AA's South American Network from MIA
Jan 11, 2024, 4:56 am
#91
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: Nectar Card
Posts: 1,095
TBF, most intra-SA, and certainly intra-Brasil, carriers all operate on a LCC model, more or less. Barring the network advantages of LA subsidiaries throughout SA, it's why I never got all of the hand-wringing about AA's tie-up with G3. Most of the planes are new, interiors are clean and modern, service is exactly the same as JJ, and they have an extensive network in Brasil. I'm in Brasil multiple times per year, and on balance G3 is just as good as, and often better than, JJ and AD, when it comes to the combination of service standards and network.
So much of the the bellyaching comes from bloggers who don't travel in SA often, and see LA as legacy and therefore full-service, AD as innovative and cool like B6, and G3 trailing behind as a LCC, not realizing that within SA they are all essentially 99.9% exactly the same, which is to say, absolutely fine and nothing more.
So much of the the bellyaching comes from bloggers who don't travel in SA often, and see LA as legacy and therefore full-service, AD as innovative and cool like B6, and G3 trailing behind as a LCC, not realizing that within SA they are all essentially 99.9% exactly the same, which is to say, absolutely fine and nothing more.
The agent does a bunch of typing, makes a phone call and then asks me if I had proof of US residency like a green card. I look at him like ...? A US Passport is more than sufficient to enter the US. Even the Brazilian passenger next to me is like what the hell is this guy talking about, a US Passport holder literally cannot have a green card. He goes off and makes some more phone calls and comes back and doesn't mention the green card again.
[...]
I'm like that is total ........ and complete lie and whip out my phone and call AA myself and put them on speaker. The AA agent educates them on US test requirements in Portuguese but they still refuse to relent and tells them to look in TIMATIC and they don't even know what TIMATIC is. The AA Agent is incredulous. Finally, after about 90 minutes of arguing, the GOL staff finally realize they are wrong but by this time the flight has departed.
[...]
So I showed up on time with the proper documents. GOL screwed up and is unable to fix the problem due to their crap IT so I'm stuck in a foreign country in limbo and now I have to get another COVID test because the previous one is now expired. Due to the short turnaround time I'm going to have to get another antigen so we'll see if I have the same drama again whenever I get the flight rebooked. If I could fly to Rio and torch GOL's HQ building I would. I never thought I would miss LATAM so.
Customer Service is not their GOL. AA needs a better partner.
[...]
I'm like that is total ........ and complete lie and whip out my phone and call AA myself and put them on speaker. The AA agent educates them on US test requirements in Portuguese but they still refuse to relent and tells them to look in TIMATIC and they don't even know what TIMATIC is. The AA Agent is incredulous. Finally, after about 90 minutes of arguing, the GOL staff finally realize they are wrong but by this time the flight has departed.
[...]
So I showed up on time with the proper documents. GOL screwed up and is unable to fix the problem due to their crap IT so I'm stuck in a foreign country in limbo and now I have to get another COVID test because the previous one is now expired. Due to the short turnaround time I'm going to have to get another antigen so we'll see if I have the same drama again whenever I get the flight rebooked. If I could fly to Rio and torch GOL's HQ building I would. I never thought I would miss LATAM so.
Customer Service is not their GOL. AA needs a better partner.
I think the issue isn't so much that some of these carriers use an LCC model; it's that their metaphorical world is so small and they seem unable or uninterested in understanding the complexities that come operating on a broader scale. They also don't seem to want to learn. I'm not sure if it's a training issue, an experience issue, or something else.
Hopefully they're much better by now.
Jan 11, 2024, 8:26 am
#92
Original Member
Join Date: May 1998
Location: Detroit, MI
Posts: 2,587
Maybe I’m being overly optimistic and charitable to AA, but I think with their MIA hub they are uniquely positioned to fly direct from the US to secondary South America, and they want to leverage their competitive advantage but don’t have the right aircraft to do so for deep SA markets at the moment. So they can make northern SA markets like CTG and GYE work on the narrowbodies they do have for now, and when the 321XLRs come online maybe we’ll see them return to the likes of VVI/LPB, CNF, ASU, etc.
Exactly right---757 was the perfect aircraft for high/hot/thin, 767 was appropriately sized for thin/long/premium/cargo, both were depreciated enough to be able to sit on the ground for 12 hours....dropping those from the fleet exposed the holes in the MIA hub (and you have to remember the opportunity cost...a 787 sent, say to LPB is a "wasted" premium experience, a DFW-LHR rotation that DIDN'T get flown----etc etc. )
Jan 11, 2024, 9:09 am
#93
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2012
Location: KHOU/KIAH
Programs: AA EXP | Marriott Bonvoy Titanium| Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 11,308
Isn't it possible to containerize narrow-bodies?
Is the problem then that narrow-body containers are too small (and some individual items only fit in a wide body's container) or that in general a narrow body doesn't have enough cargo space (to even make a cargo operation worth it)?
Is the problem then that narrow-body containers are too small (and some individual items only fit in a wide body's container) or that in general a narrow body doesn't have enough cargo space (to even make a cargo operation worth it)?
That said, the a321XLR does not really have any cargo capacity due to the additional fuel tanks.
Jan 11, 2024, 10:15 am
#94
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: NYC
Programs: AA EXP
Posts: 1,372
I think your experience is valid and it's great to hear some success stories. However, this testimonial from much earlier in GOL and AA's partnership gives folks like me, some pause: My horrible experience with an AA-coded GOL flight in Brazil Truly a thrilling and interesting thread. It even sounds like OP may be quite experienced with air travel within/to/from Brazil.
I think the issue isn't so much that some of these carriers use an LCC model; it's that their metaphorical world is so small and they seem unable or uninterested in understanding the complexities that come operating on a broader scale. They also don't seem to want to learn. I'm not sure if it's a training issue, an experience issue, or something else.
Hopefully they're much better by now.
I think the issue isn't so much that some of these carriers use an LCC model; it's that their metaphorical world is so small and they seem unable or uninterested in understanding the complexities that come operating on a broader scale. They also don't seem to want to learn. I'm not sure if it's a training issue, an experience issue, or something else.
Hopefully they're much better by now.
I guess I'm talking more either about just the IFS or about when everything goes right.
Jan 11, 2024, 5:45 pm
#95
Join Date: Feb 2003
Posts: 4,115
GYE is not exactly GUA. It's the preferred city of the rich in Ecuador and a gateway to the Galapagos along with an easy ride to Cuenca. ZNY is a heavily Ecuadorean based area, and all the ones I know transit via GYE, very few live in UIO. Most are from GYE or CUE. GYE's population is also larger than UIO's.
Deleted comment about GYE not being as bad as UIO after a terrorist takeover in GYE today. There both in bad shape .
Deleted comment about GYE not being as bad as UIO after a terrorist takeover in GYE today. There both in bad shape .
Last edited by HeadInTheClouds; Jan 11, 2024 at 5:50 pm
Jan 13, 2024, 5:11 pm
#96
Join Date: Nov 2016
Programs: Nectar Card
Posts: 1,095
Exactly right---757 was the perfect aircraft for high/hot/thin, 767 was appropriately sized for thin/long/premium/cargo, both were depreciated enough to be able to sit on the ground for 12 hours....dropping those from the fleet exposed the holes in the MIA hub (and you have to remember the opportunity cost...a 787 sent, say to LPB is a "wasted" premium experience, a DFW-LHR rotation that DIDN'T get flown----etc etc. )
Oh THIS I can't argue with. The interlining, IT systems, inability to check a line of 5 people in in under an hour, is something that I feel like is baked into the experience. The attempt by GOL to ask the OP here to pay $2800 for their mistake is ridiculous, and exactly what I would expect.
I guess I'm talking more either about just the IFS or about when everything goes right.
I guess I'm talking more either about just the IFS or about when everything goes right.
Is the inability to check-in 5-people-in-under-an-hour a GOL thing, a Brazilian thing, a South American thing, or otherwise?
I reckon it's not necessarily an LCC thing. Using Ryanair and Air Asia as two arbitrary examples, Ryanair tries to "encourage" passengers to perform all check-in formalities ahead of time and print their own boarding pass (via levying a penalty-fee to check in at the airport, a penalty-fee to reprint a boarding pass, and a penalty-fee to ask whether the flight is on time). AirAsia has self-tag and self-drop luggage at some larger stations. This is not to say they're each necessarily fast at check-in, but on paper these seem like structural features they've each added to try to check in as many passengers as possible while using limited airport staff.
Jan 13, 2024, 7:03 pm
#97
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: TPA
Programs: BA Silver; Hilton Gold; IHG Diamond Ambassador; Marriott Gold
Posts: 2,818
The good news there is you can use a reasonable number of Avianca miles for COPA flights. And Citi TYPs (and possibly others) transfer to Avianca. Worked out very well for my trip to ASU and PBM.