Back in Brazil one more time, but getting here was not

easy, but I made it. I booked an usually difficult itinerary on Delta Airlines because I had a pretty significant amount of frequent flyer miles that were scheduled to expire in August if I did not fly by then. I was scheduled to leave New York’s JFK airport at 7:15 PM with a 45 minute layover/connection in Atlanta, then another layover/connection in Manaus, Brazil, then a change of airlines in Manaus for a flight to Brasilia where I would have a brief layover with no change of planes before heading onward to Salvador. This itinerary was 26 hours and I knew it would be hellacious going into it, but I did it anyway. The first problem was the brief layover in Atlanta. I knew that if the flight from JFK was late, I would not make my connecting flight from Atlanta to Manaus and I even had this discussion with a friend and fellow frequent traveler days before I purchased my ticket, but I knew this was going to be a busy day for me, so I opted to book the later flight, which gave me an opportunity to handle some last-minute affairs prior to traveling. I arrived at JFK at about 5:50 PM, quickly checked in and found my way to the gate. I spent most my time on the phone, so I was unaware when 7:15 PM rolled around until there was an announcement that went something like this, “Passengers on flight #73 bound for Atlanta, please be advised that flight #73 is delayed. Our new departure time is 8:30 PM.” I immediately went to the counter and asked if I could be re-booked on a flight with a connection in São Paulo and I was advised that I should go to Atlanta anyway. I said, “Well my flight to Brazil is scheduled to leave Atlanta before this flight is scheduled to arrive.” The agent quickly retorted, “Yeah, but a lot of flights are delayed, so that flight MIGHT be delayed too, but if it is not delayed and you miss your connection we will NOT put you up in a hotel because the delay is weather related: there are really high winds in New York today and all flights are delayed out of the New York City area.” I asked when the next flight from Atlanta to Manaus was and I was told that it was 7 days later. Yes, Delta only offers this schedule on Fridays and Saturdays and this was Saturday. I called Delta’s toll-free number to get some advice and I was on hold for no fewer than 30 minutes. When I heard that my flight was boarding I hung up and had to make a quick decision…do I board and risk paying several hundred dollars in hotel fees or do I cancel the trip? I decided to tell them to pull my luggage from the plane. The ramp agent said, “It is too late to pull your bag. Your bag is going to Atlanta.” I said, “What do you mean? I am not getting on that flight. I have already missed my connection due to the delay. Can you book me on a different airline?” “Sir, you will need to go to gate 4 to see if they can help you.” is what he said. The question in my head that I was afraid to ask was, “Isn’t it a breach of security to have an unmatched bag on the aircraft?” (I thought I would be tagged as a terrorist or something or that the question would be repeated to someone else and completely reworded) I booked it on over to gate 4 and after explaining what happened to the agent behind the counter, he said, “Why did they send you here?” I guess this was a rhetorical question, but I felt compelled to reply anyway, so I shrugged my shoulders and let out a simple and pitiful, “I don’t know.” He said, “Give me a minute and I will help you.” After about 15 to 20 minutes, I was booked on a flight for São Paulo that was scheduled to leave 2 hours later. (I gave the agent a candy bar for his help…lol) This meant getting to my final destination 7 or 8 hours before I was scheduled to arrive. This made me happy, but my friend in Brazil was not expecting me until much later and with no way to call him, I just went for it. I know Salvador like the back of my hand, so finding ways to fill my time wouldn’t be a problem.

Getting in and out of São Paulo was easier than ever. I had to file a delayed bag claim, but the staff were helpful, so it took no longer than 5 minutes. I have been to São Paulo’s airport so many times, it was really a piece of cake, even though I left my camera on the plane. I was fortunate to realize it 5 minutes after I walked off the plane, so I just went back and had one of the employees get it for me. We left São Paulo on time and I arrived in Salvador da Bahia just before 3 PM, but of course my bag was still in Atlanta. Not having my bag made my departure from the airport super easy and timely. I exchanged about $300 USD, which gave me a little more than 500 Reais (pronounced hey-Ice) and I caught the bus to the center of the city and walked to a friend’s job. Unfortunately, my friend had already left for the day, so I found an internet cafe and sent a quick text message to his cell phone and called him on Skype. Since he and the person I am staying with are friends, he called him to let him know that I was here much earlier than expected, but he was out-of-town and would not be back for several hours, so I just hung out and did some of my favorite things before heading to his apartment.

The next few days were a bit of a pain because I had no clothes, but Delta has a daily spending allowance for passengers whose bags are delayed, so I was able to buy some new threads on Delta’s dime. Delta does not have service to Salvador, so they had to get my bag to TAM or GOL on a Salvador bound flight. This frightened me because I felt like involving too many people would surely get my bag lost or stolen. I called Delta and I was told that my bag had arrived in Salvador on a TAM flight, but when I called TAM, I was told that they did not have my bag, so after calling Delta again I was advised to just make the hour-long trip to the airport to check. I declined and called the office in São Paulo. The first several calls went unanswered, but I am relentless, so I called back several times and I finally spoke with Senhor Branco and he told me my bag was there and he would try to get it on a later TAM flight. My bag finally arrived 3 days later, but I had to make no fewer than 10 calls to get it done. Let’s see how long it takes Delta to get me my reimbursement check!

More updates with new pictures from some really beautiful places here in Brazil. I have been here for 1 month and I have done a lot.

Hasta la próxima vez mi gente bonita,

a1globetrotter