First Class All The Way To Mexico!

Great friends of ours, Russ and Katy, honeymooned at the Excellence Riviera Cancun Resort in Mexico 2 years ago and decided to return for their “babymoon” this winter, as Katy is expecting their first child this coming June. Brian and I were looking for a quick getaway, part vacation and part research, so when Russ and Katy opened the invitation for friends to join them we jumped at the chance!

We were looking forward to our winter getaway for months, and as travel agents we highly recommend Excellence Resorts for honeymoons and adult couple/friends vacations, so we were especially excited to experience firsthand their Riviera Cancun resort.

The week before our vacation was a busy one, both work related and otherwise, so when it was 2 days before our departure it was an unexpected surprise when I received an email from our airline, US Airways. After much jetsetting to Europe this past summer and fall, I became a US Airways Preferred Silver Member. One of the benefits of a preferred member is starting 48 hours before departure if all first class tickets aren’t sold, US Airways will upgrade their preferred members and their travel companions. Lucky for us, my email confirmed we were in fact upgraded! Russ, also a preferred member ,was upgraded as well so on Saturday morning dressed in our best we all enjoyed a first class flight with a breakfast and cocktails, and arrived in Cancun by 10:30am.



Our transfers were provided by American Express, and finding them in the crowd of people and other transfer companies was no trouble at all. There were clear signs, friendly agents, air-conditioned vans that weren’t packed to the brim with people.

Excellence has a total of 4 resorts throughout Mexico and the Caribbean. We stayed at the Excellence Riviera Cancun Resort, and the experience was absolutely amazing! Champagne upon arrival, a smooth check-in, and in Russ and Katy’s case they had chosen a room category which included their Excellence Club so they enjoyed VIP check-in and a virgin Piña Colada for Katy :). By 1pm we were all enjoying the cocktail of the day and sun at the bar by the main pool.



The resort had a total of 6 pools with your choice of quiet and serene or loud and exciting. Either way, there was always a chair or pool floaty available (although some people hoarded the floaties). Daily activities included water aerobics, volleyball, and poker to name a few. Personally, I preferred a nice mojito and a chair that was actually located in the pool.

The food top notch! A lot of all inclusive resorts do not have food to rave about, but each and every meal we had was fantastic including the daily breakfast buffet. Restaurants did not take reservations so often there was a wait, but that’s okay because it gave us an excuse to grab another cocktail! The last night we enjoyed a 5 course meal at the onsite Hibachi restaurant.



We didn’t have to leave the resort until 11:30am the day we left, so we were able to soak in some last rays of sun and enjoy a stroll down the beach. We were upgraded to first class again, this time on a 757 which has the seats that actually recline with the foot rests. The meal wasn’t as great as our breakfast on the way down, but I’m not complaining!

All in all a fantastic vacation, and Excellence is here to stay on our list of recommended all inclusives in the Caribbean or Mexico. The service is amazing for everyone, regardless if you're celebrating a honeymoon, anniversary or just celebrating escaping the winter weather back home!

Upgraded Airline Tickets...Are they really worth it?

This is the second time I unknowingly booked a “Premium” ticket from Paris to Barcelona. Mind you, this “Premium” ticket is not first class and is not business class. It’s the lowest of priority seating you can get, and as far as the actual seats on the plane it just means you’re within the front 15 rows and get a slightly upgraded meal. The seats themselves however are exactly the same as Economy. No word on how much more this “Premium” ticket cost from Economy but I will tell you what perks it offers.

1. You skip the long lines at check-in and security and go right through at a specially marketed section for priority ticket holders. On the perk scale I’ll give this 5 stars.

2. A “Priority” tag on your luggage. Because so many people are considered “Priority” on one level or another, this tag does absolutely nothing and I’m convinced the workers in charge of transporting the bags ignore it completely. Both flights I was close to the last person to retrieve my Priority Tagged Bag. Perk Scale = 0 stars





3. A ticket into the Air France Lounge. Perk Scale = 5 (If you actually use it). During my first trip I couldn’t actually find it to even considering going in, but this time my gate was situated right next to the escalator leading down to the lounge. I thought about it, and call me crazy, but I kind of want to save the experience of the lounge area until I actually deserve it. I’m 26, on a multi-city European business trip experiencing top rate hotels, food, even went to a bbq in the mountains outside of Barcelona at what had to be a 3+ million dollar home. I feel incredibly lucky to be experiencing the things I am, so why not save this one little thing until I actually book and pay for my own first class ticket. A real first class ticket. Similar to my opinion on Louis Vuitton handbags. Sure I can go out and buy one (and a lot of people do), but I want to save this purchase for a time when I can really afford to go drop 1-2k on something and not feel it in the pocket. I’m confident the day will come when I’ll walk into an airline lounge holding my Louis Vuitton…but that day wasn’t today.