Off to Mexico City
It’s been well over a year since my last Air France La Première flight and I’ve been going thru serious La Première withdrawal. The bottom line is that I need an Air France La Première fix and I’ve been determined to find an itinerary that would work. This proved to be a major challenge considering that US-only passport holders can’t actually enter France or anywhere else in the EU at the moment. I tried and booked a couple of times earlier in the year but on both occasions, my plans were disrupted my cancelled flights. LAX-CDG-IST and then MEX-CDG-HND fell by the wayside as flights were cancelled.
The new 3 day PCR test requirement to return to the US makes mileage runs even more difficult since I don't want to test and be stranded overseas by a false positive. So I looked for a return fast enough that I could use my negative US test for both departure and return.
Fast forward to today and I’m off to Mexico City to fly Air France’s best in the world La Première from Mexico City to Paris, connecting to… Chicago. Of course.
Although I had my PCR on Tuesday, my first stop this morning was the Clarity Covid test facility at (across from) Terminal 6 to try their PCR testing operation. Easy online registration, booking and payment. I took the 7:30a-8:00a window and arrived early at 7:15a. Once the 7:00am appointments were processed, I was able to join the short queue and had a swab up the nose just before 7:30am. They promised results in 3-5 hours and indeed, I got my results back in under 4 hours, while I was inflight to Mexico City. Cost was a reasonable $125. An all around excellent experience with very pleasant and efficient staff. And even though you don’t get the result in time for a US departure, testing the day of US departure gives you a potential extra day before returning with having to rely on a test at your destination.
After my test, I walked to T4 and AA PreCheck.
Then over to the Bradley Terminal to see if the Amex Centurion Lounge had opened.
Sadly, still not open with absolutely no idea when they would open. I passed on the "to go" baggie and headed back to T4 and the Admirals Club.
Gate lice central at Gate 41. Let me guess. JFK of course.
And to the Admirals Club.
AA traffic has clearly improved since my last visit, as AA has opened up the Flagship Lounge as an extension of the Admirals Club.
But not First Dining. Hopefully some day.
This meant plenty of room and seating for everyone today.
No change in the lame food options.
Breakfast, Admirals Club style.
Although buy options are available if you are so inclined.
