Where's Johnny Jet: Headed from Miami to Rio

Key: Bold links open pictures in a separate browser window, while regular hyperlinks open websites.

Greetings

When we left off last week, we were 35 miles off the coast of Venezuela on the island of Curacao. What a fantastic trip that was (here's the link). On the way home to L.A., I stopped off in South Florida to see my sister, niece and nephew in Delray Beach. To get there meant I needed to fly from Curacao to Miami. It was my first time clearing customs at the Miami International Airport (MIA) and I was shocked at how smoothly it went. I was prepared for the worst after hearing many horror stories about MIA. It took just two minutes and the agents were friendly. I then took the Tri-Rail (www.Tri-Rail.com) train up to Delray, which took an hour and twenty minutes, cost only $5 and saved me not only money, but also time (I didn't have to deal with I-95 traffic) and the environment. TIP: Check Tri-Rail schedules online and buy your ticket before boarding the train.

It would've been much easier if I had just stayed in Florida since I needed to fly back there a week later to catch a flight to Brazil. My American Airlines flight home to L.A. went smoothly (as expected) but on the flight back to Florida, it was anything but. I took American's 7am flight out of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Fort Lauderdale (FLL). It started out well, even though the airport was completely packed, but I breezed right through the madness because I had checked in online and I wasn't checking any bags. I had an aisle seat in an emergency exit row and we took off on time. So far, so good. About an hour into the flight, I heard the flight attendants whispering to each other that something smelled funny. I caught the words "like electrical". Not what you want to hear when you're 37,000 feet up in the air. Shortly afterwards, the pilot came on the PA and said, "I realize a few passengers in the middle of the plane smell something funny, so we're not going to take any chances. We're going to divert to Tucson, just to play it safe." That's all he said and it was in a calm voice, as if we were driving down the road and had gotten a flat tire. No one panicked. I always had visions that if something like this were to happen, passengers (or myself) would stand up, run down the aisle with their arms flailing through the air, screaming at the top of their lungs that WE ARE ALL GOING TO DIE. But luckily that didn't happen.

During the next 20 minutes on descent, everyone was real quiet as the plane made sharp turns. Then, out of nowhere, my knucklehead seatmate (who didn't say hi to me when he sat down) says, "There goes our on-time arrival." I looked at him like the idiot that he was and said, "Look buddy, all I want to do is ARRIVE." And we did, thank God. Seven fire trucks greeted our Boeing 757 plane and followed us to the terminal. They wouldn't let anyone disembark for about 15 minutes while they were waiting to find out what was going to be done -- either fix the plane or get a new one. They went with the latter and amazingly American just so happened to be ferrying a plane from Fresno to Dallas and their headquarters had the empty plane come pick us up. It worked out well and cost us just three hours. As for the passenger sitting next to me, it turned out he really was a knucklehead because he said he was now going to miss his cruise. I wanted to knock on the top of his head and say "Hello, McFly. Anyone home?. Don't you think you should've flown in a day or two early?"

I didn't mind that we were a few hours late since for once, I had taken my own advice and arrived a couple of days before my flight to Rio. I checked in to the new, $30 million, 229-room, oceanfront, Hollywood Beach Marriott hotel. It's located directly on the Hollywood Beachfront Broadwalk (not a typo; that's what it's called, which makes sense because it's a broad walkway). The hotel is located between the Fort Lauderdale Airport (FLL), which is 6 miles south, and a $20 taxi away, and Miami International Airport, which is about 24 miles away and a $60 taxi ride. TIP: If you are coming from FLL, make sure the taxi driver does NOT take you the I-95 route, which'll add $15 to your fare.

The rooms at the Marriott are plush, equipped with free high-speed Internet access, a large desk, HD plasma screen TVs with over 70 cable channels, a marble bathroom, balcony, and best of all, Marriott's comfy "Revive" bed. Although I was catching up on my work, the surroundings made me feel like I was still on vacation. There's not a lot going on around the hotel. That's because Hollywood Beach is more like "old-school Florida", where the locals have a sense of community and most landowners have held out from cashing in to developers. So, even though it's quiet, you don't really need anything more because the Marriott has a pool, fitness center, spa (they give chocolate shots before your treatment), an indoor/outdoor restaurant, Starbucks, and of course, a beautiful beach. Don't get me wrong -- I wouldn't want to spend my one vacation a year here, but it's perfect if you're coming in for a day or two before a cruise or looking for a quick weekend escape from the northeast. Interestingly though, 75% of the Hollywood Beach Marriott's business comes from leisure travelers, but I think its location/facilities make it perfect for business travelers, too. The hotel also offers a club level with free food/drink. If you still want to venture outside of the hotel, then ask James S. Lesnick, the concierge, where to go. He's a member of Les Clefs d'Or (a professional association of concierges) and knows everyone. The closest popular attractions are the dog and horse tracks and the casino sadly made famous by its association with Anna Nicole Smith; all are located about 20 minutes away. If any of you are fans of The Sopranos, you will see the Hollywood Beach Marriott in an upcoming episode. They spent close to a week filming here in January. Room rates begin at $169. Hollywood Beach Marriott, 2501 North Ocean Drive; tel. 954/924-2202.

Internet at Miami Airport

I left the Marriott at 8:30am and it took just 35 minutes to get to MIA. If you're an Internet junkie like me, the Miami airport does have wireless. It costs $4.95 for 30 minutes (25 cents every minute after) or $9.95 for 24 hours. It's slow but at least it's available.

Since the Rio tourism board had invited me down, I had a business class ticket on TAM. TAM stands for "Transportes Aereos Meridionais" and has been around since 1961. The airline gained popularity and more international routes when Brazil's national carrier, Varig, started experiencing serious financial problems (which they still are). I really had no idea what to expect from TAM since I've never flown with them or even read anything about Brazil's largest airline. Check-in for both the business and economy class lines was quick. That surprised me because you should've seen the amount of luggage and the size of bags that people were checking. The guy in front of me even had a 63-inch plasma TV. The agent said it's always like this because electronic goods in Brazil are really expensive. So, to save money, many Brazilians fly to the U.S. to shop. Talk about a long trip to the mall. The check-in agent was nice and after she handed me my boarding card and pass to the business class lounge, she warned me to be careful in Rio.

The lounge TAM uses is run by British Airways and was brilliant. It had high ceilings, wall-to-wall windows and a beach theme. It was cheerful with colorful and comfortable lounge chairs, drinks and snacks. What else could a business traveler ask for? Okay, they could've had some showers and maybe even free wireless.

It turned out that the agent who checked me in was the same one collecting tickets at the gate. Surprisingly, she remembered my name and after she put my card through the ticket reader she wished me a nice flight and again warned me to be careful in Rio. Gulp. I was hearing this a lot from family and friends and it didn't make me feel very comfortable (more on this next week). However, the cheerful pilot and a flight attendant (FA) were standing outside the door of the A330 plane greeting passengers, which eased my nerves. You don't see this every day and I thought that it was a good sign of a pleasant flight.

I quickly found out that TAM's service was outstanding. The FAs were all friendly and attentive. They came around with pre-take off drinks, then later with hot towels, more drinks and tasty food. The flight was scheduled for an 11:15am departure but we left the gate a few minutes early and would you believe that we actually took off at 11:16am?. How unusual is that? The flight time to Sao Paulo was an easy seven hours and 50 minutes.

The business class seats had plenty of leg room, reclined to an almost completely flat position, were equipped with individual entertainment systems providing six movie channels, 11 audio channels, and the air show (map). After a tasty five-course dinner (salad, ginger and carrot cream soup, filet mignon, an assortment of cheese, and either fresh fruit, cheesecake or ice cream for dessert), they shut all the window shades, handed passengers a bottle of water and that was that. Why people would want to sleep on a day flight is beyond me but most passengers did. The only thing I could find wrong (besides the TV screen being small) was that the flight attendants didn't come around again for three hours until they served breakfast (omelet or waffles, fruit and apple pie). Why they would serve breakfast at 7pm local time is again, beyond me. I think they should've flipped the courses around.

We arrived in Sao Paulo on time and I had an hour and a half layover. It was a bit confusing because I've never landed in a country and not gone through passport control even when I was connecting. In Sao Paulo, all connecting passengers had to do was go through very weak secondary security. I didn't have to take anything out of my bag or remove my jacket or shoes. The good news is that there was no lineup. The flight to Rio was on a different A330 plane and I was the only one in my section of business class. The plane and crew were traveling on to Paris and I found out that all the passengers were either connecting to or from international flights and that's why I didn't go through customs. Note: Sao Paulo and Rio both have a separate domestic airport for inter-Brazil flights. Flight time from Sao Paulo to Rio was just 40 minutes. But how bizarre is this: the seatbelt sign never went off even though it was a smooth ride, the lights in the cabin weren't turned on and the FAs never walked by.

I was one of the first passengers off the plane and the first to clear customs, which seemed to take all of 30 seconds. The arrival area looked old, was dimly lit with fluorescent bulbs and had a bit of a depressing feeling about it. However, I was feeling quite the opposite, as I was excited to be in a city I have always dreamt of visiting. I was ready to explore.

Note: This trip was sponsored by Ocean Properties and the Rio Convention & Visitors Bureau.

John E. DiScala (aka Johnny Jet), is the founder of www.johnnyjet.com, the ultimate travel website and weekly newsletter. He logs over 150,000 miles a year, has been featured in over 850 articles (including Frommers.com, USA Today, Time, Fortune, the New York Times, CNBC and MSNBC), and has published the book, You Are Here Traveling With JohnnyJet.com.

Talk with fellow Frommer's travelers on our California Message Boards today.