CNN.com Article on Lan Chile
 

Nice to see Lan get some attention in the media!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TRAVEL/05/20...eut/index.html

I certainly hope they can get a foothold in Brazil at some stage, would certainly greatly enhance their value in South America (though I guess hubbing through Santiago is great for clocking up the miles :D ). I can't say I was overwhelmed by the warmth of their service and friendliness on the times I've flown them, but there's certainly less attractive airlines in oneworld to fly, that's for sure :) .

The revelation that LA's cost base is the same as US budget airlines comes as no surprise. I've found them among the meanest airlines when it comes to the drinks service, irrespective of class flown.

My LA experience is now 5 years ago, but their domestic flights (quite a few, including IPC) were well in advance of what QF were offering at that time. This is for both food and drinks. It made QF look like what AA is today. Thankfully QF have improved greatly. I look forward to returning to LA flights in the future (both domestic and international).

I've made several flights on LAN, all if F and J and have always been treated well. My only complaint is that the ground staff manning the F check-in desk at SCL can be overly anal with tax collection on RTW tickets, but, of course, they are well within their right to do so!

Happily looking forward to my next LAN F flights this July (LAX-SCL-GIG-SCL-JFK).

Their service is professionally cold. I have been told that it's because the high power people in South America aren't there to make friends and that the service isn't tuned for North Americans. I can say that I have been on a few planes with some of the leaders of various South American countries and that this description fits my experience.

I have flown US/SCL 4 or 5 RTs in F, as well as many South American and national routes in J and Y. Their Int'l F service is good to excellent, and their product within Chile is far superior to anything in the US on comparable route length (all Y service now). Service can range from cold and utilitarian (rarely) to among the best ever. When a flight attendant remembered me a year later as I walked on the plane and gave me a warm embrace, well, that was something that has never happened on any other airline :)

I would expect nothing less when flying F with any carrier

That's not saying much... US carriers set new lows for the standard of domestic service

Sounds very South American, but not Chilean :p

Why does that never happen to me on CX I wonder? ;)