Our chipper taxi driver was eager and showed up at 4:30 instead of 5:00, so we had 2 wake up calls.
We now sit outside of security pondering do we go in or wait out here then I find this wifi zone so we will burn 30 mins here.
Let the travel begin.
We have been here 12 hours and its been dark the entire time. 6:30 flight means 4:30 at the airport according to both the ticket agent and the hotel clerk, so that’s what we did.
Holiday inn had a free breakfast in the morning that started at 6:00am. Well after our 4am wakeup call and shuttle ride to the airport.
Little hassle at check in, had to check the carry ons as they were either over weight and each person was allowed only one on the island hopper. They made an exception for my back pack with the computer weighing in at 20 lbs.
No problem. Checked out the spots for some breakfast before clearing security and nothing really stood out at 4:30am. We had asked if there was food inside and the ticket agent said there was but it was more expensive. We had hours to burn so we cleared the first security guard and found lots of duty free shops but no food. The couple of places were not open yet. Before doing the fullbody xerox clearing we asked if there was any food beyond the real screening and there wasn’t. Turning around to go past the first security point we now would have to go back through customs and immigration. So we sit here with a beverage from the tourist trinket shop near the gate.
Sounds of carnival and island reggae coming from the trinket shop brighten up the morning as the sun rises and we get our first view of the island.
Fun fact: visiting the liat website and pressing the check-in link clearly states that the check-in counter closes 45 minutes before the flight. Doh! As I said best laid plans…
We are boarding…….
Oops spoke too soon, Liat lives up to the moniker. Leave Island Any Time.
They gave our perfectly good airplane away to another flight. With any luck they will find us a way there. After what seemed like forever when you get up at 4 am they said we’d be leaving around 8am. I sure hope so.
Even the best laid plans fall through. At least we had a backup plan.
We knew the connection was going to be tight. So we are currently shacked up in a Holiday Inn near the Port of Spain airport in Trinidad.
The worst part of the deal is not the airfare change fees or the extra night in a hotel away form the water. The worst part is either that we have a 6:30am flight or the fact that there is no bar in the general area. We talked to a nice cab driver before we left the airport so we at least had a heads up and grabbed a couple beers at the airport while waiting on the shuttle.
First night of vacation is in Trinidad. Overall an easy travel day, Austin to Houston to Trinidad. We had enough time to make the connection but by the time we made the Liat ticket counter out side of customs they had closed up the counter even though there was still 20 mins till departure. Oh-well, we are now on a direct flight in the weeee hours in the morning. I would have happily stayed at the airport bar all night but…….
Cheers, tomorrow we see the home away from home for the first time in 4+ months.