Hey you all and welcome to the last of my two reports on LATAM Brasil's domestic experience. If you haven't read the first one, you definitely should take a look at it.
I've already explained the background on the previous FR, so in this one I'll go straight to the point and try to avoid being too much repetitive.
Flight routing
- 1
- 2TAM3051 - CGH-POA (A320)
boarding and check-in
It was a quick trip; I would return to Porto Alegre the day after I arrived. After my appointments I got to Congonhas Airport pretty early. Again, check-in and luggage dispatch was quick.
Even though the departure time was really convenient to the corporate customer, the flight was empty, with a little more than 100 passengers – LATAM Brasil's A320 has 174 seats, which meant boarding was very fast and organized. This time I was on seat 1A – LATAM+ again – so I had boarding priority and this time I was correctly allocated on boarding section 3.
This time I would fly with PR-MHU, delivered brand new to TAM in February 2008.
tam3051 - cgh-poa
In a few minutes doors were closed, pushback was made and taxi was started, all on time. At 7:48PM, three minutes after STD, PR-MHU took-off from Congonhas.
This time I really wanted to try the rest of the service (including the sandwiches!). Thankfully I was in the first row, so I was the first to be served. Again, I observed the FAs served everyone with an amazing friendliness.
First, a roast beef sandwich, along with a Heineken beer. It was super hot and absolutely delicious.
Afterwards, a chicken breast sandwich, a brownie and some coffee. Again, all good, but my favorite sandwich was the first one. Service approved!
After the rich gastronomic experience, I tried using using LATAM Play again. I still hadn't downloaded the app and tried to access the service through the internet browser. I couldn't. The LATAM magazine oriented passengers to type "http://latamplay", but the page kept loading forever. After that I tried my luck and typed "httpS://latamplay", and then the page finally loaded. I'm an ignorant when it comes to informatics, so I don't know the reasons for this issue. Anyway, I felt almost like a hacker.
(Btw: I forgot to take screenshots in English. Sorry!)
LATAM Play is a very interesting alternative in a time almost everyone has a mobile device. There were lots of entertainment options.
I was glad there was also a flight map.
I ended up choosing a series about the beauty of flying, apparently made by – or for – LATAM.
Unfortunately, the signal oscilated quite a lot from time to time. Overall, though, the experience was good and the system is approved. It's a cheaper option to the airline than personal screens and almost as efficient as having screens.
The cruise altitude was of 38 thousand feet. During the flight there was some turbulence and the aircraft descended to 36 thousand feet.
At 8:46, descent was started. At 9:10, 11 minutes before STA, PR-MHU landed at Porto Alegre's runway 11.
After everyone was deboarded, I took my time for photographing the cabin.
As I mentioned on the previous report, I am not the biggest fan of these seats, but it's a fact they at least look good, much better than that old beige fabric of the TAM times.
my thoughts on latam brasil's domestic service
Having flown twice with LATAM Brasil, I can say that I got pretty surprised with their domestic service. The airline delivered what was promised; on-time flights, I was treated very well and the onboard service worked well. Of course there were some minor issues that must be fixed, but the airline is for sure on the right path; and with the changes on the service that should come in the next months, it can only get better from now on.
