Review of LATAM flight Los Angeles → Sao Paulo in Business

Booking
I needed to get to Argentina for a friend's wedding, and routings from LAX to deep South America are limited. Prior nonstop routings to Buenos Aires and Sao Paulo from LA on American were cancelled during the pandemic, and a nonstop to Bogota was also recently axed by Avianca. However, LATAM swept in during 2023 and introduced a 3x weekly flight to Guarulhos from LAX, codesharing with Delta. This route makes a lot of sense given the many Brazilians that live in LA, and those that come to visit. For this route, I used 45,000 Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles, which is quite a bargain given the length of the flight (almost 12 hours)! 
Arrival and Lounge
There was some confusion during the check-in experience as I thought that a checked bag was not included in my fare (as the online check-in process mentioned I had to pay. Luckily, when checking in at the airport a staff member told me not to worry, that my checked bag was included. I then headed to the Oneworld Lounge after going through TSA Precheck. This lounge is just okay, the food was quite average.

Boarding was seamless, and the flight seemed particularly full. I was particularly happy to notice that this was the newer Business Class offering from LATAM. The design is modern and elegant - I liked the faux marble and the textured wall behind the seat. 

After taking a seat, I perused the menu, which was available in Portuguese, Spanish and English. Prior to lunch, I had a glass of water and some mixed nuts.

The menu seemed particularly pround of its wine offerings given that Chile is one of the top producing wine countries in the world.

I sampled the Albariño with my lunch.

For the main course, I asked for the Grilled Shrimp, but unfortunately they ran out by the time the flight attendant got to my seat. That's on me, as I should have pre-ordered my selection. I ended up going with the Grilled Tenderloin instead. I will say that four options for a main is excellent (AA offers three options, I believe).

To start, I had the Balik salmon with wasabi mayo and fennel and orange salad, accompanied by another small salad and some warm bread. Dark chocolate and some olive oil vinaigrette were also included. This dish was delicious.

The main course arrived shortly after, and the beef was quite tasty. The portion of vegetables was VERY generous!

For dessert, I tried the Chocolate Ganache which was superb.

Overall an excellent meal from LATAM. After lunch I took a look at the amenity kit, which had quite an original, colorful design.

The contents were standard: wet towellete, lip balm, ear plugs, eye mask, toothbrush and toothpaste, body cream and socks.

I watched three movies on this flight - Oppenheimer, I am Legend and Disaster Artist. Oppenheimer was superb, and the screen quality was much better than I'm used to. Also loved the mood lighting in the cabin.

I also explored the moving map. I will mention here that no wifi is offered on this flight.

The overall selection of movies was good, with a notable selection of Latin American films.

After some movie watching, I slept for a few hours. I will mention that the footwell was a bit narrow, and when you laid the seat all the way flat, you were up close and personal with the monitor. That's one of the main drawbacks of this seat. The slippers provided were comfortable though, and the bedding overall was also comfortable.

I believe I used the Economy lavatory twice, which was decently clean.

Breakfast was excellent - I was served a Belgian waffle with fruit, some coconut cream with granola, a croissant and some more fresh fruit. Instead of coffee I asked for green tea which was quickly served.

We landed in Guarulhos a bit before our scheduled arrival time, and immigration was a breeze at that early hour. However, my bag took more than 30 minutes to arrive! This was the most disappointing aspect as I thought it would be given priority.

Overall, this was an excellent flight with great service from the crew. They spoke Portuguese to me first but quickly switched to English and always made sure I had what I needed. LATAM is definitely ahead of Avianca now as my preferred way to reach South America - I hope they take over Avianca and resume the LAX - BOG route soon!