#81 out of 94 Airlines A minimum of 10 flight-reports within the past two years is required to appear in the rankings.
119 reviews
This was my fourth trip to Colombia overall, and my third time flying to Medellin. I won't be publishing the BOG - MDE segment since it was short and uneventful.
The trip started with a pitstop at a taco stand in nearby Westchester, after which I parked my car at the LAX Economy Parking lot (at a rate of $148 for 6 days, I thought this was reasonable). There is a shuttle bus that operates from the lot to the airport every 10/15 minutes or so.
The check-in area was fairly crowded at TBIT, from where my flight was departing. I mentioned to the agent that my final destination was Medellin, but she was unable to check my bag all the way to MDE since I had booked one segment with Avianca miles and the other with cash. That meant I would need to pick up my bag in Bogota and re-check it, which didn't turn out to be a big deal.
Unfortunately, Priority Pass does not provide lounge access at LAX, which boggles my mind (previously I would have access to the Korean Air lounge). I passed the time by reading and walking around the terminal.
The flight left on time and our "aeronave" taking us to Bogota was a 787-8 Dreamliner, which interestingly turned out to be the last time a Dreamliner operates this flight for some time. Wamos Air is operating this route on behalf of Avianca until at least October while they take more Dreamliner deliveries. It was a glorious afternoon LA, a welcome respite from all the rain we've been having.
I boarded the plane in group D and picked seat 22A, which was just in front of the lavatory. I chose a window seat so I could adjust the controls, one of the cooler features on this aircraft. I ended up having a seatmate but in the aisle, so I could leave a few items in the middle seat. I did appreciate that this plane had individual air nozzles, something that a lot of airlines skimp on.
Otherwise the seat was perfectly fine. The monitor could have been larger and I wish there was more content available. It did have a USB outlet which I used to charge my Apple Watch. It also had a 3D view of our trajectory. I ended up watching a few cooking shows on the way to Colombia.
The tray table was a bit small, but it did have a cup holder. I also liked the retractable remote, but found myself using the touchscreen regardless.
The plane filled up considerably - quite a few passengers were transiting within Colombia or other Latin American destinations.
As far as amenities, the pillow offered was pitiful and offered no support. The blanket (not pictured) was decent. I will say the cabin was kept at a good temperature, but it's just not easy to get good sleep in economy on this red-eye flight.
I will say the meal service on this flight was marginally better than my last jaunt on Avianca back in February. I do wish they offered other beverage options besides water, but the chicken in tomato sauce, rice and vegetables were decent. A brownie was the dessert option. Breakfast was sad, though - just a small bag of toasted yuca and another bottled water. It's pretty evident Avianca is cost-cutting like crazy.
The lavatory (not pictured) was clean enough and the crew was nice even though I had limited interactions with them beyond the meal services. The flight ended up taking about 6.5 hours thanks to some winds, and arriving in Bogota was pretty easy with immigration, baggage pickup and check-in for my flight to Medellin.
Avianca has severely cut back on many parts of its in-flight experience. That said, it offers the only nonstop flight between California and Colombia, making it an easy way to get to LatAm. Transiting through Bogota Airport is easy. My recommendations would be to bring snacks for breakfast and a comfortable pillow as well. Also, Lifemiles is an amazing loyalty program with a great set of partners (I used miles to book this flight).
2 Comments
As well, there are no comments on how poor the offering at the lounge in BOG was, both in quality and in quantity.
It's crazy that Avianca is the only airline flying between LAX and BOG! There's definitely a missed opportunity here for AA, AS, or DL all with a big presence at LAX. Presumably UA don't need to fly this since they codeshare with AV being *A partners.
I often fly out of LAX (though I live in SAN) and I agree that the Economy parking rates are pretty reasonable when you book early enough. It's great that you can pre-book (and often have too at busy times). Before the new parking structure was built the old lot was first come first served so it was always too risky not to get a spot.
I too find it completely outrageous that there haven't been any Priority Pass lounges at LAX since the pandemic. It's the 3rd busiest airport in the country--just unbelievable. Right before the pandemic there were tons of options, Besides the Korean Lounge there was also the Alaska lounge and Virgin Atlantic lounge. There were also a few restaurants like PF Chang's, and now....nada.
Very true, with their conversion to an Ultra-Low-Cost/Hybrid model they have definitely parred down the pax experience. On the bright side LAX gets widebodies, which at least guarantees a decent hard product, the WAMOS A330s having decent interiors in both cabins. The worst is the longer flights that are being operated by their recently densified A320 family aircraft that no longer have IFE or a true J cabin, replaced by a really tight Euro-biz blocked middle seat cabin.
Thanks for sharing!
Login to post a comment.