Originally Posted by
M60_to_LGA
Great pictures of Santiago! Brings back memories - I was last there in 2008 when I spent around a month in the city (2 months total in Chile) during grad school. It's not the most exciting city in Latin America, certainly, but it has some nice things to offer, and it's an enjoyable place to spend some time.
Did you go to Valparaíso? (Or is that going to be in the next installment?)
Thanks! Unfortunately I didn't have the chance to visit Valparaíso, but I wish I did just looking at the pictures online. We were initially scheduled to only spend one day in Santiago with the other day being spent in Bogota, but ended up cutting out the day in Bogota due to the removal of lie flats on BOG-SCL (The plan was to take a red eye down and sleep on the flight) so Valparaíso didn't quite fit. With the added day I could have probably made it work, but at least I have a reason to go back now!
Originally Posted by
Harper50505
Great review. I hadn't realised Air Canada were still using their antique business class seats on long haul.
They weren't until around early December. C-GFAF, the sole XM aircraft, had been pulled out of service in Singapore presumably to get retrofitted a few months prior but ended up being put back into service with the old config for some reason. I'd avoid Air Canada A330s for the time being as it seems to fly TATL too.
Originally Posted by
JAXPax
Quite the itinerary so far!
Regarding the seatbelts in row 1 on your A320neo flight... that is not foam padding - it is an airbag that inflates based on a g-forces sensor in an aircraft accident. I could speak volumes on this (last airline I worked for had these, and unfortunately our wider seats at the front of the plane had them, so guests of larger size would buy the seat but you cannot use a seat belt extender with the airbag seatbelts).. but long story short, it's a relatively recent regulation (maybe a decade old) at least in the US and taken up by others to have these airbags installed in seats where you cannot adequately brace yourself in the recommended safe position (like square against a seat directly in front of you) or where your head is likely to hit a solid surface on impact. A lot of the pod-style business class seats have them, especially those angled away from facing directly forward, and bulkhead rows. My American A321 this morning had one in my row (first row of Main Cabin Extra behind the last row of First Class with the partial curtain "bulkhead"). Thus car seats, lap children, passengers with animals of any kind, etc., cannot sit there. It inflates up about as tall as the top of your head and anything in your lap would become a projectile.
Good to know--thanks! Now that you mention it, the Air Canada flights in business also had them, but they seemed to be significantly less intrusive on the lie flats. I guess its yet another reason to try to avoid bulkhead seats going forward...