Bienvenida de nuevo. Welcome Back to Argentina.

                                

This blog was started in 2007, and after a brief visit in 2009, we have not been back.  Let’s see how much things have changed.

 

December 28, 2014

On our way to Argentina from Frederick Maryland!  This is a long and uncomfortable trip.  We flew Copa, with our first destination in Argentina being Cordoba for a 5 day stay with friends. 

 The first leg was 5 hours.  As we usually do, we brought a small gift of goodies for the flight crew and handed it to one of the flight attendants before takeoff.  On domestic flights this is appreciated but apparently there is a cultural difference with the Spanish crew, because rather than being a nice thing, it was just uncomfortable – even awkward.  

The middle seat was open! Yay!  The seats on Copa are so small, that at 5’5”, 125 lbs I fill the seat to capacity.  As the plane is an older model, the seats recline farther.  The woman in front of me reclined her seat completely and the seat was so far in my lap that my tray table was crushed and I was sort of pinned into my seat.  I moved to the middle seat.  

We were served breakfast – either a waffle or a breakfast taco.  I had the waffle, Ken had the taco.  There was fruit, a cold dinner roll with promise margarine and a yogurt.  The waffle was like a weird sponge vehicle for the syrup and the fruit was spoiled.  The taco was fine – I suggest choosing that instead of the waffle.  

The plane was somewhat dirty. The soap dispenser in the bathroom was broken off and missing and there was trash in the seat pockets and trash on the floor.

The crew was pleasant but not attentive.

We had a layover in Panama for 2 hours.   This was nice because we had passes to the Copa Room.  The picture above is the view from the Copa room which looks down at the terminal.  This is a private area where they provide free snacks with an open bar.  It was quiet and relaxing and the time passed quickly.  I suggest trying to buy these passes on EBay.  We paid $10 each and it was well worth it.

Second leg:  This is scheduled for 6.5 hours.  The middle seat was taken – drat!!  We were absolutely shoe- horned in for this flight.  Again we gave the crew a gift, and again it was uncomfortable.  Again, the crew was polite yet not attentive.  If you want something it is best to get up and walk back to the galley and ask.  

There was entertainment on this flight.  Small strategically placed TV screens were lowered from the ceiling and you listened with head phones that were provided at no cost.  My head phones had a short in them and the sound cut in and out.  There was a movie – 100 Steps, a random episode from a soap opera called Suits, one episode of Two and a Half Men, and an episode of Glee.  There were several dozen commercials during the entertainment.  There were also music channels. 

We were served dinner – Ravioli or chicken – dinner was much better than breakfast.  It was about 90 mins after dinner when the trash was collected, so we stacked our plates to free up the space.  Don’t do that!!  It is apparently inconvenient for the attendant.

Plane particulars for the second leg:  boarded on time, took off late, arrived to destination 20 minutes late.  A pillow and blanket were provided.  Inside cabin temperature varied during takeoff and landing but for most of the flight was 80+ deg F (didn’t need that blanket!).  First class was empty, but no free upgrades were offered.  BTW, there was a farter on board – and a champion farter at that!

Edu picked us up and 1am.  Home by 2 am.  Then we saw Monica!

Door to door trip was 18 hours.

-Helen