Forget Japan, I’m Flying To Bolivia!

Okay, so I have another update regarding my open-ended Latin America review trip, and I hope it’s one that most OMAAT readers will be happy about…

Some background on my current review trip

Last week I embarked on a review trip, with the goal of checking out several premium airline products to and from Latin America. I started by flying LATAM’s Boeing 787-9 business class from Miami to Santiago, and then I flew Delta’s Airbus A350-900 business class from Santiago to Atlanta, prior to connecting to Mexico City.

More from OMAAT IATA Summer & Winter Airline Schedules: What Are They, Why Should You Care? Read more

My plan had been to continue my trip from there on some other airline products from Latin America, based on how award availability opened up. In particular, I was hoping to fly Aeromexico’s Boeing 787-9 business class, since I thought it would make for a good review. I’ve found that the airline opens award availability within a couple of days of departure, which is why I was leaving the trip so open-ended.

Fortunately award availability did open up, but not necessarily to the destination I had hoped. I couldn’t find Aeromexico Boeing 787-9 business class award availability to South America or Europe, but instead there was only availability on the 17hr20min flight to Tokyo (via Monterrey). So I booked that. Then for the return, I found Korean Air award availability on the Boeing 787-10 and Boeing 777-300ER.

I booked my tickets and shared my plans on the blog, though a fair number of people were disappointed by the routing. Hey, look, I respect and appreciate the feedback, but as I explained, I was going based on where I could find award availability, or a half decent deal.

I can assure you I wasn’t heading to Asia because it was somehow more enjoyable for me — honestly, 18 hours on an Aeromexico 787, followed by an eight hour layover at Narita, followed by a short flight to Incheon, followed by a 12-hour layover in Incheon, followed by a 12-hour flight to Chicago, didn’t sound terribly relaxing to me. 😉

But I ultimately took the feedback to heart, and I decided to rework the trip (fortunately I could cancel it at no cost, since it was within 24 hours of booking). I flew Aeromexico’s Boeing 737 MAX business class from Mexico City to Miami, I regrouped, and I started all over.

The second portion of my Latin America review trip

So, what experience did I decide on instead? I’ll be flying three products that are very much from Latin America, which I think OMAAT readers will enjoy. Here we go, in chronological order!

Boliviana de Aviacion A330 business class(!!!!)

The wait is over, and at long last, I’ll be flying Boliviana de Aviacion from Miami to Santa Cruz de la Sierra on the Airbus A330. As longtime OMAAT readers know, I’ve been wanting to fly Boliviana de Aviacion for years, and the carrier recently acquired a pair of former Virgin Australia Airbus A330s.

So I’m excited to experience the carrier’s “flagship” product. Pricing on this route is incredibly reasonable — a paid business class ticket for the flight was just under $700, which isn’t bad for a seven hour flight in a reverse herringbone seat.

I can’t even say how excited I am about this flight, as I truly have no clue what to expect. The only recent thing out there on Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330s is how the Miami flight got canceled a bit over a week ago, after 13 kilograms of cocaine were found on the plane, leading to the arrest of 26 airline crew members, and 11 aircraft cleaners. Nice! Hopefully I don’t have to do any live reporting of such an incident.

GOL 737 MAX premium economy

From Santa Cruz de la Sierra, I’ll be continuing to Sao Paulo, flying GOL’s Boeing 737 MAX premium economy. This is the premium product of this major Brazilian carrier, and best I can tell, it’s most comparable to intra-Europe business class.

I’m not necessarily expecting all that much from this flight, though I still think it’ll make for an interesting review. By the way, speaking of the pre-flight experience, just how bad is Viru Viru International Airport? I’ll have quite a bit of time in the airport, and it looks like lounge options are fairly grim, eh?

Copa 737 MAX business class

Copa Airlines is a fascinating airline, as it’s kind of the Icelandair of the Americas, in terms of its route network. A couple of years ago, I reviewed the carrier’s Boeing 737-800 business class. I had intended to fly the Copa’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 business class, but there was a plane swap at the last minute, so it didn’t work out.

As a result, I figure it’s time to give it another try. Copa’s 737 MAX 9s have fully flat beds in business class, and are used for the carrier’s longer, premium routes. So I’ll be flying Copa on the 737 MAX 9 from Sao Paulo to Panama City, and then I’ll connect to Miami.

I do have a couple of questions, for those familiar with Sao Paulo Airport and Copa’s longer flights:

• Does anyone know what exactly Copa’s 737 MAX business class service is like on the 1-4AM departures from Sao Paulo to Panama City? Is it just a one meal flight, or do they do a meal and a snack, and when are they usually served?
• When it comes to lounges in Sao Paulo, I’ll try to review the Amex Centurion Lounge and Star Alliance Lounge, but are there any other lounges I’d have access to that are worth checking out, like some Priority Pass lounges?

Bottom line

Well, I ultimately decided to keep my open-ended Latin America review trip very Latin America centric, as I’ll be flying Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330 business class, GOL’s 737 MAX premium economy, and Copa’s 737 MAX business class.

While this might be a bit less luxurious than an Emirates first class trip, I’ve gotta say, I couldn’t be more excited. These are all products I’m curious about, and I look forward to experiencing them.

Any predictions, thoughts, or tips, on how this is going to go?