connection in MAD; nevertheless backtracking.
The only "acceptable" other option by means of schedule (and fare, too) is actually very strange: Santa Barbara Airlines via Caracas. Never thought this could be an option, but schedulewise it is, since the connection in CCS is just 1 or 2 hours in both direction, furthermore CCS is not that much a detour (a small one for sure, but still better than 2 connections!).
Loved your AA boarding pass never saw one like this...
I think TFN is somerhow impressive. See that fog on your picture? This airport is like in the jungle (and has much more weather related issues than TFS). If you go around the airport i.e. with a rental car you will find yourself somewhat down a small hill and see the tips of the airplanes going to the runways. The vegetation is very green over there.
TFN also always remind me this tragic accident where so many people died in the fog. Other airports had tragic accidents as well, but maybe it makes it more impressive since TFN is actually a small airport.
By the way, the yellow follow me cars are some kind of institution in Spain. I guess all the airports (with an exception of MAD and BCN where I'm not sure) are using them for EVERY arriving flight. This is absolutely normal over there (and somehow not necessary).
How full was the A330 on the way back from MAD to TFN? They usually take a small aircraft on that route, but it's actually some kind of "ferry" fight for the TFN-MAD flight since they have not an A330 based in TFN. Nevertheless it wouldn't surprise me if it would have been quite full for two reasons: a) I'm convinced a lot of people are flying actually from MAD to MIA via TFN (although UX also flies direct if I'm correct, but not daily and not on the day the flight is from TFN) and b) since other carriers (Iberia) also fills A340-600 (and those Air Atlanta 747's a few years ago), although they use them to LPA rather than to TFN.
The food on MAD-TFN looks like a joke for Business-Class.
BTW: All electronic devices (which includes digital cameras) are prohibited during take off and landing, however a lot of airlines don't really care as long as you don't use your mobile phone (or your laptop maybe).
MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31118 posts, RR: 73 Reply 12, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 3 days 13 hours ago) and read 12444 times:
Quoting Reifel (Reply 11): a) I'm convinced a lot of people are flying actually from MAD to MIA via TFN (although UX also flies direct if I'm correct, but not daily and not on the day the flight is from TFN)
UX has been getting very little connecting traffic on the route. Is predominately O&D and UX only started selling connections from MAD in September. During the summer they would only sell MIA-TFN; you needed to be buy a second ticket to connect from MAD.
WA707atMSP From United States of America, joined Oct 2006, 2043 posts, RR: 13 Reply 13, posted (3 years 5 months 1 week 2 days 22 hours ago) and read 12203 times:
Quoting RICARIZA (Reply 10): Quoting RICARIZA (Thread starter):
BTW, are digital cameras also prohibited at landing and departures?
Anyone? I am really curious...
Quoting Reifel (Reply 11): BTW: All electronic devices (which includes digital cameras) are prohibited during take off and landing, however a lot of airlines don't really care as long as you don't use your mobile phone (or your laptop maybe).
This rule exists, but it's rarely enforced.
I take pictures all the time during takeoff and landing, but I make sure the flight attendant isn't looking at me when I take them. Obviously, it's much easier to take pictures in coach than in business / first, because there are fewer flight attendants and the seats are much closer together.
RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Reply 16, posted (3 years 5 months 6 days 9 hours ago) and read 11509 times:
Quoting WA707atMSP (Reply 13): This rule exists, but it's rarely enforced.
I take pictures all the time during takeoff and landing, but I make sure the flight attendant isn't looking at me when I take them. Obviously, it's much easier to take pictures in coach than in business / first, because there are fewer flight attendants and the seats are much closer together.
That is what I thought. Thanks!
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
OP3000 From United States of America, joined Jun 2009, 1678 posts, RR: 2 Reply 21, posted (3 years 4 months 11 hours ago) and read 9889 times:
Great TR, including the part on the train in Italy.
Quoting RICARIZA (Thread starter):
Being at the Admirals Club I saw this beauty from American Airlines:
From the photo of the AA 763 in OW livery, I think I was on that plane coming into MIA from SJO, as I remember seeing almost all of those same planes on the tarmac that day. Could you confirm if that was on November 28?
Also, is it possible to get access to the Admiral's Club if you're not flying a partner airline (and like me don't work for a company in the aviation sector)?
MAH4546 From Sweden, joined Jan 2001, 31118 posts, RR: 73 Reply 22, posted (3 years 4 months 11 hours ago) and read 9878 times:
Quoting OP3000 (Reply 21):
Also, is it possible to get access to the Admiral's Club if you're not flying a partner airline (and like me don't work for a company in the aviation sector)?
Only if you are a member of the Admirals Club. Anything else (flying in a premium cabin, access based on oneWorld status, being an American Express Platinum member) requires flying AA.
OP3000 From United States of America, joined Jun 2009, 1678 posts, RR: 2 Reply 23, posted (3 years 4 months ago) and read 9717 times:
Quoting MAH4546 (Reply 22): Only if you are a member of the Admirals Club. Anything else (flying in a premium cabin, access based on oneWorld status, being an American Express Platinum member) requires flying AA.
RICARIZA From Colombia, joined Apr 2005, 2356 posts, RR: 29 Reply 24, posted (3 years 3 months 4 weeks 1 day 8 hours ago) and read 9554 times:
Quoting OP3000 (Reply 21): Great TR, including the part on the train in Italy.
Thank you.. I love ITALIA..!
Quoting OP3000 (Reply 21): Also, is it possible to get access to the Admiral's Club if you're not flying a partner airline (and like me don't work for a company in the aviation sector)?
No, you have to be a member of Admirals Club.
Quoting OP3000 (Reply 21): Could you confirm if that was on November 28?
Yes
I miss ACES, I am proud of AVIANCA & I am loyal to AMERICAN
25 WAC: The business seats look like AF's....wonder if they sourced them....? also the food on the menu sounds far more italian than spanish!
26 Readytotaxi: Thank you for that report. I was considering that airline for a trip to TFS via MAD in Business Class from London. The seating looks great but the mea
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never saw one like this...
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