Intro
After a splendid flight onboard the American Airlines 777-300 in Business Class from Los Angeles to Miami, it was time to board the second leg of this Africa and Caribbean adventure down to Guyana. Guyana was on my list for a number of reasons, the main one being that it's a Caribbean country that is part of South America. That has always fascinated me.
This leg of the journey would take me on a 737 Max 8 from Miami to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana. While I have flown the 737 countless times in business, it's always nice to see how service differentiates between the routes and crew.
Routing
Flight routing
- 1
- 2AA2567-Miami-Georgetown-Business Class-737 Max 8
- 3BW463-Georgetown-Port Of Spain- Business Class-737-800
- 4BW432-Georgetown-Grenada-Economy-ATR 72
- 5JY715-Grenada-Bridgetown-Economy-Embraer 120
- 6B6662-Bridgetown-New York-Business Class-A321
- 7UA3622-New York-Toronto-Economy-E170
- 8UA3416-Toronto-Washington-Business Class-E170
- 9UA612-Washington-Lagos-Business Class-787-8
- 10HF827-Lagos-Abidjan-Economy Class-A320neo
- 11HF700-Abidjan-Dakar-Economy Class-A320
- 12HC205-Dakar-Nouakchott-Economy Class-A321
- 13HC206-Nouakchott-Dakar-Economy Class-A319
- 14ET908-Dakar-Bamako-Economy Class-777-200LR
- 15ET908-Bamako-Addis Ababa-Economy Class-777-200LR
- 16ET376-Addis Ababa-Mogadishu-Economy Class-737 Max 8
- 17ET379-Mogadishu-Addis Ababa-Economy Class-737 Max 8
- 18ET821-Addis Ababa-Kigali-Economy Class-737 Max 8
- 19WB102-Kigali-Johannesburg-Economy Class-737-800
- 204Z923-Johannesburg-Cape Town-Economy Class-E195
- 214Z922-Cape Town-Johannesburg-Economy Class-E195
- 224Z262-Johannesburg-Vilankulo-Economy Class-ERJ135
- 234Z263-Vilankulo-Johannesburg-Economy Class-ERJ135
- 244Z141-Johannesburg-Walvis Bay-Economy Class-E170
- 254Y133-Windhoek-Frankfurt-Business Class-A330-300
- 26BA909-Frankfurt-London-Business Class-A320
- 27BA1440-London-Edinburgh-Business Class-A319
- 28BA1461-Edinburgh-London-Business Class-A320
- 29BA308-London-Paris-Business Class-A320
- 30UA55-Paris-Newark-Business Class-767-300
- 31UA4189-Newark-Providence-Domestic First-CRJ550
- 32AA976-New York-Santa Ana-First Class-A321T
This will be the last report of this routing as I would like to finish up my Asia routing finally since I will be heading back there in 12 days! After that routing, I'll come back to this one
How I Booked
In order to get down to Georgetown, Guyana, to keep on the mission of being the youngest man to visit every country in the world, I found a fare that consisted of a widebody flight to Miami on American Airlines and then a flight from Miami to Georgetown in the late morning.
For both flights, the total came out to 668$, which isn't too bad at all. Rumor has it that Georgetown is a relatively cheap airport to fly into🙃.
Boarding
Upon relaxing in the lounge and enjoying some Piper Heidsick for a couple of hours, the time came near to board. I have reviewed the lounge plenty of times in the past, so I'll just add a quick picture.
The views are spectacular, and in the mornings, it's nice without the crowds in the lounge.
Boarding commenced at 9:45 am for our scheduled departure time of 10:25 am. I arrived a tad late, but it was an empty flight, so this wasn't a problem. All from gate D26!
I promptly found my seat 2A for the flight over Georgetown. Originally, I was booked into 3F, but I decided I wanted to be on the left side.
Departure
The cabin crew came around to take our pre-departure beverage about 15 minutes after boarding. I decided on a sparkling wine for this flight.
We ended up pushing back at 10:23 am EST.
However, the captain informed us that we would be holding for a variety of reasons. A couple of moments prior to pushback, I talked with the captain and the FO. They mentioned that our routing informs us that we need to avoid Venezuelan airspace (for obvious reasons), and we would be cruising at 36,000 feet, but that might change.
Finally, we began moving again at 10:48 am.
6 minutes later, we were wheels up, departing East.
Meal Service
About 20 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around to hand out hot towels. The flimsy ones that US carriers serve😒.
The FA came around to confirm my meal order; "short rib" was all that was said. We'll touch on service later, which didn't start great but ended up quite decently in Georgetown.
On this flight, only 10/16 seats in the business class were occupied. That is virtually unheard of these days, and that also meant I had a free seat next to me!
My drinks were served a short while later, and I opted for an AHA, as well as a glass of sparkling wine.
40 minutes after takeoff, my short rib and mac and cheese were presented. Everything was delicious and the perfect way to send me off to sleep.
Rest Of The Flight Service
Seeing as I had only slept for over an hour on the previous leg, I decided to curl up and get a bit of rest until 30 minutes out from Guyana.
Soon enough, I awoke from my slumber to find a landing card for Guyana. Country 86 at the time of flying, up to 98 now!
In regards to service, it wasn't the best to begin with, but by the end of the flight, there were smiles all around. We actually ended up having cocktail hour at the Marriot since that is where the AA crew stays. Fancy that huh😂.
At this point, we are just rounding the bend of Venezuela. Ever since I was a kid, there have been a few places that have fascinated me. Venezuela is one of them, although not sure now is the best time to visit.
Arrival Into Georgetown
The captain came on to announce our initial descent into Georgetown at 2:25 pm. First impressions of Guyana: Wow, this is a beautiful country! So green!
We were on final by 2:44 pm through some low clouds. Once again, kind of shocked at the beauty. It's my first time in the NE part of South America (not including Bogota).
We touched down at 2:48 pm, a little bit ahead of schedule. Georgetown doesn't see too many flights a day, so there was no holding pattern of the sort.
Another 4-minute taxi to the gate and we had arrived 12 minutes ahead of schedule, even after the delay!
As you can see, the place was empty…
A short walk later, we made it to immigration. It's all very straightforward here, with little delays.
Also, don't take pictures in the arrivals hall like me; I learned my lesson😅.
Everybody was extremely curious to see me arriving in Georgetown. Staff around the airport kept asking what I was doing there, if I was a YouTuber, etc.
I quickly found my driver and headed off to the Marriot Hotel in Georgetown (review coming soon)!
Well, not before stopping for a shot of local Guyanese rum😳🥰.
For those wondering, it's about a 45-minute drive from the airport to the main town.
Kind of rough coming off a 77W in Flagship Business to a 737 for a flight that's not that much shorter haha. Being able to spend the connection in the Flagship Lounge at least helps to elevate the experience for the 2nd leg. Pretty rare to have had an empty seat in J these days! I guess it's not a super Elite-heavy route so not many upgrades to process...I guess that also explains the good price, especially for such a long distance.
While AA's narrowbody premium cabin is nothing amazing, it's definitely on par or better than the competition (minus the lack of in-seat entertainment), and the product is very predictable being that it's consistent across the narrowbody fleet, which the other big US carriers can't say. Meal looks good and I always like AA's mac n' cheese whenever I've had it.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kevin, thanks for your comments!
It is pretty rare, but I might have to start flying down on these routes more as it's quite peaceful with no one in the seat over😂. It's an interesting route as Guyana has a lot of people working in oil down there. Actually met someone in the BA lounge flying on the MIA flight the other week.
That's what does it for me: the consistency. I'm starting to warm up to United but getting on a 737 and seeing seats falling apart in First Class just isn't very First Classy.
Ahh yes, the AA mac and cheese. Unhealthy and divine at the same time.
Have a great day!