Well apparently having your Sky Miles number printed on your boarding ticket gets you bumped up to the Sky Priority check-in line in Costa Rica. The gentleman checking my boarding pass looked it over and said, "muchacha, Ud. va por aquí con este numero." (Muchacha, you go over here with this number) and I headed to the Sky Priority lane ahead of about 20 other people. Guess who was número uno to check-in to Delta Flight 414 today? :)
Because I beat the morning rush by being at the airport at 4:30 a.m., I was also one of the first people through security and first people in the Cafe Britt shop wandering around looking for sweet treats to bring home to family and friends. :)
Finally I headed to Gate 2 and was pleasantly surprised to see that Juan Santamaria airport has fixed the bottleneck they usually cause by having a second security checkpoint immediately inside of the jetway. There, they check liquids, run the wand over you and perform a basic pat down. In the past, this caused a mess in the Jetway as everyone was trying to board. This year, the security checkpoint was backed up well before you ever get to the boarding gate. This way, you can go through it before you are even called to board. Good work, SJO, good work.
Of course, by being the first person to clear this checkpoint as well, I got to people watch for a while. Naturally, there was one U.S. gentleman who became rather indignant that the officials were going to confiscate his pointed, metal nail file. In a wild flurry of hand gestures indicating what the item was (like the Ticos have never seen one before...) he finally gave up and huffed off. It was amusing and I'm glad the Tico stood his ground. Sir, I do believe you can purchase another one for $0.99 at Walgreens back home.
Finally, to add to my in-flight perks, I was asleep when the complimentary snack cart came around, and I was parched, so I asked the attendant if I could still get my standard apple juice. She returned with the entire apple juice can and a handful of snacks. I think I'll sleep through the snack cart again next time... :)
Pictures below: Leaving Costa Rica, the rebel rouser wanting his nail file back, and my snacks :)
Pura Vida,
Jessica Lynn
Jess, safe flight home! Loved following along on your adventure and hope to see you soon! abrazote!
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