Our flight was to depart at 14:55 and I suggested we should leave Brickell Avenue some time between 12:30 and 13:00 to have time to grab some lunch at the airport. My colleague had other plans and being French and arrogant decided to ignore my suggested time of departure and continued to chat to our host about pointless stuff.. Time was now 13:35 and so I got up and asked if they could phone a taxi for us, much to the disapproval of the French Man who gave me a stern look. [:(]
Our host phoned for a taxi and we waited about 10 minutes for it to arrive. We arrived at MIA at 14:00. I headed straight for the self check-in terminals as I didnt like the look of the curb side check-in; I feared I would not see my luggage again if it was just dumped on one of the AA trolleys outside the airport.
I scanned my passport but the scanner picked up an incorrect character in my name and so could not identify my booking. I had to enter the booking code manually and I could see the queue at the bag drop growing.
I joined what I thought was the shortest queue, but discovered it was actually the slowest moving. Got to the counter and the assistant said her computer wasnt working and so she had to walk all the way to the end of the desk and wait until another assistant was free so she could use her terminal. She walked back slowly. Bags labelled and dropped off I ran with the French guy close behind to security to see a massive queue. Time was now 14:30 and I thought there was little chance of making the flight. The board showed the flight would be late departing and the expected time would be 15:08 so now we had a chance. Through security and up the escalators, on to the train to the gate, it was now 15:00. I ran to the gate desk to find the expected departure time was now 15:30 and so I was OK!
Another announcement; the plane had a fault and would not be departing until at least 16:30. The engines were powered up and further tests were performed. Finally, at 16.45 we boarded the plane. Apparently the plane had a faulty generator but this would not affect the flight.[:0]
The flight was boring, uneventful and uncomfortable. There was no movie, just some adverts on loop. Legroom in the seat was very cramped and I was in a centre seat. The passengers either side of me were not fat so there was not much rollover, so at least that was good. The guy in front had his leg in the isle, it was hit hard by the refreshment trolly - he was in pain and was offered an ice cube. The cabin crew said it was his fault and muttered something about American Airlines making the isles narrow so he could get a cheap flight.
The Captain announced that he would be taking an alternative route to JFK to make up some time.
There was one round of drinks, I just took a glass of water. The descent into JFK was very steep and landing was hard. It sounded as if the undercarriage bottomed out in a big way. A number of passengers clapped in relief. Flight time was 3 hours 20 minutes.
Stuck on the tarmac at JFK while they tried to connect the bridge. There was a problem and they could not get it to fit so they had to call an expert. Another 20 minutes wait. Bridge was connected but now they couldnt open the door. Another 15 minutes wait. Finally the door was opened and we were off the plane and straight to baggage reclaim. I wasnt expecting to see my bags but they did finally arrive.
Out of the airport to be approached by unlicensed cab drivers. Avoiding these guys I got a Yellow taxi to Manhattan tired and hungry.
