I had to be in Baltimore on the third week of March. My plan was to burn some LANPASS kilometres for return flights from LIM to JFK in J and then take the train down to Baltimore. However I took too long to book the tickets so someone else took the spaces I wanted. So, I started searching for flight options paying with cash. Avianca had pretty good prices to IAD. I booked the outbound in Y via SAL and booked the return via BOG in J. The difference in price between Y and J for the return was just above 100 bucks. Great!
We arrived to Dulles about three hours before departure. Surprisingly there was no queue in the Business class counters and just a small queue in the economy counters so we were seen in no time. The agent gave us our boarding passes for the two flights. At that time they were also checking in one of the two daily frequencies to SAL that leaves more or less at the same time than the daily flight to BOG. I asked what lounge could we use and the agent kindly said that we were welcome in the Lufthansa business lounge that was located just in front of our gate.
There was no line in passport control but security was a bit of a pain.
We then took the train to concourse B. I really liked IAD, very spacious, clean and with lots of open space. We had a wonder around the terminal before heading to the lounge. There was no activity in concourse B, just airport employees having lunch in the concourse’s restaurants.
The lounge dragon scanned our boarding passes and directed us to our business lounge. The lounge was a bit dated, I assume that the Senator lounge is better. Food offerings included finger sandwiches, salads, brownies and soup. There was quite a good selection of drinks though. We had some snacks and drinks in the “dining area” before moving into some comfortable sofas to read and relax a bit.
We left the lounge an hour before departure for a change of scenery. Boarding had not started yet so I took a walk around the terminal to stretch a bit and have a look at planes.
Our small aribus on stand, before flying five hours to BOG.
Boarding started about 40 minutes before departure. Avianca boards the plane by zones, zone A are paid business passengers, zone B Star Alliance Gold, Lifemiles elites (I assume including upgraded elites) and passengers requiring special assistance and zones C,D and E Y passengers.
After boarding was completed the crew started to deliver welcome drinks. The choices were water, Orange juice or Champagne. Then they came around delivering amenity kits. The Tumi case is nice, however the conteut nt is perhaps a bit basic. This is when I realized that this was not a very good crew. I understand that some of them might have had a rough day, but they could at least try to do their jobs right!
The captain came around to introduce himself and inform that we will have to wait twenty minutes for take-off due to heavy traffic in the Colombian airspace and informed us about our flight path. It was rainy outside and my window was scratched so I was not able to take decent pictures of the aircraft around and take-off.
UA 777
AV A320 flying off to SAL.
We took off and after a while the male flight attendant sprang into action delivering hot towels, keeping his interaction with passengers at minimum as he did for the rest of the flight.
Meanwhile the sky was very clear at 30,000 feet
Then he came around asking for our meal orders. Choices were beef, Chicken or Pasta. I chose the former, which came with mashed potatoes and roasted carrots. The beef was dry, the mashed potatoes were good and the carrots tasteless. Rather than delivering a proper three-course meal, Avianca serves the main along with a small starter that is usually a salad. The salad was just fine.
Then the purser came to remove our trays and ask if we would like dessert. It consisted in a coconut cake, which was good. I took some coffee along with my dessert. I was not that good, however miles better than what they serve in Y.
I then started to explore the IFE. I started to watch a few episodes of Modern Family and Big bang theory, just to relax a bit. The seat recline was definitely poor and there were no footrests which definitely made the flight less comfortable, neither legroom was generous because of the bulkhead in front. Incredibly I found the first row of Y to have much more room than the first row of J.
When we were overflying Cuba our "lovely" male FA came to distribute water bottles before disappearing into the gallery.
I needed a stretch so I went to have a walk around the cabin. The flight looked to be full in all classes. I only saw a couple of middle seats free in coach.
Back in my seat I started to have a look outside. I just love to fly during sunset.
I tried to catch some sleep, however I was having a hard time finding a comfortable position to do so, so eventually I gave up and started to watch a movie, I don’t remember which. An hour before landing the chief purser started delivering the pre arrival snack, which consisted on a warm roast beef sandwich. The sandwich was good and I took an orange juice along with my snack.
I then went to the lavatory and saw a box of Ferrero Rocher in the gallery. I thought they were for passengers so I asked the chief purser if I could have one. Turns out they were his, but still gave me one. Nice! I overheard the grumpy crew member who did the service for the first half of the flight say “Que fresco” something like “he’s got a lot of nerve” to which the chief purser disagreed and said that he had not problem on sharing one with me.
Then there was a non-rev flying in Y that was allowed to use the J lavatory, even at times when J passengers wanted to use the lavatory.
The captain came on the PA 20 minutes before landing asking the crew to prepare the cabin. We had a very smooth landing into Bogota and had a short taxi to our parking position next to an IB A346.
We were the first off the plane and were off following the signs for international connexions. We had to re-clear security which was quick and were then in the duty free maze. I could see that the lounges were upstairs, but couldn’t find a way up there. I asked an airport employee were the entrance to the AV lounge was and she took me there. Avianca has two lounges in the international section of Bogota. One for Business class passengers and Lifemiles top tier members and the other one for Star Golds, Lifemiles Silver members and priority pass cardholders. While the Gold lounge looks a bit crappy, the business lounge was very nice and had very good views to the apron. The food offerings were limited, but I didn’t mind since by that time I was pretty full.
I still took some finger sandwiches along with a ginger ale and soon I had to make my way to the gate to board my flight to LIM.
I won’t cover that flight since there is not much to say since I spent the majority of the flight sleeping. The crew was much friendlier though.
I hope you enjoyed reading this report! Feedback is always appreciated.
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Verdict
Avianca
5.6/10
Cabin5.0
Cabin crew4.0
Entertainment/wifi7.0
Meal/catering6.5
Lufthansa Business Lounge
6.5/10
Comfort7.0
Meal/catering7.0
Entertainment/wifi6.0
Services6.0
Washington - IAD
8.0/10
Efficiency8.0
Access8.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness9.0
Bogota - BOG
7.0/10
Efficiency7.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.0
Conclusion
Flying five hours in a regional business class seat in an A319, is not a real business class experience. Yes, I knew that before booking the flight. However the level of service I received on this flight from the lack of a proper three course meal as most of other airlines do (The meal I received would be perfectly fine for a 2.5-4hs flight). However Avianca should really upgrade their meal service in medium and long haul flights. Finally, the poor service received from the crew was even below the level of service I have received in most of my flights in Y.
Given that AV has two flights leaving IAD at the same time, I think they could just eliminate one of their daily frequencies to SAL (that is also used as a hub to connect to other destinations in Central/South America) and upgrade their equipment in the BOG flight to a wide-body. I guess that they could perfectly do with an A330.
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Thank you very much for sharing this report on AV!
I have been eyeing flights on AV ex-LAX so appreciate this report greatly. Although this report doesn't convince me to splurge on J for the flights I was looking at, for only $100 difference, this is fantastic value! I think your scoring is definitely justified based on the cabin and catering provided on a flight of this length.
The lounge looks very dark without any windows to provide natural lighting.
The catering looks no different than a US domestic F meal, which is quite disappointing from AV. I would have expected a coursed long-haul meal like you suggested. The pre-arrival snack is better than nothing, glad that they at least served a warm sandwich instead of a cold one.
The narrow-bodies AV sends on these long flights into the US are pretty far from desirable from a comfort standpoint. The longest flight I have done on an A319 is BEG-AUH at 4.5 hours and that was starting to feel tiresome near the end so I can't imagine doing IAD-BOG in these seats.
Turns out they were his, but still gave me one. Nice! - Interesting exchange between the FA and the purser, nevertheless you got your chocolate ;)
Hi NGO85, Thank you very much for leaving a comment!
For just $100 difference with Y it was certainly worth to book J, even if the flight was operated by a narrow body. If I were you I'd still consider booking AV if flying LAX-BOG, since it is operated by an A330 with the new cabins and their business hard product looks great! It is a petty that they can't provide a suitable soft product, even their meal service in Y is a bit lacking!
if flying LAX-BOG, since it is operated by an A330 - It is actually a B787 from LAX-BOG, so it has new planes and new Cirrus seats, but the price difference is close to $500-600 from Y to J per segment.
Hi, thanks for commenting Looks like you had a nice flight with Avianca. I'm amazed by the price difference between Y and J. That is amazing! The flight was not that memorable, however for the price paid I can't really complain ;)
HI KL651 thanks for dropping by, Yes I am sure AV has far better crews out there, so my experience may not really represent how the airline really is. However their meal service is below the standard business class offerings.
Thanks for this nice report! I always like seeing reports out of my home airports (IAD and DCA).
The difference in price between Y and J for the return was just above 100 bucks. Great! - That's awesome! I often see great prices in J on AV to So Am from IAD. I guess the fact that they have a domestic J hard product on a long-haul justifies the lower prices.
The difference in price between Y and J for the return was just above 100 bucks. Great! - So aside from the seat being short-haul domestic Business class, the meal is short-haul standards as well.
Were there printer menus or were the meal choices announced orally? Did you not have any wine with the meals? If you did, how were they?
I overheard the grumpy crew member who did the service for the first half of the flight say “Que fresco” - ¡Ay! The male FA seems really b$tchy!
If you had had a better crew it would have made the experience of having a regional cabin on a 6+ hour flight more acceptable. Too bad! I've seen Business prices to Bogota as cheap as $700 RT in J--sounds like for that kind of product, I wouldn't want to pay much more.
This was definitely not a very good business class experience. Aside from the regional J cabin, AV's business catering is pretty pathetic. I hope they improve on this!
Were there printer menus or were the meal choices announced orally? Did you not have any wine with the meals? If you did, how were they? Yes, they gave out printed menus. I did not have any wine with my meal, however I did have some sparkling wine as a PDB. It was fine.
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119 reviews
9 Comments
I have been eyeing flights on AV ex-LAX so appreciate this report greatly. Although this report doesn't convince me to splurge on J for the flights I was looking at, for only $100 difference, this is fantastic value! I think your scoring is definitely justified based on the cabin and catering provided on a flight of this length.
The lounge looks very dark without any windows to provide natural lighting.
The catering looks no different than a US domestic F meal, which is quite disappointing from AV. I would have expected a coursed long-haul meal like you suggested. The pre-arrival snack is better than nothing, glad that they at least served a warm sandwich instead of a cold one.
The narrow-bodies AV sends on these long flights into the US are pretty far from desirable from a comfort standpoint. The longest flight I have done on an A319 is BEG-AUH at 4.5 hours and that was starting to feel tiresome near the end so I can't imagine doing IAD-BOG in these seats.
Turns out they were his, but still gave me one. Nice!
- Interesting exchange between the FA and the purser, nevertheless you got your chocolate ;)
PS - Please add AV to your flight number.
For just $100 difference with Y it was certainly worth to book J, even if the flight was operated by a narrow body. If I were you I'd still consider booking AV if flying LAX-BOG, since it is operated by an A330 with the new cabins and their business hard product looks great! It is a petty that they can't provide a suitable soft product, even their meal service in Y is a bit lacking!
Cheers!
767traveller
- It is actually a B787 from LAX-BOG, so it has new planes and new Cirrus seats, but the price difference is close to $500-600 from Y to J per segment.
Looks like you had a nice flight with Avianca. I'm amazed by the price difference between Y and J. That is amazing!
The flight was not that memorable, however for the price paid I can't really complain ;)
Well, the AV experience sure does not look as good as it usually does, but for only $100 more it's still way worth it.
The meal and snack really look like a transcon-type offering on a US airline, so not really good for an international flight.
Yes I am sure AV has far better crews out there, so my experience may not really represent how the airline really is. However their meal service is below the standard business class offerings.
The difference in price between Y and J for the return was just above 100 bucks. Great!
- That's awesome! I often see great prices in J on AV to So Am from IAD. I guess the fact that they have a domestic J hard product on a long-haul justifies the lower prices.
The difference in price between Y and J for the return was just above 100 bucks. Great!
- So aside from the seat being short-haul domestic Business class, the meal is short-haul standards as well.
Were there printer menus or were the meal choices announced orally? Did you not have any wine with the meals? If you did, how were they?
I overheard the grumpy crew member who did the service for the first half of the flight say “Que fresco”
- ¡Ay! The male FA seems really b$tchy!
If you had had a better crew it would have made the experience of having a regional cabin on a 6+ hour flight more acceptable. Too bad! I've seen Business prices to Bogota as cheap as $700 RT in J--sounds like for that kind of product, I wouldn't want to pay much more.
Thanks for sharing!
thanks for leaving a comment.
This was definitely not a very good business class experience. Aside from the regional J cabin, AV's business catering is pretty pathetic. I hope they improve on this!
Were there printer menus or were the meal choices announced orally? Did you not have any wine with the meals? If you did, how were they?
Yes, they gave out printed menus. I did not have any wine with my meal, however I did have some sparkling wine as a PDB. It was fine.
cheers
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