Ain't gonna happen. Thinking outside the box is not a Chilean character trait especially in hierarchal situations (corporations). Once you understand that, it helps in planning your strategy to try to get what you want.

Pray tell us what lounge that was- as we all belive that there is not one lounge in TBIT worth talking about

I fly LAN more often than I like to think about, and I agree 100% with the above statement: LAN in the air is nearly always great; LAN on the ground CAN be great too, but it can also be horrendous knit-picking and nasty, not to mention unorganized and random. It's best to buy your ticket from some other airline and hope that nothing unexpected occurs.

I've done two trips with LAN in J from LAX to LIM and have nothing but a good experience on all segments. As some of the responders have said, the service can be a bit rushed at times (especially red eye from LIM-LAX), but was very satisfied with their product.

I haven't seen their new product yet. I doubt they'll offer the $1067.00 D class special fares they did last year. Are they still offering the $300.00 upgrade from Y to J out of LAX?

Qantas, I think.

Not great. Of course now it is the interim business lounge - which not only is not great but huge and requires at least 30 minutes to make it worthwhile to visit (thanks to the shuttle service each way).

I've done GIG-SCL-IPC-SCL-EZE and AKL-SYD on LAN (all Y), all clean, new A340's, good IFE, cabin service and food (relatively speaking), I'd have no problem flying them again. I certainly noticed a big difference going from LAN to Iberia (shudder) EZE-MAD.

What about the LAN lounges, in SCL and other locations? How do they compare to other international lounges?

Question: I'll be living in SCL for a year next year. Which airline should I pool my miles with, AS, AA, or LA? I currently have 27k with AA and AS, 0 with LA. But I've heard that LAN treats its elite flyers very well.

What do you guys think?

Both AA and LA lounges in SCL are very good. I consider the AA lounge in SCL the best AC anywhere.

I'd go with AA; it is true that LAN treats its elite pax well, but that applies to Comodoros, not all elite levesl. Besides, AAdvantage is a better FFP than LanPass.

I generally agree with your lounge assessment, although I've been in very few ACs. I like the LA lounge better in SCL, however, primarily because they have a better snackiecake/wine/liquor selection as well as the section with a generally-available nice computers with ample-sized carrels.

Agree the LA lounge is better in what you mention. However, for me (part of the older crowd), the AA lounge beats the LA lounge in the following areas: much quieter, more elegant, a lot less crowded, outstanding gatekeeper, less cellphone loudmouths, virtually no kids.

Totally agree.

I've flown LA in all 3 classes as well as LP and XL (Lan Ecuador) and would rate the overall experience as where BA was at around 7 years ago - no coincidence given that BA provided support on how to set up the operation.

Was reading andrzej's post with a wry smile as it's a not entirely unfamiliar experience; I've read in other posts that pax have received last-minute UGs, on the basis of OW status, but have neither had first-hand experience nor witnessed (ever).

If BA and LA have anything in common its inconsistency of service - whether on the grond or in the air. However, unlike BA, with LA I've had ok flights and pretty awful flights.

The new premium immigration facility for SCL departing flights is a welcome enhancement (to borrow from BA lexicon) and even the premium check-in area seems a little more sparky than it has been of past (anyone who has ever been asked to pay the airport tax will relate to this).

After my last experience on XL - even J felt like an internal Russian flight in Y - I thought never again, but premium competition in this market is non-existent; other than the fifth freedom routes flown by the likes of AC (SCL-EZE-SCL), BA and LH (EZE-GRU-EZE).

The one thing LA really misses out on is understanding that premium pax expect (and are willing to pay for) a J experience on internal flights (which to take SCL-PUQ as an example, can be pretty long). However, given that it struggles to deliver a consistently decent service on its long haul routes, sharp intake of breath.

That's not to say that LA isn't capable of delivering a good service in the air -I'll withhold my judgment as the new J product rolls out.

Since I asked the question, I owe a great deal of thanks to all the posters. The replies paint an interesting and varied picture, and even though it's not necessarily pretty, at least being forewarned with some details makes me feel more confident that their worst is only "extremely disappointing" (my take), and sometimes they do okay.

At least there don't seem to be any incidents of pax being dragged away by the airport security police for complaining that their bags weren't on the inbound - an event that you can (slightly exaggerated) dig out of the AA archives.

This was me and they paid out the difference between F and C SLC-Rio each way (same day roundtrip). It took 9 months to get the cheque as I was constantly told different things by different LAN employees.

However, my LAN experiences are generally positive - odd problem getting them to understand what I needed, and the ticket desk at SCL tries very hard but have trouble re-issuing RTW tickets.

Lounge staff can be really helpful.

Sorry to bump an old thread. I asked this in a new thread in the Other N&S America forum, but perhaps it's better here. Does anyone have any experience with LA MAD-FRA in F and J? What type of meal service do they offer on this route?

Thanks.