Travel Tips for Mexico City
Weather in November in Mexico City is nice, with temperatures in the 60s ie: light jacket or sweater and long pants or casual dresses. Any rain showers do not stick around for long.
The time to go through customs (yippee!) can vary between 10 minutes to an hour (worst case scenario). You will likely walk through if you arrive around noon, and if later in the day you may have a wait. You will be given an exit form that MUST be turned back in when you leave Mexico. If you lose this form it will cost you $50 to get another one, so be sure to stash it someplace safe.
When you finish going through customs and picking up your bags, you will walk out some doors. Fyi: It will be a crowded and random scene! To get a taxi proceed down the hall to the RIGHT and stop at any of multiple booths that state they are “Authorized Taxi” booths. They will ask where you are going and you will tell them Condesa (or wherever) and then they will charge you a set rate to get a cab (around 260 pesos or 18 USD and credit card is fine); after taking the proffered ticket they will direct you outside (a little further down to the right) and you will hop in an authorized cab. Tipping is optional, not expected, and usually 5 to 10 percent is fine. (Fyi the rate for this authorized taxi will be higher than if you exit the airport, and take a taxi off the street — but until you get your Mexico City travel legs the authorized cab routine for this first leg of the trip will be less stressful.)
Mexico City has a really good subway system (plus it costs about 15 cents per trip!). There are several stations within walking distance of the recommended hotels in the Condesa. While many mainstream American guidebooks tell you not to use it we have taken it many times and never had any problems; you will likely be the only non- Latinos on the train but it provides a great opportunity to see regular folks going about their daily lives. Everyone was always very courteous to us when we asked questions and acted like bumbling Americanos. If you decide to take the subway, just buy 10 tickets at a time because once in a while you may confront a huge line to buy tickets.
Uber and taxis work great in Mexico City and are reasonably priced. Uber is wonderful because you don’t typically need to speak much, if any, Spanish. We usually have the inn or restaurant call a taxi for us as you settle the restaurant bill.
There are cash machines in the airport after you exit customs and pick up luggage. Also, if you stay in the Condesa, there are 4 or 5 cash machines within a block or two of Casa Decu and the Red Treehouse. Most places take credit cards but having some cash is handy. The hotel tax in Mexico City is high (19 percent) and some places don’t charge it if you pay cash, so you may find it helpful to ask your inn to settle your bill the night before and inquire about this issue so you can go to a cash machine and get cash if you want to save the tax cost. (Phrase it at your hotel as the following question: “Is there a discount for paying cash?”) And, we found it works better to leave some extra cash with the inn owners at the end of the stay to distribute to the staff; the housekeepers often didn’t pick up gratuities we left out for cleaning our rooms. These ladies work hard and are worthy of our thoughtfulness!
We strongly recommend you download “mobile passport” on your phone and use it when you re- enter the United States. Just follow the prompts to enter the data the application asks for. You enter your customs information on the plane and submit it once you land. This will allow you to go through a much shorter customs line and you won't have to manually fill out a customs form.
(https://www.cbp.gov/travel/us-citizens/mobile-passport-control )
Casa Decu and Red Tree house are fully booked.
Flow Suites - about 2 blocks away; newly remodeled hotel with a lift, a cute upstairs bar and terrace and interesting art in the foyer! Rooms are roomy and large.
Hotel Brick: for those who would like more luxury, this new small hotel is recommended located on the edge of the Roma district. Plus, we are having our Friday night reception there so it will be super convenient! A more expensive option though.
Both places are listed on booking.com with good photos to look at!
Jill & David Bride & Groom (duh!)
Jill's Family
Janee (Jill's sister & best woman) & Michael van Waes
(Janee & Michael's children, Jill's nieces & nephew)
Sara Shafii Stier & Tom Stier (Sara will be our officiant) & Ava
Ryan & Kiana van Waes
Ashley van Waes & Josh Koenig
Mariah van Waes & Sam Lindstrom
Lexie van Waes & Alec Krueger
Pat Tessier (Jill and Janee's aunt)
Neil Tessier (Pat's son) & Kristina Hoglund
Samantha (Jill's step daughter) & Max Jaeger
Dave's family
Stuart Clark (Dave's son)
Laura Clark (Stu's mother)
Barkley (Dave's brother) & Barbara Clark
(Barkley and Barb's sons / Dave's nephews)
Garrett Clark & Lisa Dresselhaus
Timothy Clark
Glen Clark (Dave's brother) & Peggy Lowe
(Glen's sons / Dave's nephews)
Kent & Heather Clark
Eric & Christl Clark
Friends who will be attending: Although we consider the following friends to us both, a "D" denotes that this was David's friend first and "J" for Jill's friends.
Scott (Dave's best man) & Diane Johnson (D)
Sherri Phillips (D)
Denise Oakland (D)
Jeff & Nikki Zalkind (D)
Lee & Leslie Hopkins (D)
Stu and Hilary Garrett (the culprits who brought Dave & Jill together)
Rand & Jane Marlis (D)
Diana Thomas (J)
Jim St Marie & Diana Parr (D)
Elizabeth Schleuning & Mark Long (J)
Allyson Krueger & Jeff Merrick (J)
Leslie Fields & Jeff Howard (J)
Gwen Dayton (J)
Hariett Cherry & John Leavens (J)
Kevin Reed & Maggie Morrisette (J)
Peter Livingston & George Eighmey (J)
Heather Cunningham (J)
Linda Miller & Peter Armstrong (J)
Denise Graves & Bob Giebler (J)
Kelly Walsh (J)
Kendra & Tom Biller & daughter Abbey (J)
Craig, Jorge & Alex (J)