It was my second leg of journey, as I had to fly from Lithuania to London first. Due to many flights being canceled even reaching London, that normally would be about 2.5 hour flight, now was 2 days as you had to fly vía Frankfurt and spend a night there due to the time of arrival and departure. So as I didn’t had another choice and I needed to go back to Cancun as soon as possible without waiting another week or month or two, I took a chance with this a bit longer journey.
(About going to London you can read here:
https://ajeveryday.com/2020/ 05/17/from-lithuania-to- london-first-flight-after- quarantine/
However going from London to Cancun was maybe more uncomfortable due to the more basic plane, than the one I normally take for direct flights, but KLM did a perfect job being the only one in Europe going directly to Mexico from Amsterdam.
So my journey home to Tulum required from London fly to Amsterdam and then to Mexico City, wait there over the night and next morning fly with Aeromexico that was operated by KLM. The idea was that I bought the flight through them till the end and should not need to have a fuss to pick up the luggage and check out from the airport after flight and have a new check-in in the airport. It’s not exactly like that.
You have to do the check in on line before the flight as usual and then they send you boarding tickets, but if you have a luggage you need to go to give the luggage and print a boarding pass when you start the journey.
In London they kindly printed one boarding pass for all three flights on one ticket that was great and took in the luggage. Please make sure you will remove all the old tags from you suitcases before traveling, so you don’t have to sweat in the airport with no scizors.
After that you just passing the security which is quick considering only few people traveling. However, our plane to Amsterdam was full.
In Amsterdam waiting wasn’t long only about 4 hours, but buy the time you will visit all the duty free shops that to my surprise were open- time will fly- by.
The plain to Mexico City was full, however this flight was different : economy class had three rows of three seats and all the seats in the middle were empty to give a space for the passengers. The food wasn’t what you would expect -instead of three hot meals they gave bag with water and Zero Coca and snacks,however once they still gave hot meal that included some veg pasta. So over all note – don’t expect much food from the airlines in these times and just be happy that they do main service – fly.
Please NOTE when you arrive to Mexico from another country for a change of flight: it is Mexico countries policy- if you have a connected flight you will NEED to pass through an emigration check and collect and check your luggage by aduana, as you are entering Mexico. If you will be going to any other city from the capital – there will be no more checks on the national flights, so worry is over.
However the security of health here is the higher then in any of the European airports I have been: coming out of the plane- everyone gets their temperature checked, then you go to pass the emigration check and collect your bags and you pass aduana where they check everyone’s luggage. If you get lost or don’t know what to do you have plenty of people to ask and to help you and they do speak English as well as Spanish, so if you say something bad in English – be careful not to upset them. However, you in Mexico meaning prepare the tip in your pocket, if it’s foreign money has to be a paper bill. They are very helpful and will help you with collecting the bags and take them where they need to be left for your next flight connection and will explain where you need to go. If you have an overnight wait for next flight – bare in mind you can leave the airport but you will need to book hotel close by in advance on- line. Due to the virus hotels don’t want people coming and queuing. One of the hotels in the airport is NH Collection:
https://www.nh-collection.com/ hotel/nh-collection-mexico- city-airport-t2
Prepare yourself that every time you will enter from one building section into another you will have your temperature checked.
Mexico City is huge and the airport is also enormous. I was pleasantly surprised that it was very well organized with staff, even though they say it is only half as much as normally, but everyone is super helpful.
Also police and security people are every almost 10 meters and are very helpful if you have any question. information desks is open 24/7 and will help you to the best they can you can even buy tickets at any hour.
If you need to pass from one terminal to another it can be easily done with an inside train. Regarding the connection- your luggage after the check you will leave on the connection trail. Ask- and you will be told exactly where. Then, you have two options- go to the hotel with your hand luggage and come back next day to book yourself in with the airline that you have the flight 2 hours before or go to your connection airline desks directly and they will explain to you what you need to do and still come back next morning to have your seats assigned and tickets printed.
You will need to pass the health and security checks again and be nice as the check will be thorough. Nothing against you, just the procedure. The less you make the fuss about it – to quicker it will be. Keep in mind they just doing there job.
If you have an early morning flight – Cafes and restaurants here are open from 4 am till 10 pm. So you can have your dinner or early breakfast here no problem. The restaurant in the open airport area is a bit cheaper than the cafes with snack food inside. Also inside it’s not much choice either..
And the last thing you will need to do before boarding the plain these days- is the first thing you do entering the checks for boarding lounges – give to the people on the gate your filled in and signed health statement, so don’t loose it and have it ready.
All you need to do is board the plain and enjoy the miracle of flying.
(About going to London you can read here:
https://ajeveryday.com/2020/
However going from London to Cancun was maybe more uncomfortable due to the more basic plane, than the one I normally take for direct flights, but KLM did a perfect job being the only one in Europe going directly to Mexico from Amsterdam.
So my journey home to Tulum required from London fly to Amsterdam and then to Mexico City, wait there over the night and next morning fly with Aeromexico that was operated by KLM. The idea was that I bought the flight through them till the end and should not need to have a fuss to pick up the luggage and check out from the airport after flight and have a new check-in in the airport. It’s not exactly like that.
You have to do the check in on line before the flight as usual and then they send you boarding tickets, but if you have a luggage you need to go to give the luggage and print a boarding pass when you start the journey.
In London they kindly printed one boarding pass for all three flights on one ticket that was great and took in the luggage. Please make sure you will remove all the old tags from you suitcases before traveling, so you don’t have to sweat in the airport with no scizors.
After that you just passing the security which is quick considering only few people traveling. However, our plane to Amsterdam was full.
In Amsterdam waiting wasn’t long only about 4 hours, but buy the time you will visit all the duty free shops that to my surprise were open- time will fly- by.
The plain to Mexico City was full, however this flight was different : economy class had three rows of three seats and all the seats in the middle were empty to give a space for the passengers. The food wasn’t what you would expect -instead of three hot meals they gave bag with water and Zero Coca and snacks,however once they still gave hot meal that included some veg pasta. So over all note – don’t expect much food from the airlines in these times and just be happy that they do main service – fly.
Please NOTE when you arrive to Mexico from another country for a change of flight: it is Mexico countries policy- if you have a connected flight you will NEED to pass through an emigration check and collect and check your luggage by aduana, as you are entering Mexico. If you will be going to any other city from the capital – there will be no more checks on the national flights, so worry is over.
However the security of health here is the higher then in any of the European airports I have been: coming out of the plane- everyone gets their temperature checked, then you go to pass the emigration check and collect your bags and you pass aduana where they check everyone’s luggage. If you get lost or don’t know what to do you have plenty of people to ask and to help you and they do speak English as well as Spanish, so if you say something bad in English – be careful not to upset them. However, you in Mexico meaning prepare the tip in your pocket, if it’s foreign money has to be a paper bill. They are very helpful and will help you with collecting the bags and take them where they need to be left for your next flight connection and will explain where you need to go. If you have an overnight wait for next flight – bare in mind you can leave the airport but you will need to book hotel close by in advance on- line. Due to the virus hotels don’t want people coming and queuing. One of the hotels in the airport is NH Collection:
https://www.nh-collection.com/
Prepare yourself that every time you will enter from one building section into another you will have your temperature checked.
Mexico City is huge and the airport is also enormous. I was pleasantly surprised that it was very well organized with staff, even though they say it is only half as much as normally, but everyone is super helpful.
Also police and security people are every almost 10 meters and are very helpful if you have any question. information desks is open 24/7 and will help you to the best they can you can even buy tickets at any hour.
If you need to pass from one terminal to another it can be easily done with an inside train. Regarding the connection- your luggage after the check you will leave on the connection trail. Ask- and you will be told exactly where. Then, you have two options- go to the hotel with your hand luggage and come back next day to book yourself in with the airline that you have the flight 2 hours before or go to your connection airline desks directly and they will explain to you what you need to do and still come back next morning to have your seats assigned and tickets printed.
You will need to pass the health and security checks again and be nice as the check will be thorough. Nothing against you, just the procedure. The less you make the fuss about it – to quicker it will be. Keep in mind they just doing there job.
If you have an early morning flight – Cafes and restaurants here are open from 4 am till 10 pm. So you can have your dinner or early breakfast here no problem. The restaurant in the open airport area is a bit cheaper than the cafes with snack food inside. Also inside it’s not much choice either..
And the last thing you will need to do before boarding the plain these days- is the first thing you do entering the checks for boarding lounges – give to the people on the gate your filled in and signed health statement, so don’t loose it and have it ready.
All you need to do is board the plain and enjoy the miracle of flying.