zeer0

But that's useless for those collecting miles with anyone except AV. Seems like AVs entire mileage earnings for partner programs is screwed up right now, because I earned ANA miles for every single AV award flight I took this year.

michael1023

so quick question, if I book the “L” fare, which lets me choose the 2 seats upfront for myself and spouse for jfk to GYE, is there IFE on the A319? I like I have the chance of just 2 seats together for myself and my wife, but I assume with no WiFi, I hope at least some IFE? Since the dates I’m looking for around the holidays are similar to JetBlue in terms of prices, Avianca has the possible advantage of better seating for us, still nonstop. I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons of the two airlines

ermis177

IFE? They barely give a small sandwich on a 4+ hours flight now. You will get lots of 'love and understanding' (Cher) but nothing more.

No IFE or curtain or something different. Its just a better seat. Also the 'refund' for L fares is apparently only in form of a voucher

Spirit Airlines is like SQ compare to Avianca

michael1023

oh wow so no screens in front of each seat. Damn

Etheereal

All you need to know : NEW SEATS == NO IFE.

gkbiiii

At least Spirit, has "Big Front Seats!"

SenSCL

I had the opportunity of travelling on one of AV‘s refurbished A320 aircrafts on a regional flight from MEX to SJO today.

I had booked a cheapish S size ticket, yet could snatch a Premium seat in row 3 after being assigned a random seat in the very back of the plane at check-in. Not sure, if this is an IT glitch, but at USD 35.00 the upsell to Premium was a mere USD 5.00 more expensive than to the 3-3 configured Plus seats.

I must say that, even if it a shame that AV are scrapping C class across their American services and assumingly downgrade all these routes to narrow bodies, the Premium seat is quite comfortable as it widens out towards the fix divider in the middle. Leg room and recline are equally okay and not worse than e.g. LA (to name a regional competitor) and their Y+ product. However, it was underwhelming that the power plugs in the divider area were not working.

Service consisted of a sandwich of decent size, a bag of yucca crisps and a choice of water, coffee or tea. For the length of the flight, this was perfectly acceptable. The sandwich was actually tastier and fresher than the horrendous sour dough bricks that LH used to hand out on their European short hauls, back in the days when they still had a free food offering.

Having said this, for longer flights, like BOG to LAX, JFK, SCL, GRU, EZE or MVD, such limited food and especially beverage is not adequate in my opinion, because AV‘s original prices for their L size tickets - or whatever they call them - are not necessarily a bargain. Here, I would really like them to up their game, although seeing that it is all one giant cabin with no real distinction other than „class“ markers on the overhead bins, a differentiated service concept does not seem to be in AV‘s books; at least not until a new owner and/or CEO takes over…

All in all, I really expected worse, but I think that AV are now at the edge of what is tolerable for a (former) flagship carrier and an airline (still) part of an important alliance.

Let‘s see how things turn out for them…



AV regional catering on AV 633 MEX - SJO (coffee not shown)

Etheereal

Not sure its an IT glitch but more of an oversight on the A320s. I've experienced it on 32N flights where you could simply pick a front seat at check-in, so long as there's available front seats.

Becky2010

Hi - we are flying GYE-JFK and have booked two of these premium seats on an A319. Are these the same seats as have been posted about here? I was trying to find a review of them and was not having too much luck!

michael1023

i almost took this route recently on Avianca, but decided on JetBlue. As the cost was pretty much equal, at least JetBlue has Wi-Fi and IFE. Neither airline has 2x2 seating so that wasn’t much of a difference maker either. I wouldn’t be opposed to flying Avianca to GYE but with no Wi-Fi, IFE and chips and a bottle of water for an almost 7 hour flight it’s a tough pill to swallow.

Becky2010

thanks! This Avianca flight leaves at like 5:15pm and the Jet Blue flight is a red eye - so that was a pretty easy decision for me (though I love jet Blue!). But this avianca flight does have three rows of 2x2 premium seats in the front. We paid $80 for them, which seemed great. I just can’t find too much written about them!

michael1023

yeah the flight time can be a consideration but Avianca also leaves jfk at like 2am so both airlines have a red eye just depends on the route

Becky2010

Right! Going there on JetBlue! 😀 It’s a 2pm flight there. I hate red-eyes.

Becky2010

Right! Going there on JetBlue! 😀 It’s a 2pm flight there. I hate red-eyes.

ericksonjb500

I'm also comparing Avianca to JetBlue for JFK to Quito. Did any of you end up in the Avianca premium seats up front? The Avianca flight is nonstop and the JetBlue is one-stop. Either way, I have a red eye flight. Thanks for any advice you might have.