Once I got to the station I needed to transfer to AirTran to get to JFK, things went mildly awry. The AirTran isn't running. Oh. While this saves me $5 (as I still had $4.75 on my metrocard and you can't reload it for less than $5 and the AirTran trip costs $7.75), I now have no idea how I'm getting to JFK.
There is a nice lady pointing to the escalators and telling us that there is a complimentary shuttle bus to the airport. Yay!
It is a long ride but a nice one. The outskirts of NYC look like any normal city. I also recognize a lot of the streets from TV.
Once at JFK, I have to go to a far away terminal on the AirTran (which is apparently working at the airport only). No problem!
I get to the terminal and wait. I'm early, intentionally. I didn't know how long it would take to get to the airport or what lines would be like after I got there. I waited for the TAM desk to open for me to check in.
For the life of me, I will never understand why people need to have suitcases that are waist high. What is the point of this? How long are you going for? Pack better. Learn to let go a bit; you're not going to somewhere there are no shops. You don't need to pack your whole house for a week. I promise that whatever is in that bag will be there when you get back.
American Airlines sculpture. The outer column of the base rotates and the plane has 3D sculptures of scenes from many cities.My boarding pass says gate 16. I sailed through security and have about two and a half hours to burn. I found gate 16 and set off to explore. Turns out all the awesome things in JFK are in all of the other terminals and now I'm stuck in this one. I make the most of it by walking around a lot. I check the departure board from time to time and it says I'm at gate 47. Gate 47 is at the other end of the terminal. Okay. Plenty of time. In order to get to gate 47, you have to pass under a tarmac and the control tower. I pass through - easily a kilometer from gate 16 - after checking to make sure this was my flight according to the screen at the gate. Yup.
I sat and waited for it to be called. For an hour. I notice the time is getting close to what my boarding pass says but think very little of it; I haven't been on a flight that has boarded on time according to the pass ever.
On the overhead, I hear this is a final boarding call for TAM flight 8081 with service to Sao Paulo and through to Buenos Aires. Well fuck.
I asked the nice people at the gate desk to call them and tell them I was coming and then I booked it. I sprinted for a kilometer to gate 16. I was sucking oxygen so bad and coughing so hard when I got on the plane that I thought I was going to throw up. People were looking at me as if I had the plague (I can't say I blame them, I would have looked at the person coughing up a lung like that as well). I explained to the nice lady I was sitting beside that I'm not sick, I just sprinted across the entire terminal. She seemed to understand and the coughing subsided in due time.
The flight to Sao Paulo wasn't exciting. Great service from TAM! I love these non-North American airlines.
Before departing the plane, they give you a video run down of what will happen in Sao Paulo airport. This is beneficial as the place is gigantic. It instructs you where to go, how to get there and how long it will take. Awesome. I've never seen something like this before!
James apparently lost a shaker of salt.
Flight to Buenos Aires is mostly uneventful. Except there are no seat back TVs. this is 2015, TAM. You're flying an Airbus POS. Get with the times.
Buenos Aires!
I went straight to the hotel and slept. I was exhausted. Total travel time wasn't all that bad at 14 hours, but it is enough to drain a person.
The room is huge! The bed is comfortable and I am very glad at this point to be sleeping in it.
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