Flight: 4O 3930

Airline: Interjet

Depart: Mexico City 10.20am

Arrive: Varadero 2.15pm

It was my first time flying with Interjet. After reading so many negative reviews on TripAdvisor and other flying websites, I was not too sure if I made the right decision to fly with them. I had spent three days in Mexico City and now it was time to fly to Cuba.

Interket is a low-cost carrier which is a Mexican airline with hubs at Mexico City’s Benito Juárez International Airport (MEX) and Toluca’s Licenciado Adolfo López Mateos International Airport (TLC). The carrier has also designated Monterrey International Airport (MTY) as a focus city. It flies to 38 destinations within Mexico, five destinations in the United States and one destination each in Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba and Guatemala.

I took the metro from the city to the airport. My friend accompanied me to the airport. Check in was a breeze, even though there were other flights departing on Interjet, my counter only had a few people in line. The person printed my boarding pass on a receipt-like piece of paper, much like how AirAsia works. The staff had to check that I do not require a visa to Cuba, unlike most other nationalities which have to purchase a tourist card from the airline. If you’re flying from Mexico to Cuba then you can buy the green Cuban Tourist Card in Cancun or Mexico City. You can do this near check-in or at the boarding gate for $20 USD. If the staff insist that you need to purchase one, just inform that Singapore passport holders are exempted from the tourist card. (see here)

At the airline counter, I was given the customs declaration form to fill up.

Boarding gate number 24. On the boarding pass, we were told to be at the gate by 9.30am, but boarding only started close to 10am. The plane was a small A320 so it does not take long for the whole plane to be boarded.

In the single-aisle plane, the first three rows are priority seats. Passengers have to pay extra for these premium seats. You would get the middle seat to be empty, and also a chance to disembark first.

The overhead compartments filled up quickly because many people did not want to check in their luggage, but chose the carry on instead. For international fares, there was one piece of check in up to 20kg even for light fares. So I only carried on a small bag up the flight.

Looking out of my window seat, I spot American Airlines and Air France planes parked at the other gates.

The in-flight magazine featured Montreal in summer. There are daily flights on Interjet between Mexico City and Montreal, with the flight time lasting 5 hours. Did you know that Mexicans do not require a visa to enter Canada and vice versa? Bilateral ties between Canada and Mexico are much better than with USA. Montreal in French-speaking part of Canada has always fascinated me but I have not had the chance to visit this city. Hopefully one day.

Even though it is a budget airline, the leg room for Interjet was surprisingly quite generous, with 34 inches of seat pitch across all its planes.

As were taxiing out of the airport, there was an Iberia plane parked, which is based in Spain, and has flights from many Spanish cities to Mexico City.

Mexico City International Airport; officially Aeropuerto Internacional Benito Juárez is an international airport that serves Greater Mexico City. It is Mexico’s and Latin America’s busiest airport by passenger traffic and aircraft movements. Emirates announced in July 2019 its plan to launch a new daily service from Dubai (DXB) to Mexico City International Airport (MEX), via the Spanish city of Barcelona (BCN), starting on 9 December 2019.

Emirates’ Mexico City flight will be a linked service with Barcelona, meaning that customers can now travel between the two cities in unprecedented style and comfort. 

Mexico City is the densely populated, high-altitude capital of Mexico. It’s known for its Templo Mayor (a 13th-century Aztec temple), the baroque Catedral Metropolitana de México of the Spanish conquistadors and the Palacio Nacional, which houses historic murals by Diego Rivera. Looking out of the window, you can see the clusters of houses and probably some slum settlements in the suburbs. In terms of safety, I think it was quite safe. You just have to be aware of your surroundings like in any big city such as London, Paris or Barcelona. Pickpocketing are bound to occur but I was super careful and nothing happened to me.

Shortly after take off, the crew started to serve some snacks and drinks. Flight time between the cities is about two hours, so a light meal was served. For the price that I was paying which includes check-in baggage and a snack, I was quite impressed. They even printed their own logo on the plastic cups.

Around two hours later, we started our descent into Varadero. I was really excited to check out the beaches as seen from the aircraft. The azul turquoise waters are tempting me. It was my first time in Cuba and I am so excited! Located in the province of Matanzas, this beautiful silky white sand is one of the best in all Cuba. Immerse in its warm waters and have fun doing snorkeling or diving. There are many all-inclusive resorts built around the beach in Varadero, but as a backpacker, I did not opt for those. I chose to stay in a casa particular (homestay) for the experience instead.

Check out my other posts about my 12 days traveling around Cuba on a budget!