Review of Sky Airline flight from Santiago to Valdivia in Economy

"I'd rather you don't come. Your brother in law is an elder and that would be complicated for him."

My mother and I sold the house we had in Valdivia and then I quit my job and moved north after she estranged me for being gay and leaving the Jehovah's Witnesses. 

But my two babies stayed with her. Months passed and I was missing them dearly. I asked if I could go and see them. That's when she said the words above, breaking my heart for a second time.

A year later, a lot of water has flowed under the bridge and I am allowed to visit.

So I'm ecstatic, knowing that I'll see my two babies again - Rucio, my cat, and Klaus, my dog.

Don't you agree that animals can be so much better than people?

The new app

As if by divine intervention, Sky Airline - the second largest Chilean airline - is selling their tickets a precio de huevo (very cheap)

The price for July 9 is just 9990 CLP. About 10 USD!! Plus taxes, of course, but still a bargain.

Sky has been modernizing their app. It looks sleek and easy to use.

Still some rough edges, though. For example, even though I'm inside my account, my profile says my name is Undefined Undefined.

Let me tell you, I'm very well defined.

I love my life, hate it, then love it again

Getting to SCL is the easiest thing in the world.

Just be wary of taxis (cabs). There's been a lot of news reports about scammers taking advantage of foreign tourists.

The safest ways to go to/from SCL are transfer services like Transvip, apps like Uber, Didi or Cabify, or these busses that you take downtown.

The busses can be Centropuerto or TurBus. The latter have become my favorite, because TurBus have their own bus station outside Universidad de Santiago metro station, and the ride is faster. About 30 minutes.

Their first stop at SCL is the domestic terminal. Then they continue to T2, the international terminal.

T1 looks a bit deserted since international flights moved to T2.

But the old stores remain.

Those penguins have a sort of "I-voted-for-president-Boric" face.

Gullible penguins.

Not much to the left. The former international side of T1 is still being renovated.

So let's go to the right, towards security check.

Cruz Verde is over there. That reminds me…

…that my heartburn is killing me.

As usual, security check is a breeze.

I'm airside in two minutes.

Immediately after security check you will find those screens. Then you must pick the correct level. There are three. We are on the third level now. The access to the gates on the third level is right next to those screens on the left. The access to the second level is right in front of you…

…down the escalator.

This is the second level. The access to the first level is some wide stairs in the middle of this second level.

I've never really taken the time to check on this Digital Library.

Some publications are quite interesting. I wonder if it really works.

So I installed the app, called BPDigital (for Biblioteca Pública Digital)…

…and - surprisingly - it works!

In fact, I think it's fantastic! Besides the titles you see at the airport, there are lots of other books and magazines!

You open an account with an ID. The two options available were the Chilean RUT, or a passport. In the hope that you can open an account with your passport number, I curated some Chilean titles for you.

Food will always be top of my reading list.

A story I feel identified with. Except for that part of the first kiss.

You shouldn't miss this one if you can read Spanish. In this novel, published in 1862, handsome, talented (and poor) Martín Rivas arrives in Santiago to study law. He stays with the Encinas, a rich, aristocratic family that owe their riches in part to Martín's father. He falls for Dámaso Encina's beautiful and vain daughter, Leonor. But he's just a poor man from a little town, and she seems to enjoy humiliating him. 😭😭😭 

I haven't read this one, but it's mandatory reading at school. So go for it. 😂

We'll be boarding in minutes.

This area looks quite lively today.

I'm pretty sure a flight for Calama is departing from this gate. Calama is a mining town and these must be miners. I wonder if they could hire Brazilian miners instead. Preferably from Copacabana or Ipanema. 😋

Curiously, these monitors are displaying a loop of views of Santiago…

…and Valdivia. I don't feel homesick, anyway.

This is the only spotting I can make. All the other aircraft around here is just LATAM, Sky or JetSmart.

That's when I remember that I still haven't seen what seat I was assigned. And… ooooohhh surprise surprise…..

It's 2A!!! Window seat with extra legroom for free????

I love you, Sky!! I love you, I love you, I love you!!!!

I stand in line happily, What a nice flight this is going to be!

That's when - for the first time ever - I hear something terrible. Horrible! Unthinkable!!

I hear my name being called over the PA system!!!

They're calling me to the gate! 😳

Whatever it is, it wasn't me!!

At the gate, the staff explains to me: There's this lady who can't walk and she needs a seat close to the door, so you'll be moved to…

6D

Enjoy your flight.

Y-esss…. If I were them, I would also expect some empathy and understanding. But I couldn't blame others for wanting to push my wheelchair down the escalator. 🤬

The thing is, I board in silence and head for my seat. I'm one of the last passengers to board. The flight is quite full, but 6D, E and F are all still available. So I sit in 6D and hold my backpack on my lap, ready to stand up and make way for the passengers in 6E and 6F.

Hmm… The passengers in 6E and 6F haven't come yet. Still some passengers boarding, but none have claimed 6E or 6F. But I'm sure they are boarding any time.

Perhaps a quick, single photo of the apron for the report before they come?

That's it.

I keep waiting.

I hear the captain: "Tripulación, prontos a cerrar la puerta." My toes are curled inside my shoes!

One last passenger boards. A man, panting after running along the jetbridge. He passes by row 6 to the back of the plane.

Then it happens… The door… They close it!!!!

WEEEEEE!!!!!

I have the whole row for myself!!! 🥳

cabin and seat pocket

I settle myself in seat 6F, still a bit afraid that the FA might come and send me back to 6D or something worse.

But nothing of the sort happens.

Pushback finished.

Safety instructions are given manually, in Spanish and English.

Printed BOB menu. You can also scan it from a QR code.

Wonderful! They have warm options again. They're quite expensive…

…but it gets much cheaper in a combo.

I'll ask for the chicken sandwich, Tika chips and a coffee.

Alcoholic beverages are available, including Chilean red wine.

More drinks…

…and snacks…

…and a fidelity program.

The menu is printed as a 2 in 1 booklet. Turning it upside down, you find the Peruvian version. Hence the flag in the upper right corner.

What I find shocking is that the stuff is CHEAPER on the Peruvian side!!! The cheese and ham criossant is 7 USD in Peru… but 9 in Chile!!!  ☹️

Something available for both countries - and for the same price - is the possibility of moving to another seat. Very appreciated.

I'm so busy with the photos for the report that I barely notice that we didn't taxi along the usual route to the west runway this time (SCL has two parallel runways running north to south) but headed for the north end of the east runway, which is usually where planes land. So I can't remember if this one was landing or taking off. 😁

What I do remember is that the USB ports were working…

…and that the seats in rows 1, 2 and 3 have headrests.

We stand in line for takeoff for AGES…

…and more are following us.

This is a very unusual angle of SCL.

At last, we say goodbye to la mademoiselle that's following us…

…and leave como alma que se lleva el diaulo, as we say in the countryside 😅 (lit. "like a soul that's being taken away by the devil")…

…up by T2…

…which is not very populated this time of day.

We pierce the layer of smog that suffocates the city continually…

…and emerge above Cerros de Chena, southwest of Santiago, with a view of the mountains west of the city, in the Cordillera de la Costa. You can't deny that smog gives a mysterious touch to the landscape. Just like love: Mysterious and toxic.

Meanwhile, some passengers relax and recline their seats…

…which pushes the tray table against my beer belly, which I have even though I don't drink beer. (I promise I'll take care of that. Some day. Somehow)

There's no room for unfolding the safety card in front of me, so I resort to the trick of placing it across the table…

…and then I follow a sequence of "inhale"… "photo"… "exhale"…

…and repeat.

I must confess that I'm at a loss with image A4

The BOB service starts very soon. Here's my 9 USD Full Combo.

The chicken sandwich won't be on the cover of any magazine, but it's tasty, warm and crunchy. Quite good.

The geography lesson

Some additional information about this trip.

It's incredible how time flies when you're reporting. In no time, we are reaching Constitución, on the mouth of river Maule…

…which indicates that we are nearing half the trip.

Chanco, birthplace of chanco cheese. Yummy!

From right to left, the small town of Tomé, the larger town of Penco, and then an urban area made up mainly of the fusion of Concepción and the seaport called Talcahuano.

Concepción was originally founded where Penco is now…

…but then the Mapuches burned it down, so the settlers moved a bit to the south and re-founded the city. That's why the inhabitants of Concepción are called penquistas, from the original Penco. People living in the modern Penco are called pencones, which I think is a horrible word. It's like a pen and a cone. Weird. "I have a pen. I have a cone. Pen-cone". 😂

People from Concepción and people from Talcahuano are always arguing with each other because everyone refers to the local airport (CCP) as the aeropuerto de Concepción, but it's located in Talcahuano. But nothing can change the fact that its IATA code is CCP, people from Talcahuano!!! Give up! 😂

River Bío Bío separates Concepción from San Pedro de la Paz. This river used to be navigable. Not anymore.

This is the best view I can get of downtown Concepción if I squeeze the juice out of my poor entry level smartphone camera. 😅

Soth of Concepción, Lota and Coronel in the foreground. Santa María Island in the background. In Lota, I descended into an old coal mine, as shown in this report.

That would be a pulp mill, of the many you will find in Chile. Most native forest in Chile has been replaced with pine plantations. 🤬

We leave Curanilahue…

…and Cañete behind…

…as we fly above lake Lanalhue…

…and lake Lleulleu.

The sight of Mocha island indicates that we have reached Araucanía.

Coming from Temuco, you can reach Puerto Saavedra - on the mouth of the river Imperial - after an 80-minute car ride.

A salt-water lake - lake Budi.

The tiny town of Hualpin (first time I hear of it!) lies on the river Toltén.

…and so does Nueva Toltén.

The town of Queule marks the limit between the regions of Araucanía and Los Ríos.

With our seatbelts fastened, we fly over the river Lingue. The town of Mehuín lies at its mouth.

Some final views…

…of the fields…

…around the airport…

…and we make it to ZAL a bit late…

…but in one piece.

BTW, at some point the captain explained that our delay was due to congestion at SCL. Only one runway is in use.

new pichoy (zal)?

These could probably be some of the last views of this building, as there have been news that it MIGHT be completely renovated as soon as next year.

It should look like this:

Source

Source

Source

Meanwhile, none of the jetbridges are being used. I wonder if that's a sign that something is being done already?

No bags to claim.

ZAL is quite crowded today, inside…

…and outside.

My sister and my mother welcome me warmly. No hard feelings from my part. In fact, I feel very sorry for them because this has not been a good year for them. Both of them have a fragile health, especially my sister, who came down with what doctors believe to be Lambert-Eaton syndrome.

But I count the kilometers to be back with…

…my babies.