Lan from SFO - La Segunda Vuelta

After my last trip - the inaugural SFO/LIM flight, with uninspired service on the outbound followed by an all-night delay on the connection, and a cancellation and reroute on the return, the paranoia started to set in several days prior to departure. Finally, the day arrived, and armed with my 7 day free Park SFO coupon, my ticket receipt, my itinerary, my passport, and all the other accoutrement, including a large roll of Reyonlds Wrap, possibly my most important and valuable import to date into Argentina.

I awaited the worst of the AM commute before driving to the airport. There remained some tacos on the way to the Bay Bridge, but all in all, not too bad of a drive.

The LAN check-in line for the Clase Basura was already lengthy about 2.5 hours before the flight, but the line for special people was non-existent. Check-in was quick and polite, and the check-in agent recognized me as an MVPG on Alaska. We had a quick chat, and I was pleased to learn that this route is doing well. I then went through security to the BA lounge, my new pre-departure home after years @ LAX lounges. The BA lounge, while a pleasant space, is really uninspired in its food and beverage offerings. On the last trip, the only "real food" (i.e., non-chips, etc.) consisted of some dim sum and soup, as a CX flight departs at a similar time. This time, when I went to the food (about 10:30AM), the lounge attendant asked me "what airline are you flying?" I told him LAN, at which point I was admonished not to eat the CX food, and that LAN food would be at the other counter. "When?" "At 11:00." Weak.

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After some marginal wine, chips, a bloody mary, etc, little sandwich bits came out. LAN, you can do better in this lounge.

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Finally, boarding time. The boarding door from the lounge has apparently been broken for awhile, and so the trip to the gate was a couple of minutes. I could tell the flight was going to be good as soon as I boarded. The crew seemed inspired and pleasant. LAN doesn't have a license to open liquor on the ground @ SFO, and also, doesn't do a beverage service prior to the meal service, unless you ask. Last time, I asked, and they brought my champagne exactly at the same time as my wine and the meal. This time, I had 2 glasses of champagne before the cart even came out. Several people around me also had beverages. I hope they start a pre-meal beverage service one of these days as a regular thing.

The starter tray came out and was nice (the picture quality is poor on some of them - sorry). The main course, while a bit cold, was also tasty - lamb and gnocchi. The cheese (which I usually take off the starter tray and eat after the meal) was particularly good on this trip.

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Finally, the dessert was as you see. There were 3 dessert choices.

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The wine list was particularly nice this time - The Roderer bubbles, 2 whites (1 chileno, 1 argentino), and 3 reds (2 chileno, 1 argentino). I then had the pre-LIM arrival snack, which I picked at a bit, and then sent to a better afterlife. LIM arrival was timely, time to get some water in the Salon VIP (SUMAQ), and then off to my timely flight to EZE.

Unlike the nice flights to SCL in the madrugada, where a full breakfast is served prior to SCL arrival, EZE service consists of the post-departure snack with 2 sandwich types, and dessert. My attempts at a snooze were mostly a failure, and I was looking to get into EZE early, based upon the projected arrival time on the airshow. At -34 minutes, I went to the loo, and a few minutes later, returned to see the plane flying the opposite direction on the airshow map. My first thought was morning fog @ EZE and we're going to COR. This happened to me over a decade ago, with two hours on the ground @ COR. Still, no announcement, and then the plane looped back toward EZE. Still no announcement, and the plane looped back in the opposite direction, following the same circle. At the back end of the second circle, finally an announcement of "good news, there was fog, blah blah, the airport was closed, but now it was open." The eventual arrival was only a few minutes after the originally-scheduled time. After a quick pass through immigration, it was off to once again discover that my LAN priority tags are merely decorative @ EZE.

Taxi rates were up once again @ EZE since July, and that is just how things are these days. The ride inbound was running smoothly for awhile, until I caught up with the bad tacos of the morning commute. The taxista was clearly confused with the streets in my 'hood, but it wasn't like a meter was running, and he only went a handful of blocks out of the way.

Between the Argentina census, where the entire country shut down for a day, and the President's husband kicking the bucket, it was an odd and serene week in the Capital.