juddles

Only their domestic lounges were permanently closed. Many years ago, before Covid. With their four international ones (Santiago, Miami, Bogota, Sao Paulo), I think only the BOG one is closed at the moment.

But my question for the OP was why they believe they can access a Latam lounge whilst flying Avianca??

juddles

I guess the OP posted this thread and then moved on - I find that irritating. I know there is no set etiquette, but posting a question, having many participants try to help, but then never getting back... Reality for forums?

st8dm

I guess the quality of the forum is given by how fast, accurate and most importantly: polite, the community is replying.

Is of no concern if the OP is still interested or not.
I suggest to keep the standards high and use this thread to spread feedback to everyone, frequent or occasional travelers.

It community's duty to explain why he/she can't access LATAM when flying Avianca.
Not everyone is an expert. I consider myself advanced, not expert and I'm trying not to patronize people (and I'm really struggling, sometimes would be so satisfying to be sarcastic 🤦‍♂️)

This thread certainly helped me and I'm no OP.
I'm sure there are silent others as well.

This is one of the best public access forums I've seen and I'm around since FidoNet.

juddles

I hear you and agree
And my posts were to help the OP. You said "It community's duty to explain why he/she can't access LATAM when flying Avianca." My question of the OP is who led them to believe they had access. They clearly held this belief. I have no knowledge of why a person flying AV can access a Latam lounge - so I think this is an important point. "Someone" led them to believe that, and it may even be true.

st8dm

I just had Avianca lounge access in CTG flying LATAM, but using AMEX.
Everything is possible.

juddles

Expensive pretzels and coffee
But I get your point.
I guess there are always two ways to access a lounge - for free due to your ticket/status, or using such things as cards and simple payment. Am a hopelessly Australia/European/Sth America centric traveller for most things. In my experience any lounge that allows such things as Priority Pass or similar, is a lounge not worth entering. Have been burnt by that so many times in Sth America. You pay and get a crowded place with minimal things - but I get that as it is the culture/reality.

My minimum desire of a real international J lounge is that they have...
1.- Wifi
2.- Food that is not pretzels. IE hot or fresh dishes.
3.- Alcohol.

My desires/expectations of domestic lounges were long since vanquished in Latin America.... Even in my old home town of Medellin, domestic lounges were very basic, even though through LM Diamond I had access to the "better" Avianca lounge. Coffee and some fizzy water, a bain marie where they brought out every few hours some pastry-crusted small sausages, and a beer machine that was only operational in the evenings, when I think almost no flights actually flew? Contrast that with the Qantas domestic lounges in Sydney or Brisbane. Hot food. A truly wonderful selection of cold foods (which anyone who travels much really enjoys) A bar service where you can get a rum and coke. Or self-pour decent quality wines. And showers, etc.

I know I am not comparing apples with apples. But Sth American domestic lounges are just simply dreadful. You have to weigh up the cost of such things as PP and cash.

Jeesuz, I have waffled... My bad....

SkyTeam777

On a domestic flight? I�m hoping to access the Avianca lounge on economy (Small fare) on domestic flight only from BOG using my Star Gold. Sometimes, airlines require you be going intl, but it seems to vary.

juddles

SkyTeam, you may very well get access in BOG as Star Gold. I just hope you are not expecting much though? I used to use the "super-premium" Diamond lounge and it had some hot soup and fresh fruit - the main lounge had some dry sandwiches and softdrink. BOG airport has much better experiences (imho) in the non-lounge area. Even if you have to pay a few bucks...

st8dm

traveled through BOG on 16th.
Report:

- flying J with LH, we had access to avianca lounge no questions asked. They stamped (!?!) our boarding passes for some reason. Except for the people density (low, just a few pax) everything else is poor there. The food is appealing at best, if not inexistent or disgusting.
I won't go into details - take my word for it and don't waste your time.

- el Dorado loungeaccess through PriorityPass
this is mediocre at best.
My understanding is that you need to pay extra for hot food. But it was unappealing so we never tried.
Though a large space, it was full. By the end of our stay, people were desperate to get any place.
We had some mediocre bite-sized sandwiches and arriving earlier we were lucky to get good seats on a sofa.

- Amex lounge
this is a bad joke
it is not a lounge, but an enclose space in the waiting area. Is not soundproofed or anything.
No food options, only some poor sandwiches and some water and cola.
Such a poor option, it makes Amex a shame. It would be better of they would simply closed it. No Amex holder would be thrilled to stay in there.
A disgrace.



Amex "lounge" in BOG. A bad joke.

Usually I'm a bit more tolerant with services received. This was simply infuriating. Such a poor option from Amex, which was doing all right in the past two years. I have nothing good to say about them.



Overall, El Dorado is by far the best of the tree, but it not a good option - it's just above the other two.
If I would lived in BOG, I wouldn't bothered with lounge access.
For the same money, you may get much better choices in the food court or waiting area.

BOG is a large airport, but it severely lacks decent lounges.

juddles

Hey there st8dm, thank you for the report It seems little has changed!

I just think the "South American" factor is entrenched. IE the appeal of an elite lounge in itself is far more important than the actual quality of same. You mentioned the amex "lounge" as a thing that is just a partitioned part of the main waiting area. I do not recall these in BOG but same have existed in SCL for many years - what a joke...

When the new Avianca lounge opened in BOG I was very impressed. Much bigger than the old two lounges. And I got a serve of chips! As in French Fries, or whatever international travellers call them. This was a first in a gazzillion travels, and I liked that. Am so sick of airline balsamic vinegar salads

But at the same time it was a confusing lounge. As you say, different entrance means having different "benefits". My idea of a lounge is that once you are in, you are in. The concept of paying for anything is foreign to me as I do not frequent the USA, etc.

I would love to know the status of the Latam lounge. It was never first rate, but it was very much more like a true international lounge than the AV product. Great wines, a modest but functional offerring of food, etc. Salads and icecreams and cheese platters and ok sandwiches.

st8dm

let's not mix things up:
- El Dorado was making you pay for hot food, not Avianca
- Latam lounge was closed
- Avianca - quiet but very limited options, as stated above

Brandinho1

One interesting note about the El Dorado Lounge is food seems to be complimentary when entering on a J UX ticket which I found interesting.

CMK10

It's complimentary if you're on an AA J ticket too. I believe only people entering via PP in Y don't have hot food.

caseminole

It's a Priority Pass lounge, so I was able to use that lounge as a PP member, sorry for the delay

ArlingtonTraveler

Folks the buffet is good. You have to pay for it along with shower access when using Priority Pass. I have paid for both before a red eye and wss worth it. I do not get why folks refuse to pay for value added services?