LAN LANPASS - LAN carry on and seating questions

Hi, we are flying LAN for the first time in late April - business class from JFK - SCL - IPC- SCL - MIA.
First, we are booked in 5A and 5C on the JFK-SCL leg. I have read that being in the last row of business class opens us up to possibly being moved back to economy if there is a plane change. I can still pick rows 2-4 in the middle seats at this time - should I switch seats? I was hoping to see the mountains as the sun comes up - but perhaps on our side of the plane we wouldn't anyway?
On the return flight to MIA - which side is best?

Second, how strict is LAN on the size of carry-on? My current bag is 22 inches long - LAN has their retriction at 55 cm - which converts to 21.7 inches. I had a bad experience on Iberia where they checked my carry-on(even though I had met all of the measurements).

Thank you in advance!

I have never seen anyone in business class get hassled for the size of their carry on. Since they generally put anyone with a little kid in the last row, I try to avoid sitting there.

Hi, we are flying LAN for the first time in late April - business class from JFK - SCL - IPC- SCL - MIA.
First, we are booked in 5A and 5C on the JFK-SCL leg. I have read that being in the last row of business class opens us up to possibly being moved back to economy if there is a plane change. I can still pick rows 2-4 in the middle seats at this time - should I switch seats? I was hoping to see the mountains as the sun comes up - but perhaps on our side of the plane we wouldn't anyway?

On the return flight to MIA - which side is best?

The JFK-SCL nonstop is made by Lan while it's Lan Peru and Lan Ecuador that have removed two rows of J seats, but since they'll use whatever aircraft is available in the event of a problem, I would stick with booking into the first three rows of Business only.

david_33 makes a good point - the bassinet positions for economy are the first row of that cabin, and thus they put the potential screamers in Business in row 5 (that doesn't mean that their parents don't switch the seats after making the reservation, however).

If your approach is standard, the best morning views of the Andes are from the A/C side of the aircraft, although there are still good views from the other side. Your flight to MIA is probably leaving when it's light out, so the J/L side is best (don't freak out at take-off - usually it's to the south and then they bank to a northern heading).

Be sure to check sunrise information as compared to your arrival time - if you're on LA533 your arrival is scheduled at 6:55, and sunrise for the last half of April is between 7:05 and 7:16, so you may not have too much of a view, anyway (although LAN is known for delays - you might get lucky!).

One thing about the center D/H seats: I prefer them, since both have aisle access and you don't have to disturb/be disturbed by your seatmate when someone wants to get up. But then you have no window shade control.

You shouldn't have trouble with carry-ons as long as they get by security and the gate agent.

Have a good trip!

Thank you very much for the replies. The J,L seats on the return in rows 1-3 are already taken. Thanks for the heads up on the possible take-off to the south! Hopefully our A/C seats on the return will be ok. I did switch to the middle seats on the outbound - just in case.

I was on an EZE-LIM flight yesterday which flew into EZE with a normal 5 row business class, but turned around back to LIM with a switched 3 row cabin. I asked one of the FAs if he (they were all male, unfortunately), had ever seen anyone downgraded due to equipment change. He said he had never seen this happen personally, but had heard that every once in awhile it does. My feeling is that this occurs very rarely.

Here's a question for intra-Chile (domestic) carry on.

One of the tour operators I'm planning on traveling with insists that I can carry bottles of wine in a carry on bag into the aircraft.

When I called to set my seat assignments, the agent on the line said "no liquids in carry on".

Does anyone know for certain?

Here's a question for intra-Chile (domestic) carry on.

One of the tour operators I'm planning on traveling with insists that I can carry bottles of wine in a carry on bag into the aircraft.

When I called to set my seat assignments, the agent on the line said "no liquids in carry on".

Does anyone know for certain?

No problem, see post 8 in this thread:
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/lan-lanpass/1315993-lounge-access-scl-when-flying-easter-island.html

Flying IGR-AEP a couple years ago, LAN was adamant that I had to check my very normal-sized backpack for weight reasons. (This was just a knapsack, not a 'spend a week in the woods' type of pack!) They absolutely refused to budge.

Just for the record, my carry-on is also a 22 inch roller and I have never had a problem in J class.

Remember that the overhead bins in J are larger on the sides of the aisles and smaller in the center.

Remember that the overhead bins in J are larger on the sides of the aisles and smaller in the center.

On the older (retrofitted interior) 767s, the center bins are fairly small. On the new interiors, they are a lot larger. Same with the outside bins, but not as noticeable.