44 reviews
I was originally going to fly this leg in Economy, but then I considered to bid for an upgrade to Aerolíneas Argentina's business class, Club Condor. I was really lucky and 47 hours before my flight departed I received an email informing me about my uprgade. My expectations were high but I wasn't expecting it to be too good.
This is the longest A330 flight by distance, it's 6.919 miles / 11135 km long. It's operated by an A330 IGW (Increased Gross Weight)
I got to the airport by taxi, from Quilmes (the town where I live) to the airport it's 49 minutes via the A1, AU1 and A2 highways. The traffic at that time of the day (20:00) was quite high but acceptable.
Once at the check-in area, there was a huge mess due to a group of teenagers departing on a group holiday, with all their parents trying to say goodbye to their children. Thankfully, they weren't going on my flight. I used the Sky Priority line and as I've already made the online check-in I just only had to drop off my luggage.
I was literally the only passenger at the security control (probably because I got to the airport very early, at about 20:00) and it was quite straightforward. The passport control was also empty but it took a bit longer because in Argentina all passengers are required to be fingerprinted and photographed upon exit. At least for argentinian citizens.
Aerolíneas Argentinas' vip lounge is the Salón Condor, situated right in front of the gate 17. It offers a wide selection of meals and drinks, an it also features a relax area fitted with massaging chairs, and a kid's area. I found the couches really comfortable. They also offer free wi-fi.
We began boarding at about 22:00, and that's when my fears rose as I saw the group of teenagers sitting on the floor, right next to my flight's boarding gate. Little did I know that they were waiting to board the AR1302 flight to Miami, luckily for me. At that time I was informed that my flight was delayed due to cabin cleaning issues, but thankfully ten minutes later boarding started.
This is my seat for this flight:
A blanket, an amenity kit and a pillow were provided along with the noise cancelling headphones.
After sitting down, the crew offered some nuts and water, orange juice or champagne. I chose the orange juice.
You can also see the seat position control console, with three predefined modes: Relax, Bed and Upright. You can also adjust every part of the seat as you like it. The entertainment system is stowed under the armrest and you can adjust its position. Personally, I prefer this kind of monitor rather than the seat back ones.
After this welcome drink, the safety video was played and we took off. We flew east towards La Plata and turned north towards Rome.
Once we reached our cruising altitude I decided to take a look into the contents of the amenities kit
It is Salvatore Ferragamo branded, and it contains a lip balm, a face cream, a hair brush, toothpaste and toothbrush, earplugs, a sleeping mask, a pair of socks and a bag. I consider the contents of this kit useful for such a long flight, and very high quality.
Some minutes after reaching 30000 feet, the cabin crew handed in the menu. It didn't feel like a business class menu should feel like, it was just a printed sheet of A4 paper.
The starter: Tomato millefoglie
It tasted quite good. I also liked the alioli sauce.
For the main course I chose the Italian Pasta, which tasted delicious.
After the main course they served the dessert wich consisted on a piece of gouda cheese and some tomato and quince chutney, along with an ice pop. It tasted delicious.
Along with the dessert we were offered a cup of coffee or tea.
After eating my dessert, this was the view from my window
we were flying near Rio de Janeiro
At this point I decided to go to the toilet and prepare myself to sleep. The nearest toilets were occupied so I decided to use the middle toilets. After using them a stewardess told me in a very mean way that I should use my nearest toilet, and she also doubted if I was travelling on Club Condor and didn't want to let me return to my seat. I actually had to show her my boarding pass. If you are reading this, you are the meanest stewardess I've found on a plane.
After sleeping on the lie-flat seat, i woke up over Algeria
Only 4 hours to Rome!
I opened my window and this is what i was able to see, the never ending Sahara desert.
One hour later, before serving breakfast, the cabin crew offered hot towels and orange juice
and then full breakfast was served. It consisted of a Croissant, a strawberry yogurt, a piece of bread, butter and jam, and they also offered me some muesli but I thought it was too much for me. We were also offered tea, mate cocido, and coffee.
It tasted incredible.
After crossing the Mediterranean sea, we reach Sardegna
And after Sardegna, we start our descent for Rome, and we reach the italic peninsula
The Leonardo Da Vinci - Fiumicino airport is visible from here
We fly towards the Tarquinia VOR (TAQ), and then get aligned with runway 16R
And no flight report would be complete without the landing wich was surprisingly smooth…
After 14 hours on board this plane, we finally reached the Eternal City, on time. Passport Control was extremely easy, at least for the passengers on this flight. The passport control officer didn't even check the photo on my passport before stamping it and saying arrivederci.
After this, we started our 3-hour road trip to Venturina, a beautiful village in the Tuscany Region via the A12 and SS1 highways.
Aerolíneas Argentinas was an excellent option for this route, the tickets were a bit cheaper than Alitalia's ones, the service was great, and the cabin crew (with the exception of the fore-mentioned mean stewardess) was kind and helpful. They even helped me recover my cell phone when it got caught between the seat and the recliner mechanism. The food was great and high quality. Ezeiza airport is as always excellent, and Rome airport has improved a lot since my last visit in 2016. This flight was the perfect way to start a 20-day vacation at my preferred destination and the land of my grandparent, beautiful Italy.
The contributors of Flight-Report published 4 reviews of 2 airlines on the route Buenos Aires (EZE) → Rome (FCO).
The airline with the best average rating is Aerolineas Argentinas with 6.6/10.
The average flight time is 13 hours and 8 minutes.
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11 Comments
Wow, that was so rude from the FA, at least she could have asked politely before making that silly judgment. As for the dining experience, I would say those were not the fanciest dinner and breakfast in the sky, it lacks in presentation and appearance, but as long as we're full and happy after dining, it's simply just alright.
Yeah, I enjoyed it a lot, but take in account i'm an occasional traveler and this was my first ever flight in business class!
Hola YRGWYN, thanks for sharing this report with us. It's nice to see a review on Aerolineas Argentinas as those are a bit rare. Glad you had a nice flight on the longest A330 route. Your ratings seem high considering the seats aren't fully flat, especially since Alitalia offers a better hard product on the route, but the essential thing is that you enjoyed the flight.
Welcome to Flight-Report and hope to see more posts from you in the future!
Thanks a lot for reading and hope to write another post soon!
hello
welcome in the community
thanks for this FR . As kevin said , AZ is much better than AR
i hope you didnt paid much for this bid
cant wait for your next reports from EZE or AEP
bye
Thanks for sharing your experience. I never saw a FR on long haul business class on Aerolineas Argentinas. It looks like to me that the dishes are very small; weren't you still hungry after the meal service ?
The stewardess should not be so rude with passengers. It is so unprofessional...
Hello, thanks for reading my report. I felt quite full with the meal, but that might be because I ate a sandwich before leaving home.
Bienvenido y gracias por el reporte.
La cena tiene bastante pinta, no me imagine que era asi en AR.
Que atrevida esa azafata! Increible que te pida pruebas para volver a tu asiento.
Saludos!
Yo sospecho que fue por la ropa que llevaba.... jajjaja que gente maleducada!
Thanks for sharing. I only flew once on Aerolineas Argentinas on a medium range trip and everything was ok except the flight attendant. They seem to hire the worst !
Nice to heard about the upgrade! Thanks for sharing with us.
Thanks for sharing this report, though the catering is far from impressive in my opinion in terms of quantity, presentation and variety.
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