Latam Airlines - Heads-Up

[nikad]

So a few points:

1. Pretty much any airline flying between here and NY now does 2 pcs of luggage for free.
If the flight is with LATAM Brasil (NOT any other LATAM - see original post), you get a super-generous 32kg allowance.
But 2 bags of 23kg/50lbs each, you get with anyone including AA.
On the other hand, AA got stingy with business a couple years ago - even in business you only get 2 bags (but of 32kg/70lbs each, as opposed to 23kg/50lbs).

2. By mediocre in business, do you refer to the seat or the service?
Some of their planes flying to BsAs are total crap (specifically, the Dallas route and one of the Miami flights).
But the new ones are supposed to be pretty good.

3. AA has a product called Main Cabin Extra, where they offer a fair bit roomier seats than regular economy. They charge a hefty fee for it, but I've heard of some knowledgeable agents (doubles down in a fit of coughing) getting it done* for substantially less.

[sup]*This, on top of the fact that with the US airlines (AA, United, Delta) a good agent will pretty much always get you at least as cheap as - or cheaper than - you'll pay online.[/sup]

4. Booking LATAM with AA miles is possible, but not as easy as some other oneworld airlines (say British/Iberia) and normally not too cheap.

1- I was just checking the new AA baggage policies and I get 1 carry on and one checked bag on transcontinental flights ( you get two on transatlantic and Asian flights ). I do not have status with the airline, so maybe it is some kind of special perk.

2- I once got very good service MIA - EZE in the AM, but sub par seat EZE - MIA 9.30 PM where it was clearly dirty ( crumbs ) and screen not working. FA were nice, especially a male FA that I have traveled with a couple of times. Then MIA - EZE ok seat, ok food but nasty, unfriendly FA.

3- All of what you get on Main Cabin Extra you get on a regular economy seat with LATAM ( ex Lan Chile ) except for priority boarding. Almost everything that AA charges extra, you have it included with Latam.

4- hehehe so many things can go wrong that I really didn;t want to ruin my first award flight experience, even if that meant getting AA. I must say AAdvantage is one, if not the best loyalty program out there. Well, my expectations for these coming flights could not be any lower... so I will let AA surprise me.

 

[ben]

1- I was just checking the new AA baggage policies and I get 1 carry on and one checked bag on transcontinental flights ( you get two on transatlantic and Asian flights ). I do not have status with the airline, so maybe it is some kind of special perk.

2- I once got very good service MIA - EZE in the AM, but sub par seat EZE - MIA 9.30 PM where it was clearly dirty ( crumbs ) and screen not working. FA were nice, especially a male FA that I have traveled with a couple of times. Then MIA - EZE ok seat, ok food but nasty, unfriendly FA.

3- All of what you get on Main Cabin Extra you get on a regular economy seat with LATAM ( ex Lan Chile ) except for priority boarding. Almost everything that AA charges extra, you have it included with Latam.

4- hehehe so many things can go wrong that I really didn;t want to ruin my first award flight experience, even if that meant getting AA. I must say AAdvantage is one, if not the best loyalty program out there. Well, my expectations for these coming flights could not be any lower... so I will let AA surprise me.

1. My bad, I took it as a given that you're referring to flights between Argentina and the US. Admittedly the most common scenario for flying AA, at least on this forum.

With AA, flights US <-> Argentina is always 2 x 23kg.
If you're continuing to Europe or Asia, that's sometimes a different story.
From here to London, which I issue fairly often, it oscillates all the time between 1 and 2 suitcases.

(BTW this is one more advantage of dealing with an agent. You'll get a straight-up answer regarding how many suitcases you get, and the ticket will state your baggage allowance plainly.)

2. A lot - if not most - of AA flight attendants seem to have gotten their training by watching either the first 5 minutes of Full Metal Jacket, or the first 10 minutes of Glengarry Glen Ross. Re seats, as I said - they still have a couple of routes serving EZE (from/to DFW and one of the MIA flights) with ancient 777.
The main tip-off is by checking the seat map. If the configuration is 3-4-3, it's a new plane. If it's 2-5-2, it's an old one, with seats so old that they look hideous and dirty even when in fact clean. (Or you could just work with a professional and let yourself be pampered )

3. No argument that - at least in the air - LATAM is head and shoulders above AA. And LAN even more so than TAM. But as I said, anything for which you need help on the ground is a different story entirely. See original post (which story btw is still turning out to be a bigger clusterf##k than even I expected from LATAM).

4. May those work out gr8!

 

[Somewhereinba]

I had booking Aerolineas domestic>Lan Argentina to Sao Paulo > TAM to London...

I was unable to check into any flights beforehand - the LATAM website said it was unable to check in and to contact help centre.

I arrived at AEP to check-in and the lady could not even select my seat on the TAM flight - said their systems are completely different and could not change my seat. When I got to GRU I had to go to service desk to get my seat changed.

Flying back from London - first I still couldn't check in online - find out they automatically assigned me a middle of 4 row seat (great considering my height...) I have high status and could not believe the system put me there (she told me all window and aisle seats were already taken even though I arrived 3 hours before boarding). Check-in lady tells me she can't give me boarding pass from GRU-AEP because the systems are different and I would need to get it once I reach GRU. At the gate I ask to change seats to aisle and lady does it on the spot (I find out after boarding that the plane is in fact not full at all and a lot of spare seats so NFI what the moron lady at check-in was looking at). I arrive in GRU and attempt to go through security and then get rejected because I don't have boarding pass (I had baggage ticket showing all flights). I end up having to find a guy who works for LATAM he starts arguing with security lady that I should be let through she isn't budging. He tells me this is very common.. Eventually phone calls get made and he has to 'sign' me in to the security log book acting as some sort of guarantor.. He takes me to service desk to get my boarding pass - no good they can't get it there on their system (lots more head shaking). They tell me I need to get it at gate - go to gate and get boarding pass. Lots of other people that were connecting to AEP also had issues - security wouldn't accept mobile boarding passes to get through. It's pretty clear the whole thing is a massive cluster fuck and the poor people who work on both sides are fully aware how stuffed up things are. It's a pitty because in the air they are really good - but as ben said on the ground its useless.

 

[ben]

Couple of things:
1) Re LATAM - problem is, as I said before, not (even) so much that they can't get their systems in sync, as that they pretend they can.

When you've retired both old brands and launched a new one to replace both, when you've eliminated separate customer service numbers and made all phone calls to either of the old numbers forward to one, that's where things get skeevy.

2) The situation of boarding passes not printing for all segments and improvised fixes at GRU is not limited to LATAM. It happens a lot with Aerolineas Argentinas and airlines for which they act as a "feeder" airline (e.g. South African, Swiss, etc).

Lots of aggravation often involved, especially when someone singularly clueless directs you to go through immigration and you couldn't even if you wanted to because you need a visa to do that...

Again what makes it egregious in the case of LATAM is that they are marketing themselves as a single airline when they clearly aren't.

 

[bobsnowpuppy]

Thought I'd mention that I bought a round-trip EZE/Miami ticket on Latam. I did this because I actually wanted to fly American Airlines nonstop instead of layovers in Lima or Santiago or wherever and their round trip (AA) was $1800-$1900. I paid about $1,000 on Latam although it's actually the American Airlines flights. After my payment, I logged in to my American Airlines account and chose my seats.

By the way, thanks to a friend's suggestion, I switched to private browser settings because every time I looked at a new date range for the flights, the prices went up!

 

[Ceviche]

I bought a round-trip EZE/Miami ticket on Latam.

Have a safe trip.

 

[bobsnowpuppy]

Thanks. I brought this up because of the $900 difference in ticket prices. I thought it might help someone else.

 

[Rich One]

Thanks. I brought this up because of the $900 difference in ticket prices. I thought it might help someone else.

Can disclose this Private Browser thanks

 

[Girino]

I had booking Aerolineas domestic>Lan Argentina to Sao Paulo > TAM to London...

I was unable to check into any flights beforehand - the LATAM website said it was unable to check in and to contact help centre.

I had the same issue and I called LATAM before departure. Apparently, I was flying in code share with TAM (JJ XXXX flight code) and thus they had to manually insert it in their system. Then I was asked to check-in on the next day at https://checkin.si.amadeus.net/static/PRD/JJ/#/identification instead of the page on latam.com. I was flying through GRU to Europe as well. Beside that, their in-airport and in-air services were both extremely outstanding.

The only backsides were:

1. I was able to pick my seat, but not to choose my meal or flag any other issue (special needs, mobility issues, etc.)
2. I tried to add an extra baggage on my return flight and I was quoted 460 EUR online (whereas I was quoted 200 USD over the phone and ended up paying just 150 USD at the airport).
3. I could not participate in the Upgrade program where you can bid for your class upgrade.
4. They changed their baggage policy in May, and there was some confusion with the call center. They said I could bring 2x23kg instead of 2x32 kg though I booked my flight on March 2017 (before their policy update).
5. I had an excess baggage (41 kg) which in the end wasn't allowed in my first leg (MXP>GRU) because of Italian laws that won't allow baggage handlers to lift more than 32 kg. This was not specified on LATAM site. Luckily, I went at the airport with an extra empty suitcase and was able to spread my stuff in 3 suitcases instead of 2.
6. The European call center is in Germany and you have to call a German phone number. This could get expensive, especially if you are calling from a foreign SIM card. Luckily I have Google Voice and I just spent 2.5 USD to call them.

That said, 2x23 kg in Economy is the best offer on the market for round trips to Europe.

 

[Girino]

Thanks. I brought this up because of the $900 difference in ticket prices. I thought it might help someone else.

I usually do my search with one browser, and then when I am ready to book I use another browser to make the purchase to be sure I get the lowest possible price and that I can see the current availability.

Once I was looking for a local flight and by the time I made my mind up it was listed as no longer available for that price (cheapest fare fully booked), but by changing browser I was able to select the ticket at the initial price and proceed with my booking. Aren't they horrible companies?!