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HYPER LINK = WEBSITE HOUSE KEEPING: Remember when you click on the pictures in "Where's Johnny Jet," they will open up in another window. Just click the "x"(close) in each picture to get back to the newsletter. This should alleviate complaints about closing Johnny Jet. Thanks again for your support, and remember: If you book trips on the web, please go through JohnnyJet.com. (It will save you money). "Maps of Johnny's travels courtesy of MyTripJournal.com. Start a travel website of your own for free now." ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Hola! Last week we left off in Delray Beach, Florida. First my brother Frank came into town, and then we bounced to South Beach. We took the most economical way: Tri-Rail (the double-decker commuter train) for $5 each. It took an hour and a half to get to the Miami Airport station. That’s Tri-Rail’s southernmost station, and the closest stop to South Beach. We had no problem finding a taxi that drove us the final 10 miles (15 minutes for $20). The night before, Frank told me that if I could find us a 4- or 5-star hotel for no more than $120, he would pay for it. I couldn’t pass up the deal -- or the challenge -- so I quickly logged on to JohnnyJet.com, and used our hotel search engine. Every travel provider except Hotwire came in over-budget. Because I had such good luck with Hotwire the last time, I went with them again. However, before I pressed “Purchase” I checked BetterBidding.com. This is a forum similar to BiddingForTravel.com, except BetterBidding has info and tips for Hotwire users (BiddingForTravel does the same for Priceline). As BetterBidding predicted might happen, we ended up with a hotel not listed under BetterBidding’s Hotel List for Florida. We got the Blue Moon Hotel on Collins Ave for $120, plus $19.95 taxes and fees. When I told my brother we were staying at the Blue Moon, he said it sounded cheesy. I agreed. However, we both checked out the hotel’s website, and it didn’t look too bad. Of course, I was curious to see if we had gotten a good deal, and what the reviews of the hotel were like. Blue Moon’s own website listed it for $169, plus tax. Hotels.com had it at $1 more. Travelocity had the best deal (besides Hotwire): $157.57. So we did get a good deal -- phew! But interestingly, I noticed there were no consistent ratings for it. Hotwire, Hotels.com and Expedia (all are owned by the same company, InterActiveCorp) claimed it was a 4-star hotel. But Travelocity (owned by Sabre) and Trip Advisor (also owned by InterActiveCorp) rated it 3 stars. The reviews were equally different, and can be read by clicking the respective links: Travelocity, Expedia, Trip Advisor. The hotel itself had a sign above the desk bragging about its 4-diamond rating — that’s from AAA. When we checked into the hotel it looked nice from the outside. However, when I saw the messy front desk I knew it wasn’t a 4-star property. As you can tell from Frank’s expression going up in the elevator, he was thinking the same thing. Our room was small but comfortable, clean and cozy. The Blue Moon theme radiated throughout – including the shower curtain, knobs and mirror. What I liked best was the small Colgate toothpaste squeeze bottle given as an amenity. I had run out of toothpaste, and this was the first time I’d seen these little squeeze bottles. The hotel has a small pool and outdoor patio, and the staff was friendly. Most importantly, the location was good: a block and a half from the beach, in the heart of South Beach. After staying there I know why no one could agree on a rating, because I give it a 3.5 (out of 5). Blue Moon Hotel & Bar, 944 Collins Avenue, Miami Beach, FL; tel.: 800-724-1623; 305-673-2262. Like most South Beach visitors, we did not stay in our room – or even the hotel – for long. We were starving, so the first place we hit was Frank’s favorite South Beach restaurant: News Café. I love it too, because it’s a great place to sit at a sidewalk table and people watch. It’s a trip to see the wide variety of people, from European tourists to beautiful models, and everything in between. Frank likes this place so much that --get this-- we ate here three times in 10 hours (ate dinner, late-late dinner, and breakfast). News Cafe-Miami Beach, 800 Ocean Dr., Miami Beach, FL 33139; tel.: 305-538-6397. We were in South Beach to kick off Frank’s bachelor party weekend. Only someone like Frank -- who has eluded taking the plunge for so long before actually doing so -- could get his friends to throw him the bachelor party to end all bachelor parties. It started off with us meeting some Connecticut friends at the Shore Club. Then – well, you know what? It was a bachelor party, so some things are best kept secret. After breakfast we took a short stroll (okay, a waddle) on the beach. Then we were back at Miami International Airport for our flight to Costa Rica. That’s where 10 other guys were flying into, and where the real party took place. It was my first time in Costa Rica, and I was amazed at how cheap the airfare is. No one’s ticket cost more than $330 -- and people came from New York, Chicago, L.A. and Florida. Most airlines didn’t even have a 14-day advance purchase restriction, so I was able to change my original ticket LAX-SJO (airport codes for Los Angeles to San Jose, Costa Rica) for cheap. A walk-up Miami-SJO fare the other day on American was $209 round trip. Incredible, huh? I do have a small beef with American Airlines, so please let me rant for 10 seconds. I bought my dad’s ticket online at www.aa.com, and they claim I typed in the wrong credit card number. The purchase did not go through. My problem is that the only reason I found it didn’t go through was because I called a day later to double-check (most people don’t do this). What I don’t understand is why American (and other internet companies, because I had a similar problem with Travelocity) don’t send emails alerting customers that a transaction did not go through? It could be fully automated; of course, they already have the customer’s email. Can someone out there please explain to me why they don’t? I’m sure it has to do with cost, but if I hadn’t double-checked and if my poor dad had been denied boarding at the airport, American would have lost me as a customer for life. The moral of the story: Always double check to see if your purchase has gone through by calling directly (Here's a list of every airline's phone # and website). Now that that’s off my chest, let’s get back to the Miami airport. None of us checked bags, so it didn’t take long to zip through check-in and security. In the short security line I spotted a great idea: a stand with free clear plastic baggies, and a sign alerting passengers to put all loose change, cell phones and whatever else makes metal detectors beep inside. It makes the line go much faster, so kudos to American for putting this in place. Did you know Costa Rica is just a 2-hour, 50-minute flight from Miami? It’s only 1,120 miles -- the same distance as New York-Miami. I thought it was farther. In addition, I had no idea so many American carriers fly there. American has four flights a day to San Jose from Miami, along with two from Dallas-Ft. Worth, and one each from JFK and LAX. We took the 11:57 a.m., a nice wide body A300 aircraft. TIP: For the best seats in the house check out SeatGuru.com (as you can see Fred and Geoff did not). We arrived on time at 1:47 p.m. local time (Costa Rica is on Central time). San José's Juan Santamaría International Airport felt like landing in the U.S. The gates were not only occupied by almost every U.S. carrier- Delta, Continental, United, USAir and America West -- but the airport is modern, filled with Americans and has so many godawful fast food chains. After clearing passport control, the first place my brother and I went was an ATM machine. I had forgotten my Frommer’s guidebook at home so I didn’t know what the conversion rate was, nor did I look it up online. I thought choosing the middle option was a safe bet. When I pressed the button for 4,000 colons I squinted and took a deep breath, because 4,000 of anything sounds like a lot. But it turned out to be just $8.93. Not only that, but Bank of America charged me $5 for the transaction. Now that hurt! What made it even worse was that I didn’t even need to change money, because every place we went accepted U.S. dollars. (Most places gave change in Colons. The current exchange rate is 1 Costa Rican Colon = 0.002234 US Dollars (the other way around: 1 US Dollar = 447.720 Colons. Paper notes come in denominations of 1,000, 2,000, 5,000 and 10,000 Colons. Some quick facts about Costa Rica: The population is roughly 4.1 million (96% Spanish descent, 2% African descent, 1% indigenous, 1% Chinese). Landwise, it’s about the size of Vermont and New Hampshire together. Everyone speaks Spanish, but most people -- especially in the tourist areas -- speak English too. That’s a big reason so many Americans are traveling and retiring there. Everyone told me I did not have to spend the night in San José, but I wanted to see the capital for myself. Getting a taxi from the airport is easy. As you're walking out of the airport you see the official taxi dispatch window. You prepay for a taxi. A trip downtown costs $18 USD, and takes 30 minutes (they have their share of traffic). There are also tons of cheaper gypsy taxi drivers willing to take passengers anywhere (including a 3 hour drive to the town of Quepos for only $100 USD). The private drivers stand on the sidewalk near the entrance behind an imaginary line screaming at new arrivals like they are movie stars – of course, instead of trying to get your autograph, they want your business. Fortunately, we had a driver and guide with us at all times. Our guide’s name was Willie (email: FishWilliam@hotmail.com, Tel: (506) 253-6713/). He was from Flamingo Bay Pacific Charters, the company Frank’s friends hired for deep-sea fishing. (They chose Costa Rica because of its world-class fishing.) Our first stop was a nearby grocery store. We needed to pick out food to stock up the two houses we rented. The grocery store was just like an American one. It was huge, clean and had modern checkout registers. Our three carts included really good pre-cooked chicken, mashed potatoes and vegetables (to eat in the car). Boy, did that hit the spot! Our next stop was our hotel, for a one-night stay in downtown San Jose. Frank’s friend Sean, who planned this incredible trip, made reservations at the Holiday Inn. It cost $95 a room, and was in the heart of San Jose – right across the street from a park called Parque Morazan. What’s interesting is upon check-in they hand you the TV remote. The Holiday Inn has dark depressing lighting, throughout their 17 floors, 206 rooms, two restaurants, a pool, workout room, a small casino, and business center with two high-speed computers. The hotel also has free wireless, but it worked infrequently. Holiday Inn San Jose- Aurola, 5th Ave and 5th Street, San Jose, Costa Rica; tel.: 506-2-222424. Before dinner we all met in the hotel bar. We asked the waiter where we could get something to eat, and have some fun. He recommended The Blue Marlin Bar, on the other side of the park. It includes a restaurant, bar and casino, and is the most popular place in town. It sounded good. When I walked in I couldn’t help noticing there were way more girls than guys – about 10 to 1. I went to the bathroom, and when I got back to the table I said to the boys, “I think these girls think I’m a movie star. They won’t stop winking at me, and I even got pinched twice.” The guys thought that was funny – the same thing happened to them. The dudes at the next table overheard us, and laughed uncontrollably. They told us the women were all hookers, and cost about $100 USD. That brought us all back down to earth -- and back to our hotel bar. Hotel Del Rey; 1st Ave. and 9th St., San Jose, Costa Rica; tel.: 506- 257-7800. My brother and I woke up early, and met our buddy Joe Lewis after he arrived on the red-eye from LA. This time we didn’t ask anyone where to go. Instead we walked around downtown looking for a place to eat. Five blocks away was the Gran Hotel. It looks impressive, and includes an outdoor restaurant. Since opening in 1930, the Gran Hotel has hosted many U.S. dignitaries, including Harry Truman, John F. Kennedy, Jimmy Carter and John Wayne. Eating fresh fruit and Huevos Rancheros on the outdoor patio was perfect. (BTW: Almost every restaurant we went to gave us eating utensils pre-packaged in plastic —it’s cool that we knew our silverware was clean, but I don’t know how good that is for our environment). Although it was roasting and service was slow, the food and views of the plaza and theatre were awesome. I felt like we were truly in Central America. Gran Hotel, P.O. Box 527-1000, San José, Costa Rica; tel.: 506-221-4000; fax: 506-221-3501; e-mail: info@grandhotelcostarica.com. After breakfast, I walked across the street to the magnificent National Theatre. If I could translate their website I could tell you more about it. I know it opened in 1897, and was declared a National Monument in 1965. The interior was even more impressive than the exterior. I felt like I was in a European museum. The beautiful sculptures, ornate interior design and marvelous paintings made this place a must-see. The painting on the ceiling was jaw-dropping (and can be found on the back of the 5-colon bill). That’s what makes these bills one of the most popular souvenirs—besides the fact the it cost more to make the cinco Colon then it’s actually worth. I bought one at a gift shop for $1. I hear the going price is half that, but I would have paid triple. The theatre still stages productions today, and tours are available for $3. An hour later we all got picked up and taken to La Casona del Marisco restaurant near the airport. The rest of our party (including my dad) who had just flown in joined us there. We all had great meal (I had chicken Mexicana). I really liked the food in Costa Rica and all the menus are translated. Not only is it very inexpensive, but it was my kind of meal: simple, tasty, and with hot sauce on the side. La Casona del Marisco, Frente a el Parque del Agricultor en el Cacique de Alajela; tel: 506-442-0066. After lunch Willie, our guide, said the 15-seat private plane we chartered was broken. Everyone gulped. Our choices were to take three smaller five-seat planes, or vans. Everyone gulped again. It was either a 20-minute flight over the high clouded mountain range in small planes, or a three-hour drive in vans over winding mountain roads – with no guard rails. I had a knot in my throat, because I didn’t like any of those choices. I decided to do whatever my dad did. It turned out that everyone flew. My dad and I jumped in the second plane, and it was HOT inside. We were sweating profusely -- me more than the others, because I despise small planes. Surprisingly, the 20-minute flight was smooth, and although my toes cramped up from curling them in fear, the flight was quite enjoyable. I even made a 20-second video of it. Next week, we have stories from Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica. There we visit a national park to see wild three-toed sloths, monkeys, toucans -- you name it. We hit an incredible beach, and even go on a Canopy Tour. It’s the craziest thing I have ever done! Hasta la vista, baby! Happy Travels, Johnny Jet *Please tell us what you think of this week's newsletter! RESOURCES |
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Costa Rica: No artificial ingredients and no stress on the budget Sixty percent of you voted for me to head to Costa Rica for my winter escape. And with this Carolina-sized country working its way up "top destination" lists, it's no wonder. Even though the thought of lush green scenery, pristine beaches, and intense biodiversity will excite you, you'll be more pleased to learn that doing this trip for under $500 was no challenge at all. Click Here To Read Article |
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