The best airline that serves EZE from the US is LAN.... no contest. There are cheaper carriers, but its hard to beat the LAN product, especially in Economy. And up front, the LAN business product rivals what AA and other US carriers have in First Class.

I figure I've made about a dozen trips to/from the US in the past 3+ years. All in the business cabin (so that means mid-cabin on AA and UA) Here are my "nutshell" reviews:

(1) AA - one trip northbound - amateurish service, pleasant but more "ghetto fabulous" than polished. Food - meh. Wine - meh. Slanted seats - I didn't like them and found it hard to get completely comfortable. IFE - ok, but not great.

(2) UA - one trip northbound - amateurish and bitter service, which finally "improved" after killing the FA with kindness. Food - meh, bubbles - actually ok. Seats - very good.

(3) AC - one trip southbound - nice enough, but I suppose I expected more for this being the front cabin. Spacious (herringbone seating pattern) and the most personal space of any C/J cabin. Flying while seated on that angle was odd, but I'd get used to it easily enough. Food and beverage unremarkable but that means it was better than meh!

(4) LA - the remainder of my trips have been on LAN - via LIM or via SCL. Seats similar to UA. GREAT IFE - 45 to 50 movies, and 500+ CDs of whatever genre. Food - has slipped to "ok to good." Wines - the best of the bunch. Not even close. Service - variable - from rushed and perfunctory to friendly (but rarely "warm.") All that said, it is a business cabin and you won't get the personal space of a true F cabin (nor the personal service of a non-US carrier in F). Given the dreck that UA and AA are giving their F pax to South America, the soft product on LA is pretty close.

It sounds like travelling on economy is already a pleasant experience on LAN. Do you think that LAN Business would be worth an extra 20,000 BA reward miles?

BTW - this thread is great and I've marked it as a favorite. Thanks! I can't wait to read through it before I visit in 2012.

Easily.

However, LAN has its "not great" days, too, and if there are irregular ops, I've had horrible and I've had acceptable resolutions. I just got back from a SFO/LIM/SCL/AEP-EZE/LIM/SFO trip, and most segments were pleasant, and with the exception of SCL/AEP*, within a few minutes of on time.

*still showed "on time" at departure time, with no plane at the gate, and not a single announcement regarding the delay

Ive never flown up front on LAN so I cant give you first hand experience.... the resident LAN premium flyer has given his input above which in my view is "the bible" for all things LAN Premium Business. He sits there so often that LAN should bestow him with honorary (and lifetime) Comodoro status...

3 RTs a year? :D - HA. But for FT, I suppose that is a lot.

My wife and son and I returned today from a trip JFK-LIM-EZE-SCL-IPC-SCL-JFK. All flights were in J on LAN.

LAN's long-haul J product is quite good. The food is OK, and the service from the flight attendants is fine...they rarely proactively ask if you want something, but they do respond to requests (e.g., for beverage refills, etc.).

For me the best part of LAN J is the seat.....reclines fully and is comfortable for sleeping.

How were the wines in J...?

The current list (the menu usually has a several-months' duration)

DV Catena 2006 Malbec
Viña Emiliana Coyam 2008 Blend
Viña Carces Silva Amayna 2008 Pinot Noir
Bodega Familia Schroeder Saurus 2010 Chardonnay
Viña Casablanca Nimbus 2010 Sauvignon Blanc

Plus the Roederer bubbles.

All wines on all longer haul international unless miscatered. I enjoyed the previous wine rotation more (especially the Montes Folly 2006), although this one was pleasant enough. I tried everything but the Amayna.

For the past couple of years, the list has generally been 3 reds, typically two Chile and one Argentina, and two whites, either two Chile, or one Chile one Argentina. It is also a list where retail price can't always be a judge of quality, and why I get frustrated with US carriers that can't seem to manage to get, i.e., a wine like the Saurus (wholesale likely in the mid-single digits) onboard, and instead, serve Tums moments in their domestic premium cabins.

Thanks for the wine list..... while Im not surprised to see Argentine reds on the list, I am very surprised they also include our whites.

"How were the wines in J...?"

We enjoyed the Catena malbec.

Was it the DV Catena as listed above... or the regular Catena Malbec...?

"Was it the DV Catena as listed above... or the regular Catena Malbec...?"

It was the DV Catena

Hello,

it seems I was not able to see this thread before I went to BA or did not pay enough attention... Well anyway I am back now. I liked the city although I spent a whole week there which was a bit long (we were going to stay a few days and go to Bariloche but this was killed by the volcano currently erupting... we went to Tigre overnight, very nice). It is a bit polluted and run down, way to go Argentina. Some nice museums (Bellas Artes, MALBA) and restaurants (Tegui, Olsen, Osaka in Palermo and plenty of nice locals like Almacen Nono Amigo). Argentinian wines are much better in Argentina than the @#!^ they export! The people are very friendly too.

We were told it could be unsafe and to always look around before opening our apartment's door, but all went OK.

Maybe I should have looked for better ground transportation from EZE. I got a radio taxi from the booth outside EZE and the price on the voucher was 148 pesos. At the end the driver claimed we had to pay 198. I stood my ground and gave him 150, he was really annoyed but I felt he was just trying to rip me off, he also had taken a vey long road. On the way back, an Argentinian friend called a radio taxi for me and he said we should pay 130 at most, the driver wanted 150, our friend talked to him and we paid eventually 140. He took a much faster route too (ring roads instead of crossing the whole city through a maze of small streets)...

The airport was a mess (maybe because of cancellations the previous day because of the volcano), the security and emigration lines were 45 minutes each! Is there a quicker way for premium passengers?

Good for standing your ground on the taxi fares. It is usually best for the "uninitiated" to just buy the fare inside right before you enter the public area, with a fixed prepaid fare, and you can use plastic.

Every passenger is premium at EZE ;) , so there is no special line for people sitting in the cushy seats. The airport is a disgrace. If you go early to avoid the evening rush, hardly any lanes are open for security/migraciones. If you wait, then you deal with the mad rush of departures. I'm usually in the lounge within an hour of getting to the airport, but that is flying LAN J at a time before the mad rush of North America departures - but there's typically only one WTMD open when I get in the line, which can go back as far as the frosted glass barrier. More than once, they open a second while I'm in the line. They also started staffing more migraciones booths while I was in the line, and opened the second side. By the time I was through, both sides were completely full. I usually hear at least one airline sending a ground agent looking for missing pax in the migraciones line to try and expedite them. And that is the joy of departing EZE!