Review of Korean Air flight from Sao Paulo to Los Angeles in Economy

KE 62 GRU-LAX (São Paulo/Guarulhos->Los Angeles)
DEP GRU 14:20 03 JAN 2015
ARR LAX 20:45 03 JAN 2015
Flight Duration: 12:25
Aircraft: B777-300ER

Flight route map courtesy of www.flightaware.com
It was time for me to leave Brazil after two short weeks of hanging out with my friends here. In that time, I've been everywhere in São Paulo, and traveled via bus to Florianopolis. I haven't had time to travel to Rio de Janeiro.
If you read my trip report on KE 61 from LAX to GRU, the aircraft I flew on that flight was a B777-200ER. Today's flight, KE 62, was with a B777-300ER. This would be my first time ever being inside a Korean Air B77W.
I had just taken an overnight bus from Florianopolis which took almost 14 hours. My friend drove me from Bom Retiro to GRU T3 at around noon time. We made the trip in 30 minutes since there wasn't too much traffic that day.
On Highway SP-60 from São Paulo to Guarulhos Airport. This is the sign that lets you know that you have exited the city limits. I will surely be back next time!

Exit 219B onto BR-610. BR-610 will take you to the terminals.

I wasn't aware that GRU had Terminal 4.

My flight today would be leaving from T3. In fact, most airline operations other than TAM, GOL, Azul, and Delta have been moved here after the terminal opened early 2014 for the World Cup.

Guarulhos Airport Terminal 3 Departures ramp.

It's definitely one of the most interesting terminals I've ever been to.

Since it was opened only half a year ago, everything looked very clean.

The view of the terminal inside.

This is the Korean Air check-in counter. Checking-in through smartphone on Korean Air mobile site enabled me to skip all this long line and advance directly to a web check-in counter. I probably saved about 15-20 minutes of time. Most passengers seemed to be just US-bound passengers.

I was all checked-in within 3 minutes of walking into the airport.

My friends and I walked around Terminal 3 for a while. We decided to take a walk to Terminal 2 to eat at a food court there.

My boarding pass for today's flight.

@ McDonald's in Terminal 2

After saying good-byes, it was time to head toward my flight. The Terminal 3 was pretty much empty as I was passing through the securities and customs.

Heading toward the Terminal 3 concourse. There were many restaurants, lounges, and shops along the way and certainly rooms for expansion in this terminal.

There were couple United planes and a Swiss Air plane at the gates. My plane, KE B77W had arrived from LAX in the late-morning.

Panorama shot of the Terminal 3 scene.

Departures status of today's flights.

The concourse was very clean, simple, and pristine.

Looking back at the Terminal 3's unique design.

KE B77W. KE's livery looks great on this aircraft.

The ground staff was setting up the gate for boarding.

One more look at the KE B77W with São Paulo in the background.

Passengers lining up to board.

All US-bound flights were subject to extra-screening at the gates. My facial lotion was taken away from me during the process.

Flight attendants greeting passengers.

The rear economy class section.

My original seat, 52A.

All seats would eventually be taken.

Passengers settling in.

Zurich-bound Swiss Air was getting ready to depart at this time.

The flight attendant kindly asked me if I would be willing to switch seats with another passenger, who was seated at 53B. His wife was seating right next to me. How could I say no, I offered to give up my own seat. Good thing was that there was no 53C, so my new seat was an aisle seat.

Panorama view of the cabin from my new seat.

The cabin lights were dimmed shortly after safety announcement. It started to pour when the plane started taxiing.

Flight route map for today's flight.

Skycam on KE's B77W.

And the plane took off through the turbulent clouds above São Paulo.

Beverages and meal services commenced shortly after take-off.

Honey roasted peanuts and pineapple-orange juice.

I believe there were three choices. There were Korean-style bibimbap (mixed rice and beef), fish, and chicken. The chicken dish turned out to be a pasta dish, with raviolis. I wish KE would consider distributing menus to the passengers so that they know exactly what they're getting.

I'm not a fan of pasta, or cheese itself. This dish looked very cheesy to me. Along with the main dish was a Greek salad with mozzarella cheese, fruits, and a bread roll. I had a red wine to go along with the dish.

The chicken meat is underneath the cheese.

The ravioli wasn't too bad. I just avoided the cheese as much as possible.

The Greek salad, which had mozzarella cheese balls, olives, tomatoes, and cucumbers.

The plane was cruising over the State of Mato Grosso by the time the first meal services had concluded.

I found it interesting that Korean Air had its own custom-printed Customs Declaration Card.

The plane started to go through series of severe turbulences from above the Amazons until when it cleared the Andes Mountains.

Some mid-flight snack (muffins) and more pineapple-orange juice.

The second meal service started somewhere over Mexico, near Gulf of California. The choices were fish or beef. I chose the fish.

It was another pasta dish, but didn't look bad to me.

The fish was done nicely on this dish. The pasta wasn't too bad either.

The plane made the initial descent somewhere over El Centro.

Flight attendants getting the cabin ready for arrival.

Inside the new TBIT. The arriving passengers would walk on the floor above the departures floor toward U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Riding the escalator down toward the Customs and Border Protection.

Thanks for reading my trip reports!
More of my trip reports can be found below:
www.flightsinsider.blogspot.com