Prentiss Riddle
Aprendiz de todo, maestro de nada
- Time of past OR future Camino
- Português and/or Francés in 2023
One travel story that might be useful for pilgrims from the southwestern US:
Austin just got a non-stop Aeromexico connection to Mexico City, so we were intrigued when our Camino ticket search turned up a good price on an AUS-MEX-MAD flight. We decided to give it a shot, with mixed results.
Mexico requires travelers in transit to go through immigration. Outbound, we were horrified to find upon arriving in MEX that the immigration hall was packed and had overflowed the rope lines, with no one working crowd control. Only two immigration officials were processing non-Mexican citizens. People were missing their flights, but fortunately we made ours despite a two-hour wait. I've heard different explanations. One friend said the backup was typical, but another who has lived in Mexico and recently flew through MEX thinks we had the problem because we flew on May 1 (Labor Day in Mexico).
The return trip was a much happier story. Our overnight flight from Madrid arrived in MEX at 5:00 AM and the immigration hall was empty. The transfer to our Austin flight was painless, and - as we had hoped - US immigration in AUS was quick and pleasant, nothing like the grim horror of US immigration in big East Coast airports.
As for the flights themselves, the seats were a bit roomier than some planes we've been on, the service was good and the food was edible. We did have some worry because of a mixup regarding our return seat assignments but Aeromexico fixed it at the airport. All in all, it was a better flight experience than we've had on US airlines lately.
So - I would try Aeromexico to Spain again, but I would make sure I had ample transfer time and I would check the Mexican holiday calendar!
Austin just got a non-stop Aeromexico connection to Mexico City, so we were intrigued when our Camino ticket search turned up a good price on an AUS-MEX-MAD flight. We decided to give it a shot, with mixed results.
Mexico requires travelers in transit to go through immigration. Outbound, we were horrified to find upon arriving in MEX that the immigration hall was packed and had overflowed the rope lines, with no one working crowd control. Only two immigration officials were processing non-Mexican citizens. People were missing their flights, but fortunately we made ours despite a two-hour wait. I've heard different explanations. One friend said the backup was typical, but another who has lived in Mexico and recently flew through MEX thinks we had the problem because we flew on May 1 (Labor Day in Mexico).
The return trip was a much happier story. Our overnight flight from Madrid arrived in MEX at 5:00 AM and the immigration hall was empty. The transfer to our Austin flight was painless, and - as we had hoped - US immigration in AUS was quick and pleasant, nothing like the grim horror of US immigration in big East Coast airports.
As for the flights themselves, the seats were a bit roomier than some planes we've been on, the service was good and the food was edible. We did have some worry because of a mixup regarding our return seat assignments but Aeromexico fixed it at the airport. All in all, it was a better flight experience than we've had on US airlines lately.
So - I would try Aeromexico to Spain again, but I would make sure I had ample transfer time and I would check the Mexican holiday calendar!
