www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Has the smoking ban actually been enacted?

Go there and check it out. No more smoke clouds and you don't smell like an ashtray when you get back to your hotel room.

That's awesome! See, it'll be two years July 11th since I have had a cigarette. I wasn't sure if I would have the will power to not smoke for a week in CR, but now it shouldn't be a problem. And the smell thing, well apparently, and I have verified this with many others, ex-smokers are extremely sensitive to cigarette smoke smell on people. I literally can get sick to my stomach sometimes when my co-workers return from a smoke.

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I can't deny it, with that smile on her face. It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase!

I can't wait for the soda pop ban to go into effect.

How does the smoking ban affect HLH and the cigar biz?

Be careful what you ask for; NYC is on its way to doing just that. Baby steps now (increased taxes) but once Govt., any Govt., gets the bit in its teeth, who knows where it will end?
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/14/weeki ... ttman.html

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"A man accustomed to hear only the echo of his own sentiments, soon bars all the common avenues of delight, and has no part in the general gratification of mankind"--Dr. Johnson
"Amen, brother"-ED

That's my point. Even John Stewart is mocking the soda pop ban and he's no conservative.

Again, how has the ban affected HLH? Cigars aren't allowed at a cigar themed business?

The Havana Humidor Room in front of the HLH is open 7 days a week. havanahumidorroom.com

This is an outrage! Dammit

United pisses me off. I've just found out they changed my flight schedule so instead of me catching the red eye from Sacramento, CA >IAH > SJO, I have to wait until 6am to leave California. This single adjustment alone makes me arrive in SJO at 9pm since I'll miss the IAH to SJO early flight! I hate coming in at night. I absolutely hate it. By the time I get to my room at the SL it'll be 10 pm at the earliest and I'll be too tired to cuddle with a chica.

Someone please tell me it's still worth it. I already paid for the trip when it was $650 roundtrip. I check the price today and it's practically $1K. So basically, I'm stuck. Sure another airline will have me going to DFW or Denver. No way.

I found out that United is cutting it's staff at IAH by 10% or 1200 or so employees. Maybe that has something to do with the mess. In either case, I'm bummed that a 7 day vacation has to actually be 5 because instead of looking at the ladies at the Lodge, I gotta twiddle my thumbs at airports for hours on end.

Only 2 flights a day to Costa Rica on United? Crazy.

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Yo, I'm off on a Jett/relaxed to the monger set/
Got the chica pro-flo headed out the doe/
Got cien dollar bills-n-bags for my Del Rey shags/
Scoping out Tica heels wit the flaca feels/
No novia para me cause its extra fee, not "free"/
Gonna get a Pura Vida meeta not a gringa skeeza/
Dis is how it goes wit hoes in Santa Joe's/
No need for the true player/just a true payer
Ya dig?

.

Yes, it's still worth it, the chicas are waiting for you. Sittin around iah for 6 hrs waitin for a flight def sucks. Buy yourself a United club pass on ebay for $25 or so, at least you'll relax in a comfy place with booze & snacks included. You'll prob be better rested than taking the red-eye, I take it out of Vegas and arrive beat due to lack of sleep. At 10pm, sl,dr, & kl will have many prospective dates waiting for you.



Depends on the season & day of the week. At the peak they have 4 a day out of iah, 9,10 & 11am, & 6pm. On slow days/seasons, only 2 or 3 a day.

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"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

I saw on Yelp that someone was complaining that the only free beverages in the Club were juice and water. I thought it was a free booze and at least finger food type of deal.

Not true, there are hustling bartenders there that make you anything you want. Since she doesn't have to deal with settling tabs she is always there to get you a drink and her tip jar is overflowing. Any booze you want and sandwiches, coffee, cookies, ect.

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"If you think that I'm half crazy your wrong, I'm at least seventy-five percent gone. I was born this way and I'll die this way so I probably won't be changing today." - Richie Allbright, South Texas Singer/Songwriter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftvsq3mX0Ow

Couple of technicalities involved here.

#1 Southwest Airlines has ZERO international flights

#2 AirTran was purchased as their mode to gain international flights as a part of their inventory

#3 AirTran does not currently fly to anywhere except for a dozen or so destinations around the Caribbean or Mexico

#4 NONE of AirTran's international flights are in our out of IAH

For my own personal reasons I would love to see additional flights in and out of both the Houston and DFW areas.

I do work in a tourist related industry here in Costa Rica and have done so for the last several years. I keep myself involved in many of the activities with ICT (ministry of Tourism if you translate the real name to English) and have been personally involved in site visits from a few companies such as TACA who have gone on to sign contracts with ICT for flight subsidy for 8 new routes coming into both SJO (Juan Santa Maria International Airport) and LIR (Daniel Oduber Quiros International Airport) and JetBlue. TACA now has flights into LIR from Cancun, El Salvador, Panama City, and SJO now has new flights from Panama City, Nasau Bahamas, Cartegena Colombia, and Cancun... the final destination escapes me but it could be Sao Palo, Brasil.

The same lobbyist who came to Costa Rica representing JetBlue is now working for AirTran (aka Southwest Airlines) pounding the ground and working with the various hotels and the ICT to add a 3 times a week flight from DFW to LIR. ICT will not subsidies the flights unless there are a minimum average of 45 flights per month at each airport. At this time they are doing a joint feasibility study of adding a ATL to SJO route, a ATL to LIR route, as well as a PHX to LIR and PHX to SJO route. The idea of adding a Houston to either LIR or SJO route is a great one, but AirTran currently does not have any gate locations at IAH so it is currently not fiesable. If there are changes to Hobby becoming an international airport I am sure this would change the Southwest/AirTran future plans for new routes.

The ICT has a history of subsidizing new routs into the country and was at one time providing upto $5 million a year to both American and Delta to add flights from New York, Miami, Dallas, and Atlanta into the Liberia Airport. That contract ended very early as the airlines saw a dramatic increase in the number of travelers coming into the area and the airport expansion of the new terminal at LIR was started and completed about 5 years ahead of previous projections (maybe because it became a private project rather than a government run project).

Well if you actually work in the tourist industry you should know that there are two airports in Houston, IAH which is intercontinental and HOU which is Hobby.

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"If you think that I'm half crazy your wrong, I'm at least seventy-five percent gone. I was born this way and I'll die this way so I probably won't be changing today." - Richie Allbright, South Texas Singer/Songwriter. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ftvsq3mX0Ow

Hooks in the house. If only there was international service from Hooks.