Anyone flown Azul to/from MCO/FLL?
Dec 9, 2014, 7:21 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: GVA
Programs: BA Silver (OW Sapphire), A3 Gold (*G), Bonvoy LTTE, HHonors Diamond, LeClubAccor Silver, UA Silver
Posts: 1,777
You can find a TR on their blog (in portuguese) here:
http://blog.voeazul.com.br/ultimas/f...t-azul-ad9652/
http://blog.voeazul.com.br/ultimas/f...t-azul-ad9652/
Dec 18, 2014, 10:50 am
#4
Join Date: Jan 2012
Location: Iowa City, IA
Posts: 337
On December 4th I flew from FLL-VCP-SDU as part of the $200 one way flights to Brazil. Actually funny I am reading this as I just had to call Citi last night and dispute an Azul charge, but I digress.
My experience: This is the first time flying out of the USA where I actually felt like I was already in a foreign country. I showed up to check-in for my flight about 4 hours early, and of course no one was at the desk. Lined up were the classic Brazilian air travelers sitting on an average of 3 giant bags each. Luckily I only waited for for about 15 minutes before they came and opened the counter. Finally got to the counter and you could tell the workers were new and for the most part clueless. Their English was beyond limited but they had "supervisors" hanging around which actually looked like trainers. I didn't ask but I think they might have brought them in from Brazil as they had accents and knew all of the intricacies of the system. Luckily they spoke English pretty well. I think they were actually just surprised to see an American checking in.
I handed over my passport and itinerary, and there was a lot of typing, clicking, and pointing at the computer screen. This made me nervous as the people going through the counter next to me seemed to be turning over quickly. Finally the supervisor asked who paid for my flight. I told her I had. She stated that I had paid before Azul could accept American credit cards & she would have to charge me again. I asked her if I was sure because I had seen the charge on my statement. She assured me it had been refunded. I think the issue was that I booked the ticket on Azul's Brazil website instead of the American one. She charged my card at a POS terminal there, for about $2 less than what I had paid originally. They also rebooked my 2nd flight saying my connection would be too tight. I thought this was odd that they would let me book it to begin with, but I guess its better than missing your flight and having to deal with the airline in a foreign country. Connection was an hour and a half, which I thought it was fine, and I would have made it, but I guess better safe than sorry. I got my ticket & was on my way, to a bar. Side note: The original ticket charge was not refunded hence my call to Citi.
Going through security made me lose all faith in the TSA at FLL. Its not like you expect much but its obvious they have pretty lax standards. My whole boarding pass was in Portuguese and very confusing compared to a normal US pass. Well the guy looks at it, circles some stuff, then lets me through, as I walk, he yells hey wait, show your pass to the other guy (other guy sitting at the podium). He looks at it and says, oh this is what those new airline boarding passes look like? Weird! I have never seen one of these before! Makes you wonder how easy it is to get through security.
As for the flight itself, pretty standard stuff. In flight entertainment had a pretty crappy screen (small & no touch screen) & very limited selection but it wasn't too bad. Seats didn't seem any different than other planes and it was pretty empty. I was in the middle row of 4 with me on one side, another passenger on the other, and 2 empty seats. Unfortunately the guy decided to use those 3 seats as a bed and put his feet next to me, in retrospect I guess that is better than his head being there haha. The flight attendants all spoke to me in Portuguese but when I asked Voce fala ingles? They all spoke English to me with no problems. It was actually funny hearing them talk to literally every single person in Portuguese then coming to me and explaining the options. I had to be one of the only Americans on board.
Free wine from Argentina, and the flight attendant took the time to explain how good it was. I would have to concur. Drinking it at home it would have been good, but compared to wine on other flights, this stuff was mind blowing. Food was about how you would expect, just normal. In the morning they brought around coffee and on the cart I noticed a bottle of liquor. I asked what it was but she didn't know the English translation. I asked if people mix it in their coffee, and she hesitated and said, well you can. So of course I said go ahead and pour some in. She gave it to me on the side and told me to try it first and if I liked it, I could mix it in. I took a sip, tasted fruity, and dumped it in. Terrible idea, but I still finished my coffee. I think it was sambuca which I am pretty sure you are supposed to drink after your coffee. I also want to mention that the drink and food carts said US Airways on them. Not sure if they bought the plane or just equipment from US.
Landing in VCP was uneventful, I had to recheck my bags and go to a different terminal which required a crazy bus ride. The Azul workers spoke English to me and helped me out. Getting to the bus was confusing so they pointed me in the right way and said just get on the bus that shows up. No reflection on Azul but the bus I got on started driving to the parking lots, and getting on ramps to other roads. I thought for sure I had gotten on the wrong bus and was headed into town. Luckily it took me to the other terminal eventually. 2nd flight had free directv on it.
All in all, it was a good experience. You can tell this is a straight up Brazilian airline but I think they did a pretty good job of welcoming an American with limited Portuguese when the vast majority of their clientele is Brazilian. Compare this to the United Flight I took back to the US where the attendants did absolutely nothing to welcome the Brazilians who had trouble with English. Using slang, speaking fast, absolutely unbelievable. Combine that was $7 beers that they acted like it was a hassle to serve and the rudeness I encountered when asking for a pen. I live in Iowa so it will be hard to take many Azul flights but in all honesty, I would fly Azul over United any day of the week. Azul workers seem to actually enjoy their jobs instead of dragging themselves through life for a paycheck. Sorry this is rambling, let me know if you have any questions!
My experience: This is the first time flying out of the USA where I actually felt like I was already in a foreign country. I showed up to check-in for my flight about 4 hours early, and of course no one was at the desk. Lined up were the classic Brazilian air travelers sitting on an average of 3 giant bags each. Luckily I only waited for for about 15 minutes before they came and opened the counter. Finally got to the counter and you could tell the workers were new and for the most part clueless. Their English was beyond limited but they had "supervisors" hanging around which actually looked like trainers. I didn't ask but I think they might have brought them in from Brazil as they had accents and knew all of the intricacies of the system. Luckily they spoke English pretty well. I think they were actually just surprised to see an American checking in.
I handed over my passport and itinerary, and there was a lot of typing, clicking, and pointing at the computer screen. This made me nervous as the people going through the counter next to me seemed to be turning over quickly. Finally the supervisor asked who paid for my flight. I told her I had. She stated that I had paid before Azul could accept American credit cards & she would have to charge me again. I asked her if I was sure because I had seen the charge on my statement. She assured me it had been refunded. I think the issue was that I booked the ticket on Azul's Brazil website instead of the American one. She charged my card at a POS terminal there, for about $2 less than what I had paid originally. They also rebooked my 2nd flight saying my connection would be too tight. I thought this was odd that they would let me book it to begin with, but I guess its better than missing your flight and having to deal with the airline in a foreign country. Connection was an hour and a half, which I thought it was fine, and I would have made it, but I guess better safe than sorry. I got my ticket & was on my way, to a bar. Side note: The original ticket charge was not refunded hence my call to Citi.
Going through security made me lose all faith in the TSA at FLL. Its not like you expect much but its obvious they have pretty lax standards. My whole boarding pass was in Portuguese and very confusing compared to a normal US pass. Well the guy looks at it, circles some stuff, then lets me through, as I walk, he yells hey wait, show your pass to the other guy (other guy sitting at the podium). He looks at it and says, oh this is what those new airline boarding passes look like? Weird! I have never seen one of these before! Makes you wonder how easy it is to get through security.
As for the flight itself, pretty standard stuff. In flight entertainment had a pretty crappy screen (small & no touch screen) & very limited selection but it wasn't too bad. Seats didn't seem any different than other planes and it was pretty empty. I was in the middle row of 4 with me on one side, another passenger on the other, and 2 empty seats. Unfortunately the guy decided to use those 3 seats as a bed and put his feet next to me, in retrospect I guess that is better than his head being there haha. The flight attendants all spoke to me in Portuguese but when I asked Voce fala ingles? They all spoke English to me with no problems. It was actually funny hearing them talk to literally every single person in Portuguese then coming to me and explaining the options. I had to be one of the only Americans on board.
Free wine from Argentina, and the flight attendant took the time to explain how good it was. I would have to concur. Drinking it at home it would have been good, but compared to wine on other flights, this stuff was mind blowing. Food was about how you would expect, just normal. In the morning they brought around coffee and on the cart I noticed a bottle of liquor. I asked what it was but she didn't know the English translation. I asked if people mix it in their coffee, and she hesitated and said, well you can. So of course I said go ahead and pour some in. She gave it to me on the side and told me to try it first and if I liked it, I could mix it in. I took a sip, tasted fruity, and dumped it in. Terrible idea, but I still finished my coffee. I think it was sambuca which I am pretty sure you are supposed to drink after your coffee. I also want to mention that the drink and food carts said US Airways on them. Not sure if they bought the plane or just equipment from US.
Landing in VCP was uneventful, I had to recheck my bags and go to a different terminal which required a crazy bus ride. The Azul workers spoke English to me and helped me out. Getting to the bus was confusing so they pointed me in the right way and said just get on the bus that shows up. No reflection on Azul but the bus I got on started driving to the parking lots, and getting on ramps to other roads. I thought for sure I had gotten on the wrong bus and was headed into town. Luckily it took me to the other terminal eventually. 2nd flight had free directv on it.
All in all, it was a good experience. You can tell this is a straight up Brazilian airline but I think they did a pretty good job of welcoming an American with limited Portuguese when the vast majority of their clientele is Brazilian. Compare this to the United Flight I took back to the US where the attendants did absolutely nothing to welcome the Brazilians who had trouble with English. Using slang, speaking fast, absolutely unbelievable. Combine that was $7 beers that they acted like it was a hassle to serve and the rudeness I encountered when asking for a pen. I live in Iowa so it will be hard to take many Azul flights but in all honesty, I would fly Azul over United any day of the week. Azul workers seem to actually enjoy their jobs instead of dragging themselves through life for a paycheck. Sorry this is rambling, let me know if you have any questions!
Jan 5, 2015, 8:20 am
#6
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Here
Posts: 44
Thanks, nsummy. I'll briefly add my experience from MCO to VCP, much the same experience as you describe.
Check-in was slow as everyone that approaches the counter seems to have to recap several months of their life with the attendant, but if you know Brazil you're used to that. Entertainment was hit or miss, two of the four units in my (center) row were not working.... on the return I had to switch earphones with my wife as the inputs were crossed (my side was connected to her screen and vice versa). FAs were very pleasant and attentive. Food was pretty good, though service was slow. I think once they work out the kinks it will be better.
Entering via VCP was much more pleasant than GRU or GIG, in my opinion. As mentioned above, needed to take bus for connection. Signage is non-existent. Returning was even more confusing. After deplaning at the domestic terminal there is signs to direct for "Azul Connections" but that is domestic connections only. For international you have to exit to where the cabs stand and take (i.e. find) the bus, which is not marked very well.
Overall positive experience.
P.S. They served Cointreau with the coffee on my flights.
Check-in was slow as everyone that approaches the counter seems to have to recap several months of their life with the attendant, but if you know Brazil you're used to that. Entertainment was hit or miss, two of the four units in my (center) row were not working.... on the return I had to switch earphones with my wife as the inputs were crossed (my side was connected to her screen and vice versa). FAs were very pleasant and attentive. Food was pretty good, though service was slow. I think once they work out the kinks it will be better.
Entering via VCP was much more pleasant than GRU or GIG, in my opinion. As mentioned above, needed to take bus for connection. Signage is non-existent. Returning was even more confusing. After deplaning at the domestic terminal there is signs to direct for "Azul Connections" but that is domestic connections only. For international you have to exit to where the cabs stand and take (i.e. find) the bus, which is not marked very well.
Overall positive experience.
P.S. They served Cointreau with the coffee on my flights.
Last edited by biostatistician; Jan 5, 2015 at 8:21 am Reason: added info