Our trip here went very well. We got to DTW early to make sure we got Charlie settled on the plane. Our first dilemma of the day came when we were headed to the check in counter and realized that we had packed one too many suitcases. In Business Class we are able to check three bags per person for free. Somehow we packed seven bags and didn't even realize it. So, we decided that we would carry on one suitcase - no problem. After we checked in, we had to take Charlie to an area to have his carrier inspected by TSA. While we were waiting there, we were talking about how crazy we were to not realize that we packed seven suitcases, and I suddenly had a thought and asked Dave if there were any liquids in the bag we decided to carry on. He didn't know, so we opened the bag, and unfortunately there was two bottles of saline, one bottle of multi-purpose solution, and one mousse (all new and unopened). We ended up giving them to the gate agent and she was so happy. The TSA agent fell in love with Charlie. I had to take Charlie out of his carrier so he could inspect the inside of the carrier. After he inspected Charlie's carrier, he had to hold Charlie. After he put Charlie back in his carrier, he showed us pictures on his phone of his orange tabby.
Our flight was slightly delayed. We were just about to take off, when the plane headed back to the gate. There was a light flashing in the cockpit that needed to be checked. So, we went all the way back to just outside the gate, sat there for a few minutes, then returned to the runway and took off about 1/2 hour late. We arrived in Sao Paulo almost on time.
Charlie's first ever flight went very well. After we got on the plane, a flight attendant brought us the tag (like a luggage tag) for Charlie. As we were talking to her, we told her that we were concerned how he would be on the flight since it was his first time on a plane. A little while later she came back and said she had called down below to check on him, and she was told that he was just laying in his container watching what was going on around him. She assured us that he would be alright. When we arrived in Sao Paulo, we went through immigrations (thankfully short wait) and then headed to baggage pickup. As we were walking to the baggage belt, we saw Charlie's carrier on the belt!!! Dave ran and picked Charlie off the belt before he got too far. We expected him to be very upset, but he was just laying in his carrier. We gathered our bags and then had to go through customs. That was also thankfully quick. Most people go through the "nothing to declare" line which is always very long. Because of Charlie we had to go through the "something to declare" line, which was quite short. We had to put our bags through x-ray and Charlie's documents had to be verified.
After that, we met our driver and came to the hotel. After being released from his carrier (after17 hours), Charlie sniffed his way around the entire hotel room and then settled in.
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