Made it to Bogota

I’m at my hotel in Bogota.  I also just got done talking to Sylvia to let her know I made it in.  Even though she knows I’m a well seasoned traveler, she insisted that I call. I didn’t want to hear the wrath of Sylvia for the next week.  :)

I had a very nice surprise getting on the plane in Toronto.  I boarded, went back to coach looking for 4C and saw that coach started at row 15.  The first thing that crossed my mind was that the stinking seat was booked incorrectly.  Then I wondered back up to first class and tada!  There was seat 4C empty and waiting for me. 

When I checked in with Air Canada in Chicago this morning, they didn’t give me a seat assignment yet.  When I got into Toronto, 6 hours before my next flight, they wouldn’t let me go directly into the International wing.  I had to go out through Canadian customs, hang out for a while then go back in.  So, while I was waiting around I decided I would go up to the front desk and get a seat assignment.  I was wanting to get it as soon as I could because I didn’t want to be stuck in a middle seat.

So, when I was trying to get in line to get my seat assignment, I showed the guy in charge of the line my ticket.  He says, “The flight must be pretty full so you won’t get assigned a seat until 1 hour before the flight leaves”.  I thought, “wonderful, I’m going to be stuck between 2 people with no room what-so-ever.”  Then I’m waiting at the gate for my seat assignment and still haven’t received my seat assignment and they had already started boarding the plane.  The lady at the desk was really stressed, so I didn’t want to go up there and tick her off by asking questions.  You don’t tick off a stressed flight attendant, that’s just bad karma waiting to bite ya.  She finally calls my name and doesn’t say anything about where I’m seated, just hands me the ticket.  So, I got a first class seat for 75 bucks.  Well, it’s 75 bucks + 55k miles.  Can’t beat that now, can ya. 

The hotel that Sylvia and Hernan picked for us is one of the nicest places I’ve stayed at.  The room is more like an apartment!  There is the downstairs which has a small living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom and a bedroom with 2 twins.  There there is the upstairs which has a king sized bed, walk-in closet, huge bathroom and a sitting area.  Oh yeah, there are LCD TVs everywhere.  The people at the front desk are on top of things and extremely polite.  I’m talkin “Hong Kong JW Marriott” polite. I’ve never said that about any hotel I’ve stayed at, and I’ve stayed at a few in my travels around the world.  A big thanks to Hernan and Sylvia for taking the time the last time they were in Bogota to find this hotel.

Ok, I’m done typing for the night.  There is a bar downstairs which I plan to go and have a light dinner and a couple drinks.