Well I have to say, all the stuff I have heard about US immigration must be wrong. You have to immigrate at DFW before catching your internal flight, and go through customs. There was no queue what so ever at passport control. I would have sailed through in seconds had the lady not noticed the Chinese and Thai stamps all over my passport. We had a good chat about what China is like, the best tourist places, yackity-yack. I grabbed my hold luggage which came through on a priority ticket, and proceeded to Customs. By now I must admit I was getting a bit hot and flustered and feeling pretty grubby. So to be greeted by a surly customs official who said not a word to me, even to direct questions, and then just rudely waved me on, put me in a bit of a strop. We had been told on the plane that we would not need to go through security, so seeing that at the front of the next queue was a bevy of TSA officials, bought little joy. When it came to my turn, the guy just looked at me and bellowed You, come here buddy. Red rag and all that. I explained that I did not like been told to come here or being called buddy big mistake. Shoes off, belt off, bags opened, business papers read and detailed questions. A stupid thing to have done, and I felt no better for having made my point.
All this meant I only just had time to catch the flight down to Albuquerque. I got my seat, and was immediately bought a glass of fresh orange juice. Deep breathing and a cool drink calmed me down somewhat. There was no meal service, it being just a short hop really, and the seat belt sign stayed on all the time. The plane was a S70 (I think??) and it was striking how little engine noise there was at the front; the engines were mounted on the tail. Once we were up it was interesting to note, in the absence of engine noise, quite how much noise the airflow over the aircraft made.
Landing in Albuquerque was smooth, and getting through the airport a doddle. The luggage took a while to come through, but by this stage I didnt care. There was no luggage priority. All in all, I dont think I would bother paying for a F ticket again. For such a short flight the only difference is a little more leg room.
Outside I picked up my hire car (Upgraded by Avis which is nice), and drove down to the hotel (initially on the left Doh again!). Surprisingly I am not too tired so I am off out to find a liquor store, as I believe the correct term is. Purely for medicinal purposes you understand.
