Below I will create labeled links to each section of the TR for an easier reading experience. I will also be linking my Flickr album so if you're not interested in reading it all, you can just enjoy the pictures.
I will be posting this in chunks, and have links to each section in the wiki.
INTRODUCTION/PLANNING
This trip was taken by @Something Fishy , and detailed quite well, probably better than I’ll ever be able to, but nobody can say it all (he kinda did), so I’ll try to fill in what he left out.
When SF posted his TR, I immediately knew this was a trip I needed to take. I am more of a “relaxing” vacation type of guy, rather than the action packed type, so an island of my own to vegetate on for a few days was super appealing. My wife loves water/beaches (well, most of the time…keep reading) so this would appeal to her too. I showed her the TR and sold her on it almost immediately, and she agreed this had to be done. I decided to plan out our trip for the following January (2018) and began compiling spreadsheets for all our preparations. I mapped out every flight in and out of TGU, SAP, and RTB, with flight schedules, availability, cash prices, etc. As first world problems would have it, I ended up snagging some dirt cheap tickets to Israel and couldn’t bring myself to pass on such fares, so the island was put on the back burner.
Fast forward to October 2018. I had no real vacation plans, but when some sweet overwater villas in the Maldives dipped well below sale price, I booked one, and coordinated with my parents to leave the kids with them. As excited as I was, only 3/4 of me wanted those reservations to be honored, as this wasn’t the ideal time for me to go that far for that short a time. When the reservations were canceled (in some capacity, and for some) I decided this island adventure would fit the schedule perfectly. And so it began…
I emailed the Jackson family, who own the island, to reserve, and was pleased to find availability for the dates I wanted. I requested the night of Sunday, 1/20 through Wednesday 1/23, and we would depart Thursday morning. All “confirmations” (or lack thereof) are just email correspondences, so I did email them to confirm they got my money and we were set for those dates, to which the answer was affirmative. Previously I had seen that the Jacksons accepted payment exclusively through Western Union, but they now offered a Paypal option, which was more appealing to me, even with a fee. I sent them the $560 for my 4 night stay, and incurred a $16.54 fee. I didn’t realize until it posted, that it codes as “travel-lodging” with Amex, so I could have paid for it with A+ points. Oh well.
The rental codes as travel
I read and re-read SFs TR to collect as much info as possible, and heeded his advice (and many others agreed) to fly into RTB, so as to have the best chance of entering the country with all my food. Due to it being an island off the mainland, customs is typically more chilled than the other 2 airports. The flight schedule going to RTB is weak, and there was really only one option that allowed me to maximize my time. United has a Sunday flight from IAH to RTB at 9:55am (The same one SF took). I transfered 60k MT to 35k UA (during 10% promo), and proceeded to book ORD-IAH-RTB for myself and DW at 17.5k UA in Y, as there was no saver availability for J. I paid the $5.60(x2) on my UA Club card for the free bags. For the return, I wanted a bit more flexibility, so I decided to look into SAP and TGU. Ideally, I wanted to stop in PTY, but the only flights available either left me with an hour connection, or a Friday afternoon arrival, neither of which were too appealing. I kept searching, and came across a flight on Deltas site, flying Aeromexico, departing SAP and connecting in MEX for 30k DL in J. I don’t use my skypesos often, so I figured this was the way to go, but it was late, and I decided to take the night to think about it and to spend a bit more time weighing my options. I couldn’t find anything better, so the next afternoon I went back to DL to book it, only to find that the flights had disappeared! I managed to pull up the flight on FB for 34.5k + $83.37 in taxes, and transferred MR over for the booking. Of course, my stupid self had to regularly check back on DL and lo and behold the flights popped back up shortly after(I probably screwed something up, still not sure what). Guess that’s life.
I was now missing only the final pieces of the transportation puzzle, and that’s where I called upon Alice from One World Travel, to help out. Coming highly recommended by SF, and many others online, I knew I could count on her for my travel needs (and little did I know, but this would save a headache later). I shot off an email to Alice with regards to transportation from RTB to UII, and then from UII to SAP. For the RTB-UII route, there was a ferry, and my flight would be arriving a bit too close to the departure time, so I opted for option 2, the private charter. As for the return, I had Alice book us on Sosa Airlines UII-LCE-SAP. Sosa Airlines shares that route with CM Airlines, but they both only operate every other day, so Thursday was a Sosa exclusive. These airlines are kind of a joke, and you can never be sure your flight will actually happen. They often cancel due to “not enough passengers” so booking via a travel agent is a nice safety net. World Wide Travel happens to be the local representative for Sosa Airlines in UII. Total cost for the charter was $350, and the Sosa flights were a total of $120 per person (CM is the same price). I opted to pay with a credit card, which incurred a 4% fee. Alice was kind enough to split my payment between my CSR and A+, so I used my TC for the first $300 and paid the remainder with A+ points. If you don’t want to pay with a card, they do work with Chase, and I believe you can somehow pay them directly from your account.
We arranged with the Jacksons that a tuk tuk pick us up at UII, and we would meet Barry at the dock behind Bush’s, the local supermarket. There is a $50 fee each way, (more on that later) for the boat ride to and from the island, which I charged to my A+. Travel arrangements were now complete, and that left us with this:
And a close up of the Honduran legs:
as2:
ORT-RTB Our flight to Houston was scheduled for 6:00 AM Sunday morning, so most of our prep had to be done before shabbos, leaving only the little things (like packing) for Saturday night. I spent some time Thursday night, cutting up a roast and marinating it for jerky, but unfortunately didn’t get it into the dehydrator before shabbos. We have 2 wonderful (usually) boys, who go through lots of clothes, diapers, etc, so we packed all their stuff up for the week, and headed to my parents for shabbos. We would be leaving before they woke up Sunday, so figured we’d just stay over the weekend. All 4 of us had brutal colds the whole week, but they were going away just in time. Friday night, the snow started coming down…more…and more. Being the flights to RTB are so infrequent, especially on any one airline, my primary concern, as the snow fell, was not making our 1 hour connection in IAH, or worse, a cancellation. Re-routing would be a HUGE headache, and would likely cost us a night on the island. Just after shabbos, I turned on my phone, and checked my reservation in the UA app. There was a note on the reservation saying something along the lines of “we found you another plane, so you’ll be flying after all”. I breathed a huge sigh of relief. I noticed an email from united that must’ve come earlier in the day, with cancellation and possible rebooking options. Boy am I glad I didn’t have to see that until after I knew the flight was reinstated. We ran home and packed the last of our clothes, and packed the frozen items we were bringing. We finished with just too much time to head out, but not quite enough time to sleep, so we kind of just hung around for a bit remembering all those last minute things you forget about until you’re at the gate (no, we didn’t remember them all). A friend picked us up, and we proceeded to ORD, and thus, our trip was underway. Between the government shutdown effecting TSA employees, and the weather issues, I decided to get to the airport a bit early. We Arrived at ORD at around 4:00 AM, and checked our bags. Precheck didn’t open until 4:15, so we hung around for a few to ensure we would not have to take off our shoes and belts etc. After clearing security, we headed to the under tarmac pedestrian walkway, which takes you to T1 concourse C.
Under tarmac pedestrian walkway
For those not familiar, the walkway has some cool neon fluorescent lights that run along the ceiling. Kinda cool. The UA Club in Concourse C opens at 4:30, so we were right on time, and apparently not the only ones… After waiting a few minutes, the lone, very overwhelmed lady behind the counter helped us out. UA Club entrance ORD
The club is fairly spacious, and seating is plentiful, especially when they’ve only been open 5 minutes. UA Club ORD UA Club Bar ORD
We grabbed some fruit, a drink, and changed out of our “cold place” cloths as we wouldn’t need those for a few days. Soon enough it was time to board. We were originally put on a 737-900, but with the cancellation and rescheduling, we ended up with an A320. Not much of a difference when you’re in economy. Thanks to my club card, we boarded in group 2, which helped us get the overhead space we needed. We took our seats, updated family and friends that we were actually ON the plane, and half listened as the FAs habitually did their safety thing. Before long we were at the head of the runway, gaining speed, and then, thousands of feet above the snow covered grounds of northeast Illinois, headed to a warmer place.
Shortly after takeoff, the sun began to peek out over the horizon… Sunrise after takeoff
The flight was uneventful, and a short 2 and a half hours later, we were touching down in Houston. The flight arrived a bit early, and our arrival gate was not far from the UA Club, or our departure gate, so we stopped in to the club for a few minutes, in between flights. View from UA Club IAH
Before long, it was time to head out once more. We headed to the gate where our 737-900 was patiently waiting for us. Boarding pass scanned, bag stowed, buckles clicked, and we were taking off again. Something I hadn’t seen before, but I thought was cool, was the line for takeoff at IAH. I’m sure it’s not the only airport of its kind. All planes waiting to takeoff, are lined up parallel to the runway, so you see them as you’re taking off. Line for takeoff
And from the air...
The flight was smooth sailing at first, but then took a bouncy turn as we hit some rough air over the Gulf of Mexico, only to clear up once again. After not sleeping the night prior, I may have dozed off, or not, I honestly don’t remember, but we were soon beginning our descent into Roatan. It was cloudy and rainy as we pulled in, not making for great picture taking, but coming from the windy city, we were easy to please. Approaching RTB
The landing was smooth, and we were quickly deplaning onto the tarmac.
Our ride in
RTB!
as2:
Arrival in RTB/Departing RTB
The line for customs moved fast, as our flight was the only one arriving at that time. The customs agents were quite friendly and moved us along quickly after some friendly chit-chat. Our bags were waiting for us by the time we reached the baggage claim, and we quickly retrieved them and made our way to the X-ray machine, to have all our stuff checked out. Just as fast as they went in, they were back out the other side, and we stepped into the “landside” of the airport. I thought I took a few pictures there, but I guess I didn’t, as I have nothing. The air was a bit hot, and oh so humid. We stopped for a quick bathroom break, and just a moment later, I noticed a short, round, Honduran looking fellow, probably in his 60s, holding a sign with our names on it. I wasn’t exactly looking out for him quite yet, as we were running a bit ahead of schedule. Captain Lagos didn’t speak much English, but nonetheless helped us to a small window next to the bar, to pay our airport fees. No clue how much it actually was, but I handed the lady behind the glass window a fiver, and she stamped some stuff, and handed me some Honduran funny money in return. Some gentleman who apparently knew Mr. Lagos then grabbed our bags to load onto the plain. Interesting bag checking process. Captain Lagos then led us to the security hall, where an agent checked our stamped papers, and sent us down to the screening area. No precheck in Honduras. Off went the belt, shoes, jacket and hat, into the grey bin. I made it through the metal detector on my second try, and we followed Dr. Lagos to the terminal where he exchanged some overly friendly welcomes with the agents guarding the doors to the tarmac. He instructed us via hand gestures to hang tight, as he headed out the doors to an area I couldn’t see. Until now I had been taking pictures with my phone, so I figured it would be a good time to pull out my camera. I snagged a shot of our “normal” plane taxiing for takeoff, as well as a CM Airlines turboprop. Or little plane can be seen just past the back end of the CM plane.
Bye!
A couple minutes later, Prof. Lagos was back, and escorted us out onto the tarmac, where the rain was coming down. Our bags were sitting off to the side, so we grabbed them, and headed towards our Cessna 206 that was parked across the tarmac. Senior Lagos gave no notice to the rain, nor the puddles during our short trek to the plane, but yours truly, gave many notices, as my bags were getting wet. We took shelter under the left wing, as Lt. Lagos opened what looked like a fuse box door, and proceeded to shove our 2 larger bags into this miracle compartment, located on the front most end of the tail. We loaded our smaller bags into the back seat, as my now uneasy, tehillim saying, wife squeezed herself in alongside them. Cl. Lagos then scootched himself into the left door, and, from the inside, flung the right door open for me to enter. I sat co-pilot as he leaned across my lap to shut the door and ensure it was properly fastened. I took a moment to survey the dashboard in front of me, and it wasn’t super reassuring. Let me pause for a moment to say, this isn’t the first time I’d been in one of these. The last time (actually 4 years prior, to the day. Weird…) was in a newer plane, with a certified instructor. I sat co-pilot then too, and what I saw here was veeery different.
73,661 flight hours
A worn control panel
For reference, this was my view back in ‘15. Sorry, my picture taking skills have slightly evolved. Co pilot back in '15
The yokes looked as if they weren’t connected to anything. The dials and switches kinda looked like those on a dollar store toy, that never really worked. He had a flight GPS kinda velcroed to the yoke. The skies were grey and menacing, the rain was on and off, and the winds were out in full force, none of which made me feel any better, but I just brushed it off and decided to enjoy the flight.
We took off quickly, and right away you could feel the winds. Nothing too crazy, these planes get blown around much more than the big jets. Our flight continued, and I managed to take a few pictures out the rain splattered windows, but nothing substantial. I felt water hitting me, but never really located where exactly it was coming from. More than once, we were engulfed in clouds, or pouring rain, reducing our visibility to practically 0. This was a downer, because I’d seen some great pictures from flights like these in the area, and I wanted to take some of my own, but to no avail. The flight is about 15 minutes, so it wasn’t too long before we were approaching the UII landing strip.
Approaching UII
chff:
Nice, keep it coming
mmgfarb:
Nice start, can't wait to see what happens next
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