Entry to Costa Rica with one-way ticket (the end)

I already wrote two articles about US Airways telling me that they won’t let me take the plane from Montreal because I haven’t booked a return ticket from Costa Rica and how things went without any problem in Montreal.

Last stop at Charlotte (NC) before getting the plane to Costa Rica

The topic appeared again at my last stop in the US, at Charlotte (North Carolina). Just before boarding the aircraft, the agent of US Airways checked up my boarding pass and my passport and asked me if I had a return ticket. I just said “no, I don’t”.

She looked very busy looking at her computer screen. The plane was scheduled to take off in 15 minutes and I was among the last passengers to board the plane. The US Airways agent looked embarrassed and asked her colleague next to her what to do. She told me that Canadians need an exit proof to enter Costa Rica. That’s when I said to her : “Oh yes no problem, I have a bus ticket to Nicaragua”. She didn’t say anything else. She just gave me back my passport and wished me a good flight. So I asked her: “Would I have to show that proof of exit to the Costa Rican customs?”. She said: “Yes”. She never asked me for anything else!

 

Costa Rican customs

The customs agent asked me if I had a return flight. I said : no. He told me :
– Did you know that it’s a requisite to enter the country?
– Yes, I know, and that’s why I booked a bus to Nicaragua.
– Can you show me your bus ticket?

I showed him a screen print (on my phone) of a falsified bus ticket confirmation (it was a fake email confirmation) for Nicaragua, and he gave me back my passport and wished me a good stay 😀

Yield Management and other thoughts

The take-off

The plane just took off from Montreal toward Philadelphia. It’s always magic during those seconds where the plane is accelerating on the ground and when it starts to elevate in the air very slowly as if it was pulled by an invisible power. The physical forces are magic and the fact that we, human beings (not all of us of course) can understand them and use them to achieve air transportation could sound exactly like science fiction for many humans that lived ages ago.

What is Yield Management?

Many of my friends and family members know that I work in the field of Yield Management and I wanted to take this opportunity of having a flight of 1h30 to explain what it is.

First of all, let me tell you that this is the first time I take such an empty plane! We are exactly 8 passengers! And there is a flight attendant, a pilot and a co-pilot. In the plane, there is a total capacity of 26 seats (it’s a small one). The occupancy of the aircraft is then 8 / 26 x 100 which makes 30,77%.Continue reading “Yield Management and other thoughts”