Mexico on The Status Carousel

Forfait Free Max 😲

Fri, 03 Apr 2026 09:44:11 +0000

Remember when I recommended that French operator?

Hélène and the lads have got merry on Pérignon and launched unlimited data in 135 countries for €29.99. Rather more generous than anything on offer from the British networks, who still treat roaming as a luxury good.

Echoes of Mexico 🌵

Sun, 21 Dec 2025 09:32:28 +0000

For the second time in my life I’ve been hit by fraud on a physical card.

The first was 17 years ago on Sulawesi — bog-standard skimming at a shopping-centre cash machine.

For cash machines, blackjack and ****, I keep special cards. My first suspect was the lounge at MEX. Then, by a process of beer-based elimination, I remembered.

Hyatt House Mexico City / Santa Fe 😁

Tue, 04 Nov 2025 20:02:12 +0000

I stayed here two years ago. Last time they upgraded me to a room with a balcony, clouds, rain and a view of Walmart. Practically the Lake District.

This time I decided to test a booking made through Rove: would the status magic still work with a middleman in the mix?

The Living Will Envy the Dead ☠️

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 18:33:37 +0000

A few words on a sadder subject. It was the Day of the Dead we were marking, after all, not Carnival in Rio.

After the parade I went back to the hotel, squeezed like a lime for a margarita. Grabbed my rucksack and headed for Santa Fe.

Rove: Rove Miles 🚀

Mon, 03 Nov 2025 04:40:23 +0000

Gagarin:

Giving the count: 1… 2… 3…. 4… 5… 6… 7… 8… 9… 10

How do you read me? Over.

Korolev:

“Kedr”, “Kedr”, this is “Zarya-1”. Reading you perfectly. Carry on.

Miles are the old crypto, only worse.

Crypto at least has a blockchain. Here you get a promise that one day, somehow, you’ll fly for free.

Day of the Dead 💀

Sun, 02 Nov 2025 20:52:08 +0000

The parade starts at 14:00. Two kilometres from the hotel to the start. I set off on time, with military precision… which turned out to be a waste of perfectly good punctuality.

The tail end of the parade appeared right under my window. So I watched the whole show backwards — like a trailer for a film whose ending you already know but still fancy seeing.

Hyatt Regency Mexico City 🌮

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 19:03:36 +0000

In the evening the lounge served ceviche — a jolt of the sea and citrus enlightenment on a single plate.

The booze was carried round by two Mexican waiters with faces that said “we’re serving a sentence here, not following a calling”. They looked as if they were pouring the cocktails not for the guests but for themselves, on credit.

Hyatt Regency Mexico City

Sat, 01 Nov 2025 00:09:08 +0000

No Suites to be had — all snapped up for Día de los Muertos.

They gave me the best of what was left: Regency Club High Floor 1 King Bed — $653.

The bare minimum: 1 King Bed — $547.

Aguascalientes → Mexico City 🌵 488km

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 22:36:45 +0000

✈️ Plane — $120 Journey: 1:24 🚌 Coach — $44 Journey: 6:45 🚗 BlaBlaCar — $30 Journey: 5:50

I’ve been using BlaBlaCar since 2011, back when in Russia it still went by the name Podorozhniki.

Tens of thousands of kilometres behind the wheel and in the passenger seat. I’m fond of the format: you’re travelling, and you don’t need a box set — your fellow passengers will tell you everything, from family drama to the philosophy of life on a cornfield.

Art, Erotica or Just Teenagers?

Fri, 31 Oct 2025 02:40:19 +0000

Oh, to be in Mexico, now that the museums are there!

The city of Aguascalientes is the birthplace of the artist José Guadalupe Posada.

The man behind “La Calavera Catrina” — a cornerstone of the Mexican cultural tradition of the Day of the Dead.

Where Have All the Good Times Gone?

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 07:03:12 +0000

To hostelworld.com, young man.

Where the beds creak like a long-distance relationship, and breakfast is a complimentary slice of toast plus coffee with a faint aftertaste of adventure.

Continuing the Rove theme, we wander onto the youth playground — where life is buzzing and the Wi-Fi is wheezing.

Where Are the Miles, Lebowski?

Thu, 30 Oct 2025 03:58:41 +0000

They’re spread thickly, like Marmite, across ordinary non-chain hotels.

That’s where the multiplier miracles begin — x30, x40, x50 and up.

The best one for my dates, balancing price against sheer juiciness, was x53.

One caveat, to be taken with a pinch of salt: every experiment here is conducted live, with real money and no lab coats.