Miami International Airport
Well, today is the day things start happening, albeit at the end of the day. My flight from Miami to Buenos Aires leaves at 11pm, and arrives at 10am local time. Buenos Aires is 2 hours ahead of eastern time, so the flight is nine hours, not the eleven like the departure/arrival times might suggest. This is not too bad when comparing it to some of the long haul flights I have taken to Brisbane, Australia and Tokyo, Japan.
When I got up this morning, I was greeted by an email from American Airlines stating that I should check in for my flight. “Great idea!”, I thought. I proceeded to their website, filled in all of my information, clicked “Check-In”.. I stared at the spinning wheel of death. Five, ten, then fifteen seconds pass. Is this a website problem? Is there something wrong with my ticket? My mind starts racing. Well, if there is something wrong, I at least I am in the US and not abroad. “STOP IT EVIL DEMONS!“, I think. Then, I am greeted with this:
Cannot Check In Online, See Agent
Really? What gives? You tell me to check in online, and give me this? My best is that since there are COVID protocols in place for entry into Argentina (i.e. I must show a negative PCR test), you cannot check in online and attempt to bypass that requirement. This will not be a huge problem since I will have upwards of 8 hours to kill in the airport!
While eating breakfast, an email from Jeff at Marathon Tours arrived. They said that they were in Buenos Aires, preparing for us, and had a couple of itinerary changes. The biggest was that their normal cocktail reception was canceled because they wanted to minimize the chance for the spread of COVID (but dinner was still on). Additionally, I saw this quote:
On the first Voyage there were several positive cases before and during their travels. We want to avoid this with our group at all costs. I strongly encourage you to remain isolated from others prior to traveling, at the airport use all necessary precautions (wash your hands thoroughly, wear a mask at all times, avoid crowds/people whenever possible), and practice the same ritual upon arriving in Buenos Aires.
I feel bad for those people who contracted COVID while there. Apparently four people tested positive before leaving Buenos Aires and could not even make the trip to Ushuaia / Antarctica. I am not sure if they lost all of their money or not, but still – it is something that I am mildly anxious about.
I brought changes of clothes for 4-5 days. Sticking to my laundry plan, I did a load of laundry at the hotel (and will do one or two on the ship). All my clothes are clean, and I should be able to make it to the Ocean Victory in Ushuaia before having to do another load on the ship.
When I checked into the hotel, I asked the receptionist what the latest checkout was that I could get without them getting in trouble (I have had 4pm checkouts at Atlantic City hotels before). She said that the latest checkout was 2pm, so I got that one. I hopped on the 3pm shuttle and arrived at the airport 5 minutes later. I went in, found my check in location, showed all of the required docs (COVID vaccination card, negative COVID test, and Argentina entry documents) to the screening person. I then got in line to be checked in (8 hours early), got my boarding pass, chatted with the check in lady for several minutes about the Antarctica Marathon, went through the TSA Precheck line and was through security by 3:25! WOW! From the hotel to post-security for an international flight in under 30 minutes. A new record. I do not even think that do it that fast for domestic. My watch said that I needed a couple thousand more steps for the day, so I walked up and down terminal D until I hit my goal.
About six months ago, I applied for (and received) a Chase Sapphire Reserve card. One of the free perks you get with the Sapphire Reserver is the Priority Pass. That lets you get into a lot of airport lounges all over the world, as well as giving you food credit a many restaurants across the world. In Miami, you have access to the Turkish Airlines lounge, so I decided to try it out. I walked up to the receptionist and she said that it was too busy and that they were not accepting Priority Pass members at this time, but I could check back later. I was starting to get hungry, and found out that the Corona Beach House offered a $30 meal credit to Priority Pass members. I went there and put my name on the list. I was seated about 15 minutes later, and I ordered a lemonade, buffalo wings, and fish tacos. All items were pretty good, and the total was $30 exactly.
Fish Tacos at The Corona Beach House Miami
Buffalo Wings at The Corona Beach House Miami
The waiter said that my Priority Pass covered everything and that I owed nothing! Pretty cool perk. I left him and tip and I went back to the Turkish Airlines Lounge to try to my luck again. When I arrived, I got the same story – they were full and not taking Priority Pass members. Oh well, there is a lounge in Buenos Aires and I will try my luck there.
As of right now, I have about one hour until we start boarding the flight. American Airlines offered me a deal to upgrade to Premium Economy for $20 more, so I hopped on it. Hopefully, it will be a peaceful fight with no issues.