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USA3000 MKE-PUJ-MKE (Tons of pics)

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  • USA3000 MKE-PUJ-MKE (Tons of pics)

    Well spring break FINALLY came around and that ment another week long vacation to paradise. This time my dad booked a trip to Punta Cana on USA3000 airlines. Never flown on USA3000 and never been to PUJ so everything was gonna be new this trip. For this trip I'd be taking my new camera the Canon Powershot S2 IS that I got for my birthday. Hopefully a new camera would mean better pics. {camera}

    The flight left MKE at 6AM so that ment wakeup at 3AM !@#$ !!!!!! {bomb} So anyways agian my grandpa took our family to the airport. We arrived at the dropoff area near the ticket counters for airlines and it was pretty empty and diserted. Once we got inside it was just as quiet inside as outside. USA3000/Apple Vacations/Alliegnt Air all have their check in counters upstairs by the Concourse C entrance. There was a short line but after we got in it started to grow pretty long. Check in took about 20 mins. I was hungry so I went over to cinnebun and got my self a tastey snack.

    After eating we headed for the gate. Concourse C is currently going under renovation/expansion. They are in the process of building a hammerhead which will ad up to 8 gates or so. Upon entering the concourse it read" CONCOURSE C GATES 6-27" so I guess that means it is going to be built after all the speculation. Line for security was short and it took about 10 minutes. I didnt have to take off my shoes nor did anyone else. Having cleared security, I headed out to do some spotting. Of course my cameras still new and I dont know how to use it all that well so these night shots turned out crappy. Below is a shot of an AE ERJ headed to DFW.


    Other aircraft included a DL CRJ-700, DL MD-88, Funjet 737, UA ERJ, and an UA CRJ. I took some other shots but they were just to bad to look at. The concourse looked very nice after being redone on the inside. I couldnt get any pics of the construction so decided to try next week when returning. Our flight to PUJ was leaving outta gate 7. Gates 6-8 are temporary gates while some gates may not be used due to the construction. Next to our A320 was an F9 A319 headin to DEN and an Alliegnt Air MD-83.




    The 6-8 gates lounge isnt that impressive. It pretty plain and there are not any bathrooms or anything. If they plan tto make it stick around they better spice it up a lil bit.



    Boarding for our flight started at 5:15 and I proceded to my seat of 16A. It was nothing special on the inside of the cabin.Standard expectation for an A320. Took this shot before pushback.


    During pushback saftey info was displayed on the TV monitors. The engines fired up and we headed to 19R. There was a short wait while a NW airbus landed and then we lined up for departure. The engines came alive and we started our takeoff roll. We sped past some military hangers and lifted off about 2/3 down the runway.




    Climbout was south and then the captain made a turn to the east and we headed out over lake michigan. There were light bumps which would persist for the first portion of the flight. After clearing the clouds the sky was filled with pretty colors with the sunrise. Flight time was around 4 hours.






    Once the turbulence cleared up inflight service started with a juice service. I got OJ. Moments later came Soda and a meal of warm pancakes. Finally came the earphones for the inflight movie and a little candy bar of coffe cake. The best thing is is that all this was FREE! Thats a thumbs up in my book! {bigthumbsup}


    And heres a shot llooking out the window during cruise.


    The movie being shown was called "GOAL" and it was a pretty good movie cause I thought it would suck. About 30 min after it ended we started our decent. Spoilers came up and it got a bit bumpy as we went through the clouds.


    As we broke the clouds there wasnt much to see on final approach. It was just some sparse roads here and there and just endless forests/plains.


    Lower and lower until we passed the final road and fairly smoothly touchdowned and Punta Cana airport. Full using of brakes was uses cause you could hear the screeching very distinctly.


    Cleared the runway and headed out to the stand. PUJ doesnt have jetways so you have to exit the ole fashion way through the airstair. We exited through the front and were greeted by an onslot of rain showers! Welcome to Punta Cana eh?! {melting} I got this last shot of our plane before heading on the bus to the terminal.


    Other Aircraft at PUJ was an AirTransat A310 and 2 other USA3000 A320's. Getting outta the airport was quick and having gotten our luggage and cleared customs we headed for the hotel!!!
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Our hotel was called NaturaPark Resort. It was definetly one of the best in Punta Cana. Good beach, good food, and ok drinks I guess. Hey and here some advise...if your under 21 and wanna drink alcohol...go to Punta Cana! Everytime I asked for a non alcoholic drink they put alchohol in it! Even in the restaurant they'd poor me wine and stuff! I took some sips to try thm out but most were not to my liking. {spit} Anyway below is a shot of the Overview of the hotel map. While at PUJ I guess I got my lens wet from the rain and I didnt notice it to clean it so my pics now may be a bit blurry and stuff.


    In between the room sections in the middle area of the map there were ponds and all these plants and trees making it look really tropical. There were live fish and animals living in there. Below is a pic of a male peecock. There was a female to but usually they were together.


    Heres some wierd Giese/Ducks.


    AFLAC DUCKS!!!


    There were even some Flamingoes.


    Heres a shot looking down the beach.


    Overall the hotel was great and I couldnt have asked for it to be much better. The weather was nice also.
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------
    Well a week came and went and it was time to head home, grrrrrrrrr. {no} Departure time for our flight was 12:35 PM but our bus left at 8:30 in the morning. It seemed to me like they were just trying to get rid of use sending us out 4 hours before the flight. Bus ride to the airport was 25 minutes or so. Punta Cana Airport really has a great terminal. Its made outta wood and the roof it made outta plam tree leaves. The whole check in area was empty except for the AirTransat and USA3000 counters. Checking took 30 minutes maybe and then my dad had to fill outa these immigration forms. We got to the main agtes area and had tons of time to spare.

    I was kinda hungry so I got some pizza and went out to spot. At PUJ they have a section were they have these deck type area were you can go outside and get great views of the tarmac.


    USA3000 is clearly to dominant airline here in Punta Cana. Lotf of USA3000 A320 action here in PUJ. These are going to CLE and PHL.




    With time to kill I took more shots.




    I was pleased to see this veteran ATR come in from San Juan.


    Finally our flight to/from MKE arrived and pulled up to the stand.


    Boarding started not to long after our flight arrived. We had to walk to the plane about 100 feet on the tarmac and then the airstair. My kinda way to board a plane! ()-) After taking my seat in 7A there was a 35 minute wait before pushback. Saftey info was displayed and we headed to the runway. This time it was a really loud and powerful takeoff. Our hotel was visible for a while during climbout but then we turned and flew along the coastline.








    It was a smooth flight while over the ocean. This time the movie was "Rumor Has It" and I watched it. Agian an ok movie. Meal Service was hot chicken with peas and potatoes. It started to get kinda bumpy and we entered the mainland.


    Then as we got closer to MKE it got pretty bumpy and for a couple seconds it was pretty rough. Then it smoothened out and we began decending over Lake Michigan. As we got beneath the clouds were flew west until over the lake until crossing into Racine, my hometown. Lined up for 1L and the gear and flaps started going down. I always loved landing in MKE because I could identify so many things from inside the plane.




    We glided over some truck yard and a field and then floated above 1L for a while before coming down smooth and braking hard.






    After clearing the runway I took this shot showing the lineup at Concourse D.


    As promised while taxing in to the International Arrivals Terminal I got these shots of the Concourse C construction.






    At the International Terminal there was still a Funjet 737 from Cancun using the gate so there a breif wait of 10 minutes in which I got this shot of 2 AE ERJ's. I actually flew that same 737 to PVR in NOV.



    After oulling into the gate there was another wait for custons to clear up and then we deplaned. 20 minutes later we were out the door and heading home!

    Well this is my 3rd trip report and I hope you enjoyed it!!! ()-)

    Midwest Airlines - The Best Care In The Air

  • #2
    Great report!! I hope to be able to use them to RSW but they seem to be sold out. Pictures came out good. Glad it was a good time there.

    Alex
    Stop Searching. Start Traveling. southwest.com

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    • #3
      Holy crap! Nice shots!

      I think USA3000 must be doing good, we dont hear much from them at all
      -Kevin

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      • #4
        Just an FYI, that F9 plane next to you wanst an A319, it was an A318.

        Comment


        • #5
          Great report, even better shots. thx for sharing.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by chrisburns
            Just an FYI, that F9 plane next to you wanst an A319, it was an A318.
            Yeah well it looked like one of the 2 so i just guessed but thanks for clearin it up.

            Midwest Airlines - The Best Care In The Air

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            • #7
              Originally posted by polishsausage248
              Yeah well it looked like one of the 2 so i just guessed but thanks for clearin it up.
              Its real easy to tell Any airbus registeration for Frontier that starts with a 9 it is an A319, any registeration that starts with an 8 it is an A318.

              N806FR is an A318 and N906FR is an A319, for an example.

              Alex
              Stop Searching. Start Traveling. southwest.com

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              • #8
                nice report!!

                and there's no need to to punta cana to drink alcohol when under 21 years, it's possible everywhere in europe from 16 years

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                • #9
                  It was pretty good IMO. Great photos. Sorry to hear about the crappy welcome of heavy shower. Nice terminal hut !

                  Its kinda funny though. Look at the first pics. Cloudy start of the vacation, middle of the vacations, Nice and shiney weather, Coming home again with clouds above, makes it pretty dull and boring to come home,. I hope you enjoyed your entire stay over there

                  Great Report. I enjoyed reading it !
                  Inactive from May 1 2009.

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by AA_MD-80@STL
                    Its real easy to tell Any airbus registeration for Frontier that starts with a 9 it is an A319, any registeration that starts with an 8 it is an A318.

                    N806FR is an A318 and N906FR is an A319, for an example.

                    Alex
                    Oh well I never knew that, thanks.

                    Midwest Airlines - The Best Care In The Air

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                    • #11
                      More than a pic gallery, it's a travel movie on captures. Adding the birds was a nice idea. Congrats for this entertaining report.
                      Alain
                      Thanks for visiting
                      *Avimage's Monthly Slide list *
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                      Airliners*Pbase.com

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                      • #12
                        That's a cool trip report. And great that you included pics not only from the flight

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                        • #13
                          Nice report. No family shots?

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