Hello from Paris, as I’ve just completed the outbound portion of my quick, special trip to Paris. After flying Avianca’s Airbus A320 business class from Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG), I flew Avianca’s Boeing 787-8 business class on the 9hr30min flight to Paris (CDG).
It had been around a decade since I had flown Avianca’s Dreamliner business class, and I was looking forward to seeing what has changed over the years. In 2024, the airline made a big deal of introducing a new business class experience, which it brands as Insignia.
To sum up my Avianca long haul business class experience, I don’t think the airline is worth avoiding, if it has the best schedule or fare. At the same time, I walked away from the flight with a similar impression to what I had on the previous flight, despite a very different hard product — it was totally forgettable. It just felt like such a generic and uninteresting experience, with some odd corners being cut.
In fairness to Avianca, maybe that’s the company’s best bet, just based on the markets it operates in. But among carriers from Latin America, LATAM is significantly better than Avianca, in my opinion.
In this post:
Avianca’s 787 business class seats do the trick
Avianca’s 787 business class consists of reverse herringbone seats, and it’s quite an intimate cabin, with just 20 seats, spread across five rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration.
Specifically, the airline has the Safran Cirrus reverse herringbone product, and on the 787, it doesn’t feel quite as wide as it would on the 777. When in bed mode, I found it to feel quite tight (at least as a side sleeper), with my knees hitting the side console.
Reverse herringbone seats have evolved a lot over the years, but Avianca has one of the original seats, so it doesn’t have much in the way of bells and whistles. Beyond that, can we just take a moment and acknowledge how bland and colorless the cabin is? I can’t believe the airline ordered these planes factory fresh, and chose these interiors, with literally zero branding.
Hey, at least the airline has individual air nozzles on its 787s, which is a treat on a non-US carrier.
Avianca’s business class bedding is very good
To Avianca’s credit, the business class bedding is excellent, with a thick pillow, a plush duvet, and a mattress pad. That helps with making the sleeping surface more comfortable. I wouldn’t quite rank it as being among the best airlines for bedding, but it’s definitely in the top quarter of airlines, give or take.
As far as the amenity kit goes, it was okay, with one bizarre quirk — it didn’t have toothpaste. It had a dental kit, but then that only had a toothbrush, and no toothpaste. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an amenity kit without toothpaste, so I found that to be quite strange. I asked the crew about this, but they just seemed confused by why I was expecting there to be toothpaste.
Avianca’s 787 entertainment is okay, but there’s no Wi-Fi
Avianca has seat back entertainment in business class on its 787s, though the selection is quite basic. We’re talking around 100 movies, a few dozen TV shows, etc. I’d recommend bringing your own entertainment.
On top of that, at least most of the carrier’s 787s don’t yet have Wi-Fi. I know the airline plans to eventually install Wi-Fi on its Dreamliners, but I’m under the impression that not much progress has been made.
Avianca’s business class meal service is oddly basic
This is where the Avianca business class soft product falls apart, if you ask me. I was on a flight departing in the early afternoon, and it was a fairly long transatlantic flight, at 9hr30min.
A meal was served after takeoff. The service immediately began with the entire meal being served, except dessert. There was no initial round of drinks, but instead, I was just asked what I wanted to drink, and that was handed to me at the same time as my meal tray. Heck, there was even a little nut and dried fruit mix on the tray.
Then once that tray was cleared, either dessert or cheese was offered.
This just seems like such an unnecessarily simplified service flow, since there was never even a chance to get a drink refill before my meal tray was cleared. It just makes no sense to me… why such a quick service?
The food quality as such was fine. The meal consisted of a salad (mixed greens with apple, spinach, sesame seeds, and vinaigrette), a starter (I was served the pork with corn and sour cream), and a choice of three main courses (I selected the shrimp in coconut sauce with rice). You’d think they could’ve done a little more with the cheese plate, as there wasn’t even an offer of crackers, or anything.
The airline doesn’t seem to cater many extras, though, and the general service flow just didn’t feel very premium:
- By the time they took my meal order, only two of the three main courses were left
- There was supposed to be a choice of two starters, but I was just automatically given the pork starter, as I guess they were out of the other option (I was never even asked)
- When dessert came around, I asked if I could have cheese and dessert (since both portions are quite small), and the flight attendant apologized and said they had no extras
- For breakfast, only one of the two options was left
- All of the service was done from carts, and we’re not talking elegant display trolleys, but rather, the same carts you’d find in economy
Individually, none of these things are a big deal, but when you add them all up, it felt like a really downgraded service compared to what you’d typically get in business class. And to the crew’s credit, they were quite friendly, so I don’t think they were the issue.
Bottom line
Ultimately Avianca’s 787 business class got me across the Atlantic in relative comfort, with a flat bed, good bedding, and edible food. However, I’d really describe the experience as being pretty rough around the edges, from the very basic meal service, to the uninspiring cabin, to the lack of toothpaste in the amenity kit.
The sad thing is that with a little more effort, the experience could be so much better. When the airline rebranded its business class as Insignia, I was hoping we’d see a few new bells and whistles that make a material difference, but that didn’t seem to be the case.
I’m happy I checked out both of Avianca’s premium experiences, but I’m not dying to repeat either of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’d gladly fly long haul with the airline again if the price or schedule were right, but I certainly wouldn’t seek out the airline.
What’s your take on Avianca’s 787 business class?
What seat were you one? Do they follow AA’s FEBO for taking meal orders?
Sounds typical AV experience. No better than Copa for sure on regional flights.
Did you check out their Bogota lounge? It seems more like a mall food court.
What you didn't point out (or I missed) is that those two flights, MIA-BOG-Europe r/t with a well timed Lifemiles purchase, gives you *Gold, in one trip, including UA lounge access domestically.
True, I qualified for *G with just 1 r/t in J about 1 month ago. Status is valid until 2027 :)
(Status qualification requirements are even lower for Colombian residents)
What’s with peoples obsession with some long drawn out broadway production for a meal service? Plop it, drop it, and forget it. I always find the crew to be more friendly when they expedite the service because it gets them to their bunk faster.
100%. Travel bloggers are ridiculous. Obsessed with predeparture beverages, a long meal service, and being waited on head to tail by the flight attendants. They want to feel like a rich person with all the servants (while often not paying cash for their ticket). Meanwhile your average business class traveler wants to lie down in that bed, or set up with enough room to get some work done.
Ben,
Let's do a comparison between Asian airlines and South American airlines
Basic and boring…like you!
Seems the Premium Economy offering from Miami to Paris Orly on French Bee would have been quick, adequate and far far more economical!
It does seem like a rather bare-bones experience. "You've paid for a flat bed seat, here it is!". Oh, well... You get to fly home in LP, gratis, so the "functional" Avianca experience will soon be forgotten in the comforting embrace of Grand Cru champagne and burgundy!
Really depends which Latam. Chile Latam is fine, Brazil ex TAM is horrendous.
Sounds functional and actually good for a business traveller (minus the not having enough food options left).
Long meal services are tedious when muggles are trying to get their "money's worth" out of the meal and drink service and all you want to do is sleep.
That roll looks yummy! What kind of roll was it? Was it warmed? I bet it was delicious with butter.
That cheese plate is truly sad.
Totally. I'd rather eat a pistol
Is the cracker hiding in front of the bread roll on the main tray? Looks like they messed up the serving.
Personally I vastly prefer the single tray service
It's not a performance
I agree. Sometimes meal service takes over two hours when you just want to rest/sleep but you want the full meal not the reduced express option that some airlines offer. And that meal looks great, especially the shrimp and rice . And regarding only two out of three options left for lunch and one out of two options left for breakfast, all airlines do have the disclaimer on their menus apologizing if your preferred option...
I agree. Sometimes meal service takes over two hours when you just want to rest/sleep but you want the full meal not the reduced express option that some airlines offer. And that meal looks great, especially the shrimp and rice . And regarding only two out of three options left for lunch and one out of two options left for breakfast, all airlines do have the disclaimer on their menus apologizing if your preferred option is no longer available, plus Lucky likes to seat in the back of the cabin hence not all options would be available when it's his turn.
Seems fine and I think on flights of 10hrs or less I’ll always choose an expedited service over a long 2 hour service, notwithstanding what the carts are like.
Another qn that’s important to me. When do they turn the lights on in the morning. Hate the full lit cabin two hours before landing.
@ Mick -- They turned the lights on exactly two hours out. However, it wasn't the full brightness, but rather, the sunrise mood lighting.
Ha! It’s funny how after so many premium flights how the experience can be so affected by such a minor occurrence. But for me on short flights like this I’m always so frustrated by lights on so early.
Ps. So excited to see your Air France review.
RE: toothpaste. Last month I flew within the Americas and, interestingly, the amenity kit I got on the outbound had toothpaste but the one on the inbound did not.
@ hbilbao -- How strange! I wonder if it's intentional, or...?
@Ben, I wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional and they were expecting passengers to never notice (sigh)... In the end, AV is nowadays a LCC with a 'big front seat' cabin, lol.
Could it be that the toothbrush is prepasted? There are single use ones that work like this.
No, it's all ordinary toothbrushes in AV's kits.
@ Cargoguy -- Great question, and when I opened the dental kit to brush my teeth and didn't see toothpaste, I figured that was the case. So I started brushing my teeth, and I can confirm that's not the case.
I didn't even know prepasted toothbrushes were a thing.
Glado to know that there's always something new to learn here :)
Ben, when does your air france flight leave? I would be so happy to track you on Flightradar24! And on what day? Thank you so much
Hi Stefan - Congrats on winning the creepy message for today.
Nobody in the world wants a stranger (I assume you are a stranger?) to track them down. Were you going to wait at the airport with baloons?
One is of the opinion that there is no such thing as a stupid question …. only stupid answers!
Thank you for conforming such, Mark.
The inaugural flight is tomorrow, 8 April, AF4 CDG-JFK. This is all over social media and the blogosphere.
@Mark, relax. Plenty of people like to track inaugural flights on FlightRadar24. If Ben cared THAT much he wouldn't have publicly announced the flight.