We made it to the airport at around 8:45PM, about two hours before departure. Traffic wasn’t nearly as bad to the airport as it was when we drove into the city during rush hour, so it only took about 30 minutes.
Terminal exterior
Terminal interior
Since we had a handful of segments home and knew our bags would never make it if we checked them, we proceeded to LAN check-in two at a time, while the others guarded carry-on bags. That way they couldn’t tell us our bags were too big. 😉
Check-in took all of 10 minutes thanks to the lack of queues, and we were quickly on our way to security and immigration.
LAN check-in
Security is located up the escalator and to the left.
Escalator to security
Terminal view approaching security
While the queue was fairly long it moved quickly, and that’s despite us being cut by at least a handful of flight crews, including Emirates and American. After security we had to queue for immigration, which took about 15 minutes. At that point we headed towards the LAN lounge, located near gate nine.
Walking towards the lounge
Walking towards the lounge
The lounge was located up a level from the terminal, so required taking either stairs or an elevator.
Stairs to lounge
Lounge entrance
Lounge signage
Compared to the otherwise horrible lounges at Ezeiza Airport (one of which is at least accessible with a credit card with lounge access), I actually found this one to be quite nice. It had modern and dark furnishings, compared to the otherwise 20-years-past-their-prime lounges at this airport. It wasn’t especially crowded either.
LAN lounge entryway
LAN lounge seating
LAN lounge seating
LAN lounge seating
LAN lounge dining area
LAN lounge dining area
LAN lounge dining area
The food selection wasn’t especially good, and consisted exclusively of cold snacks, like muffins, cheese, granola bars, stale finger sandwiches, etc. As you might expect for a lounge in Argentina, though, the wine and booze selection were extensive.
Buffet area
Wine selection
Buffet area
Buffet area
Buffet area
Buffet area
Buffet area
The lounge also had a few iMacs. Unfortunately the Wi-Fi was extremely slow, almost unusable.
Computers
The lounge closed at 10PM, so after at least five announcements kicking us out we left and headed to our departure gate, which was less than a five minute walk away.
Walking to departure gate
Walking to departure gate
At the departure gate was an asinine security check, which included both questioning and searching of bags. At around 10:15PM boarding was announced.
While agree the former AA lounge was awful (I am sure Trump would use more colorful words to describe it), I find the new lounge quite nice with a much improved selection of food. This is certainly not to say the LAN lounge isn't better. The one problem I have with LAN is that even in Business the FAs often don't seem to give a darn.
@ Bill -- I don't believe so, unfortunately.
Can you purchase a day pass to the LAN lounge?
I was just at the *A lounge last week. It's really nice, has decent food and a good shower. Wifi is good enough for Skype as long as there is no one there. Once it fills up the speeds are approaching dial up.
I was just at the *A lounge last week. It's really nice, has decent food and a good shower. Wifi is good enough for Skype as long as there is no one there. Once it fills up the speeds are approaching dial up.
Lucky, you haven't been to the new *A lounge there I'm guessing...it's pretty awesome.
@ Craig -- Beyond the above there's not a whole lot that can be done. I've run into a few situations where they insist on checking bags, and there's not much that can be don ethen.
Ben,
I will begin to practice going to the counter with my foot by the scale!
However, have you also encountered situations with airlines that only permit smaller carry-ons, and you were concerned that your carry-ons were too big, or that you had too many carry-ons?
What advice can you give on this? I have a flight in two weeks on TAP and I heard they have some tight carry-on rules. THANKS!!!
@ Bgriff -- Right, that was the "worst case scenario" for us.
@ riverchica -- There was?! I totally missed that. Grrr!
@ Craig -- Hah, this is an art I've perfected over the years. If I'm traveling with someone else I'll usually just go to the counter one by one and have the other person wait with bags.
If I'm traveling alone I'll always just make sure to place my bag below the counter where the agent can't see it. If they want to weigh it I'll prop it on the scale with my foot under it, so it relives some of the weight.
Yes, I've put too much thought into this. ;)
@ Kevin -- Whoops, meant to say 8:45PM. Updated it, thanks!
Presumably in this case it would not be a total disaster if LAN had insisted on checking your bag, since you could just get ahold of it again at customs when arriving in MIA and then not re-check it with AA?
Lucky, you forgot to mention the separate freezer full of helado! The wine selection was very good and, although the snacks were light, there was a good variety stashed in different places in the lounge. I thought the lounge was a very pleasant place to spend a couple hours.
@Craig:
I was in that situation couple of times. Usually I rest the carry at a distant place, usually in front of the empty counters where I can watch them and then to go the desk. Once done I grab my bag on my way. This is not so easy in Busy Airports.
Thanks for the review, Ben!
I was just there the other night. It was crowded because all flights were delayed due to the weather. I felt bad for the lounge attendants as they couldn't keep up with the demanding crowd! Other than that, it's probably the nicest lounge I've been to in SA. For me, it's better and feels more spacious than the LAN lounge at SCL and the SUMAQ lounge in LIM (ick!).
...Thanks for the review, Ben!
I was just there the other night. It was crowded because all flights were delayed due to the weather. I felt bad for the lounge attendants as they couldn't keep up with the demanding crowd! Other than that, it's probably the nicest lounge I've been to in SA. For me, it's better and feels more spacious than the LAN lounge at SCL and the SUMAQ lounge in LIM (ick!).
Yes, the food was so-so, but they served us a full dinner on the flight anyway so I didn't want to stuff myself at the lounge. The nespresso machines were a nice touch!
Asked about the showers, though the lounge attendant said they were closed. The restrooms were nice though. You get your own private stall with a sink and a mirror inside.
They didn't even have alfajores in the lounge? Shame...
I was there a couple of days ago and the lounge was super crowded, but it's definitely the nicer lounge at Ezeiza.
Also, just thought I'd mention that this lounge looks to be head and shoulders above the AA Admirals lounge, which seems to be perpetually dirty and always overcrowded.
Ben,
You mentioned a concern in checking in that you could have problems with the amount of your carry-on luggage, so your had your traveling companions watch your stuff while you checked in.
What tips can you give about making sure that heavy carry-ons are "out of the way" while checking in, and what would you have done if you were traveling solo and had no one to watch your stuff?
Thanks!!!
Nice Review. You might want to check your arrival time as you said you arrived at the airport at 10:45pm and got to the gate at 10:15pm.