After disembarking the JFK AirTrain (train #5!), we were presented with the same American Airlines check-in area as when departing for Europe a few weeks ago. This time we were flying LAN airlines, so we located the LAN check-in area among the several aisles of counters. The Premium Business class counter was empty and we proceeded directly to an agent. After lots of typing, the agent was able to check-us in for our separately-booked flight from Lima to Cusco and tag our bags all the way through.
Some notes about our flight bookings for the frequent flyer
nuts out there: Our JFK-LIM flight was booked as part of a BA award under their
old award chart – 40,000 miles got us flights in LAN business class from
JFK-LIM, LIM-SCL, and SCL-IPC (Lima, Santiago, and Easter Island). Our Lima to Cusco flight was booked under
BA’s new award chart for 4500 miles (“Avios”) each way.
We were welcomed to the premium security line by one of the
most friendly contract workers I’ve encountered in an airport. The security line at JFK appeared short at
first, but ended up being a bit of a mess.
Two ID checkers worked diligently to funnel people to a single operating
X-ray machine. The ID checkers operated
much faster than the X-ray machine could process people, so people just bunched
up in the open area after the ID checkers with no velvet rope to guide
them. The ID checkers noticed the
backup, but amazingly did nothing about it.
We spent a good bit of time standing in front of the ID checker, who had
quite a commentary on the world to pass on to travelers. It went something like this:
ID Checker Guy: Who needs to travel? Every place on the planet is exactly the
same. Except a little bit
different. People everywhere are the
same. They just look a little bit
different. I don’t need to travel – I
just travel to my backyard.
A: I suppose you can get all kinds of food in
New York, too, so you’re right – you don’t even need to travel to try new food.
ID Checker Guy: Food?
Who cares what food they have in New York. Anything I want to eat, I
cook. If I want Matzo Ball soup, I make
Matzo Ball soup. If I want Chinese food,
I make Chinese food!. If I want Huevos Rancheros, I make that too. My house is my planet……
C+A: (Silence, hoping ID checker guy will give up
on his soliloquy.)
Eventually we made it to the lounge where our AA Executive
Platinum status granted us access to the Flagship Lounge (first class section)
instead of the Admirals Club (business class section). This is the same lounge we used several weeks
ago on the way to Europe. That time we
were actually travelling first class, whereas this time business class.
The dinner spread was still out at 9:30, so we grabbed
plates of chicken, fish, green bean salad, and an orzo and pecan dish
accompanied by Malbec from Argentina. Also available was Italian wedding soup,
Caesar salad, and cookies which we didn’t try.
Unfortunately we didn’t take any pictures.
After dinner it was time to take care of some last minute
items before departing the US. Each of
us setup our iPhones to forward all calls to our Google Voice number to avoid
costly GSM roaming charges when people leave voicemails, and C called his bank to notify them of
international travel. These activities
were accompanied by a cheese course and some white wine.
Next it was time for A
to crank out some blog posts, and for C
to take a shower. The Flagship Lounge
had seven shower rooms shared with the Admirals Club next door, and all seven
were unoccupied. A shower at an airport
is always a nice treat.
 |
| Bathroom/shower room in the Admiral's Club |
Our final food course of the evening was some chocolates we
had gotten from the Park Hyatt Paris earlier in the trip accompanied by Cognac
and Canadian whiskey. The Cognac on offer was Hennessey VS (Very Special),
which all things considered is a bit of a weak offering for a first class
lounge. A far cry from the Baron Otard XO offered by the BA Galleries First
lounge in London. (But not to be too snobby here - I will take whatever free cognac anyone wants to give me.)
At this point 11:00 rolled around and it was time to find
our gate for our 11:55 PM flight.
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