hosedown

Hi,

I'm trying to book a business class flight return from London to Lima, and I would have done it LHR-MAD-LIM with BA and LAN respectively, but that's gone already...

So I'm looking at Delta via ATL, BA/AA via MIA and KLM via AMS.

BA via MIA looked pretty good until I saw that the overnight AA flight from MIA to LIM is on a plane with terrible seats so sleep will be hard. The other problem is that most flights seem to leave early from LHR, and I am absolutely terrible at getting up that early (e.g. 6.30am) to get to check in.

Does anyone have any experience or ideas?
Hope I've put this in the right place!

Thanks for any help you can give.

YVR Cockroach

Got time and/or money? If you need a ST MR, there's great fares from HNL to LIM (less than 14 cents per basic mile before CoS/elite bonus) on DL with lie-flat seats all the way (330 and 763 HNL-ATL-LIM) but then you have to get to HNL. If not, DL uses lie-flat 763 between ATL and LIM.

hosedown

Heya, thanks for the reply. What does ST MR mean?
Also, HNL, as in Honolulu? hehe, that might be a stretch from London, even for me!
Good to know that Delta use lie-flat from ATL to LIM, although the arrival time is very late at night.

Yoshi212

ST MR = SkyTeam Mileage Run meaning to gain mileage at low cost per mile in an alliance/partnership.

Via IAH is also an option on UA which uses a 767 with lie flat Business Class seats on both. Arrives late but before midnight.

YVR Cockroach

You'll find that virtually all the North American airlines arrive in LIM late and depart in the early hours. LAN Chile does have a flight from LAX that arrives around 11a.

IncaTrails

DL all the way as you will have Business Elite on LHR-ATL-LIM, and based on the following:
-AA will give you their new Biz from LHR to the US, but aircraft to LIM have not been upgraded yet (this may have changed; I flew them a few months ago),
-I flew LIM-AMS recently, but was not too impressed with KL, and
-I would simply not rely on UA.
Alternatively, if you have an open budget, find a Biz ticket from LHR-LAX and connect to the LAX-LIM on Lan that YVR mentioned. Service is very good. Enjoy!

hosedown

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I noticed that AA has an evening flight which does have a 767 with moderately good seats but still, as you say, not as good as DL.

If I book a trip like you suggest, LHR-LAX, LAX-LIM can it be done with one ticket so that in case there's a problem I'm covered at the connection? I don't know much about these things..

I also am considering IB from MAD-LIM as the arrival time is great and I am wondering if I might get the retrofitted new plane.

IncaTrails

Yes. For example, you can do LHR-LAX on AA or BA, while LAX-LIM will be on Lan. All 3 are OneWorld and you can check in and get BPs all the way to LIM. I ran a quick search and saw that connection times in LAX are too long, and therefore may not be the best option. On the other hand, LIM-LAX is operated by Lan 787--quite smooth. Regardless, if you have somewhat of an open budget then you have lots of room to play with and lots of options on your plate.

hosedown

Amazing how knowledgeable you guys are.. thank you again.

I managed to price up the trip with BA to MIA and then LAN to LIM, and return the same using aa.com

One thing I'm trying to figure out before I purchase is what the deal is with making changes to an itinerary both before and after the outward journey. I'm having a hard time understanding the fine print. Does anyone know how it works in this case? (I'm booking a business ticket, but not flexible).

On iberia.com I remember from past experience that it was very easy to do, even without purchasing a flexible ticket, and the penalty was only something like 50 euros plus the difference in flight price. That was whether you'd done the outward or not, which was even better if wanting to change the return once in LIM. One of the major advantages of iberia is in fact this!

benzemalyonnais

Don't forget AC from YYZ! Lie-flat seats and good connection times.

JohnnyColombia

I am going on the new IB J class to MAD in a bout a month, looks lovely. The retrofitted planes have their own designation as A340-500 or A345 (I think) I understand this is a plane that was never built and is only used to identify which IB A340s have the retrofit. So if you can find a website that tells you that information, then you can make sure you get the retrofitted plane.

You can also consider AV LHR BOG LIM. Their A330s are also being retrofitted/delivered new with a horizontal flat-bed herringbone layout. No way of guaranteeing you will get it but the first A330 delivered with this configuration has been doing a lot of London rotations

Yoshi212

While I don't know Iberia's fleet the A340-500 is definitely a real aircraft and was used by many airlines including EK and SQ (SIN-EWR) for its ability to fly very far distances and for SQ was seated as business class only. Iberia may be using this classification to refer to another type of aircraft but it's not a model that is only for Iberia.

YVR Cockroach

Initially outfitted at J & Y+, later converted to all J.

JohnnyColombia

There I knew I would be wrong. Let me have another guess. A345 is a jet that IB does not fly but they are designated as such when retrofitted.

I should just have dug out a link to the IB New Business Class thread in the IB forum, they explain it more succinctly (and accurately)

hosedown

In case it's of any interest.. in the end availability came up on iberia.com for BA to MAD and then LAN to LIM (and vice versa coming back), so I booked that. I put my BA FF number in - does that mean it should come up in my BAEC account? (Especially as 2/4 flights are actually on BA planes).