How is Avianca J?
 

I am flying AV J JGK-BOG-CLO-CTG, wondering what to expect. The first flight is on the A330, the others on baby airbii

How is Avianca J?
 

Comfortable, service is a little still at times but usually pretty good. Food is alright as well, I'm sure you'll enjoy it, albeit not overly

I had my first AV J-class experience this week, round trip MDE-MIA. They were in A319's, so not necessarily comparable.

As described above, the food was pretty good, and certainly better than COPA. We were offered champagne and water on boarding. The wine with the meal was pretty good too. Also, the coffee was not horrible, which is an improvement over any other airline I have flown.

We had no AVOD outbound, but we did have it on the return. I've always been one to say that I don't care about IFE, but I have found that I really like the AVOD and I end up watching a few shows during the flight.

All in all, I wouldn't pay a huge premium for AV J-class, but I would choose it over United or COPA.

JohnnyColombia had a not-so-good experience on a regional A330 flight (LIM-BOG). He recounted the experience here:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/other...it-crappy.html

I think BOG-CLO and CLO-CTG are on A318/319's but yes, JFK-BOG is an A330. This is an award ticket and my other options were United for 6hrs on a 738 or Copa with a connection on a 737, so the A330 for the long segment was a no brainer.

Biz on an A319 oe 320 is a cradle seat, a bit of extra leg room. I cannot remember if these flights give you a sandwich or something, BOG CLO there is only about 15 minutes between turning the seatbelt sign off and turning it back on again, so no time for any meaningful service.

There is no alcohol served in any classes on either AV or LA

I have only been on a A318 on AV once, they came from the defunct Mexicana but so far as I could tell they had AV interiors so I believe they have the same biz seats. Like I said I only flew one once.

Note unlike LA, AV has a biz class and therefore biz lounges pretty much everywhere. Even PEI has a couple of tables and a beer fridge in a tiny lounge.

Don't forget that BOG CLO leaves from Avianca's Puente Aéreo and not from the main terminal. You'd be surprised how many people miss their flights by going to the wrong "airport." Puente Aéreo has a nice large biz lounge too.

Anyone has experience on their A330 for BOG-MAD? Any good?

Do all Avianca intra-Central/South American flights have printed menus and predeparture champagne in J class? I know domestic may be different, but wondering about flights like BOG-PTY, BOG-LPB, BOG-LIM, etc.

Also is there a way to tell if the narrowbody Airbus has economy style seats in biz or cradle seats in biz?

Anyone been to the new lounge in the new BOG terminal?

How is Avianca J?
 

I was at the biz lounge at BOG international today...all I can say is that it is huge! It has a different area for families so you don't have kids running all over the place and a nice "relaxing" area all the way to the back that no one never goes to...very nice

To the best of my knowledge, no Avianca narrow bodies have economy type seats in J. The are all 2x2 configuration with proper biz seats.

In my experience the flights to europe have the best service overall in business and you're more likely to see less people in business as elites don't get upgraded in services to/from Europe.

Does Avianca have a complimentary elite upgrade program like US carriers on Latin American flights? I didn't realize that.

not only latin-american flights, if you're flying BOG-JFK or JFK-BOG and there is space in business you get upgraded, the only flights that do not qualify for complimentary space available upgrades are the flights that go to europe.

Did not fly on Avianca but also used the lounge with *G. Nice lounge, quiet areas, kids areas, workstations, decent wifi

FWIW - American does not have complimentary upgrades from South America, only from Central America.

Does anyone know how reliable flights are for domestic flights within Peru? I am booked in Business and was wondering if they serve any meal for a flight from Lima to Cusco? It is a 1h40min flight. How is the service for Peruvian flights?

Anyone have any further input on AV A330 J seats? Are they angled flat or recliner? Google Images doesn't bring up many pictures when searching. Thanks.

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They are angled flat if you are interested I can get pictures of the cabin as soon as I get to a computer

Would love some pics if you have some available! They are hard to find.

The first photo is from Gianfranco Beting, a brazilian writer: http://www.jetsite.com.br/fotos/AV86-16.jpg

I have a couple shots from the cabin, which are kinda blurry as I forgot to turn HDR off on my iPhone:

https://mail-attachment.googleuserco...Kh0LmvjQO1YcwM

https://mail-attachment.googleuserco...gheIis95m0FlYc

MIA-BOG-MIA in J
 

Anyone take the MIA-BOG flight in J on an A330 recently?

It's a short 3.5 hours but can I expect a meal in both directions? Anything else other than a bigger seat, IFE and possibly free adult beverages?

Well, I'll answer my own question now that I have taken the flight. It might help someone else on this route.

Yes - full meal both flights. Decent but not great food. Choice of beef, chicken and fish. Strangely the distributed menu did not exactly match the food. Some language barriers so verbal description from the FA was limited to "beef, chicken, fish." Beverages of all kinds provided and served but no menu of beverage choices that I could find and language barrier restricted choices to "red or white."

Nice flight with good IFE. Entirely different selection of recent movies compared to the other 8 international flights on various other airlines I've taken over the last two months (which all had the same movies). Decent screen size, noise-cancelling headphones.

Seats not fully flat but comfortable enough for a decent nap. Blanket and pillow. No amenity kit on this short flight.

Both legs completely full in C since they give free UG's to their higher level frequent flyers.

According to the two AV FF's I sat next to this A330 is vastly more comfortable than the other planes flown to their US destinations. It certainly was far better than United's 737's I took to IAH-BOG last year on old domestic F seats. And at a better price.

I am not sure that is by design. Admittedly IAD BOG is a longer flight by about 2 hours but I got a nice little kit with lip balm, toothpaste, tissues and stuff.

It even had a little sticker that said "Wake me up to feed me"

I'd be surprised if they didn't factor such a kit into the MIA BOG route too. LAN certainly includes the amenity kit on this route. I am guessing, but more likely AV ran out of them for some reason.

I believe the level of service suffers from having all the elites in the premium cabin but I hope they don't change their policy which has been making my trips to Colombia much better and also making me route through BOG or LIM more often than I normally would.

In case anyone is wondering, I just took 2 flights on Avianca A330 J JFK-BOG & BOG-LIM. Pretty pleased with the product.

http://thehustleblog.com/2014/02/28/...k-bogota-lima/

Nice post, thanks for letting us know.. Safe Travels

Great Post!!!
 

Thanks for your Trip Report (-:

Seems like the breakfast "failure" may have been a result of the catering at JFK???

BOG - EZE, J
3 choices of dinner entree, but no pre-arrival meal

EZE - BOG, J
3 choices of breakfast entree and small pre-arrival sandwich with a chocolate

ORD-SAL, SAL-UIO in J
 

I am taking the above route with Avianca J A319 and A320. If anyone interested I could post a trip report with pictures.
Anyone taken this route before?

Is it just me, or do these seats look really uncomfortable?

Has anyone flown AV J on a A330 since the last post in this thread? There are airframes that are newer than this thread so surely the A330 are being fitted with the Zodiac Cirrus seat like the B787? Or is it still wedgie-pants seats? Does anybody know?

EDIT: Duh found the answer http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/avian...ess-class.html

Hey, would love to hear about the A320 leg. Did seats have AVOD? And anything noteworthy service wise?

Hi there, Welcome to FT. I took a Brand New AV A320 LAX-SAL about a year or so back in J. It was nice (I was in the Bukhead) and if I recall correctly AVOD was in a swing up arm in that seat. Other than that I remember that it was so new I even asked the Pilot and he said that the Certificate is less than 30 days old. Thanks and Safe Travels

AV proper has AVOD throughout but it's not very good. Limited tunes and movies. TA dba AV I am not so sure. Y didn't have AVOD last time I flew it but I've never flown their J.

Don't expect anything special service wise on Colombian AV. Salvadorean TA crews are better in my experience.