Review of LATAM flight Buenos Aires Santiago in Economy

Airline LATAM
Flight LA450
Class Economy
Seat 4L
Aircraft Airbus A321
Flight time 02:25
Take-off 07 Feb 17, 11:35
Arrival at 07 Feb 17, 14:00
LA   #35 out of 96 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings. 212 reviews
viajero90
By 1245
Published on 25th February 2017
Hello everyone! This is the first leg of a series of report from my trip to Chile on last weeks.
The itinerary was:

EZE-SCL with LATAM Chile
SCL-PUQ with SKY Airline
PUQ-SCL with SKY Airline
SCL-AEP with LATAM Argentina

The legs I flew on LATAM were bought with LATAM km, and I think that’s the reason I suffered two involuntary changes on this flights. The weeks before the flight I received like 3 e-mails saying that the flights I chose were cancelled o that I was due to change flights because no reason. On those e-mails they said I could chose from the time table the flights I want. But when I called their contact center they said that they had already chose an option for me and If I wanted to chose my own flight option I had to pay a fee…so that’s why I think that I you choose to fly on LATAM km, you fly whenever they want to, it’s not completely up to you :-/

So let’s move to the report!

LA450
Date: 07/02/17
Origin: Buenos Aires – Ezeiza EZE
Destiny: Santiago SCL
Departure: 11.35 (12.05 real)
Arrival: 14.00 (13.55 real)

On the day of the flight I arrived Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza, Buenos Aires Province (EZE) like 4 hours before my flight. As usual I hired a transfer from my city to the airport. As LATAM counters are always open I proceeded to dispatch my luggage. I had previously checked in on their Smartphone app and chose seats when I booked the flights. The attention was fast and OK.

EZE Terminal A Entrance
photo 2017-02-07_08-04-07

LATAM Counters
photo 2017-02-07_08-08-21

EZE Departures Hall
photo 2017-02-07_08-22-16

As there’s not much to do at EZE’s landside I went through security and migrations. They both were very fast. On the airside I had plenty of time to kill so I walked along the Terminals A B and C (which are all connected on the airside), there were like 3 hours more to go!

EZE Departures
photo 2017-02-07_08-36-48

Copa Boeing 737-800 and the queen Lufthansa Boeing 747-8
photo 2017-02-07_08-42-27

Boarding lounge Terminal B and Iberia’s Airbus 340-600
photo 2017-02-07_08-44-38photo 2017-02-07_08-50-21
Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus 330 departing on the daytime flight to MIA

LATAM Brazil Boeing 767 departing to BOG
photo 2017-02-07_09-23-50

Delta Boeing 767 just arrived from ATL
photo 2017-02-07_09-26-31

Then I went to Starbucks for cappuccino and cheese bread for breakfast. After that I went to search for my boarding gate, which at the time of check in wasn’t assigned yet.
photo 2017-02-07_09-42-38

My boarding pass
photo 2017-02-07_09-45-53

Aircraft movement in Buenos Aires Airspace
photo 2017-02-07_10-00-23

Finally I found my gate. It was number 5 on Terminal A
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LATAM Airbus 321 which flew me to SCL, CC-BEJ
photo 2017-02-07_10-30-30

PAX waiting
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At 10.50 punctually the boarding process started. As Argentineans (especially porteños – people from Buenos Aires-) are very anxious people, 2 big lines had already formed towards the gate. First they were calling passengers with babies and mayor adults, then airline status passengers, after that passengers on the lasts rows of seats and finally passengers with seats on the front side of the aircraft (me). My seat was 4L.

Walking on the Air Bridge
photo 2017-02-07_11-07-50

My digital boarding pass
photo 2017-02-07_11-08-37

Another view of A321
photo 2017-02-07_11-10-38

From my window, Air Europa Boeing 787 bound for MAD
photo 2017-02-07_11-14-08

The route today. This aircraft was equipped with a wifi entertainment system.
photo 2017-02-07_11-21-47

At 11.30 the captain introduced himself and gave the flight details. Immediately we made push back and the FAs gave the security instructions on a manual way (? This aircraft does not have any public or private screens.
photo 2017-02-07_11-27-30

Some visitors at EZE, Aeromexico, Iberia, British Airways, LATAM Brazil
photo 2017-02-07_11-59-54

Finally at 12.05 we took off with a delay of half an hour. Later we recovered some time during the flight. On takeoff we headed west then south and finally east.
photo 2017-02-07_12-05-36photo 2017-02-07_12-07-20

EZE from the Air
photo 2017-02-07_12-09-22

On the app you could follow the exact flight path and flight info
photo 2017-02-07_12-11-58photo 2017-02-07_12-12-12

Then I looked what movies and TV programmers were offered on the in flight entertainment system. I found one of my favourites TV series of the last years, Mr. Robot. But this flight is very short to be watching many episodes.
photo 2017-02-07_12-13-36

Reading material
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On the magazine called VAMOS there was an article about the best treks and one of them was Torres Del Paine, which I would be doing in some days!
photo 2017-02-07_12-25-21

Some minutes later they served the meal: A croissant with cheese and turkey, a bonobón (a traditional candy from Argentina) and drinks (Coffee, tea, soft drinks). They offered two glasses if you wanted. The whole crew was Chilean I believe. They had a great attitude and were very kind and smiley.
photo 2017-02-07_12-39-46

The guitar (http://estancialaguitarra.blogspot.com.ar/)
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City of Mendoza (on the upper right side you can spot the airport MDZ)
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While we were flying over Mendoza, the Captain announced we will soon be crossing Andes Mountains, for that reason he asked us to fasten the seatbelts and to not use the toilets. Also on a pre recorded announcement they said there can be some turbulence.
photo 2017-02-07_13-36-25

During the crossing we were flying parallel to Argentinean route number 7 and I spotted El Puente del Inca (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puente_del_Inca)
photo 2017-02-07_13-37-16

Too bad we were on summer, there’s not much snow left on the mountains but the views are still amazing.
photo 2017-02-07_13-37-42photo 2017-02-07_13-39-13

This A321 has plugs between the seats.
photo 2017-02-07_13-47-48

Once we finished crossing the Andes the captain announced we were about to land in SCL
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Minutes before 14.00 we landed
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On the way I could spot Qantas Boeing 747 which was about to depart to SYD
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Disembarking
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On the way to migrations, they were separating lines in Chileans/foreign. The foreign like was soooo long, that when the Chileans finished passing they started sending us on that like. On that moment I discovered there’s free wifi at the airport. It worked very well. I used it every time I spent time there. It seems that many flights from neighboring countries arrive at that time in SCL. That’s why it was so crowded. After migrations there is a control from the Authority of agriculture which is very strict on every crossing into the country.
Once outside I took a Delfos transfer to the city center that I hired minutes ago on their desk..
photo 2017-02-07_14-57-42photo 2017-02-07_15-01-50
See more

Verdict

LATAM

7.8/10
Cabin7.0
Cabin crew10.0
Entertainment/wifi9.0
Meal/catering5.0

Buenos Aires - EZE

6.5/10
Efficiency9.0
Access1.5
Services7.5
Cleanliness8.0

Santiago - SCL

6.9/10
Efficiency6.0
Access7.0
Services7.0
Cleanliness7.5

Conclusion

It was a nice flight. Almost everything was fast, and the flight is very short. The crew was the friendliest of all the crews I met on this trip. The food was ok, but the portion is small. Taking into account that this flight is on lunch time (from 11.30 to 14.00) they could offer something a little more generous.

Information on the route Buenos Aires (EZE) Santiago (SCL)

Les contributeurs de Flight-Report ont posté 11 avis concernant 4 compagnies sur la ligne Buenos Aires (EZE) → Santiago (SCL).


Useful

La compagnie qui obtient la meilleure moyenne est LAN Airlines avec 7.9/10.

La durée moyenne des vols est de 2 heures et 18 minutes.

  More information

6 Comments

If you liked this review or if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to post a comment below !
  • Comment 387309 by
    Pilpintu TEAM 997 Comments
    Note: Translation below :D

    Hola Viajero!

    Bienvenido a Chile! ^^

    I think that I you choose to fly on LATAM km, you fly whenever they want to

    Me parece una vergüenza! Pero es probable que no tenga que ver con la forma de adquirir el pasaje, sino con algún ajuste de rutas o algo así. Por las mismas fechas me cambiaron un vuelo doméstico que había comprado normalmente. Me cambiaron la ida y la vuelta. Pero encuentro el colmo que te hagan pagar por escoger el vuelo tú mismo. Será en caso de una diferencia de tarifa?

    EZE Departures Hall

    Me recuerda a SCL!

    My boarding pass

    En los vuelos domésticos no dan sobrecito. :( Con suerte se alcanzan a ver las letras a medio imprimir en papel térmico.

    On the app you could follow the exact flight path and flight info

    Ese piloto estaba borracho!! Iba en zig zag! XD

    one of them was Torres Del Paine, which I would be doing in some days!

    Me ganaste! Yo todavía no he estado ahí :(

    A croissant with cheese and turkey, a bonobón (a traditional candy from Argentina) and drinks

    Hasta donde yo sé, latam es la única aerolínea que ha fijado 3 horas y media como límite para ofrecer un refrigerio decente. Muy conveniente para ellos considerando que el 90% de sus rutas dura menos que eso!

    The guitar

    He quedado sin habla! :O

    City of Mendoza

    Quiero ir!!! Estuve ahí cuando tenía como 15 o 16 años. No recuerdo mucho, pero me encantó la ciudad. Si no voy este año, seguro que voy el 2018.

    there’s not much snow left on the mountains but the views are sversion fortill amazing.

    Muy bonitas fotos!

    After migrations there is a control from the Authority of agriculture which is very strict on every crossing into the country. 

    Sí, hace unas semanas vi un reportaje sobre ellos en la tele. Es increíble la cantidad de cosas extrañas que incautan!

    Gracias por compartir!! ^^


    Translation:
    It’s a shame that latam gives a croissant and a bombon for an international trip.
    EZE reminds me of SCL.
    At least, latam's international boarding pass looks better than the domestic flight version.
    Weird takeoff pattern. Was the pilot drunk?
    “The guitar” is amazing!
    I visited Mendoza as a teenager. Beautiful city. I want to go back.
    Biosecurity procedures are very strict at SCL. I saw on TV how they find lots of weird stuff carried by passengers.
  • Comment 387392 by
    DiegoSS02 78 Comments
    Nice report!!! I consider LATAM catering in medium haul south american flights really awful, it's too simple!!! At least they should serve a sandwich or a wrap. In JJ and PZ, they only serve a cupcake!!
    • Comment 387807 by
      viajero90 AUTHOR 106 Comments
      Thanks! I really wish they offered a more generous meal service..At least on lunch/dinner time flights!
      I remember once I flew a regional TAM flight they gave me this vanilla cupcake it was really awful! like gross!! haha
  • Comment 387676 by
    Chibcha SILVER 540 Comments
    Thanks for sharing this nice crossing of the Andes

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