Homeward Bound at the LAX Hilton

Morning broke early for us at the Hilton Playa del Carmen.

We rose at 3:00AM EST to be ready for CARM Transfer to take the four of us to CUN. Our driver arrived early and we were off by 3:50 on a pleasantly deserted highway.

We arrived at the airport by 4:45AM, said our good-byes to Tom and Ellyn, and entered Terminal 3 for our Alaska flight. Security was a breeze at this hour, and somewhat to our surprise there was no exit passport control.

We had been planning to avail ourselves of whatever delights the Priority Pass Lounge offered in the nearly four hours of time we had before the flight.

It took a couple of phone calls to confirm that, as of the end of January 2024, our AMEX Hilton Surpass credit card cancelled the 12 annual PP entries that we’ve occasionally used over the years. That’s annoying, and we’ll probably just cancel the card, especially after learning the annual fee is being raised from $95 to $150. 

On the bright side, we were both upgraded by Alaska to First, albeit seated apart, and we found out on landing that we’ve been upgraded to First for tomorrow’s LAX-SEA flight too.

We’re relaxing in the LAX Hilton, and enjoying an expansive view of the runways. 

It was raining hard as we landed after a bumpy approach through the clouds this morning, but it looks a little brighter now. 

We’ll try out hotel’s Italian eatery for dinner, figuring the $18 dining credit we each receive as one of Kathy’s Diamond benefits will bring the exorbitant menu costs down to a halfway reasonable price.

It’ll still be a shock after the “free” all-inclusive meals we’ve enjoyed for the past week.

Returning to reality is often a challenge.

And we find ourselves back in the LAX Alaska Lounge the following morning, enjoying TRIPLE SHOT Cappuccinos before boarding our flight to Seattle.