Trip report EZE-SCL-IPC (Easter Island) LA420/833 August 5th 2001

I was actually originally booked on Lan Chile 440, which left EZE at 12:05. However, when I arrived at the airport at 11:20, I was told that my flight was cancelled, and I was put on LA420 which left at 11:45! My original flight was on a 737, which only had Business and coach. However, LA440 was on a 767, so it had First class on it. I asked if I could be put on First class, since my ticket was a First class ticket. At first, she told me that my ticket was a Business class ticket, but then when I pointed out that it was a First class RTW, she told me that they didn't have enough food in First, so she can't put me there. Hmm... I think she was just lazy and didn't want to bother with changing my booking, but I wasn't going to argue since time was running out. I rushed to the gate and went through security as fast as I can, but my heart sunk when I saw the immigration area. There were over 200 people snaking along a long line, with only 4 immigration officers. I had only about 10 minutes before the flight's scheduled departure time. As an official was walking by, I asked him if I can jump the queue since my flight as leaving very soon. I didn't speak much Spanish, and he didn't speak any English, so I just showed him my boarding pass and he took a look and said he was going to find a Lan Chile rep for me. Of course, he never came back and I was left stuck in line. The line took about 20 minutes to get through, and by the time I was through immigration, it was already 11:50. I rushed to the gate praying that the plane was still there, and to my relief, it was still at the gate! I was the last to get on the plane and the doors closed after me. Maybe the official did manage to talk to a Lan Chile rep and they held the plane for me. Oh well, I would never know.

Anyways, the last time I took Lan Chile was about 3 years ago with my family going from SCL to IPC on the same type of plane. I don't remember it being so comfortable back then. The seats were quite comfortable, but the shocking thing was that the recline and leg-rest were electric controlled! How often do you see that for Business class? Also, there was lumber support plus personal TV. Not a regular personal TV, it was one of the touch screen ones! I'm impressed! My seat was 8J, which was quite far back, and only had one window. I was actually seated the furthest back out of the 7 Business class passengers there. Each seat also had a pillow and a blanket on them, which kind of surprised me since it was such a short flight.

Business class cabin

When I sat down, a flight attendant asked me if I wanted a pre-departure drink and newspapers. I asked for ginger ale, but unfortunately the only had coke and sprite, so I asked for orange juice instead. Nuts were also served with the drink, which I thought was quite strange, since we haven't even taken off yet. Cathay does the same as well, but I personally prefer them to serve it with drinks after takeoff. When the drink came, I was pleasantly surprised that it was served in a real glass, not some plastic one.

Real glass for pre-departure drinks!

We sat around the gate area for about 20 minutes before we pushed back. Takeoff was at 12:10, and we were told the flight was going to be an hour and 50 minutes. Soon after takeoff, a hot snack was served. It was more or less like a light lunch, and I felt it would be more appropriate calling it that. But anyways, here's the menu for the "snack" today:

HOT SNACK
To Start our Snack
Champagne 'Henriot Brut Souverain'

Fresh Salad
Lettuce, avocado and Roquefort cheese

From the Bakery
Choose your selection from our variety of warm breads

As the Main Entrée, We Offer:
Mustard Port Loin
Pork loin served with a mustard sauce; accompanied with sautéed potatoes with apples and leeks

Our Dessert
Almond meringue served with chocolate sauce

Freshly brewed gourmet or instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal teas

Liqueurs - Chocolate

Wines
Chardonnay de Martino Reserva de familia 1997
Grande Vidure, Cabernet sauvignon Carmen 1998
Sauvignon Blanc Porta 200
Cabernet Sauvignon Carmen Nativa 1998
Merlot Single Vineyard 1999

There were actually a lot of spelling mistakes on the menu, but I guess they did a pretty good job with it anyways. I kind of forgot to take a picture of the meal until I was halfway through with it, so I hope you guys don't mind seeing how messy I eat.

The "snack"

I'm impressed that they gave out linens and hot towels before the snack, unlike some domestic flights in the US. However, I never got the champagne thing to start my snack, and I wonder what it was supposed to be. As I don't eat avocado or strong cheeses, you can see I left all that in the salad bowl. The dressing was actually quite interesting, as it was a little bottle with olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette in it. Never seen a dressing premixed like that before. The entrée was surprisingly good, even though it doesn't look that appetizing. But I thought the sauce on it was more like a cream sauce than a mustard sauce. I couldn't taste a single hint of mustard in it. For the dessert, I thought at first it was a mashed up goo, since it looked like it. But after reading the menu again and trying it, the white stuff was actually the meringue. Underneath a mush of almond stuff which really was quite tasty. I also didn't get any chocolates at the end of the meal, as they cleared off my tray and linen right after I finished my dessert. I guess they were in a hurry to clear everything away.

For the next half an hour, I was playing around with the controls of the seat, and found that the seat actually nearly reclined to a flat position. Well, not really that flat, but enough for the person in front of you to be literally sleeping on your lap! Here's a picture of someone else reclining, but it can actually go further than that!

Recline of seat

About 20 minutes prior to landing, I snapped some pictures of the Andes as we were flying over them:

Nice picture of The Andes

We landed in Santiago at 13:15, and taxied at one of the furthest gates. A very strange sight I saw when we were taxiing was a United 757 plane one of the remote gates. I thought that United only flew 767 to Santiago and was quite puzzled with it. I wanted to take some pictures of it, but I had put my camera back in my backpack in the overhead bin already. Any idea what it was doing there? When the plane stopped, the Flight attendants all jumped up and closed all the curtains between the cabins. Only until everyone from the cabin in front disembarked, were the next cabin allowed to get off. Anyways, I headed through immigration and customs, and then back up through the terminal again. The Easter Island flight departs from the international terminal, so I had to go through passport control again. The official just looked at my boarding pass and passport and waved me through. I headed to the Lan Chile lounge, which was next to the RCC. As I went in, the agent there suggested that I head down some more to check out their new lounge between gates 19 and 20, as it was much larger. When I arrived in the lounge, there was only one agent, and I was the only passenger in there. The lounge was huge, and it was quite nicely decorated. It sort of resembled the SAS lounges with the use of wood and sleek design. Very nice. I found a workstation space at the far end and settled down to do some work. The area was quite nice, and each cubicle was equipped with a Compaq computer with broadband connection.

Lan Chile VIP lounge

The other side of the lounge

Workstation area

I did some work and walked around the lounge a little bit. A few other people came in, but overall, it was still quite empty. The food selection however, was a lot better than the Admiral club in JFK, and had a selection of fruits, sandwiches, cakes and biscuits. The drink selection wasn't that good though, with some juices and very few soft drinks. It did have an abundant supply of alcohol though, but I didn't touch any of it, as it was still too early. My flight to Easter Island was at 16:40, so I had about 3 hours to spare. I walked around some of the duty free stores and also went into the RCC just for the hell of it to check out what snacks they had (They had none since it was still many hours away from the United flight). When I got back to the lounge, more people had arrived and there were actually a few screaming kids around. At this time, I checked out the bathroom and also their shower facilities. The shower rooms were locked, and you had to ask one of the agents for a key, so I didn't bother since I didn't need a shower. The bathrooms were immaculately clean. Probably one of the cleanest bathrooms I've ever seen! It was very well lit and I am quite impressed. I worked some more in my cubicle and finally headed to the departure gate at about 16:10.

Departure time was at 16:40, and I was surprised that boarding had already begun and I was actually one of the last ones to get on. It was actually the same gate that we just came in from and I presume it's also the same plane as the flight from EZE, unless they turned that flight around quick enough and stick in another 767. My seat was in 1J, and I normally hate sitting in the bulkhead, but I didn't really have a choice on this flight. First class was only 1 row, and the cabin had a total of 5 seats! The seats were actually very alike the Business class ones, except a little wider and could also turn into a full flat bed. Also, in the middle of the cabin was a huge 20" LCD screen as opposed to the old projector in Business class! As soon as I took my seat, a flight attendant came and checked my boarding pass, just to make sure I'm really a First class passenger (If you guys haven't figured it out, I really don't look anything like a first class passenger as all my friends would say). There were a total of 4 passengers in F class, and I got the seat next to me empty.

One row for F class!

Huge 20" LCD screen!

Before takeoff, pre-departure drinks and warm nuts were offered, and I was glad that they stocked ginger ale on board. Anyways, I also asked for a pillow as I didn't see any around. The FA got a large white pillow out from the closet and handed it to me. Wow, it's easily one of the nicest pillows I've seen. It's not like a normal pillow as in it was square shape, but it's even more comfortable than the AA flagship pillows! I contemplated on "borrowing" one off the plane, but I didn't have enough space on my carryon to hide it. Hehe… Anyways, the doors closed exactly on time at 16:40, and we pushed back not long afterwards. After taking off, the captain came on the PA and told us that we would be going through some turbulence. Flight time was 5 hours 30 minutes, and we would be cruising at 33,000 feet. It always had amazed me how a 2 engine plane can fly so far, when the whole flight will be over the open ocean. If you guys didn't know, Easter Island is actually the most remote piece of inhabited island in the world. It's about 3000 miles from any other inhabitable place, making it the most isolated place in the world. Thus, if we even had a problem, we could very well be 1500 miles from the closest runway.

Anyways, shortly after takeoff, the purser came around to introduce herself, and gave me a dinner menu plus a wine menu. The wine menu cover had a very nice design, made entirely out of cork. I asked her to make me my ginger ale white wine drink, and it took a while before I got through to her that I wanted to wine and ginger ale to be mixed and not separate. Also, I found out that there were 2 FAs serving the F cabin, which was more than enough for 4 people!

Shortly, she brought my drink around, and asked which of the choices I wanted for my dinner. The dinner was an à la carte style, and I could order whatever on it. The menu was as follows:

DINNER
Appetizer Cart
Enjoy our variety of appetizers together with your choice of Champagne or Vodka
Hors D'Oeuvres
Magellan king crab
Jumbo shrimp with herbs wrapped in proscuitto ham
"Aji de Gallina", spicy chicken casserole, served in individual clay pots

Champagne and Vodka
Champagne Taittinger, Comtes de Champagne
Chardonnay and Merlot wines

À La Carte Service
Cold Dishes
Fresh Garden Salad
A variety of salad greens with tomatoes, hearts of palm and black olives, served with olive oil and balsamic vinegar

Duo of Salmon Timbal
Smoked and fresh salmon presented in a timbale with diced cucumber with yogurt, topped with black olive tapénade

Polenta and Serrano Ham
Sautéed polenta with warm Mozzarella cheese, Serrano ham and arugula, served with sautéed fresh tomatoes

Warm Dishes
Simply Delicious
Creamy vegetable soup topped with grated Parmesan cheese

Grilled Filet of Beef
Grilled filet with an 'humitas' sauce au gratin, served with sautéed asparagus and roasted tomatoes with pine nuts
'Humitas' is a traditional Chilean ground corn preparation

Seabass with a Nutmix Crust
Baked seabass with a mixed nuts crust, topped with basil pesto, served with a basil and watercress purée. This is today's light choice.

Chicken Breast with Risotto
Pan fried chicken breast served with a creamy saffron risotto and topped with grated Parmesan cheese

Goat Cheese Gnocci
Goat cheese gnocci served with sautéed shrimp, green asparagus and topped with a sun-dried tomato sauce

From the Bakery
Variety of warm breads, crackers and grissini

Cheese and Fruit
A selection of cheese served with grapes or dried fruit, Pumpernickel bread and crackers
Assortment of fresh seasonal fruit

Our Dessert
Crème Renversée au Sauternes
'Inverted' caramelized baked custard with Satuernes wine, topped with caramel sauce, toasted almonds and baked apple chips

Refreshing
Sweet milk and almond praline ice cream, served with chocolate sauce

Coffee and Tea
Freshly brewed gourmet or instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal teas

Open Bar and Chocolates
Ask for your favorite drink from our bar menu.
Chocolates

Wines
Champagne Taittinger - Comtes de Champange Blanc de Blancs 1995
Viña Et. Principle - Valle del Maipo
Viña Montes - Valle de Curicó
Viña Undurraga - Valle del Maipo
Viña de Martino - Valle de Casablanca
Viña Concha Y Toro - Valle del Maipo
Viña Porta - Valle de Cachapoal
Viña Valdivieso - Valle Central
Viña Veramonte - Valle de Casablanc

The appetizer was going to be served all together soon, but I choose my courses to be served about an hour later, since I wasn't that hungry. I picked the Salmon Timbal, the soup and the chicken. Shortly, the purser came around with the appetizer cart, and I asked her to give me a bit of everything, since it all looked so good.

Appetizer

I ended up getting a claw from the Alaskan king crab, one shrimp and also a pot of the chicken casserole. All the items were nicely put onto the plate, as you can see, and they were all fantastic. The best tasting dish was the chicken casserole, so good in fact I asked for seconds. It's hard to describe, but it's like shredded chicken in a spicy cream sauce, topped with nuts. I had a glass of the Taittinger to go with the appetizer and I think it went quite well with it. After my second pot of chicken casserole was done, I went back to work while the other 3 passengers finished their meal. After they were done, about an hour later, I asked for my meal to be served.

My table was laid again, and I got a nice little basket of warm bread. The first dish that came was the Salmon Timbal. The presentation was excellent and it looked exactly like a dish coming out of a restaurant. The taste was also quite good, but I'm not a big raw fish eater, so just one plate was enough for me. The cucumbers gave the dish a tangy taste, and the olive oil around was a nice compliment as well. The soup came next and there was a lot of parmesan cheese on top. I thought that this wasn't necessary, as the soup itself was quite tasty already. It was actually a broccoli/squash soup with a bit of chopped up vegetables mixed into it. Next dish was the chicken breast. Although the presentation was also excellent, the quality fell behind all the other dishes I had. Both the chicken and the risotto was a little on the dry side, and I had a feeling that it was because I let them keep it in the heater for so long. Even so, I've come to believe that a lot of airlines have excellent appetizer and cold dishes, but terrible entrees. I think it's the fact that anything that is reheated will loose out on the original taste and texture. It just can't be helped. Maybe they could implement some sort of kitchen on the planes where the dishes can be cooked right there? Hehe… Just a random thought. After the dinner was over, the purser asked me if I wanted dessert. I was quite full, so I opted to have some later. In the meantime, she gave me a bunch of chocolates to nibble on.

Salmon Timbal

The soup

Chicken main course!

I watched their in-flight movie for a little while, as most of the stuff on the PTV was in Spanish or not worth watching. Their in-flight movie was "See Spot Run" which was quite entertaining. About halfway through the movie, I asked for the dessert. I had the baked custard first, which was again nicely presented, and then the ice-cream afterwards. The custard was exactly like a crème brulée, except that the alcohol taste in it was quite strong. The apple crisps on top were a nice touch. The ice cream had sort of half melted away when I had it, and it was very rich and creamy.

Baked custard…

… and the ice-cream

After all that food, I put the bed down into the full flat position and took a short nap. The flight attendants also turned off the lights after I finished my last dish, and all the passengers in the F cabin took a nap as well. I slept for about 2 hours and I was awoken by the lights turning on, and the captain announcing that we were on our way into Easter Island. We landed at the airport at about 20:30, just a little behind schedule. Since there were only 2 landings a week to Easter Island, one from Santiago and the other from Tahiti, naturally we were the only plane there. The plane stopped about 100 meters from the terminal, and a moveable stair was placed next to the plane. It took a little while, and we all disembarked. The passengers continuing onto Tahiti were asked to disembark as well and wait in the transit area.

Seat in full flat position

An interesting fact about the runway which I read a few years ago on my first visit to Easter Island was that the runway was the longest civil runway in the world. I think it is about 5 miles long if I remember correctly, and the extra length is used for the space shuttle in case of an emergency landing in the South Pacific. Anyways, the terminal was nothing to brag about, exactly like an island airport with minimal facilities. Also, we were not allowed out of the baggage claim area until most people had picked up their luggage. Upon doing so, the doors were opened and we were let out to the waiting greeters and hotel cars. Since the same flight continues on to Tahiti, in case you guys are interested, at the end of the report is the menu from Easter Island to Tahiti. Overall, I'm VERY impressed with Lan Chile's First class service. Even though it was a bit strange to sit in a one row F class cabin, and the seats were a tad bit old, the seat comfort, service and food were excellent in every respect. I never expected it to be so good, and it is definitely on par with the standards of other OneWorld airlines. I'm already looking forward to my trip back to Santiago tomorrow.

COLD SNACK
To Begin Our Snack
Foie Gras
Truffled foie gras from Périgord, served with Melba toast

Champagne
Champagne Taittinger 'Comtes de Champagne'

As the Main Entrée, We Offer
Fresh Garden Salad
A variety of lettuce served with a creamy dressing

From The Sea
Marinated shrimp accompanied by a tomato salad

Cold Cuts
Pork loin with mustard seeds and roast beef with barbecue sauce, served with a red bell pepper and mushroom julienne

From the Bakery
Choose your own selection from our variety of warm breads and crackers

Cheese and Fruit
A selection of cheese accompanied by a quince jelly and Pumpernickel bread
Assortment of fresh seasonal fruit

Dessert
Mango Delight
Mango tart with cookies and cream, served with a mango coulis

Coffee and Tea
Freshly brewed gourmet or instant coffee, decaffeinated coffee, tea or herbal teas

Liqueurs - Chocolates