D at M& Long Layovers (Share your horror story)

Robert Jorge says on Jan 25, 2007, 09:19:

Hey Southern. I did about 10 hours in Houston before. I landed at 7am and my connecting flight wasn't until 3:30 or so. I got to know the duty free shop worker pretty well!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

southern151 says on Jan 25, 2007, 09:21:

Did they cut you any discounts? I just left 2 weeks in Houston. No fun in the refining business.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Robert Jorge says on Jan 25, 2007, 09:21:

Sorry, wrong time zone. I actually landed in Houston about 6am Houston time, and then left around 3:30 Houston time.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

PaisaAmericano says on Jan 25, 2007, 09:44:

My worst layover was also 6 hours, but I met some girls, left to a local bar close to the airport and got smashed!!!! When I got back to the gate they didnt let me on cuz I was intoxicated and had to spend the night. Luckily, I stayed with the pretty ladies!!!! Got to Medellin the next day with a smile on my face.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Monita Linda says on Jan 25, 2007, 10:17:

19 & 11 hours!! Last time that I was in Colombia (I'm in europe now to fix somethings and will immigrate to Colombia permanently this July), on the way there (Europe - Washington - Miamia - Bogota - Cali) I had to wait 11 hours in Miami. I arrived at MIA at 7 PM and left for bogota at 6:30 AM! Longggggg time.
When I returned, I had a 19 hour layover in Miami,and I went to a hotel in town. I didn't sleep well, just 6 hours and then still had to wait 4 hours at the airport....

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Dan says on Jan 25, 2007, 10:37:

The longest I've ever had was a 7 hour delay in Atlanta returning from Colombia going home. I found one of those blockbuster shops and rented a DVD player and a couple movies, went around the corner and returned afterwards. I also walked around and explored all the terminals there in Atlanta. Pretty uneventfull.

God Bless America!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

miamimike says on Jan 25, 2007, 12:30:

Southern-Should Have Grabbed a Cab Or The City Bus if it was daytime or early evening to the Historic "Little Havana" area in Miami, it wasn't that far! Pass a few hours there, hit a Restuarant, maybe the Versailles or Carreta for a meal. Check out the Pretty Cubanas, visit one of the Cigar rolling stores in the barrio. 6 Hours would passed in a heartbeat there. Think about it next time. By Taxi, no more then 10-15 min drive. I agree MIA is one of the worst, if not the Worst, airport in the USA.

"You can take the Banana Out of the Republic but you Cannot take the Republic Out Of The Banana"

0 funny, 0 helpful.

PaisaAmericano says on Jan 25, 2007, 14:50:

Miami Mike is right! Brother Southern you should of hit South Beach for a few hours!!!! Sorry man I should´ve mentioned it when we talked. I work at the Fort Lauderdale Airport and it is definately way smoother then Miami. Next time friend, but in the meantime Im here in Medellin waitin for ya with a bottle of Guaro!

0 funny, 0 helpful.

lalablu3 says on Jan 25, 2007, 16:51:

Bogota, via Mexico, via Guadalajara My dad's a travel agent so whenever we fly to Bogota, we use points earned with MEXICANA airlines. It takes a full 24 hours from the time we leave my house in central California to the time we get to my aunts house in Modelia (bogota).
1st a two hr car ride to san francisco, the shortest stop in Gudalajara ever, so were pretty much sprinting from one gate to another, then Six Hours in Mexico city, spent trying to sleep on the ground or a chair or something. Then finaly another long flight to Bogota, and were there. phew!

♥
Laura

♥ Laura

0 funny, 0 helpful.

pelon2007 says on Jan 26, 2007, 04:51:

Left Behind Well i dont know if this story wil match up to yours, but the first time I came to Barranquilla,Colombia to visit my fiance,I had to land in Bogota for a BRIEF layover before heading to Barranquilla,Well my nightmare strated when I sall the Long line of people waiting to go thru what i assume was the Colombian Immigration Police, seem like they took forever then as soon as I got thru the line the lady at the ticket counter said to me sorry sir the plane that you were supposed to be on has just took off.I said **************** I was furious ,it wasn't my fault that your police took forver to look at people's passports,she said sir please calm downi told her how you expect me to calm down ,its late,im tired ,hungry,angry but after i went outside to cool down ,I told her since there are no more flights out to Barranquilla then I want to be placed in a Hotel at your expense .So they called the Driver to Four Seasons Hotel ( 4starr hotel) to come and pick me up.As soon as i got to the hotel i contacted mhy fiance to let her know not to go to the airport that i would be there the next day.But Everything turned out to be great afterwards and they made up for there mistake.I encourage anybody that is coming to colombia look at your layover time
to be sure you have enough time to get off your plane ,go thru security then get on to you new plane.

Saturday, September 2, 2006
Avianca # 9532

Bogota Eldorado (BOG) to Barranquilla E Cortissoz (BAQ)
Departure (BOG): September 2, 9:45 PM COT (evening)
Arrival (BAQ): September 2, 11:10 PM COT (evening)


Class: Economy

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Jan 26, 2007, 09:37:

Don't mind the layover I often take American Airlines Houston - Miami - Bogota. It involves a 4-5 hour layover in Miami, but I gladly do it. The flight leaving Bogota doesn't leave until after 2pm unlike the Continental nonstop that leaves at around 9am.

Since you have to be at the airport so early in Bogota, it is worth the layover just to sleep in that last morning at the hotel. Since my novia is usually with me, it is even more worth it.

Also, I often stay in Neiva. If I have to take a morning flight out of Bogota, I have to leave Neiva the previous evening. If I catch the AA afternoon flight, I can just catch a morning flight out of Neiva and spend an extra night.

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

0 funny, 0 helpful.

ColombianoGringo (Moderator) says on Jan 26, 2007, 09:39:

Miami Layover I once thought about doing what MiamiMike suggested. I had a 5 hour layover in MIA and thought I would hit a place on Lincoln Rd for a nice lunch and some people watching. When I looked up the price for a roundtrip taxi ride, I realized it would cost over $70 to go and come back. I didn't want to people watch that bad.

CG

I'm so hip, I have difficulty seeing over my pelvis. - Zaphod Beeblebrox, Former President of the Galaxy and inventor of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Mr. Hollywood says on Jan 26, 2007, 11:42:

Hmmmm. Let's see, I once was on a flight from San Jose, Costa Rica (way back when the only other gringos there were big men with big watches who all worked for Ollie North, if you get my drift) to Tegucigalpa, Honduras and then on to Miami. However, as we were waiting to pull away from the gate a airline employee told us that we had to all stand up and walk off the plane, leaving our possessions in place because there was going to be a drug inspection.

A few people blanched at that but as we got off the plane the airline employee said, "Sorry to say that but we didn't want to panic you by telling the truth, which is that there's been a bomb threat made against your plane.

They pulled the plane away from the gate and then made us each walk out one by one to claim our suitcases. There was no extra bag on board and after what seemed like a VERY cursory inspection of the cabin no bomb was found and they told us all to get back on. We were all pretty nervous that they hadn't found anything but were ready to just take off into the wild blue.

By this point about 2 hours had elapsed and we'd clearly missed our connection in Tegucigalpa, so they landed briefly there and then took off again for San Pedro Sula, where the next flight to Miami left in about 9 hours. I was SO happy to be off that 1st plane and without getting blown up into bits that the 9 hours in SPS passed like nothing.

Whenever I feel like whining about being stuck for a few hours in Heathrow or MIA I always remind myself of that.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

JMCana says on Jan 26, 2007, 12:14:

For Bush I actually enjoy airports. It gives me time to observe people and write about them for possible use later in stories and books. Plus I hate cutting things too close. However, it was a Bogota to Miami then on to Detroit flight. I gave plenty of time to go through customs, find the next terminal and sit and enjoy.

We were slightly late getting out of Bogota because of what they said was an instrument malfunction. Hmmm first time I have ever seen a dog used to fix an instrument malfunction. But it was not bad. The pilot pushed it some and we were only going to be about 15 minutes behind. No problem. Beautiful day, as we crossed land the pilot stated there was a wait at the Miami airport. Next report from him stated that we were running low on fuel and we were being diverted to another city to get fuel then fly back to Miami. Then we were called back to Miami to land.

They were landing planes one after another as fast as they could it seemed. The terminal we landed at was at what seemed to be the complete opposite end from customs. At Customs the lines were out the entrance doors. Normally nice people started turning into real idiots and pushing, shoving and going under ropes. Customs people lost what little friendliness they possessed. The luggage took forever. And of course my next flight was at the other end of the airport again.

One airline employee told me my connecting plane was delayed. The people missing connecting flights were everywhere. American airline employees were actually yelling at each other in unkind tones. There seemed to be more chaos than a plan. The next employee consulted a chart and told me my flight had left. As I tried to check my bags and get another flight the person told me that my flight was indeed delayed and that I could catch it. However they could not take my bags and I had to go through a large crowd of angry passengers to give my bags again.

Well, my bags and I made it to Detroit over 3 hours late which put me in at 2AM and my ride was no where to be found.

And why all of these problems for so many people? President It was so President Bush could fly into Miami to visit his brother and later deliver some half-ass speech with distorted figures.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

costajunkie says on Jan 26, 2007, 15:43:

Hmm, which one??? Too many to mention... this happens when having traveled for a living once, or when one travels back and forth to Colombia 6-8 times per year like I do now.

There was the one time when flying out of Gatwick, I had to stay in Brighton for 4 days, waiting for a Continental flight that never managed to arrive. But since this is the Colombia board...

It would have to be the Christmas flight that I made last month... getting there was fine - it was coming home that practically killed me: Barranquilla, Bogota, Guayaquil, Lima, Panama City, Houston, Phoenix... 2 days, 2 nights (no hotel)... It is diffcult to grasp the absurdity of some itineraries and scheduling, especially when you have to keep flying south to finally go north, or when you pass over the place you just left 24 hours later.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

Tinto (Moderator) says on Jan 26, 2007, 15:46:

Ouch! was that the normal return schedule after Christmas or the result of cascading problems?

I wanted access to health care, housing and education, but, no, I get potholes, trash and silicone tits instead. -Desi.

0 funny, 0 helpful.

costajunkie says on Jan 26, 2007, 15:59:

Both... Going to Guayaquil was on the menu, which already seemed ridiculous... and then with added problems, the whole sitaution took a turn for the surreal, like I was some figure from a Kafka story.

Yeah... you know I am still trying REAL HARD to forget that one...

0 funny, 0 helpful.