In 2022, Avianca made the decision to eliminate business class on all routes within the Americas, choosing to only offer business class on transatlantic flights. Over the past couple of years, we’ve seen the airline progressively add back business class on more routes, and we’ve now reached a major milestone, as the airline has restored…
Continue reading: Avianca Expands Business Class To All Routes Globally, A Major Reversal
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That's a pretty weak offering. You think they would at least try to match Copa, but they didn't even come close.
I flew Avianca J once and NEVER AGAIN. It was so bad, I couldn't believe that they were selling it as business class.
So basically it's a Eurobiz hard product combined with a US domestic First soft product. Sounds wonderful!
It's not eurobiz, as it's a 2-2 product, instead of a 3-3 with a blocked middle seat.
@Ben, don't forget that the new Insignia/Diamond exclusive check-in area at BOG is also part of these recent improvements and it's already in service.
Isn't it more of a modified 3-3 though? Not quite a true 2-2 config and markedly less spacious.
It's still more like a 2-2 and each seat is much wider than regular 3-3 seats. Also, the console can't be removed. As @Ben said:
Unlike business class on intra-Europe flights, the airline actually makes the seats wider. That’s because the typical armrests are removed, and the center seat becomes part of the aisle and window seats.
Do you know if this applies to TACA (by Avianca) too? Or is this subsidiary a total different airline/company?
Maybe they will also undo their ridiculous "avianca" lower case rebrand to demonstrate how 'flying is for everyone' during their LCC phase
This is a good decision by Avianca. Many passengers like business class, especially on long or connecting flights. Removing it before was not a good idea, so bringing it back on all routes makes sense. Even if the service on short flights is simple, it is still more comfortable than economy. This change will help SavePinset Avianca compete better with other airlines and attract more premium travelers
We actually recently flew SALSFO on Avianca last Thursday 15th, and the free meal service consisted of a cold sandwich, and water & coffee. Anything else outside of this, was charged at regular menu prices. This being one of the longer flights on the AV A320 network (close to 6hrs), you'd expect a better variety of choices
That’s pretty bad, in my view. The seat only option was veryreasonably priced. And so was BoB, if you wanted a drink or food..
Meanwhile, the soft product seems mediocre, yet the price is much higher. And don’t forget, Avianca’s cheapest J fares (F fare class) earn nothing on any program other than AV’s own.
Bottom line: You pay much more for basically the same - minus the miles/points earned on Economy tickets …
Flying Business Class on Avianca may not allow you to board your flight with your CPAP machine as allowed by every major airline carrier in the United States under the American Disabilities Act. Avianca requires passengers who carry CPAP machines to provide a medical doctors statement including the flight number and date of travel 10 days prior to departure. Avianca should consider adopting policies that are more customer friendly to the traveling public.
Regardless of what AV publishes and puts out, their Business Class in the Americas still sucks.
Do they compete with Emirates on MIA-BOG? Thought so.
Avianca business class hard & soft product was bad the last time I tried it. I hope they make more investments in both areas.
The upgrade to business for longer regional flights (e.g., JFK to Bogota) made sense for things like meals etc, but for elites these seats are now just harder to access with nothing in return. Even for non-elites it doesn't add as much as you'd think.
Last year elite members used to get up to 10 intra-america business upgrades per year (think JFK or Sao Paolo to Bogota, 5-6 hour flights) PLUS up to 15 or more free instant upgrades to when these were premium economy seats for shorter domestic and regional flights (1-2 hour flights). Now that even the domestic flights are marketed as "business" the 15 instant upgrades vanish and any upgrades on these get pulled from your annual quota for longer flights. Additionally, the cost to upgrade to these seats for domestic is more than double than it was previously.
And what do you get in return? A free snack, whereas even wine you still have to pay for. The airline will justify the extra cost by benefits such as priority check in and boarding, as well as lounge access, but elite members already had all these so there is no added value there.
Disrespectful to elite members who earned status for 2026 and bait and switching them at the end of 2025.
That's not business class! Not even PE.
Like Alaska First Class is, at best, PE.
Whether in Europe or the Americas, it should not be called ‘Business’ class if it’s 3-3 economy seats with middle blocked. Call it… “Economy with the middle seat blocked.” First/Business class should mean lie-flat. Premium economy should mean recliners.
I can't speak for the shorter (<3 hr) routes that were not served as business class, but on the longer routes there's always wine. The thing is, except for transatlantic flights, there's no printed menu and the crew would only say "red wine or white wine." Don't expect any verbose descriptions of wine, although I guess they can show you the bottle...
Yeah, losing lots of free "premium seat" coupons is an overall bad thing for elites because we can get food at the lounge, in lieu of onboard service (assuming the flight departs from a city where there's an AV lounge). Also, I recall some kind of obscure sentence (on an email or website) saying that an announcement would come regarding the premium seat coupons but we're now well into January and they just removed them without saying a word.
For non-elites, depending on the route, the change can be positive because the cheapest business fare (which includes lounge access, onboard snacks, and more luggage) can be found for the same price as their "classic" economy fare and sometimes even a little bit less.
Not in this case. I just looked at the fare differences again and the amounts they are asking are absurd, higher than I realized earlier. $100 upcharge for a 30 minute flight from Bogota to Medellin, whereas before it was only $10-20 to upgrade. But maybe if no one buys it those prices will come down with time.
I haven't traveled BOG-MDE in a long time, but bought a few tickets for family (other domestic routes) and business class was cheaper than "classic" Y. Bought them in a blink 😀
Emirates too, flying from Mumbai to Dubai. The only ones on a long trip in Asia, including low cost airlines — and they are supposed to be the “premium” airline