There really is no better airline to and within South America.
i can only agree... btw, on all routes in south america operated by a B767 there is still business class available. only on the smaller airbusses they discontinued business class.
Programs: AA EXP, Waiting for Taco Bell loylalty program
Posts: 133
Are all LAN 763s created equal?
Somewhat off topic, but Expertflyer seems to indicate that LA, LP, & 4M 763s each have 5 rows of Business class 2x2x2 seating. Are all of these configurations the same and have the same amenities, IFE, etc.? I ask because with the introduction of Premium Economy, I wondered if many intra SA routes now operate with a reconfigured "high density" business class 767.
Somewhat off topic, but Expertflyer seems to indicate that LA, LP, & 4M 763s each have 5 rows of Business class 2x2x2 seating. Are all of these configurations the same and have the same amenities, IFE, etc.? I ask because with the introduction of Premium Economy, I wondered if many intra SA routes now operate with a reconfigured "high density" business class 767.
Thanks.
There are no Premium Economy (I think we can just start calling it W class) seating arrangements on any 763 or 340 in the fleet. W is designed for narrow-body eurostyle front cabin service.
Just returned from quite a few flights around Peru and Equador with LAN, and spotted one (317?) fitted with the new Premium Economy - looks a lot better than the existing "Business" seats in these smaller aircraft.
Also travelled in the new Premium business in the 763 from LA-Lima return -very good seats, as mentioned in the 2-2-2 configuration, but staggered slightly across the cabin.
Just returned from quite a few flights around Peru and Equador with LAN, and spotted one (317?) fitted with the new Premium Economy - looks a lot better than the existing "Business" seats in these smaller aircraft.
Also travelled in the new Premium business in the 763 from LA-Lima return -very good seats, as mentioned in the 2-2-2 configuration, but staggered slightly across the cabin.
Did they lie flat? How long is the LIM-LAX leg - easy to sleep on?
Did they lie flat? How long is the LIM-LAX leg - easy to sleep on?
They lie almost flat - a few seats I've been in seem to have the legrest not come up all the way. They are quite comfortable - more if you put the duvet under you rather than over you (and I find the LAN planes generally warm, and it getting especially warm in the enclosed area around the head while lying down flat).
LIM/LAX is 8 hours, mas o menos. They do a brief snack/beverage service after takeoff, and then a full breakfast prior to LAX arrival.
Update in respect of my tickets I have, after much chasing up, been rebooked into premium economy.
1) DONE4 - no compensation for the invol downgrade. No options.
2) Other tickets - after much chasing up I have been given 2 options
a) Cancel for full refund (I had that right anyway with my fare basis)
b) Request a voucher for the difference between fare paid and current fare in the downgraded class. In my case this is less than $30 and not worth the paper it is written on. The request may or may not be approved. Good grief.
Customer service is sorely lacking. Each person I spoke with could only deal with a tiny bit of the process and required me to call another number to do the next step. I've lost count of the number of times I got no answer, or got cut off.
Looks like I need to find another airline to fly to & within South America.
Sorry, maybe I am missing something, but isn't this downgrade really a matter of LAN re-branding its intra South America services from "Business Express" to "Premium Economy"?
If the services, amenities, miles awarded (and even the price) remained the same, then why is compensation due?
They lie almost flat - a few seats I've been in seem to have the legrest not come up all the way. They are quite comfortable - more if you put the duvet under you rather than over you (and I find the LAN planes generally warm, and it getting especially warm in the enclosed area around the head while lying down flat).
LIM/LAX is 8 hours, mas o menos. They do a brief snack/beverage service after takeoff, and then a full breakfast prior to LAX arrival.
I thought that they were flat - at least they are flatter than the Qantas Skybed MkI. I found them very comfortable as a bed, once I had managed to have the seat unlocked from its frozen position, and had about 6 hour's sleep. Was in the middle front seat, where the only problem was the large LCD flight details screen remained on for some time, thus illuminating this area - you will need the eyeshades in these seats. The idea of the snack after take-off was great as I don't want a full meal at 2 am. The AVOD walks all over the Qantas system, the only problem being the excessive ads before each video.
Sorry, maybe I am missing something, but isn't this downgrade really a matter of LAN re-branding its intra South America services from "Business Express" to "Premium Economy"?
From what I saw and what the LAN magazine ads were showing, I would say that Premium Economy will be an improvement on the existing internal "Business Class" seats. Still not sure if the legroom is improved over Economy though.
From what I saw and what the LAN magazine ads were showing, I would say that Premium Economy will be an improvement on the existing internal "Business Class" seats. Still not sure if the legroom is improved over Economy though.
Their new W seats are basically Y seats. Their old narrowbody J seats were pretty comfortable and had more pitch/recline than the north american counterparts, but were getting pretty ratty.
Btw, TAM operates the B77W GRU-SCL in 3 class configuration.
Rgs,
hmmm, you cannot really compare TAM with LAN - TAM may be the major airline covering Brazil, but where are TAM services to Perú, Equador, Colombia, where are domestic flights within Chile, Argentinia, Perú, Equador, Colombia ...
Their new W seats are basically Y seats. Their old narrowbody J seats were pretty comfortable and had more pitch/recline than the north american counterparts, but were getting pretty ratty.
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I saw on many recent internal flights using LAN, the current business configuration was 3-3, whereas I thought that the new W class was 2-2, and the seat widths looked the same. So surely W has to be better than the existing business?
Please correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I saw on many recent internal flights using LAN, the current business configuration was 3-3, whereas I thought that the new W class was 2-2, and the seat widths looked the same. So surely W has to be better than the existing business?
"J" business was 2-2, W is 3-3 seats configured to 2-2, with Y pitch.
hmmm, you cannot really compare TAM with LAN - TAM may be the major airline covering Brazil, but where are TAM services to Perú, Equador, Colombia, where are domestic flights within Chile, Argentinia, Perú, Equador, Colombia ...
Well, considering Brazil is half of South America and TAM operates in Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay (TAM Mercosur's hub is ASU), Bolivia, Chile, Peru and Venezuela. (yes...TAM started GRU-LIM daily in November 08).
The only missing destination in South America are Ecuador and Colombia.
TAM network in Europe is MUCH bigger than LAN: MAD, FRA, CDG (3 daily), LHR, MXP, while in the US you have TAM flying to MIA (3 daily), ORD, JFK (19 weekly).
Also add all the codeshares with Star partners, plus TAM has full codeshare agreement with LAN...plus GRU hub network is just MUCH bigger than SCL...you cannot compare! GRU even has more OneWorld airlines than SCL. AA operates 7 daily flights out of GRU to MIA, DFW, JFK, plus you have IB (double daily), BA daily, and even JAL!
