While I took a bit of a break from review trips over the summer (it’s just too hard to plan crazy routings in summer, given how limited award availability is), I’m getting ready to embark on my latest review trip. I wanted to share the initial details of what I have planned. While I’ll be departing on this trip shortly, I actually don’t have the journey fully mapped out. Let me explain…
In this post:
I’m heading south for my upcoming review trip
Typically when I embark on review trips, I review airlines in Asia (including the Middle East) and Europe. I review the former since they’re typically among the best airlines in the world, while I review the latter because Europe is probably the most popular “aspirational” destination people want to redeem their miles to.
However, for this trip I’m headed in a different direction. I live in Miami, which is basically Latin America for all practical purposes. Yet I often don’t review the airlines that head south from here. That’s going to be changing, though my planning isn’t done. Let me share what I have planned so far, in chronological order…
LATAM “new” 787 business class
LATAM is generally regarded as South America’s best global airline. While I’ve reviewed LATAM’s 767 business class, I haven’t reviewed the carrier’s new business class on the 787. So I booked a flight from Miami to Santiago in LATAM’s 787-9 business class, and my flight is scheduled to be operated by an aircraft with the new cabins.
For what it’s worth, I booked this ticket with British Airways Avios. I’ll write a separate post about the state of redeeming miles & points for LATAM business class nowadays, given the carrier’s awkward position in the market. I’m looking forward to seeing what LATAM’s long haul service is like nowadays, and how these seats are holding up on the 787.
Delta One A350 business class
I’ve been trying to do more reviews of US airlines on long haul flights, since I figure those kinds of reviews are useful. For example, I’ve done recent reviews of American’s Flagship business class and United’s Polaris business class. It has been some time since I’ve flown Delta One, the name of the carrier’s premium business class product.
I noticed that Delta is flying the A350-900 with Delta One Suites on select days from Santiago to Atlanta (other days it’s the carrier’s inferior A350 business class). As you’d expect, the price using Delta SkyMiles is exorbitant, as the airline was charging 495,000 miles one-way (before the 15% cardmember discount).
That being said, if you fly exactly the same flight, but connect from Atlanta to Mexico, the price magically drops to just 65,800 miles one-way (including the 15% cardmember discount).
I figured that was a pretty good deal, so I’m excited to once again check out Delta’s best business class product. I’m also looking forward to visiting the LATAM Lounge Santiago, as well as the Amex Centurion Lounge Atlanta, as I haven’t visited either of those, but have heard good things.
I’m still figuring out where to go from Mexico
Often when I plan these review trips, I get in my own way. I only end up booking them if they’re “perfect” in terms of maximizing miles & points, as well as time, and then often I end up not taking one at all. In this case, I’ve booked the trip as far as Mexico City, and my goal is to then continue to somewhere interesting from there.
Ideally I hope to continue the review trip from Mexico City, with a couple more long haul flights. However, if I can’t make that work, then I’ll return to Miami, will briefly regroup, and will then do another quick trip, and will make it all one big review series.
What products am I realistically hoping to fly?
- I am absolutely desperate to fly Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330 between Miami and Santa Cruz de la Sierra, and that’s pretty readily available last minute for a reasonable fare; the only challenge is making this part of a larger trip, so I’m thinking of flying from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Sao Paulo in GOL’s 737 MAX premium economy
- I also really want to review Aeromexico’s Boeing 787-9 business class and Boeing 737 MAX business class, so I’m hoping some availability opens up there, so that I can book that (it seems to frequently open up a day or two out)
- Alternatively, I might add in another trip on Delta, flying the Boeing 767 or Airbus A330, and hopefully I can include New York on that routing, so I can visit the Delta One Lounge JFK
- I’m not opposed to quickly hopping over to Europe on Iberia’s A350 or Air Europa’s Boeing 787-9, but I’m not seeing much there that’s available.
I’m of course open to other ideas as well, but there either need to be reasonable premium fares, or award availability needs to be decent.
Bottom line
I’lll shortly be embarking on my next review trip, which I planned at the last minute. I’ll definitely be flying LATAM’s 787 business class and Delta’s A350 business class, though my plan is to hop around a bit more, and review some other products as well. It’s not often I leave home without knowing the full details of my trip, but this will be one of those situations. Thanks for reading, and stay tuned!
Any predictions for how these flights will go?
I get that there probably aren't many people looking to fly from Chile to Mexico via Atlanta, but about an 85% discount is insane.
Flying long-haul to either Seoul or Tokyo with AeroMexico would allow you to highlight a lesser known North American connection to Asia that doesn't connect through the United States. I would personally appreciate it if you made reference to their lack of Mexican cuisine in the premium cabin if this occurs and you found availability, since I think it's a major misstep given the mass appeal of this type of food, and the award-winning Mexican...
Flying long-haul to either Seoul or Tokyo with AeroMexico would allow you to highlight a lesser known North American connection to Asia that doesn't connect through the United States. I would personally appreciate it if you made reference to their lack of Mexican cuisine in the premium cabin if this occurs and you found availability, since I think it's a major misstep given the mass appeal of this type of food, and the award-winning Mexican chefs that design their menus.
Alternatively, you have some unique flights to Caracas Venezuela and Havana Cuba on Conviasa and Turkish Airlines (a 5th freedom route) for something a little different. South America has a number of these between SCL, EZE, GIG, And GRU so that could tag onto your future Bolivian adventure. I've avoided booking premium cabin rewards within Latin America because of how sub-par their hard and soft product has been. Hopefully LATAM's new business cabin changes this trend. Thanks for the Delta redemption sweet spot. Best of luck!
Not for a review trip but speaking of Latin America you and Ford really need to check out the Four Seasons Tamarindo. The cliff suites are probably the best standard suites I've stayed in at any property in terms of the size, views, and the pool situation. Value is relative considering the price point but I really think ~$1,800 a night is quite reasonable for the size of room, the pool size, and the overall...
Not for a review trip but speaking of Latin America you and Ford really need to check out the Four Seasons Tamarindo. The cliff suites are probably the best standard suites I've stayed in at any property in terms of the size, views, and the pool situation. Value is relative considering the price point but I really think ~$1,800 a night is quite reasonable for the size of room, the pool size, and the overall property. Of the Four Seasons properties in Mexico it had the most sense of place and the best staff in terms of really wanting to imbue a pride of the local heritage and Mexican excellence.
Haven’t read every reply but don’t see COPA popping up. It’s not a particularly exciting biz product but the airline connects most of Latin America to their PTY hub, providing non-stop access via Turkish to IST, AF to CDG and KLM to AMS.
…or IB to MAD
there is a really cheap J class fare on AM; BCN-MEX-GRU for 600-800EUR in Business class. Nearly always available.
Hi Ben, not necessarily helpful for the current trip, buy would be great to see you review some of the premium transcon flights in the US sometime. Checking out AA’s flagship business and others would be helpful.
Try Avianca's "new" business class within the Americas. You reported on the launch of this back in April but I haven't seen anything online about what it actually looks like.
You should consider flying conviasa to Caracas - they fly out of mexico city's other unused airport (which would itself be an interesting experience), followed by GOL to Brazil and Azul to Florida.
Ethiopian, Turkish or Qatar GRU to EZE. Or Emirates GIG to EZE. Then Aerolinas Argentinas EZE to MIA. It’s certainly not glamorous but you’ve never reviewed it. And while you’re in Buenos Aires, there is plenty of good coffee and cake to keep you occupied.
QR does not fly GRU-EZE at the moment.
The Amex lounge in Atlanta is a shit show.
Overcrowded and they make announcements telling people to not put their feet on couches.
Food is bad and staff is unfriended/combative.
Worst Amex lounge I have experienced.
Sh*t show indeed.
It will hit the fan when they put an annual visit limit per card next year.
Food is as good or as bad as other Centurion lounge.
And for F*** sake, put a self service soda machine. Line for Alcoholic seems to be in every Centurion lounge.
Have you reviewed Cubana? They fly to CDMX
Ben,
I am from Mexico, and member of Aeromexico Rewards,
there´s many space open to SCL, EZE, & GRU, sometimes twice a day in the 787-9, it´s very good and I have already tested. You can try either one and then LX First in the 777.
If you want to try AM 737 MAX business class, fly to my home airport MID, and from here take AA MID-MIA. If You visit, I...
Ben,
I am from Mexico, and member of Aeromexico Rewards,
there´s many space open to SCL, EZE, & GRU, sometimes twice a day in the 787-9, it´s very good and I have already tested. You can try either one and then LX First in the 777.
If you want to try AM 737 MAX business class, fly to my home airport MID, and from here take AA MID-MIA. If You visit, I can show You the city (which is beautiful) and recommend interesting hotels and we can chat about airlines and reward programs of Mexico, I think will be very interesting for You.
Another vote for Aerolineas Argentinas here. So few reviews out there, they have a mishmash of A330 products, some 2-2-2, some ex-TAP Portugal with that product.
AZUL! Ben please fly Azul in their business class to Florida! We’ve been wanting that for years! Also please checkout PS ATL while you’re in Atlanta, would be great to review this and compare to PS LAX!
495K points each way?! LOL!!
If you can't find anything from MEX, have you considered using ATL as a hidden city?
Another interesting airline to fly is Surinam Airways - their only USA destination is Miami.
Azul would be great too!
As would Aerolineas I don't recall a J review on them in recent times.
Conviasa from the New Mexico City Santa Lucia airport (NLU) to Caracas, Venezuela super intriguing they fly an A340.
Careful Ben, these routes are ones I fly montly and both the LA and the DL (to a leasser extent) route are subject to frequent equipment swaps. LA keeps the seatmap for the 'new' business class as boilerplate and 48hrs before the flight it either sticks or changes to the 2-2-2. Best bet out of MIA are the 767's you tried or the 777 to GRU which alternates with a 789.
How about MEX to EZE on AeroMexico (because of the flight length), and then somehow fly to Brazil on GOL, and then fly Azul back to the U.S. (how about Orlando). Then, maybe connect to Delta's A330neo flights to Europe from MCO (or connect through ATL or JFK to review the new lounges on your radar), and then fly Iberia's new A350 business class to South America. Maybe there is better availability to Bogota, since...
How about MEX to EZE on AeroMexico (because of the flight length), and then somehow fly to Brazil on GOL, and then fly Azul back to the U.S. (how about Orlando). Then, maybe connect to Delta's A330neo flights to Europe from MCO (or connect through ATL or JFK to review the new lounges on your radar), and then fly Iberia's new A350 business class to South America. Maybe there is better availability to Bogota, since Iberia has 2x daily A350 flights there from MAD. Then, fly Avianca's new A320 Business Class and somehow get to Bolivia, and return home on BoA's A330 to Miami. It's a long trip, but it reminds me of the old review trips you used to take!
Mexico City to Shenzhen on China Southern would be a pretty cool review from a readers perspective!
I like this, or perhaps LH first class nonstop to Frankfurt?
How about Azul? Fly from Brazil to FLL and MCO. Very few reviews on them
MEX to Tijuana and then right review using CBX to enter into San Diego from airport. I think they fly the max on some of those routes too
Did that a few times. CBX & the lounge situation in TIJ isn't much to get excited about. Flying to SAN & taking CBX shuttle to TIJ is a good way to fly AM on DL miles however.
Domestic catering in AM J between TIJ and MEX leaves a lot to be desired. I was never able to figure out what the contents of the sandwich was except for the fake bacon. They did offer good tequila though.
CBX was a breeze.
Why not try AR out of MIA… or back… it usually has good fares, and it’s something different to try in here
Do the Gol Premium Economy from VVI to GRU than the Air China fifth freedom flight to Madrid
Premium economy reviews in general would be very welcome, and I say that as someone who's never actually flown premium economy on a long haul flight. Different airlines approach that class of service in very different ways. In fact, I would say premium economy reviews would be more useful than F ones, as F is becoming more niche than ever (rich people fly private, the mass affluent are happy in C, most senior managers in...
Premium economy reviews in general would be very welcome, and I say that as someone who's never actually flown premium economy on a long haul flight. Different airlines approach that class of service in very different ways. In fact, I would say premium economy reviews would be more useful than F ones, as F is becoming more niche than ever (rich people fly private, the mass affluent are happy in C, most senior managers in big companies have stopped doing ridiculous amounts of travel) and more airlines are understandably getting rid of it.
A review of a flight from Rio de Janiero's Santos Dumont Airport and some comments of the airport would be interesting.
Also a review of how bad airlines in Argentina might be useful.
So would any flight to the Falkland Islands/Malvinas.
Ben, an amazing flight to review would be the Conviasa A340 from Mexico City to Caracas. I understand Venezuela is in this situation and yea... but wow I would certainly love to see that. Have only seen one review on the Conviasa A340 in J.
Another option would be the AM flight to NRT, would be amazing to see how they do on ULR.
Additionally, would be fun to head down to GRU...
Ben, an amazing flight to review would be the Conviasa A340 from Mexico City to Caracas. I understand Venezuela is in this situation and yea... but wow I would certainly love to see that. Have only seen one review on the Conviasa A340 in J.
Another option would be the AM flight to NRT, would be amazing to see how they do on ULR.
Additionally, would be fun to head down to GRU and take SA over to JNB/CPT. From there, up to Entebbe/Kigali, Brussels Airlines to Brussels, and then route back to Miami
Another idea would be head to Havana and catch a flight over to Moscow. Not sure when you are going but Aeroflot is due to start operating their 777's into Moscow next month (I believe).
Just an idea.
There's also Ethiopian EZE-GRU-ADD of course.
@Apple We're on the same page. I was just trying to concoct a crazy itinerary flying Turkish out of Havana or Caracas one way and back the other. What's the catering like on Turkish out of Caracas? Who's on that flight?
Itinerary for Lucky, not me.
Depending on when you are going, the word is that the MEX-TPA daily is bumping up from an Embraer to a 737 due to good numbers. Something to look into perhaps.
Why not try out Emirates’ new MIA-BOG (or reverse) fifth freedom route and review how they do service on the relatively short hop? Then find an interesting way between Bogotá and Santa Cruz (again, in either direction) for Boliviana. I know you’ve done a lot EK reviews on here but it could still be interesting.
Ben did this already.
Try the new airport in Mexico City
Skiplag the ATL-MEX leg and just go back to Miami
@Ben, have you ever flown LH F from EZE to FRA? This would be nice.
@ hbilbao -- I haven't, though it is intriguing how long the flight is. However, I don't think OMAAT readers want another Lufthansa review, so I can't say it's on my radar.
I find it intriguing. Create a new article with just this poll and let us decide :D
Agreed! Do a poll please.
I’d actually love to see another Lufthansa First Class review.
I would be more interested in the Mexico City LH F service. How it compares to U.S. menu wise etc. It’s often open for redemptions in F and an interesting option for people west of Texas to position and take.
Emirates 777 to BCN in biz looks pretty open, but not the new product.
BA 787 first could be interesting as well.
Good luck!
AM flies a 787 to JFK, though there's no guarantee if you get an -8 or -9.
@ alex -- I assume the JFK flight doesn't have the "real" long haul service, is that correct? JFK would be mighty convenient, but I also want to review Aeromexico's long haul product in terms of bedding, amenity kits, etc.
It doesn't. Limited bedding only.
Article is good evidence for when you don’t take the ATL-MEX leg ;)
haha! I was gonna suggest he skips leg and report back!
@ Sel, D. -- Hah, I don't really play games with airlines nowadays, so even if I hadn't written about it, it's not something I would have considered doing (though I don't blame those who do!).
Why not try a couple of regional flights around Central America or the Caribbean? Arajet seem to be growing quite aggressively (probably don't have business class though), Avianca have reintroduced some kind of premium cabin on the A320s, and I really enjoyed flying business class on an AM E190 out of NLU last year (you can also review the lounge there).
Aeromexico to Sao Paulo, then GOL to Santa Cruz, then BoA to Miami. We want BoA!
@ Super Piquemacho -- Currently GRU gets the 787-8 while EZE gets the 787-9. So my ideal routing would be MEX-EZE, then somehow from EZE-GRU, and then the GOL and BoA routing you suggest. We'll see how it works out!
you could fly BoA from EZE to VVI
Ben - I just did a couple of random searches later this month, and there are some fascinating 5th freedom flights on EZE-GRU: AC, ET, LX, and TK all operate the route.
OR, you do AR on AEP-GRU...
EZE-GRU Premium Economy Latam, Premium Economy GOL: if you are looking for full-service carriers, LX and TK also operate on this route.
EK EZE-GIG
For Aeromexico, I might suggest you go from Mexico City to Madrid but flying via Monterrey MTY or Guadalajara GDL. That way you would be able to fly the MAX to MTY/GDL and then the 787-9 to Madrid. Or you can also take the 787-9 from Monterrey to Tokyo, I think it would be really interesting to see how is AMX service to Asia compared to other airlines like Delta.
@ AlanT98 -- Yeah, was really hoping to do Asia, but availability isn't looking great as of now. Maybe that will change as the date approaches...
Yaaaaaaay, looking forward to the review. Have a great trip
I'm looking forward to your post on how to redeem points for LATAM, considering most articles on the internet are outdated.
I know you’re trying to review different products but man it would be tough for me to be in MEX and not try to get on LH F on MEX-FRA since that flight seems to have good availability last minute!
@ BRC -- Hah, yes, MEX does have good LH F availability, probably the best nowadays. Too bad I'm not trying to review the product...
Never gets old living it or reading about it. Weekly would be fine.