Typically when I plan review trips, it involves travel to Asia or Europe, since that’s what’s most interesting to most OMAAT readers in terms of aspirational routes they’d fly, airline quality, etc. Well, living in Miami, it’s time to plan a trip a bit further south.
I’m hoping to take this trip in the coming weeks, though wanted to get some feedback to make this as interesting as possible.
In this post:
I’d like to fly Boliviana de Aviacion’s Miami route
For years I’ve been wanting to fly Boliviana de Aviacion’s route between Miami (MIA) and Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI). The airline has historically flown rather mysterious Boeing 767s between the two cities. However, the airline is now modernizing its fleet, and has taken delivery of a pair of Airbus A330s, which used to fly for Virgin Australia.
Suffice it to say that the airline has quite the upgraded hard product, with fully flat reverse herringbone seats. That means it’s time to finally fly with the airline! It seems that as of now, the airline is continuing to schedule the 767 on the route in the future, though in the days prior to departure, the flight gets swapped to an A330.
Business class fares are quite reasonable, at ~$700 one-way, so that’s how I’d book, as the airline doesn’t have any major partnerships, or belong to any of the global alliances.
I’d then of course love to spend a couple of days in Bolivia. I don’t think I’ll make it to the Uyuni Salt Flats this time around, as time is limited, though I hope to check that out in the future. However, I’d still like to spend a couple of days exploring Santa Cruz de la Sierra (if anyone has any thoughts on the city, I’d love to hear them).
As far as points hotels go, there are two Marriott options — there’s the Marriott and then there’s Los Tajibos, a Marriott Tribute Portfolio property. I’m leaning toward the former, but am open to feedback.
Where should I fly from Bolivia?
I don’t just want to fly the same plane back and forth to Bolivia, so I’d like to tie something else into this trip, while being away from home for as short as possible.
Boliviana de Aviacion does operate some flights within South America, though best I can tell, all of the carrier’s 737s are in a one-cabin layout, so I don’t think there will be much to report on when it comes to service.
When it comes to airlines in South America and Central America:
- I’ve recently flown LATAM’s Boeing 767 business class and Copa’s Boeing 737 business class, so I’d rather not repeat those
- The products that most interest me are LATAM’s Boeing 777 business class, Aerolineas Argentinas’ A330 business class, Azul’s Airbus A330-900neo business class, and Copa’s Boeing 737 MAX business class
So, looking at the flights to & from Santa Cruz de la Sierra, one option that stands out is flying GOL’s Boeing 737 MAX to Sao Paulo (GRU). The airline does have a premium economy cabin on its planes, which seems like intra-Europe business class, with blocked middle seats. GOL is a huge airline in South America, and is also an American AAdvantage partner.
Sao Paulo is obviously a better place than Santa Cruz de la Sierra when it comes to airline options. But I’m still not sure what exactly to do from there:
- I’d love to fly LATAM business class from Sao Paulo to Miami or New York, though the carrier seems to almost never have award availability on this route and fares are steep
- I’m intrigued by flying Azul’s A330-900neo business class from Viracopos to Fort Lauderdale, and cash fares are sometimes reasonable (Azul partners with Air Canada Aeroplan and United MileagePlus, but doesn’t seem to release any business award space); the catch is that I’m already dreading getting between GRU and VCP (is it as bad as I think it is?)
- I mean, I’ve been wanting to fly Aerolineas Argentinas for eons, but does the airline ever release business class partner award space, or have good fares?
- Copa at least consistently flies its Boeing 737s MAXs to Sao Paulo and has lots of award availability, but still, I think one of the above options could be more interesting
Bottom line
I can’t believe Boliviana de Aviacion is finally flying its Airbus A330, so it’s time that I check it out. Getting from Miami to Santa Cruz de la Sierra is easy enough. What I can’t figure out is what exactly to do from there. I’d love to fly with Azul or LATAM, but both are tricky with award space, so I’m curious if there’s some trick I’m missing.
If anyone has any creative review trip ideas that I’m missing that could be tied in with a Boliviana de Aviacaion flight to Santa Cruz de la Sierra, I’d love to hear ’em!
I flew the A330 in Business Class from VVI to MIA-sent you some pics and the story by email.
Amazonas are a fun wee airline if you can fit them in. Of the destinations they fly from Santa Cruz, La Paz is worth a look.
Hello, sorry for my English, Boliviana de Aviación is very used by Argentines, doing MIA - VVI - EZE. Their prices are cheap and allow us to carry between two and three 25kg suitcases in the hold.
At the moment, the VVI - EZE is done with A330, formerly B767. The 737-800 of BoA are particular, they have 168 seats in a single cabin, many say they are spacious. In VVI you have the...
Hello, sorry for my English, Boliviana de Aviación is very used by Argentines, doing MIA - VVI - EZE. Their prices are cheap and allow us to carry between two and three 25kg suitcases in the hold.
At the moment, the VVI - EZE is done with A330, formerly B767. The 737-800 of BoA are particular, they have 168 seats in a single cabin, many say they are spacious. In VVI you have the only CRJ 200 operator: Paranair, going to Asuncion, Paraguay, which has a codeshare agreement with LATAM.
LATAM operates Boeing 777s within South America, between: LIM - GRU and SCL - GRU.
GOL has a fairly large VIP lounge at Guarulhos. It also has a good in-flight meal offer in Premium Economy, including hot dishes, which they only use on regional flights.
Aerolíneas Argentinas has domestic flights with Airbus A330-200, from Buenos Aires (Ezeiza) to Bariloche, El Calafate, Ushuaia and Puerto Iguazú, between 3 and 7 flights per week. As of October, Rio de Janeiro will be added.
Between Buenos Aires and Guarulhos, the busiest international route in Latin America, there are flights with Air Canada (Boeing 787-9), Swiss (Boeing 777-300ER), Ethiopian Airlines (Boeing 787-8, changing to A350-900 in November) and Turkish Airlines (A350-900). From Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires you have Emirates (Boeing 777-200LR) and, since October, British Airways (Boeing 777-200ER).
Between Buenos Aires and Santiago you also have KLM with 787-9.
I'd highly recommend you take a domestic flight from VVI to LPB (BoA or Amaszonas) during daytime, get a window seat on the righthand side and soak in the beautiful views of the Andes! ...and on to SCL from there?
Greetings from BOL, completely being aware about your visit to my country and city, you should try places like, Porongo, Cotoca, Paurito or La Guardia/El Torno, those are little towns close to the city, like 30 minutes driving, and also try places away, like Samaipata (touristic) La Chiquitania (touristic) or may be a park like Güembe BioPark, La Rinconada Park, The Zoo, or Botanic Garden, also Kalomai Park or Playland Park
Aerolineas - no and no lol.
I flew their A330 in economy in January. It was a fine flight, overhead bins were so small that you couldn't place a roller board in lengthwise! Business looked like the classic LATAM 2-2-2.
The crazy thing is the flight prices. If you book through their US site, I found prices to be much higher than the Argentinian site (which is only supposed to be for citizens? I don't...
Aerolineas - no and no lol.
I flew their A330 in economy in January. It was a fine flight, overhead bins were so small that you couldn't place a roller board in lengthwise! Business looked like the classic LATAM 2-2-2.
The crazy thing is the flight prices. If you book through their US site, I found prices to be much higher than the Argentinian site (which is only supposed to be for citizens? I don't know, it still let me book). I would love your take on the fluctuations in flight prices due to their currency instability. It's really wild.
There were a lot of last minute schedule changes that led to impossible connections, so beware. But overall I thought the flight was good!
Couple a tips if you choose Azul:
Form my expirence, the airline sometimes releases award space in business class when booking through partner programs, specially TAP’s FF which i dont recall the name
For making the way between Sao Paulo and VCP, the airlane does offers a free bus from Congonhas airport in Downtown Sao Paulo or Barra Funda terminal also near downtown to VCP.
Or… you could book a one-stop itinerary like...
Couple a tips if you choose Azul:
Form my expirence, the airline sometimes releases award space in business class when booking through partner programs, specially TAP’s FF which i dont recall the name
For making the way between Sao Paulo and VCP, the airlane does offers a free bus from Congonhas airport in Downtown Sao Paulo or Barra Funda terminal also near downtown to VCP.
Or… you could book a one-stop itinerary like SAO-CNF-FLL or SAO-REC-FLL
Both these routes, as the one from VCP, alternate between the A330-200 and the A330-900. The VCP-FLL gets the neo more frequentely
I really recommend you trying some domestic flights whitin Brazil, specially longer ones, because i’ve heard that brazilian airlines, particulary Azul, even though lacking a proper Business product on domestic flights, offer great service when compared to European or even American carriers on short haul flights.
BoA should join OneWorld! So should GOL for that matter (but would take them investing in Business Class).
Go to São Paulo and spend a couple of nights there - it's a really culturally rich and lively city. You can review some of the high-end points properties there, like the Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott, Renessaince. Azul also offers a free bus from a couple of locations in São Paulo to VCP - including CGH, the inner city airport, which is usually easy to reach. And as others suggested, you can tag two different...
Go to São Paulo and spend a couple of nights there - it's a really culturally rich and lively city. You can review some of the high-end points properties there, like the Grand Hyatt, JW Marriott, Renessaince. Azul also offers a free bus from a couple of locations in São Paulo to VCP - including CGH, the inner city airport, which is usually easy to reach. And as others suggested, you can tag two different fifth freedom flights to EZE, where you can review some more points properties.
Definitely stay away from Refugio Los Volcanes, about two hours from Santa Cruz. Trust me, you don’t want to go there. And especially, you don’t want to review it. If you do that, it might attract so much tourism with so little space available, that its astounding scenery will have a two-year wait list. Did I say astounding scenery? No, I didn’t mean that. You don’t need to go there. Please stay away. It's a secret.
FLY AZUL BEN PLEASE!!!! ITS TIME!! It really isnt that bad from Sao Paulo to Viracopos, just go outside of rush hour.
Interesting as I share your interest in these 'exotic' carriers- how about departing out of Boliviana de Aviacion's hub to experience their check-in and lounge experience; Azul or Aerolineas would also be fun
VVI to GRU with Gol.
Get a very long connection at GRU, so that you can make a lounge-craw. Several different lounges and restaurants accessible with PP/ Dragon/ Amex/ Visa / MC Black.
Almost all are at T3. If you're next flight leaves at T2, you can still walk to and from T3 airside.
Then GRU to EZE with one of the 5th freedoms, then Aerolineas.
Sure, it would be nice to review Azul, but it can wait too another time. I'd rather have the lounge-craw at GRU.
All South American airlines crew suffer from an overdose of French attitude. Even DL, UA and AA would be better. Surprising as that maybe! COPA is the only decent Latin American carrier. Friendly crew and decent meals even in economy.
I vote for Azul's A330neo. Matt at Live and Let's Fly reviewed it and loved it. Just spend a day in Sao Paulo versus trying to get from GRU to VCP in a connection.
I think he meant the drive in SP traffic from GRU to VCP is bad, not connecting via flights
I flew the BoA 767 in business class 2 years ago. It's an interesting experience. Their business class check-in counter at MIA is easy to miss - don't make the mistake I did and end up in the general check-in line. I got the center seat with an aisle on each side for the leg from Miami. It was an experience for sure, but not one I'm hoping to repeat when I take this flight...
I flew the BoA 767 in business class 2 years ago. It's an interesting experience. Their business class check-in counter at MIA is easy to miss - don't make the mistake I did and end up in the general check-in line. I got the center seat with an aisle on each side for the leg from Miami. It was an experience for sure, but not one I'm hoping to repeat when I take this flight again next month. Fingers crossed for the new plane...
Los Tajibos was great, although calling it 5-star is a bit of a stretch. The peacocks and tortoises roaming around the property are really cool.
Scl syd akl nyc.
Review the new “non stop” syd to nyc. I wonder if any mileage program allows South America to North America via Australia :)
No
Go to La Paz! Flight over won’t be exciting but el Alto is the worlds highest international airport, over 13,000 feet. A keeper!
That’s why the flight goes to Santa Cruz instead. .
Thank you Lucky for inviting feedbacks for your planned trips to Japan and Bolivia. I am going to Japan in November and cannot wait to read your trip report . I took a trip to Bhutan a year after reading your post. You have a huge following and I benefit a lot from your global readers' knowledge and experiences. Can you attach a trip to Paraguay while visiting Bolivia (kill two birds with one stone)?...
Thank you Lucky for inviting feedbacks for your planned trips to Japan and Bolivia. I am going to Japan in November and cannot wait to read your trip report . I took a trip to Bhutan a year after reading your post. You have a huge following and I benefit a lot from your global readers' knowledge and experiences. Can you attach a trip to Paraguay while visiting Bolivia (kill two birds with one stone)? What about Africa trips sometimes soon this year? Three M countries in mind: Mauritius, Madagascar and Mozambique? I am heading to Mongolia later this year and hoping Myanmar next year. Will they interest you?
I suggest to visit Cali in Colombia for a specific museum, which I believe you will love: Museo Aereo Fenix. It's privatelly run by an av geek and has a huge cutlery collection from tons of airlines in addition to the regular things found in air themed museums like planes.
I’ll strongly recommend you fly Azul’s A330neo or even A350, and perhaps Aerolíneas Argentinas’ A330, as these are far more exotic products than the tried-and-tested LATAM. There are a couple of premium products in South America, particularly from Azul, that completely beat Avianca and co. out of the water.
I also hope that, one day, you make good on your promise to fly the Singapore 737 MAX and Vistara 787-9 in my side of the world. ;)
There's lots of fifth freedom flights between GRU and EZE, like Swiss, Air Canada, Turkish, and Ethiopian. Before the pandemic, Qatar and Emirates also used to fly that route, but I can't find any of their flights now.
It could be a good way to tag an interesting and unexpected flight onto an EZE-MIA adventure. Plus, you could write a post about the logistics of paying for hotels in Argentina at the moment.
LATAM does...
There's lots of fifth freedom flights between GRU and EZE, like Swiss, Air Canada, Turkish, and Ethiopian. Before the pandemic, Qatar and Emirates also used to fly that route, but I can't find any of their flights now.
It could be a good way to tag an interesting and unexpected flight onto an EZE-MIA adventure. Plus, you could write a post about the logistics of paying for hotels in Argentina at the moment.
LATAM does have a reasonable amount of business award space through AS on GRU-SCL-USA and GRU-LIM-USA (LAX and other cities), and they often fly different wide-bodies on those routes, so you could get a couple more reviews in.
Azul's business class is very solid and definitely underrated (or under the radar, I guess). They also have some fun Brazilian flair onboard (wing tips, floor print in the lavs, L'Occitane au Bresil products) that LATAM and Gol don't.
Hi! I have been living in Santa Cruz for a little over a year now. Very, very excited for the A330 as well. Those 767 were OLD.
As for Santa Cruz - it's a cool and unique place, but there isn't much of tourist interest around. Most of Bolivia's natural treasures are in the west. That being said, you can travel a few hours out of the city to places like Saimaipata and get...
Hi! I have been living in Santa Cruz for a little over a year now. Very, very excited for the A330 as well. Those 767 were OLD.
As for Santa Cruz - it's a cool and unique place, but there isn't much of tourist interest around. Most of Bolivia's natural treasures are in the west. That being said, you can travel a few hours out of the city to places like Saimaipata and get into the foothills of the Andes.
Be sure to check out Guembe Bioparque just over the river from the city. Ventura Mall offers a modern mall experience.
For food (close to both Marriott and Tajibos) you can get excellent steaks at Fogón de Gringo or Los Hierros. Be sure to eat Saltenas while you're here, too, they are a true Bolivian staple. (I love pollo picante!)
Check out the main plaza downtown to see the historic cathedral and a square that's always buzzing.
To your hotel question - The Marriott is a much newer, tower style hotel. Los Tajibos is more of a resort feel and has an excellent brunch.
For where to go after - BoA flies their 737-800s to Lima, which could offer some good connections. You can also fly with LATAM to Santiago 4 or 5 days per week. Sao Paulo is a short flight, and both BoA and GoL fly the route. Final good option is Buenos Aires. BoA flies to EZE and Aerolineas to AEP. I do like Aerolineas flights on the Embraer 190 though.
Hope this info is helpful, and hope you enjoy this unique little corner of the world! Happy to provide more if you have questions!
Budget like 4-6 hours for the airport transfer & try Azul
I vote for Azul! They have very few good reviews in English, whereas there’s plenty of content on Copa or LATAM.
And the journey between VCP and GRU is not bad at all. Highways are very good and it shouldn’t take too long (unless you do it at peak 6pm traffic, of course)
The 5th freedom flights between GRU to EZE are heaven for an avgeek. There are flights with Swiss, Air Canada, Turkish and Ethiopian. I suggest you go backwards and forwards between the two cities, and will give you a chance to review Swiss First, which I believe has plenty of award space on this route.
Fellow Bolivian reader here. I would definitely recommend Los Tajibos over the Marriott. The location is perfect, the food is way superior, and was recently renovated. Plus, they also have a great pool.
Can’t wait for a business class review of Boa’s A330!
I mean, If you want to go a little avant-garde, there’s Conviasa to Caracas, then Air Europa to Madrid. Just be very, very safe in Caracas…
But in a more realistic world, I vote for Aerolíneas Argentinas from AEP to MIA because of the novelty of the downtown airport to Miami route / now new it is. For those doing an EZE-AEP transit, you could even cover that. Plus Bsas is one of the most incredible cities in the world.
The AEP-MIA flight was pulled back. All flights still flying from EZE
Just don’t go to LaPaz. I always felt like I was going to pass out.
Go to Falkland Islands, then on the RAAF 330 to London.
might as well fly back to MIA via PER, AKL and SCL
@Lucky: Why don’t you fly from Bolivia to Madrid? That would be a real adventure and you could review their long haul service
Another vote for Azul here!
Santa Cruz is a trendy city, good night life and food. Guembe is a touristy Amazonian biopark resort you could visit. If you really want to you could squeeze in a 2-3 day trip Salar de Uyuni. There’s VVI-UYU BOA flights with a layover in La Paz that take just under 3 hours each way. Once you get to Uyuni (tiny airport) at 8am, jump into a tour car and go out into the salt...
Santa Cruz is a trendy city, good night life and food. Guembe is a touristy Amazonian biopark resort you could visit. If you really want to you could squeeze in a 2-3 day trip Salar de Uyuni. There’s VVI-UYU BOA flights with a layover in La Paz that take just under 3 hours each way. Once you get to Uyuni (tiny airport) at 8am, jump into a tour car and go out into the salt flats for a day trip. Or a 2 day trip if you want to visit La laguna colorada. I would recommend the 2 day trip so you can experience the stars at night. It will be the rainy season soon, just look at pictures of stars at night in Uyuni, it’s an experience of a lifetime. The night before you come back stay at a Salt Hotel, there’s 9am flights back to Santa Cruz.
I would take this route back, depending on what you want to review ;)
*VVI-GRU / Gol 737 PE
*GRU-EZE / SWISS 777 J/F or Ethiopian A350J or Air Canada 787 J or Turkish A350 J
*EZE-MIA / Aerolíneas Argentinas A330 J or American 777 F
Can someone tell me why there’s always a BoA plane parked in Philadelphia slightly to the left of the F gates on weekends ?
I would vote for Azul or Aerolineas for the way back. Both would be airlines that have not had coverage here.
GRU to VCP is really not that bad, I have done it. As others have said, it’s an easy highway drive. You can also spend some time in São Paulo.
As far as Bolivia, echo what the others have said. La Paz and Uyuni is where it’s at. The reason VVI is...
I would vote for Azul or Aerolineas for the way back. Both would be airlines that have not had coverage here.
GRU to VCP is really not that bad, I have done it. As others have said, it’s an easy highway drive. You can also spend some time in São Paulo.
As far as Bolivia, echo what the others have said. La Paz and Uyuni is where it’s at. The reason VVI is the busiest airport is due to the high altitude of LPB which affects performance. But LPB is where you want to be.
Or, you could fly GOL's 737MAX from Brazil to Miami nonstop! That is one of the longest 737 MAX flights in the world. It sure would make an interesting review! (Or better yet, fly it to MCO, which I believe is GOL's longest flight). Knowing Ben, I know he would never take it, but I gotta ask right ;)
I vote for Aerolineas Argentinas or Azul. Azul is also about to retire their new A350s....
Or, you could fly GOL's 737MAX from Brazil to Miami nonstop! That is one of the longest 737 MAX flights in the world. It sure would make an interesting review! (Or better yet, fly it to MCO, which I believe is GOL's longest flight). Knowing Ben, I know he would never take it, but I gotta ask right ;)
I vote for Aerolineas Argentinas or Azul. Azul is also about to retire their new A350s. I don't know if they are still flying or not, but if so, you may be able to catch them to FLL/MCO.
Aerolineas is a hot trash fire in terms of schedule messes, bad/no communication, support etc. IF you go for it, build in buffers and back ups.
I vote Aerolineas as well. Just bite the bullet and pay cash - it’s a deductible business expense anyways .
Uber ride GRU-VCP
U$ 50 UberX or U$ 80 Uber Black
90 minutes in a very good highway
I saw one video of a Boliviana de Aviacion review where the 767 was recliner seats in business class. Friend of mine is flying with them later this year and I'm a bit wary even if it's on the A330.
As for my vote, I say Aerolineas Argentinas since there is so little coverage or information on them especially for long-haul flights. I'm going to also guess that the high fares has something to do...
I saw one video of a Boliviana de Aviacion review where the 767 was recliner seats in business class. Friend of mine is flying with them later this year and I'm a bit wary even if it's on the A330.
As for my vote, I say Aerolineas Argentinas since there is so little coverage or information on them especially for long-haul flights. I'm going to also guess that the high fares has something to do with the currency crisis down there. But to which one of their long-haul destinations? Madrid, Rome, Miami, Santo Domingo, NYC?
OT but what's going on with Aeroplan? Practically 0 award flights show up, no matter where I'm searching for, except for air Canada and United.
This is weird to say but check Delta: they occasionally actually show space for LATAM from GRU! I managed to snag two seats and fly GRU-JFK-DCA this July for 95k each. Best SkyMiles redemption I’ve made in a while! Though in DL’s quest to stamp out any outsized value I think it’s now like 175k. Still and all, you have the points to make it happen. You could also check if the DL 764 is available at a semi reasonable price as that also might be an interesting review
Take a connecting flight right away from Santa Cruz to La Paz. Dont spend any time in Santa Cruz. There's nothing there. It's just a boring administrative city. La Paz is the interesting place. You're absolutely missing the highlight of the country - which is the Uyuni salt flats. Bare minimum get out of Santa Cruz as soon as you can and go to La Paz.
My wife and I did La Paz and Uyuni in 2018 and had an amazing trip!
Go to La Paz. I always wanted to go there. American used to fly there with a 757 .
São Paulo has some hip and trendy neighborhoods. It’s really inexpensive right now. Paulista av on Sundays.
I did AA922 in J on the 757 MIA-LPB-VVI-MIA back in 2015. Interesting ride.
La Paz is a lovely city and Uyuni is a must do.