[ilona_tn]

Hi Everyone,

On our last trip, we took Delta. We were very uncomfortable waiting in Delta's secured area at the gate in the Guatemala airport. There was very poor ventilation, blocked windows, one toilet each for men and women, and not enough seating.

I was wondering if the Continental secured gate area is any better. If you have experience with both, or even have a description of the one for Continental, I would really appreciate your comments.

Thanks,

[brink]

Seems to me there was only one bathroom...or else one was being cleaned and we just all used the women's? Not a large seating area, but some windows. It was fine, I thought. Nearly home with your child, at that point!

[MicheleB]

Continental is just about the same. Matter of fact, I wandered a bit the last time and just about every airline's area was about the same.

[jldaoakes]

I found it to be about the same. The seats are a little bigger then what I remember from Delta's room. Both bathrooms were in working order. There was not a baby changer in the women's restroom. So be sure to take a disposable changing pad or a blanket that you can throw away.

Julie

[lifessence]

there are two bathrooms in the continental area.

i don't think it is clean or nice anywhere in the airport personally. i hope once they get all the new areas built it will be nicer.

on our second visit we were stopped after the security check going into the terminal and the overhead light fell on the woman checking my bag and a pastor standing next to me - it just missed crashing on both of us. she got a gash in her head.

i brought a changing pad with me and seat covers for the toilet - so our kids and us would not have to touch the seats. i also brought hand wipes to clean our hands because the water is gross smelling at the sinks. learned that the first trip.

also, do NOT drink any juice that is not in a bottle at the airport. our youngest did and was sick for 48 hours from it. i'm talking about all fountain drinks including sodas. please only drink out of bottles.

good luck! we will see how much progress they make as we continue to visit guatemala this year while our DD's adoption continues moving along. going back soon for pick up of DS!!!!

[riverview]

although tighter, I felt very safe there. Same with American Airlines although the space is slightly larger for sitting and they have a tv. But I agree, at that point, whoever is the quickest to get you home go with.... you probably will not even notice anyone else !!! Happy Homecoming

[Mandy4President]

I think I remember the Continental area to have tvs also, didn't they? I didn't think it was the most comfortable place to wait, there were at least 25 people that didn't have a place to sit, but it was okay. It was relatively clean in comparison to the rest of the airport. I didn't go into the bathroom, I really couldn't tell you anything about that.

BTW, I LOVED flying Continental the last time so much that we paid a little more for our tickets to fly them again.

[au06]

don't remember the continental gate from this trip - we were so far behind because of security we did not even have time in there to stop and catch our breath!!!
the continental computers were down and they were ticketing everyone by hand. We spent our whole two hours prior to the flight standing in line and just barely made it on before they closed the plane doors
I do remember from 6 years ago that there was not a changing station. being a new mom - I decided to just wait - that was a mistake. Everything leaked on DH on the plane - let's just say he smelled great by the time we got home.

[mommywannabee]

Hmmm...we took Delta and the room was small, but there was a television and bathrooms...I didn't use the bathroom, but I saw others using it. It definitely was small, but I didn't feel unsafe. There were guards everywhere.

[EmmyLee]

Perhaps I am crazy, but I waited until a few minutes before boarding and then went in. In fact, on the pickup trip I had barely sat in the seat when they started boarding, I just sat at the beer bar down the way and held her, I changed her in the seats just outside of there. You are checked in at the counter, they will not give your seat away, furthermore, you can check in to the little room and then leave and come back again, so I would also just use the quickest airline and not worry about it.

[kardari]

It seems all the waiting areas in the GC airpoirt are the same. We flew United and the terminal was bad also, no air, alot of people waiting, ect. it did have three stalls in the womens bathroom, but wasnt very clean.

[wvamom]

While I didn't think either gate was especially nice, we didn't have to stay there long--I hung out outside until about 45 minutes before the flight, and so I was only in there about 15 minutes before we started boarding. I was thinking more about having to leave the baby, and getting home, than about the seating.

Carolyn

[ilona_tn]

Thanks everyone for your advice and recollections about the different airline boarding areas in the GC airport. The Delta boarding area stunk so bad and had very poor ventilation. It was bad enough without the baby, let alone with her.

I will take your advice and wait until 45 minutes prior to flight time before entering this area with the baby. I think we'll spend time sitting at the beer bar too. LOL

I looked at flight availability yesterday and think we'll be lucky to get a flight at this point.