AA2506 MIA-TPA 1 JUL 24 (Economy)

And so 24 hours after we were due to arrive at least we’re in the correct state but missing a bag. As Miami was our first entry point in the USA we had to collect 2/3rds of the bags, take them through customs and then back over to the American Airlines desk to check them back in. They use an automated system like Ryanair’s but it seems to work. The queue for security wasn’t great, took over 30 minutes but once airside sat and chilled for a bit before boarding a rather quiet flight to Tampa. My only previous experience of American was MCO-PHI and this was very similar. A half empty A321, passengers with window blinds down, nobody listening to safety briefing, USB charging facilities, that’s basically it. It’s a bus service. Pretty good views of the everglades on the flight and all too soon we came into land at Tampa, which is by all means my favourite airport in USA.

It was a domestic flight so straight off the plane, picked up the bags (again) and straight out to the shuttle to the car hire desk. I had a concern as we were now 28 hours after we were supposed to pick up our car but Avis had held it. Our car, A Chrysler Voyager, was in a sorry state, pretty beat up and abused. Smelled of cigarette smoke. By then I didn’t care, loaded it up and off to Target to buy the kids $170 worth of clothes - we assumed we wouldn’t see the case for several days, this was the correct assumption.

One Chick-Fil-A later, hit the Interstate and then drove to Coronado Springs which as a moderate resort surprised me with how good it was. Arriving at 11pm I will confess I was far too tired to be driving, maybe dangerously, and very angry that I had been put into that situation.

At this point I’d like to add that on returning home, Avis charged my credit card £540 because the “all inclusive” voucher supplied by British Airways didn’t cover the full cost of hiring the car. I made sure on my return that the car was fully fuelled and they weren’t charging me for any of the existing damage to the car (I documented all of it before leaving). This is another in a long line of insults and money they owe me.