AntonS

Had 6 flights recently with LATAM within South America with a mix of Y and premium Y.

Have very mixed feelings.

On one hand, the operations seems to be reliable, flights on time and check in staff polite and helpful, no check in lines with Sky Priority or without so far (SCL, AEP, LIM, CUZ, Calama) and amazing international lounge in SCL.

On the other hand a lot of negative points I did not expect

• Really dirty planes with seat cautions falling apart even on newer planes (all segments!) in both Y and Premium Y. Huge contrast to Aerolineas Argentinas which has spotless cabins and overall newer planes.
• Half of the flights had no English announcement whatsoever except safety demo, this includes domestic flights and international SCL-AEP. Calama airport had no English announcements at all for flight boarding or gate changes. Again huge contract to Aerolineas Argentinas which has perfect English announcements both in anirports and domestic flights.
• Domestic to Intl connection in SCL required going outside through the parking garage and re-entering with all originating pax. I am not asking for sterile transfer, but having a separate security / immigration for connections would be nice and also not going outside in 30 degree heat.
• Inedible sandwiches in domestic premium Y and no wine (only beer). Slightly better food and wine on international premium Y but expected a bit more especially given that seat is basically the same with slightly more legroom and blocked middle.
• Relatively cheap pricing on premium Y and cheap upgrades (probably justifiable based on service) which makes it sold out of most flights days before departure. They could probably charge 1.5X - 2X more, provide only slight better food or be more flexible where to set divider between Y and PY and make last minute flyers happier - a win win for all. Right now if you are booked in PY and have IRRORS or last minute change, 90% chance you will end up in Y.
• No seat assignment privileges for SkyTeam elite / Elite Plus. Same charge for exit row or normal seats on Light fare as all other pax. Not a huge point but it would be nice at least to have free normal seat assignments on Light fare. Also no free seat assignment on Delta mileage tickets. At least Elute Plus extra free bag on all except basic fares.
• No upgrade or seat changes possible in the airport close to departure (in the lounge or at the gate). Got a blank stair from lounge agent when asked for exit row seat or paid upgarade half hour before departure. Same from gate agent. What’s wrong with it? Or maybe it was language barrier?

OskiBear

Having flown a lot with LATAM over the past 15 years, I would agree with the issue of the not-so-clean planes. That's always been an issue IME.
I recall English announcements as necessary (boarding, security, etc.). However, when there were IRROPS at the gate, no English announcements were made. It seemed as if they just worked off a standard script and anything that deviated from the norm wasn't going to get an announcement.
The food in economy was usually abysmal - at least the "fresh' food, which was supposedly some kind of roll with mystery meat/spread/cheese. The pre-packaged boxes with bagged snacks was actually preferable.
BTW - I didn't think LA was part of SkyTeam yet. Are there actually SkyTeam benefits?

Semphyra

You should at least get seat selection for free. Front or emergency seats should be free in domestic and international routes according to your tier

You can bid for an upgrade up to 12 hours before departure. Free seat changes should be available until the door closes, not sure about paid changes.

Note that only Delta status is accepted. Any other Sky Team program doesn't have benefits, except for lounge access with AeroMexico

AntonS

I tried calling in for seat selection, but wait was too long. Latam website and app charge me as Delta Diamond (yes my status is correctly recognized online by Latam). I am also charged for seat changes after check in.

One more flight is coming up AEP-GRU-MAO booked as Skymiles award and app gives me free seat on AEP-GRU but not GRU-MAO. It’s also interesting that seat chart on AEP-GRU shows zero charge for all seats including exit rows, but when I select exit row there is charge on checkout. Other seats are free though. GRU-MAO on same itinerary all seats have charge.

so just all messed up

sullim4

LATAM isn't in SkyTeam (yet) so I wouldn't expect any benefits there.

I guess we were lucky on the aircraft - we flew several domestic segments on LATAM this fall and the planes were all clean, modern, and nice. The language though.... yeah, you'd better know some Spanish and be able to make it out over the PA system. There wasn't anything in English at all. We do know some Spanish and it was OK in CJC, but in SCL T1 it was a mad house and instructions weren't clear at all, either on the TV monitors or the instructions from the gate agents.

Somewhat related - the gate announcements at LAX were often exclusively in Spanish. I was fine with this, but just found it interesting.

Agree on the lounge at SCL - that business class lounge is excellent and so are the staff working it. LATAM did really good with that setup - I really liked getting a shower in before the long flight. Better not like your steak jugoso though - the meat was cooked like shoe leather which I suppose is what the locals tend to prefer.

This was in contrast to Sky Airline which I thought had a very good ground operation for a LCC. No issues with boarding, English announcements at the gates, add-ons like seat assignments and the Star Pass were cheap and well worth it. Bags were very quick to get to the carousel. The planes we were on were modern and clean, too.

tmac100

Because of no English announcements at Gate 210 (or anywhere else in GRU) I missed my GRU-BEL flight on the 29th. Fortunately LATAM booked me on another flight and I had a helper (wheel chair assist) to make sure I got on the flight. They found my luggage from my missed flight and I finally arrived in BEL about 6 hrs later than expected.
Lesson learned: expect NO English announcements in Brazil - unlike any other country I have flown in (including Vietnam and Russia).