South American Adventure - SCL-MVD

1. Booking
2. DEN-IAD-ATL-MIA
3. Miami
4. MIA-SCL
5. SCL-IPC
6. Easter Island
7. IPC-SCL
8. Santiago
9. SCL-MVD
10. Montevideo
11. MVD-SCL-MIA-IAD-DEN

I was surprised to find a 767 going from Santiago to Montevideo on a Sunday morning. Could there be such an increase in traffic to merit the significantly larger plane than the standard A318?  I wasn’t going to complain because there was excellent business class availability and it is equipped with the long haul lay flat seats.  This was going to be a fun hop over the Andes. 

Santiago Airport Mass of Coach Passengers

I arrived at Santiago airport and found a giant mass of people by the LAN check in desks.  I looked for the business class desk, but couldn’t find it.  I asked an agent and she directed me to the far end of the airport.  After I walked from one end to the other, I found the LAN international business class check in lounge.  There was no line and plenty of people to help me with my flight.  The space feels private and removed from the rest of the terminal, but that is balanced out by the lack of signage. 

LAN Business Class Check In, SCL - Santiago Chile

There is nothing really to do on the ground side, so I went into the customs line and then to security.  The customs line looks long, but moves fast.  There were a few Asian passengers that blatantly cut the line, but they didn’t respond to people’s comments in Spanish or English, so they got away with it.  After customs and security there is the duty free shop.  It’s large, but doesn’t have anything special.  Most amusingly, the walk in humidor’s door was broken in the open position, so all the cigars were ruined (but still for sale).  I wasn’t interested in shopping because I would be back in a day and have a long layover.  I did grab some prices off the Scotch to compare with Montevideo.  Both airports price items in USD making shopping simple unless you, like me, were in a habit of dividing by 500 to convert into dollars.  3000 pesos ($6) for dry Cuban cigars isn’t bad, $30 for the same broken cigars is a rip off.

Looming over this trip was my 13 hour layover the next day.  I didn’t want to see or do anything so I can have something new to see the next day.  I quickly found the LAN VIP Salon lounge and grabbed a seat.  The free wifi was lightning fast and there was a decent food and drink spread for mid-morning.  The lounge was comfortable and quiet; I was the only tourist in the place.  I enjoyed some surprisingly tasty finger sandwiches and a few Cokes while I caught up on email.

LAN VIP Salon, SCL - Santiago Chile

I went to the gate a few minutes before boarding; SCL is a small airport so you are never more than 5 minutes from your gate.  When I arrived, I saw the crew still in the gate area and settled in for another delayed LAN experience.   When the boarding announcement was made, the gate agent started with families, but it was a tad messy because they had to fight their way, strollers and all, through all the other passengers lined up for boarding.  When general boarding began, business class went first.  The agent stopped me to put a gate check on my roller bag.  I knew it would fit no problem, even in the crazy small 767 bins.  Luckily he put the tag on the top of my bag, so I just placed my backpack on top of my bag to hide the tag.  I boarded, tossed my bag in the bin and it was a non-issue. 

LAN Chile Business Class Preflight Snack

I was settled with a Coke and some nuts while the rest of the plane boarded.  Late in boarding an American family of four sat down in business class and one of their grade school age children said “What is this Mom?  I thought we were sitting in first class.”  Wow.  Really, it was said as obnoxiously as you think.  After my initial shock, I started laughing.  The parents noticed and then explained to their son that not all planes have first and they were in the best seats on the plane.  The explanation also made me laugh (I would have preferred a “be polite or sit in the back” style reprimand).

LAN Chile 767 Business Class Cabin Panorama

A few minutes after takeoff we were flying over the Andes.  There was an announcement made to stay buckled up even though it was smooth sailing.  There are some great views too and 15 minutes later, it was over and then came the plains of Argentina. After the Andes, a simple, but flavorful, turkey salad was served for lunch.  The cheese plate was great as always, but there was mold on the fruit (gross, but noticed before I ate any).  I substituted wine for fruit and vegetable serving.  

Andes Mountains

Business Class Meal on LAN Chile 767 to Montevideo

A gentle landing was followed by a quick taxi.  I was first off the plane and first in line for customs.  The customs agent was friendly and worked quickly.  I grabbed a Champaign sample on my way through the duty free store after customs and found the taxi desk.  I had less than 24 hours in Montevideo and I needed to make the most of them.

South American Adventure - MIA-SCL

1. Booking
2. DEN-IAD-ATL-MIA
3. Miami
4. MIA-SCL
5. SCL-IPC
6. Easter Island
7. IPC-SCL
8. Santiago
9. SCL-MVD
10. Montevideo
11. MVD-SCL-MIA-IAD-DEN

I arrived at MIA very early for my flight because I wanted to see everything LAN had to offer.  Turns out I was a tad optimistic.  There was a dedicated check in counter for Business passengers with no line, while there were over 60 people in line for the coach counter.  Check in was fast and I was given my MIA-SCL boarding pass and a lounge invitation. 

Last time without a line

MIA, if you are not connecting, is a nice airport.  There were plenty of good views, I saw the Lufthansa A380 push back, decent food options, and great duty free shopping available.  There wasn’t even a line at security.  I stopped into most of the shops in south terminal and then went to the LAN contract lounge, Club America – J.  The lounge has a First Class side and a Business Class side, both had the same offerings.  I was directed to the smaller First Class side.  The lounge had free wifi, light snacks, soups, sodas, and off brand liquor.  Like many lounges there is a shortage of outlets and they are not easy to access.  There was a computer room with a few machines for shared use (though most users didn’t feel inclined to share).  The food offerings were mostly chips and cookies with a few finger sandwiches that were never refilled; I was generally disappointed after enjoying the wide spread offered by Lufthansa earlier in the trip.  Also, the lounge became very full, lots of poorly behaved kids, later in the night just before most of the LAN flights started go.

Club America - J, before the rush

LAN doesn’t board on time or in a very organized manner anywhere in their network.  Boarding started about 25 minutes late for no apparent reason.  I was at the front of the mess and made it on board without too much pushing around.  The Business cabin on the 767 had new lay flat seats with a 15in screen.  The cabin was 5 rows of 2x2x2 seating and 100% full.  I had a window seat and was quickly situated.   

One of several LAN 767-300's at MIA

LAN Business Class Seat

When the airline has no first class, what type of food service in the highest class should you expect?  I hope hoping for first class presentation, first class attention, and business class portions and courses.  It wound up it was all business class, but with coach class service.  The drink service started about 40 minutes after takeoff, a long wait for such a late departure.  Airlines should be quick to start service to maximize sleeping time on overnight flights like this.  I started with a salmon appetizer accompanied with salad and cheeses.  That was followed by a small fillet with mashed potatoes and mixed veggies.  I opted for ice cream for dessert.  The meal was good and the wines offered were excellent South American offerings, but this was offset by slow and not attentive service (there was a long stretch when my wine and water glasses were empty).

Appetizer - LAN Business Class

Main - LAN Business Class

Desert - LAN Business Class

After dinner I settled into my seat to watch a movie before bed.  The was a large selection and wide variety of films to pick (I watched 500 Days of Summer and it was a real bummer).  After the movie, I put my seat down to the flat position and went almost right to sleep.  The seats are described as parallel to the floor flat seats, not angled flat.  It’s true, but it felt like each seat section was a little bit lower than the last, like a stepped configuration.  This made it feel more slanted than I liked, but I drank a lot of red wine and it was late, so I was out like a light in any setting.

Breakfast was offered before arrival.  I opted for the full breakfast served 45 minutes before arrival over the quick bite meal served just before landing.  The meal consisted of scrambled eggs, potatoes and some fruit.  It was very bland.

Full Breakfast

The plane landed on time and there was a quick taxi to the gate.  Once the seatbelt sign came off two flight attendants rushed down the aisle and closed the curtains separating coach. I’ve never seen this before, but it’s a cool way to keep business class passengers from feeling rushed.  SCL charges a $140 fee to Americans to come into Chile (not charged for international transit passengers), but I used Irish passport and avoided the charge.  LAN does not give out customs fast track passes, so the immigration line took about 40 minutes to clear.  After customs, I went through a duty free shop, down to baggage claim, through agricultural inspection (all your bags will go through a screener), and finally into Chile.  Plan on it taking an hour without checked bags and 90 minutes with.