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A 36-hour Trip to Nowhere: An Iguazu Fail

an airplane wing and snowy mountains

I write this post on Saturday morning — not from Iguazu Falls as planned, but from New York – JFK, Terminal 2.

That’s right.  I never made it to Iguazu Falls.

There were a ton of little things that went wrong with my trip, and they all caught up with me Friday afternoon in Sao Paulo.

Red:  Planned Flights Blue:  Actual Flights Purple:  Planned = Actual
Red: Originally Planned Flights
Blue: Actual Flights
Purple: Planned = Actual

Basically, I was both physically and mentally exhausted.  Confronting me was a ten-hour layover in Sao Paulo before a late night flight to Iguazu Falls.  Considering how exhausted and out of it I felt at 4pm, I couldn’t imagine dealing with negotiating with a Brazilian cab driver, crossing the Brazil / Argentina border, and locating a small hostel in Puerto Iguassu, Argentina twelve hours later.

But what exactly happened to get to that point?


A 36-hour Trip to Nowhere:  An Iguazu Fail


It was a comedy of errors, really:

  • A last-minute schedule change resulted in a different itinerary

Thursday morning as I attempted to check-in for my flight with LAN, the website indicated that my confirmation number was not valid.  As such, I called LAN to see what was wrong.  The agent with LAN told me that my SCL-GRU segment of my itinerary was showing a significant delay, and I would misconnect in Sao Paulo.  He offered me two options — overnight in Sao Paulo and get to Iguazu on Saturday afternoon.  I declined this option, as it would only leave me a day in Iguazu.  The second option was to take an earlier flight from JFK to Santiago and on to Sao Paulo on the LAN 787 Dreamliner, then have a ten-hour layover in Sao Paulo before continuing on to Iguazu on the same flight.  In order to do this, I had to leave work three hours earlier and confirm standby space on an earlier flight from DCA-JFK.  After speaking to American, I decided on this option.

  • I chose a bulkhead seat for my long, JFK-SCL flight, but LAN changed my seat assignment prior to check-in

The LAN agent assured me that I had confirmed a bulkhead, window seat on the 787, seat 12L — that is a necessity for me traveling long-haul in economy — I just need the extra legroom, otherwise I’m miserable.   When I got to JFK to check-in for my LAN flight to Santiago, they had me in a non-bulkhead, middle seat.  The check-in agent assured me that there were no more bulkhead seats, and all they had were middles.  I protested, and eventually he found a normal aisle seat.  Okay, I guess I’d have to make this work.

  • Extremely cramped economy seat led to little to no sleep on an 11-hour flight

Fast forward to the LAN flight — it was on a nice, brand new 787 Dreamliner, but at the end of the day, I got no sleep whatsoever in the cramped quarters of my seat.  At 6’4”, I could not fit my knees inside the row, so I was basically miserable.  I did get a couple of hours of sleep on my Santiago to Sao Paulo flight (I had a bulkhead, window — as requested), but that was too little, too late.

  • Could not access lounge for long, ten-hour layover in Sao Paulo

When I arrived at Sao Paulo, I’d planned on showering and relaxing in the AAdmirals Club or LAN lounge during my ten-hour layover.  Already exhausted, I quickly learned that this would not be possible, as Sao Paulo requires you to clear immigration and then proceed to a separate domestic terminal, which does not have access to the lounges.  At that point, I was already in a fragile state, and this was the straw that broke the camel’s back — I snapped and just wanted to be home.

  • Complete and utter exhaustion

I have a lot of other things going on in my life right now, and I seriously considered not even taking the trip.  I finally decided to go, but given the level of exhaustion I was experiencing in Sao Paulo, I concluded that if I went through with the trip, by the time I got to Iguazu, I’d be completely exhausted, rendering Saturday pretty much a waste.  This would leave me with only a day in Iguazu (Sunday), and I’d be even more exhausted when I got home.  I’d miss a day of work and be generally worthless for a week — and I really can’t afford that.

Given that stark realization, I searched for ways home.

Fortunately, a friend (who is an airline employee) offered me a buddy pass to fly me home to DC via JFK a few hours later on a Delta flight.  I happily accepted, and ultimately enjoyed a relaxing, ten-hour flight in Delta Business Elite class back to JFK.

Delta Business Elite for GRU-JFK
Delta Business Elite for GRU-JFK

While I’m upset that I did not make it to the falls, I feel that this was the best choice for me, as I simply have more important things going on in my life right now.  At the end of the day, the Falls aren’t going anywhere, and I’m sure I can make it back there in the future.  I ended up getting to spend the weekend with my girlfriend, relax, and watch some football — still not a bad weekend.  And oh, yeah — I went to South America for the day too!

The trip didn’t go completely to waste, I guess — I still netted about 15,000 American miles from my fights to Sao Paulo.  But really the only proof I have of me even taking this trip is a passport stamp from Brazil and a few great pictures of the Andes Mountains as we ascended out of Santiago.  It was truly a 36-hour trip to nowhere.

Evidence that I actually went to Brazil before bailing
Evidence that I actually went to Brazil before bailing

Despite missing out on seeing a Iguazu falls, things were not panning out as planned, and I really just wasn’t feeling well.  I guess it’s sometimes it’s just best to cut your losses.

Has anyone else just completely ditched a trip?

3 Comments

  1. At least now you know your limits. Personally, I would have still flown the itinerary — but I would have picked a hostel in Foz do Iguacu, Brasil. I went there back in 2011 and loved the experience. I stayed in a hostel not too far from the bus station and easily took the bus to go to Iguacu falls. I also went to the Argentinian side as a daytrip and was amazed by it as well.
    You’re very very lucky you have a friend who gave you a buddy pass to fly biz back to the USA. If you did not have that option (as I’d imagine most of us do not), what would you have done?

    1. Yeah — I had a hostel lined up in Iguazu on the Argentinian side. I still want to go back — surely I will someday.

      I’m incredibly lucky to get hooked up with my friend’s buddy pass. If that didn’t happen, I was prepared to use miles to fly back on AA. Probably would have only done economy and sat in MCE, though. I actually was all but ready to book the return on AA when he offered me the buddy pass.

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