By Plane, Mexico City

1 more image

The Benito Juarez Airport is how we got to Mexico. We flew on Alaska Airlines. Alaska Airlines flies to many different parts of Mexico and I have flown with them many times. They arent bad and pretty affordable because they have many flights coming here.
The airport is located to the East part of the city. You usually only need to check in 2 hours agead of schedule for international flights as opposed to the three hour ahead rule in the States.

I arrived in Mexico City on US Airways and after getting through customs, it was easy to find an ATM machine ("cajero automatico") in order to get my hands on some pesos. After getting some cash, I arranged for a taxi at an Authorized Taxi stand. Be careful to avoid getting a taxi from an unauthorized taxi. Look for the yellow sign and buy your ticket before you go outside and find a cab. You just go to the counter and tell them your destination and they'll issue you a voucher, which you then take outside (follow the signs for "Taxis Autorizados") and give to the driver.

Alternatively, you can take the Metro to just about anywhere in town. I took a cab to the Zocalo ($127 pesos not including tip), but a subway ride is only 2 pesos! After realizing how easy the Metro system is, needless to say, I took the Metro to the airport on my departure.

Mexico is a very big country, and if you plan to do a lot of travelling you should consider taking a plane at least once. The price on routes that are highly trafficated can be quite cheap. But if you want to take a route which is not as popular, you might have to pay a lot more.

Anyway you should check out the price if you are going to travel long distances. If it's a little bit more expencive it might be a good choice when you think about the time you save. Plus sleeping on overnightbuses can sometimes be a bit difficult.

Maybe one of the funniest things ... or better call it ... most sarcastic?? ... that ever happened to me on international airports was me getting back fro Mexico to Germany. Well, before my departure at home we were choking that the plane wouldn't set off, because me wanting not to get back to Germany. Arriving at the airport then was really funny, as there turned out to be a huge energy failure. The whole airport was dark, the staff couldn't get into their computers, no x-ray, nada. So, they waited and waited ... for better times maybe??? ... and finally did the complete checking-in and security stuff with candles and torches burning, and by hand. This was how I could smuggle a whole backpack of fresh made tortillas (both maiz and normals), along with many other goods, like way too many CDs as I was allowed to export. The plane took of with a 5-hour-delay then.

Compared to my usual seven hour flights to Europe and the nearly-10-hour flights down to Brazil, these short hops back and forth to Mexico City were a breeze. Well, almost. When you fly regularly, you pay strict attention to the types of aircraft and you get very particular about which ones you like and don't like, especially for the longhaul deals. It would be nice if we had at least a 757 to Mexico City, but the Airbus 320 is a newer craft and pretty nice and accomodating for a 3-5 hour flight. Most notably, of course, in first class. We didn't pay attention to Russell Crowe in silence up above our heads on the little screen, battling the French and the elements and his very own crew, but our lunch and the service were superb. Airline food. Superb. Seriously. That's United for you.

I said "shoot me now!" when the captain announced, before we'd even left IAD that due to weather this flight would take over 5 hours and that the first three would be noticeably bumpy. But as things turned out, he did a fantastic job of steering us around any systems up there and although it did take an extra 25 minutes or so, he gave us another tidbit upon arrival: well folks, I don't know if you noticed but we took a shortcut across the Gulf of Mexico and were able to avoid most of the expected turbulence! God bless that man! ;-))) United rocks, I say. They have nonstop service to Mexico City from Washington, DC IAD, Chicago ORD and both LAX and SFO. You can then connect on Mexicana or Aeromexico etc very easily if you're continuing onwards. Our return on UNITED back to IAD was bliss. Just look at the view! And only 3.5 hours, eureka!

Airplane.
Jet.
Helicopter.
Aerial Taxi.

Most of the times an airplane will be the best or the only choice to get there.
Any case you will arrive to Mexico City International Airport 'Benito Juárez'.

From USA there are a lot of flights every day mainly from New York City, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Las Vegas, San Antonio, Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, Chicago, Denver, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Salt Lake City and Washington, D.C. From CANADA there are flights from Toronto.

From EUROPE there are direct flights from London, Madrid, Paris, Frankfurt and Amsterdam to the Aztec capital city...

From AUSTRALIA, PACIFIC ISLANDS and ASIA, no problem, just get a flight from Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka, Beijing, Hong Kong or Sydney, first you will flight to any Europe, Canada, Argentina or USA main city, then to Mexico City...

From AFRICA and MIDDLE EAST. No way, first flight to any main city in Europe or Japan or Australia.

From CIS and EAST EUROPE. First flight Frankfurt, Amsterdam, Paris, London or Madrid, then flight to Mexico City.
There are flights from Moscow to Mexico City. From Kiev, first flight to Moscow,Amsterdam, Frankfurt, London or Madrid, then to the Aztec land...

From SOUTH AMERICA. There are regular flights from La Habana, Bogotá, Panamá, San José, Guatemala, Lima, Buenos Aires, Santiago de Chile... ( and connectons from Santo Domingo, San Juan, Caracas, Sao Paulo, Rio de Janeiro and other cities).

Within MEXICO. Domestic flights every day from Monterrey, Guadalajara, Acapulco, Cancún, Mazatlán, Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, San José del Cabo, Manzanillo, Zihuatanejo, Mérida, Cozumel, Oaxaca, Tijuana... (some days from Veracruz, Durango, Mexicali, Colima, Chihuahua, Morelia, Tuxtla Gutiérrez, Zacatecas...)

As I came from Belgium, an airplane is the most interesting way to travel. By car it will take to long. My favourite airplane company is K.L.M., or also known as Royal Dutch Airlines. Last time I arrived here was with Continental Airlines and I was happy when I could get out the plane. I can not give a good reason for flying with this company. Food is bad, service is bad, not even to mention that you have to pay 5 US$ for a beer. With K.L.M. that is 0 (ZERO) US$ ;-)