Friday,
February 1, 2019
The whole day today was spent in
transit. We had to wake up at 4 am to catch a 7:30 am flight out
from Toronto to Miami (just over 3 hours). There are no direct flights from Canada to Quito!
Unfortunately, our connection through Miami meant we had to do the US customs lines at Toronto. We counted 6 different lines, with not a washroom in sight. Even though we arrived 2 hours ahead of our flight, by the time we got through US customs (and found a washroom), our flight was boarding!
Then we sat on the plane, and sat, and sat. Finally, the pilot came on and told us that the plane was ready, but the tractor that pushes the plane back had stalled. They had to call a mechanic in. Surely they must have more than one tractor at the airport that does this job???
Did you know that they no longer serve meals on flights between Canada and the US? There was lots of food available - from the menu. Good thing we snuck our contraband bananas on board. Non-alcoholic beverages are still free, but they wouldn't even give Frankie a tea because the seatbelt light happened to be on.
We arrived half an hour late in Miami, and this airport is literally the size of a small city! We had planned a quick trip to the beach for our 5 hour layover in Miami, but by the time we actually made our way to the bus stop, we decided we had to turn around and head back! So we at least sat outside in the sunshine for half an hour, and watched planes leaving (one per minute) directly over our heads.
When we checked in to Toronto, we were only given a boarding pass for our flight to Miami. So once we got to Miami, we had no idea how to get our boarding pass for our flight to Quito. So we walked half an hour to the Latam Airlines to check-in, only they could not find our reservation. Oh - operated by American Airlines. Sigh. Another 45 minute walk to the American Airlines check-in. Then we found out they had given us seats already. Frankie was by herself in the middle of 2 people, and Anton was the same 3 rows behind her. What???? But of course we could change our seats - for a fee. Which we did because those seats were stupid. It only cost $100.
Then at 3:30 pm we finally caught our flight from Miami to Quito (just over 4 hours).
We arrived in Quito, Ecuador, at 8 pm. No time difference.
The airport was built in 2013, is 18 km east of the city, and is one of the busiest airports in South America. Over 6 million people travel through the airport per year. But Toronto handles over 47 million passengers per year.
I guess they need reminders here:
We were so happy to see our luggage which we hadn't seen since 6 am. Celebrity Cruises was right there waiting to pick us up and 16 other people from our flight. It was a 45 minute bus ride to our hotel. The roads are good, lots of roundabouts, and it seems like they are good drivers. We were taken to our hotel, the JW Marriott in downtown Quito. They delivered our luggage to our room, and there was a rose waiting on our pillow.
Unfortunately, our connection through Miami meant we had to do the US customs lines at Toronto. We counted 6 different lines, with not a washroom in sight. Even though we arrived 2 hours ahead of our flight, by the time we got through US customs (and found a washroom), our flight was boarding!
Then we sat on the plane, and sat, and sat. Finally, the pilot came on and told us that the plane was ready, but the tractor that pushes the plane back had stalled. They had to call a mechanic in. Surely they must have more than one tractor at the airport that does this job???
Did you know that they no longer serve meals on flights between Canada and the US? There was lots of food available - from the menu. Good thing we snuck our contraband bananas on board. Non-alcoholic beverages are still free, but they wouldn't even give Frankie a tea because the seatbelt light happened to be on.
We arrived half an hour late in Miami, and this airport is literally the size of a small city! We had planned a quick trip to the beach for our 5 hour layover in Miami, but by the time we actually made our way to the bus stop, we decided we had to turn around and head back! So we at least sat outside in the sunshine for half an hour, and watched planes leaving (one per minute) directly over our heads.
When we checked in to Toronto, we were only given a boarding pass for our flight to Miami. So once we got to Miami, we had no idea how to get our boarding pass for our flight to Quito. So we walked half an hour to the Latam Airlines to check-in, only they could not find our reservation. Oh - operated by American Airlines. Sigh. Another 45 minute walk to the American Airlines check-in. Then we found out they had given us seats already. Frankie was by herself in the middle of 2 people, and Anton was the same 3 rows behind her. What???? But of course we could change our seats - for a fee. Which we did because those seats were stupid. It only cost $100.
Then at 3:30 pm we finally caught our flight from Miami to Quito (just over 4 hours).
imagecredit:http://www.backpackkat.com/ecuador-blog/2016/1/23/5-travel-tips-for-flying-to-quito
We arrived in Quito, Ecuador, at 8 pm. No time difference.
imagecredit:https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2018/07/30/literary-citizen-of-the-andes-gabriela-aleman-and-quito/
The airport was built in 2013, is 18 km east of the city, and is one of the busiest airports in South America. Over 6 million people travel through the airport per year. But Toronto handles over 47 million passengers per year.
imagecredit:https://www.airport-technology.com/projects/quitoairport/
I guess they need reminders here:
We were so happy to see our luggage which we hadn't seen since 6 am. Celebrity Cruises was right there waiting to pick us up and 16 other people from our flight. It was a 45 minute bus ride to our hotel. The roads are good, lots of roundabouts, and it seems like they are good drivers. We were taken to our hotel, the JW Marriott in downtown Quito. They delivered our luggage to our room, and there was a rose waiting on our pillow.
imagecredit:https://www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/uiodt-jw-marriott-hotel-quito/
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