South America is home to some of the most well known carnivals in the world 
The most famous one being Rio de Janeiro’s Carnaval in Brazil 
known for Samba School parades and was portrayed pretty well in the Rio movie from 2011. That festival unfortunately is out of my budget but there is an alternative also happening around this time that is much closer to home, insert the Carnival of Barranquilla located in a much closer and more familiar country to me, Colombia! 
That means we’ll be going back to the motherland today and to a new city there as well, I’m really excited to finally check of another Colombian city off the list. The last time I was here I also wasn’t all that far either as I was in Santa Marta about 2 hours by ride away but didn’t visit since I didn’t have time and I didn’t fly into Barranquilla and instead flew in via Cali. This time however we are coming for Barranquilla and Barranquilla only, no stopping anywhere else except for maybe a town just outside the city. I intentionally skipped out on Barranquilla last time to save it for the occasion that is today and I hope the wait was worth it as I’ve never been here and don’t really know what to expect apart from similarities to Santa Marta and nearby Cartagena. The plan is also simple, we will be flying on American Airlines’s Boeing 737MAX8 from Miami, FL 
over to BAQ in BUSINESS CLASS for a change I was eligle for a free upgrade on BOTH segments of this trip which was amazing so without further to do, let’s get going!
I arrived at a very foggy Miami International Airport this morning which was definitely unusual but not alarming. The lines at Americans counters here were almost as busy as they can get as this is around the rush period for flights to the Caribbean and Latin America, the terminal was really diverse you had Hondurans 
Costa Ricans 
Puerto Ricans 
Dominicans 
and of course Cubans 
because hey it’s Miami I however did not need to get in line today as I checked in online and was able to fit everything in a single carry on and backpack so I didn’t need to check anything in today. Security was also relatively light this morning with TSA pre check although that may change soon considering all the funding debates regarding the US Department of Homeland Security which runs the TSA. I was soon in Concourse D’s MARVELOUS 
departures hall, I haven’t been here since last year, literally. AAs hub here at MIA is their primary hub for flights to Latin America and the Caribbean with them having service to all but 4 countries in Latin America those being Haiti 
Bolivia 
Paraguay 
and Venezuela 
although it may be 3 soon given that airspace restrictions in the latter country have been lifted and American has applied for permission to fly there again, if everything goes to plan they’ll be returning after a 6 almost 7 year hiatus along with being the first US airline to return to the country. If things go to plan and I don’t have any trips interrupting the inaugural flight, you bet I’ll be there! For now however, it time to get some coffee 
although this time we’ll go to the admirals given we are flying in business class for once so no Cafe Versailles this time. The lounge was very clean, had very friendly staff, good food and most importantly good coffee probably not as good as I’ll get once we’re in Colombia but it works for now. After a lovely stay here in the lounge, I made my way to my gate, gate D21 just as there were 10 minutes left until boarding to settle into the gate area
FLIGHT INFO:
Origin: Miami Intl 
(MIA/KMIA)
Destination: Ernesto Cortissoz Intl (BAQ/SKBQ)
Flight Time: 2:10
Boeing 737-8MAX (American Airlines)
Server: Expert
My ride back to the motherland this morning will be N300UB, an only year old Boeing 737MAX8 delivered to American Airlines in January 2025. I got the hang of my new camera and have made a few tweaks regarding my pictures, I hope you like the changes. This aircraft had just arrived from Richmond, VA about an hour ago and is now being prepared to fly us down to Barranquilla.
Boarding soon started and with me in business class, it felt more special and I was soon the first person to board after all the pre boarders had boarded
Both of Americans B737MAX8s and regular B737-800s have a total of 174 seats in the same configuration and design so on the inside, it doesn’t matter what which 737 you’re flying on. Today we will be checking out the business class or really first class cabin which utilize Collins Aerospace’s MiQ seats in a 2-2 configuration with 16 in total. They are the same seat model used for their premium economy cabin on their wide body aircraft so if you’ve flown that, you’ve flown first/business class on their 737s. Now you may notice that I put first/business class well that’s because this cabin serves both purposes, flights within the US including to territories sell seats here as first class while international flights like ours sells them as business class.
My seat for this flight down to South America will be 4A, the very last row of business/first class. The seat is very comfortable and definitely more than what you need on a flight like this, there is no personal entertainment system installed but there are still some surprises to see regarding the entertainment soon along with a big change I’ll mention later. Right before the remaining main cabin passengers boarded, we were offered pre departure beverages which I chose a gin and tonic which came alongside some warm nuts 
and I gotta say, it really got me in that premium feeling although this is only premium economy on the hard product side. After that the boarding door was closed, we pushed back and made our way to the complete OPPOSITE side of the airport to RWY 27 for take off!
Bye, bye Miami!
Here’s a nice view over the 305
you only get to see on reverse ops departures like today. Up close and personal? Not really but still BREATHTAKING nonetheless.
We reached our cruising altitude of 37,000ft not along after as we cruise right by Cuba
for our familiar routing to Colombia
While the folks in main cabin get to only munch on snacks and soft drinks, us gentleman and ladies up here will be treated an ACTUAL MEAL. I pre ordered the chicken 
enchiladas which came in a red sauce and steamed rice 
topped with cilantro on the side was a traditional side salad 
bread roll with butter, vanilla cake 
for dessert and a choice of beverage which I chose a Coke. Overall, it was a very good meal better than I expected actually. Another thing that also interested me were the american sliders my seat mate had which were essentially BURGERS 
AND FRIES 
on a PLANE 
Every US carrier has a burger type option most notably Delta serving Shake Shack burgers on their flights. Unfortunately the only way to get the burgers on AA were by pre ordering them so no american sliders for me, maybe next time although I’m pretty sure I’ll have better burgers once I land in Colombia anyways. After the meal wrapped up, we were handed out biscoff cookies 
which were great as always.
Things are slightly different when it comes to entertainment. I already mentioned the lack of PTVs on the seats which is definitely a downside but there is one brand new thing at American. FREE INFLIGHT INTERNET 
well at least to us AAdvantage members, no elite status needed either just sign up and you get to access the internet up in the sky. It worked extremely well with rarely any slow downs or outages except for when we were overflying Cuba but after that, it worked flawlessly. If you aren’t in AAs mileage program, you can access their website to check out their streaming library to watch content on your on devices which is also sufficient enough given the vast amount of content available for streaming. I however was able to use the free internet access to browse Instagram reels which I gotta say felt different to do but definitely a nice change for once.
Ahoy down below, Jamaica!
While I have visited Cartagena, this is the first time I’d actually fly into one of these Colombian Caribbean cities from the United States
so this approach will be brand new to me. We flew directly over the Caribbean Sea before flying into Colombia’s airspace just west of Barranquilla before making a 180 over Baranoa and coming to land on BAQs RWY 05.
Out the window is the city of Barranquilla, the beaches 
and the mountains adjacent to Santa Marta which I saw up close the last time I was here in Colombia
After the aforementioned 180, we find ourselves on final for BAQs RWY 05 and even up in the Caribbean we have the same rural style landscape surrounding the airport like we do in the inland parts of the country.
TOUCHDOWN! Welcome to Barranquilla, COL! for the very first time and I’m very excited to be here not only for the carnival but also to just explore more of this beautiful country I have the privilege to call home. I also had a really good time on American’s international short haul business class today, the seat were great, service was EXCELLENT, the food was also superb and the new free internet access for us AAdvantage members is a welcome addition. Although I do prefer built in seat back screens still because not every traveler has a device with them and it allows them to enjoy AAs extensive library still. However that’s just a minor thing and I will definitely pick American again on a flight from the 305 to Barranquilla whether it be in business class or main cabin.
Welcome to Barranquilla’s Ernesto Cortissoz International Airport! While our aircraft gets serviced again for the flight back to Miami
we will be heading over to passport control 
which took FOREVER, it always takes a long time in Colombia but with the carnival going it was just way worse. It took me an hour and 15 minutes to clear passport control and by that time, the aircraft that flew me here was already in the air on the way back to MIA. Luckily customs 
was much better and I was clear within 3 minutes mostly because I didn’t have a checked bag and only my backpack and carry on needed to be checked. I retrieved my rental car and went on a mission to find a burger place along the coast to have a taste of an authentic Colombian burger and as a welcome back to Colombia meal. After that I made my way to my apartment to drop off my belongings before going out to explore the city for the day before the carnival officially starts tomorrow.
That will be it regarding this flight on American Airlines’s Boeing 737MAX8 in business class from Miami, FL to Barranquilla, COL stay tuned for the flight back home also in business class and as always between now and the next time, see you in the sky! 
