SANTIAGO
My ultimate destination for the inbound portion of this award ticket is Iquique. At the time of booking, it seemed unfortunate that no award seats were available for the 8:00am departure from Santiago. The first flight available was the 5:00pm one-stopper and no amount of checking back with Alaska’s Partner desk ever changed that. Now however, my eleven hour layover allowed me an excellent opportunity to book a cheap room for the day and catch up on some much needed sleep.
I took a van from the airport into the city, asking to be dropped off amidst all the inexpensive hotels and hospedajes on Calle Londres, over by the Catholic University. My first stop was the Hotel Londres, an old city mansion that had been renovated to serve as a hotel. I stayed here on a couple of occasions back in the nineties and found it quite acceptable. It still has a nice marble staircase, beautiful wooden floors and a couple of ornate sitting rooms that now serve as a lounge/common area complete with overstuffed chairs, tables and shelves of books in both Spanish and English. Back in 1994, I could book a basic single room with bathroom down the hall for $7.00 USD. Today, the price for that same room has risen to $13.00. Unfortunately, I was informed that none of those rooms – nor any others – would be available until after 11:00am today. I needed to sleep now, so I thanked the receptionist for his time and headed across the street to an unnamed hostal that advertised inexpensive rooms via a sign on the front desk. I walked in and booked a room for $15.00 USD plus an extra 50 cents so that the proprietor could call and reserve me a van back to the airport at 3:00pm.
It’s worth noting here that a very inexpensive bus can take you from the airport to select stops in Santiago for just $1200.00 CLP or about $2.25 USD. I opted for the van service that will drop you off at most any address for $4000.00 or about $7.50 USD. Normally I would take the bus and walk the three or four blocks to Calle Londres but the van was faster and I wanted to get as much sleep as possible.
I awoke at 2:00pm having accomplished just that. A hot shower awaited, followed by coffee and toast in the dining room. As with most accommodations in Chile and Argentina, a basic continental breakfast is included in the price of the room. I thought it very nice of the proprietor to provide me with such despite the late time of day. My van arrived precisely at 3:00pm and I arrived back at the airport with plenty of time after check-in to enjoy coffee, cookies and an Internet connection in the tiny Salon VIP Pacific Club lounge.
March 29, 2007
Santiago to Iquique via ANF
LAN Chile Economy Class * Snack
737-200 CC-CVG Seat 4A
500p – 830p Flight Time: 1:46 / :39
Boeing’s 737-200 entered service in 1967 and over the next thirty years was commonly seen throughout U.S. and Canada, though many foreign airlines purchased it as well. Its production run ended in the early 1980s as Boeing began to introduce larger and/or more fuel efficient versions of the 737. However, throughout the Southern Hemisphere many 737-200s still soldier on to this day. I was thinking how similar this is to many US citizens who spend their prime years living in the northern part of the country, then move to the warmer southern locales for their final years.
During the seventies and eighties, I used to fly aboard 737-200s all the time with airlines like Western, Piedmont, Wien Air Alaska and Frontier. Not including today’s upcoming flights, I’ve logged two hundred seventy four 737-200 flights aboard twenty-eight airlines for a total of 141470 miles and 361 hours. on 732s. In the past six months, I’ve flown seven flights aboard 737-200s from Alaska and Aviacsa. Today I’ll add a couple more flights from LAN Chile and Sky Airline.
Awaiting me at Gate 21 was CC-CVG, a 737-291 originally built for Denver based Frontier Airlines back in 1982. A quick check of this aircraft’s history showed that it was originally registered with Frontier as N7357F. A quick check of my flight log showed that I’ve logged two flights on this same aircraft during its Frontier days. How nice to get reacquainted down here in Chile! What have you been up to all these years? Since leaving Frontier via the People Express/Continental buy out in 1986, this 737 wore Continental’s livery for two more years before an aircraft broker picked it up and resold it to LAN Chile in 1988. It has since been branded LAN Chile, LAN Peru, LAN Express and now finally wears a simple LAN Airlines livery.
This aircraft is only twenty-five years old and should have many years of quality service ahead of it.
This evening’s flight had an intermediate stop at Antofagasta before continuing on up to Iquique. By the time the door had been closed, ever last seat was taken and there may have even been some standbys left behind in the gate lounge. As we taxied out to the runway, I counted an even dozen different 737-200s wearing the colors of LAN Chile, Aerolineas del Sur and Sky Airline.
Following a long 30-second takeoff roll, we climbed away from murky Santiago and into bright evening sunshine as we pierced the cloud layer and sped towards a cruising altitude somewhere above 30,000 ft. About fifteen minutes north of Santiago, the clouds dissipated revealing the brilliant Pacific Ocean on one side and the high peaks of the Andes Mountains on the other. I was sat in window seat 4A and snapped off a couple of nice views of the shimmering Pacific before reclining my seat and finishing the last few pages of my latest cheap paperback.
Flight time to Antofagasta’s Cerro Moreno Airport was set for one hour and fifty minutes, more than enough time for a beverage and snack service. Once upon a time this flight would have rated a full hot dinner service but rising fuel prices coupled with stiff competition from pesky low fare entrants Aerolineas del Sur and Sky Airline resulted in our being served a half turkey, cheese and mayonnaise sandwich accompanied by a delicious custard cake dessert. Come to think of it, I don’t believe I’ve ever had a bad or even plain dessert during my eighteen flights with LAN Chile. Indeed, they take their desserts and pastries seriously down in this part of the world.
I’d hoped for a bit of relief to our full airplane out of Antofagasta, but once again every seat was filled. Thankfully it was but a short 39-minute flight up to Iquique. As we taxied up to the attractive looking terminal at Cavancha Chucumata Airport, we passed by DC-10 freighters belonging to Centurion, Gemini and Cielos del Sur. Baggage was delivered within fifteen minutes of our arrival and I then headed upstairs to check in for my Sky Airline flight to Arica.
Iquique to Arica
Sky Airline Economy Class
737-200 CC-CTI Seat 1F
1015p – 1050p Flight Time: :28
I could have booked an award seat on LAN Chile all the way up to Arica but since Chilean low cost carrier Sky Airline was offering a $31.00 USD fare between Iquique and Arica, I jumped at the chance to fly my one hundred and twenty-first airline. Also, by flying LAN into Iquique, I added yet another airport to my list of airports flown into or out of, which now totals 304.
Ticketing on Sky is electronic, so check-in was simple and fast. I asked for and received a bulkhead window seat, then headed down to the other end of the terminal – about 100 yards – to visit the local Pacific Club. I was surprised that Iquique’s little airport would even rate having a Pacific Club, but I was even more surprised when I entered the lounge. Whoa! This lounge was tiny! I’ve been in bigger hotel rooms. Even so, the little lounge was organized well with a small coffee/wine bar along half of one wall, two Internet capable computer terminals next to that, a single small couch and a handful of chairs. I settled into one and spent the next hour working on this report before security reopened for the flight to Arica.
That’s right, I said reopened. At Iquique’s airport at least, the security checkpoint opens one half hour before flight time. In between openings, the two security guys hang out in a little office and occupy their time with conversation or cards. I know because I interrupted one of their games when I unknowing approached the checkpoint a bit early. Damned tourist!
Our 737 was a bit late arriving, and once it had parked at the gate I set my stopwatch to see just how fast our turnaround time would be. Given the small number of passengers waiting to board the flight, I expected we’d probably be on our way fairly quickly. Sure enough, everyone was boarded and the doors were shut seventeen minutes after the plane had arrived at the gate. Two minutes later we were pushed back and on our way to Arica.
Now this aircraft certainly had an interesting history. Built in 1981 and delivered to Quebecair, it also flew for CP Air, Canadian Airlines and Air Canada along with short term leases to Britannia Airways, Pan Am and Arkia (Israel) before finally being purchased by Sky Airline in 2005.
Flight time to Arica was a short twenty-eight minutes, during which the two Flight Attendants made their way down the aisle with baskets of small hard candies. Since the airport is located twelve miles north of the city, those of us on the right hand side of the plane enjoyed a pretty view of downtown Arica and its sizeable waterfront before kissing the asphalt and pulling up to the terminal. Although there were two jetways in place, we were met by a mobile stairway and walked into the terminal. I actually preferred this as it was a nice moonlit night with pleasant temperatures. Parked next to us was the LAN 737 that I’d flown up to Iquique.
After collecting my pack, I caught a ride into town with a shared taxi or collectivo as they’re called in Latin America. I was dropped off at
Sunny Days Hostel, my home for the next four nights. Despite the late hour, my hosts Ross and Beatriz greeted me at the door and showed me to my room, a bright and spacious ensuite single with a big double bed and a nice large window to let the night breeze flow through. Sleep came easily and I awoke the next morning as refreshed as if I’d been living there for a month.
Alright then, that's all for now. I'll expect to have more of the land portion including train trips and deluxe bus travel posted in the next couple of days. I hope you've enjoyed the read so far.