Review: LATAM Business Class Boeing 787 (MIA-SCL)

Review: LATAM Business Class Boeing 787 (MIA-SCL)

FROM: MIA
TO: SCL
CABIN: Business
DATE: September 2024
REVIEW RATING:
BEN SAYS: LATAM's 787 business class is impressive, with a comfortable and stylish cabin, tasty food, friendly service, great amenities and bedding, and and extensive entertainment. The only catch is the lack of Wi-Fi.
21

For the first segment of my two times to Latin America review trip, I flew LATAM’s Boeing 787-9 business class on the 7hr25min overnight flight from Miami (MIA) to Santiago (SCL).

I’ve gotta say, LATAM offers a solid business class product, easily the best in South America. The airline has comfortable business class seats with direct aisle access, friendly service, tasty meals that are served efficiently, exceptional bedding, and extensive entertainment.

I’m a fan of flying with LATAM, and this matches my previous experience flying LATAM’s Boeing 767-300ER business class. If you ask me, the only downside of the experience is the lack of Wi-Fi, plus the poor quality coffee (which is a very minor point, of course).

How I booked my LATAM business class ticket

LATAM doesn’t belong to any of the global alliances, but there are a variety of programs that let you redeem for LATAM business class. I ended up using British Airways Avios, at the cost of 123,500 Avios plus $45.30 in taxes and fees (the number of Avios required is steep, but I acquired them with a transfer bonus). Specifically, I booked the following flight:

9/17 LA503 Miami to Santiago departing 9:15PM arriving 6:30AM (+1 day)

British Airways Avios are easy to come by, as the program is transfer partners with Amex Membership RewardsBilt RewardsCapital One, and Chase Ultimate Rewards. Points transfer at a 1:1 ratio, and transfers are generally instant. On top of that, you can transfer points between the various “flavors” of Avios.

LATAM business class lounge & boarding

In the previous installment, I reviewed the LATAM Lounge Miami, which is pretty good for an outstation lounge, with a good selection of food and drinks.

My flight was departing from gate J16, with boarding scheduled for 8:15PM, one hour before departure. Boarding ended up actually starting at 8:30PM (because the inbound flight was slightly late), with business class passengers being invited to board first.

LATAM departure gate Miami Airport

LATAM 787 business class cabin & seats

I boarded through the second set of doors, where I was greeted by two friendly flight attendants, and pointed left into business class. I was lucky to be on one of LATAM’s 787s featuring the new business class, where the cabin consists of 30 seats, in a 1-2-1 configuration. There are eight rows, with the last row just having a pair of seats in the center.

LATAM offers Thompson Aero Vantage XL seats on these jets, which is a staggered configuration that you’ll also find on several other airlines. In this kind of a staggered configuration, the layout varies with each row.

LATAM business class cabin 787
LATAM business class cabin 787

For those sitting in the center section, the odd numbered rows have seats closer together, which are often referred to as “honeymoon” seats. If you are seated in the center section, these would be my preferred seats, regardless of whether traveling with someone or not.

If traveling with someone, they’re great because you can actually enjoy the flight together. Meanwhile if traveling alone, you can raise the partition between seats, and still have more separation from the aisle, which I’d consider to be a positive.

LATAM business class seats 787

Meanwhile in even numbered rows, the center seats are further apart from one another, and closer to the aisle. These would be my least preferred seats in business class.

LATAM business class seats 787

Similarly, window seats alternate between being closer to the aisle (in even numbered rows) and closer to the windows (in odd numbered rows).

LATAM business class seats 787

The seats that are closer to the aisle offer less privacy, and due to the shell of the seat, it can also be kind of hard to look out the window. If traveling alone, I’d only select these if none of the “true” window seats are available.

LATAM business class seat 787
LATAM business class seat 787
LATAM business class seat 787

Meanwhile the window seats in odd numbered rows would be my first pick, given that they offer distance from the aisle, and are closer to the windows.

LATAM business class seat 787
LATAM business class seat 787
LATAM business class seat 787

I selected seat 7L, the window seat in the last row on the right side (despite being in the last row, this is quite far from the galley, and there are no bathrooms behind the cabin). I’ve gotta say, I think LATAM did a really good job with the cabin finishes, as they’re distinctive and elegant, from the red head rests, to the faux marble counter, to the ribbed shell.

LATAM business class seat 787

As far as seat features go, there’s a console to the side of the seat, where you’ll find an exposed storage area, as well as the seat controls and charging ports. The seat controls are straightforward, and I appreciate that there are universal, USB-A, and USB-C, outlets.

LATAM business class seat console 787
LATAM business class seat controls 787

Underneath the exposed storage area is a small enclosed storage compartment, though I’d be careful about placing things there, as it can be easy to forget, given how hidden it is when closed.

LATAM business class seat storage 787

There’s also an entertainment controller to the side of the seat, though I find that to be unnecessary, given that the entertainment screen can be controlled by touch.

LATAM business class entertainment controller 787

The tray table extends from underneath the console, and is curved. Once extended, you won’t easily be able to get up, so keep that in mind during the meal service, in terms of planning any bathroom visits.

LATAM business class seat tray table 787

I was pleased to see that the footwell was quite spacious, which made it easy to get comfortable when reclining the seat into a bed.

LATAM business class seat footwell 787

Lastly, I also appreciate how LATAM has individual air nozzles on its 787 Dreamliners, which all too many airlines choose not to offer.

LATAM business class overhead console 787

All-in-all, LATAM has a solid business class hard product, with cabins that are both comfortable and aesthetically nice. It’s not the most cutting edge business class hard product in the world, but I’d argue that it’s the best that you’ll find in South America.

LATAM business class amenities

LATAM is quite generous with its business class amenities. Waiting at each seat upon boarding was a colorful amenity kit with socks, eyeshades, a dental kit, earplugs, lip balm, and lotion.

LATAM business class amenity kit

Some well padded slippers were also provided, which I always appreciate, for easy bathroom use without having to put on shoes.

LATAM business class slippers

Next up, there were a pair of noise canceling headphones, which were pretty good quality.

LATAM business class headphones

The menu and drink list were also waiting at each seat upon boarding.

LATAM business class menu

LATAM offers phenomenal bedding in business class, among the best you’ll find on any airline (maybe only after United Polaris business class). The bedding includes a very well padded pillow, a plush duvet that’s cozy without being overly warm, and a substantial mattress pad. Good bedding makes such a big difference, so huge credit to LATAM for that.

LATAM business class bedding
LATAM business class bedding

LATAM 787 business class entertainment

LATAM offers an extensive entertainment library in its 787 business class, so you should have no issues finding something to stay entertained. There were over 240 movies and over 740 TV shows, in addition to games and audio. I also appreciated how the choices included things from Max, Disney+, Paramount+, etc.

LATAM business class entertainment 787
LATAM business class entertainment 787
LATAM business class entertainment 787
LATAM business class entertainment 787
LATAM business class entertainment 787

As always, my favorite entertainment feature was the map, which I like keeping an eye on. This one had several customization options, and you could zoom in or out as much as you wanted.

LATAM business class entertainment 787
LATAM business class entertainment 787

Now, the one weak point of the LATAM experience is that there’s no Wi-Fi on the 787. That didn’t bother me one bit on a quick overnight flight, but on a daytime flight, it would be a reason that I would book away from LATAM, given that I value being able to stay connected.

LATAM 787 departure from Miami

If you’re seated in a premium cabin, boarding is always so much calmer when the second set of doors is used for boarding, and you’re seated in front of that. So there was no stress at all during the boarding process, and I enjoyed the calming boarding music that LATAM plays.

During boarding, the flight attendant who would be taking care of me came around to introduce herself, explain the flight time and the service flow, etc. The cabin manager also came around during boarding to introduce herself to each passenger. Meal orders were taken while on the ground, including for both dinner and breakfast. The only quirk is that LATAM doesn’t offer pre-departure drinks.

Of the 30 business class seats, 22 were occupied on this flight, so it wasn’t quite full. I should also mention that economy was super empty — I’d estimate that maybe one-third of seats were taken. Boarding was complete by 8:55PM, at which point the main cabin door closed.

At 9:05PM we pushed back, and the safety video was screened at the same time. LATAM has a fun safety video, which is worth giving a watch.

While we had a pretty short taxi to the runway, there was then a queue for takeoff. We were cleared for takeoff on runway 8R at 9:25PM. The seatbelt sign was turned off about 10 minutes after takeoff, at which point the crew sprung into action.

LATAM business class dinner

On this short overnight flight, dinner was served after takeoff, and you can find the menu below.

LATAM business class dinner menu

You can also find the drink list below (those wine descriptions in English are… unique).

LATAM business class wine list
LATAM business class drink list

Service was quick to get started after takeoff. Within 15 minutes, warm towels were distributed.

LATAM business class warm towel

Just minutes later, the crew passed through the cabin with a tray that had champagne and water, along with room temperature mixed nuts. There’s something to be said for quickly after takeoff a crew can get a drink service out, so I always appreciate when the first drink has been served before cruising altitude is even reached.

LATAM business class champagne & nuts

Unfortunately service slowed down a bit after that. Not because the crew wasn’t efficient, but because the seatbelt sign was turned on, and the crew was asked to be seated. I was expecting there would be bad turbulence, but to my surprise, it was just really light chop. The sign stayed on for about 15 minutes.

I was served my meal about an hour after takeoff, which is quite efficient, all things considered. On these overnight flights, LATAM serves the entire meal on one tray. The meal included:

  • A starter of crab rillette with cucumber, sriracha mayo, and roasted yellow baby beetroot
  • A fresh leaf salad
  • A warm bread roll
  • Grilled salmon with roasted red pepper sauce, steamed bok choy, and black rice with mint and tomato
  • Brownie with toffee sauce, cream, raspberries, and pistachios

As you can see from the menu, there were four choices for both the starters and desserts, so I appreciated the variety. While I found the salad to be super basic, otherwise I thought the meal was excellent, including the starter, main course, and dessert.

LATAM business class dinner
LATAM business class dessert

Drinks were also offered. I ordered a glass of the Viña Casa Silva sauvignon blanc from Chile, and had a glass of sparkling water.

LATAM business class drinks

The flight attendant highly recommended the La Piu Belle red wine from Chile, so I had a glass of that as well, at the conclusion of the meal.

LATAM business class wine

I think LATAM does a great job striking a balance between efficiency and quality meal on these short overnight flights, so kudos.

LATAM 787 business class lavatories

LATAM’s Boeing 787-9s have two business class lavatories at the front of the cabin — there’s one right in front of the cabin on the right, and one by the cockpit. LATAM is one of the few airlines I’ve been on that doesn’t have lavatories by the second set of doors on the Dreamliner. The lavatories were pretty standard for a 787. They didn’t have any special amenities, but at least they stayed pretty clean throughout the flight.

LATAM business class lavatory 787
LATAM business class lavatory 787

LATAM 787 business class bed

At the conclusion of the meal, I decided to make my bed and get some rest. Between my cozy cocoon and the excellent bedding, I found this to be one of the more comfortable business class beds out there. I didn’t find the footwell to be too restrictive, and I got some solid sleep. My only complaint was that the armrest along the window didn’t go down, which made the bed feel a bit narrower than it should’ve.

LATAM business class bed 787
LATAM business class bed 787

I ended up falling asleep with around 5hr50min remaining to Santiago, as we were approaching Panama…

LATAM 787 map enroute to Santiago
LATAM 787 map enroute to Santiago

…and I woke up with around 1hr10min remaining to Santiago, as we were approaching the coast of Chile.

LATAM 787 map enroute to Santiago
LATAM 787 map enroute to Santiago

I’m not a great airplane sleeper, so that was about as good as airplane sleep gets for me!

LATAM business class breakfast

As soon as I woke up, I was immediately served breakfast, as I had placed my order before takeoff. You can find the menu below.

LATAM business class breakfast menu

Rather than going with the typical egg option, I decided to instead order the quesadilla with cherry tomato ragout and arugula. This was served with fresh fruit, several types of bread (a croissant, muffin, and two rolls), and yogurt with granola and fruit compote. I also had an orange juice and coffee to drink.

LATAM business class breakfast

The breakfast was excellent, though the weak point was the coffee, which was crap. It seems that LATAM uses powdered coffee, or something? That seems like an easy area for improvement…

LATAM business class service

I have nothing but good things to say about the service on this flight. The crew was efficient, friendly, and engaging. Obviously you’re not going to get Singapore Airlines levels of service on LATAM, but the crew was lovely, and I couldn’t have asked for more.

I know some people have issues with LATAM service on the ground, though I seem to consistently have very friendly crews. That’s a huge point of differentiation compared to some other airlines in South America.

LATAM 787 arrival in Santiago

At 5:25AM local time, the captain announced that we’d be landing in about 25 minutes, at which point we began our descent. About 10 minutes later, the seatbelt sign was turned on. Even though it was still dark outside, I enjoyed the view on the descent, including whatever was going on with the wing.

LATAM 787 wing approaching Santiago
LATAM 787 map approaching Santiago

We ended up touching down in Santiago at 5:50AM. From there we had a short taxi to our arrival gate, where we pulled in at 5:55AM, 35 minutes ahead of schedule. It took about 30 minutes to clear immigration and customs, at which point I headed to the Ritz-Carlton Santiago, where I’d spend the night.

Bottom line

LATAM offers an impressive and well rounded business class experience onboard its Boeing 787s with new business class seats. The cabin is stylish and comfortable, the bedding is excellent, the entertainment is extensive, the food and drinks are tasty, and the service is friendly. I’d say this is by far the best business class product in South America. If you ask me, the main weakness is the lack of Wi-Fi.

What’s your take on LATAM’s Boeing 787-9 business class?

Conversations (21)
The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.
Type your response here.

If you'd like to participate in the discussion, please adhere to our commenting guidelines. Anyone can comment, and your email address will not be published. Register to save your unique username and earn special OMAAT reputation perks!

  1. esJay-indel New Member

    I was hoping to fly Business on LATAM next year. When flying as a couple, even though you don't all have direct aisle access, the old 787 Business seats appear to be more spacious for sleeping with bigger footwells and a wider seat cushion.

    Any experience out there to that?

  2. Larry B Guest

    @Ben
    For whatever odd reason, Chileans drink a lot of powdered/instant coffee. Truly a mystery, but there ya go. Given LATAM could be considered to be predominantly Chilean-oriented, this may explain the coffee woes. Especially for flights to/from Chile.

  3. Ann Guest

    Great flight Review. Next time, you should use Privilege Club Avios... 77,250 Avios for the same flight :)

  4. LP Guest

    Ben - Great to see another flight review, but why publish this 2 months after the flight, the same week you are taking a trip to Africa? I spent half the review wondering how you booked Santiago to Rome for your Cairo flight.

  5. AJO Gold

    @lucky: how can you say that it's the best in South America, when you have never reviewed Azul?

  6. Hashbrown Guest

    Chile is not known for coffee. It's a tea culture, which could explain the poor coffee.

  7. pv1585 Guest

    I recently flew the new LatAm 787 business class from Santiago to Rapa Nui. I agree the catering, service and amenities were excellent. However, the seat comfort in both seat and bed mode was quite uncomfortable. The bed is very narrow, and the lower body is confined almost half within the footwell. It is very confining and the feeling is very coffin-like. The seat was good for this 6 hour day time flight, but would...

    I recently flew the new LatAm 787 business class from Santiago to Rapa Nui. I agree the catering, service and amenities were excellent. However, the seat comfort in both seat and bed mode was quite uncomfortable. The bed is very narrow, and the lower body is confined almost half within the footwell. It is very confining and the feeling is very coffin-like. The seat was good for this 6 hour day time flight, but would not be great on a longer-haul overnight flight. I much preferred the old "open" 2x2x2 business class on the 787, which I had on the way back to Santiago.

    1. Larry B Guest

      @pv1555
      As you noted, for a daytime flight to/from Rapa Nui to SCL, the old style 788 or 789 2-2-2 seating would be absolutely adequate, as it was for our flights July 2023. So roomy, excellent accommodations and very comfortable all around.

  8. Beachfan Guest

    Which routes feature the new seats? I’m on LAX-SCL, disappointed that it’s the old 789 seats.

  9. Gary Waters Guest

    Unfortunately not quite reality. Maybe from the States, using the 300,but not on other routes. Try GRU-LHR, complete tripe, and if you have a problem, god help you (cancelled flight, lost luggage, refund etc). I live in Brasil, one of the last choice carriers I would use to Europe. From personal experience, I will never use them again. Try something realistic Ben, then tell me.

  10. InternationalTraveler Diamond

    Lucky, when I saw the picture of the well stocked amenity kit the question came to my mind: Since you fly at lot, do you simply leave them on the plane or do you keep an expansive collection at home ?

  11. Apple Guest

    Great review, and agreed that LATAM is a lovely experience. My one downside with them is how they only stock 2-3 bottles of champagne for a long haul. Once that tray of champagne is filled, very little is left which is a shame. Even the flight attendants wonder why.

  12. Abidjan Diamond

    Nice start to the trip!

  13. yoloswag420 Guest

    Considering the choice is often between LATAM and Delta due their joint venture, would you prefer Delta or LATAM for South America flights?

    This 787 looks solid, but so did your Delta A350 experience from Santiago

  14. S Diamond

    Looks very solid, but 120k Avios seems pretty steep for a relatively short international flight.

  15. Duck Ling Guest

    Glad you had a good flight and enjoyed the trip, it looks like a nice offering.

    I do wonder whether the different LATAM branches (ie LATAM Chile/Brasil etc) have different service offerings.

    I flew LATAM Brasil in Business on a flight from Sao Paulo to London last year which is a duration of around ten and a half hours. I thought the catering was really really poor in fact inferior to what you received on...

    Glad you had a good flight and enjoyed the trip, it looks like a nice offering.

    I do wonder whether the different LATAM branches (ie LATAM Chile/Brasil etc) have different service offerings.

    I flew LATAM Brasil in Business on a flight from Sao Paulo to London last year which is a duration of around ten and a half hours. I thought the catering was really really poor in fact inferior to what you received on a much shorter flight. There was no proper starter, all courses were served together on one tray which contained the main course (which was decent), a small side salad, a small cheese plate and 'dessert' which was a cube of pineapple, a grape and a cube of melon. There was no choice of bread just some plain white rolls. Whilst this would be perfectly suitable for a flight of the duration of the one in this review I expected more on a longer flight.

    Loved the seats and bedding but everything else (catering, cabin service) was more at a Premium Economy level.

    1. Wany Guest

      Had similarly bad experience on JFK-SCL albeit 2 years ago. No starter, no salad. My tray came with two bread rolls for both dinner and breakfast. It was insane amount of starch. Could it ba a catering mistake? Nope. Same situation on the return. I hope they have since improved otherwise that was hands down the worst business class meal I have had just due to lack of greens.
      Another situation very questionable is...

      Had similarly bad experience on JFK-SCL albeit 2 years ago. No starter, no salad. My tray came with two bread rolls for both dinner and breakfast. It was insane amount of starch. Could it ba a catering mistake? Nope. Same situation on the return. I hope they have since improved otherwise that was hands down the worst business class meal I have had just due to lack of greens.
      Another situation very questionable is on both flights I saw folks in lie flat mode during take off and landing!!

    2. Larry B Guest

      @Wany and @Duck Ling
      Chileans eat a lot of bread. A LOT! Every meal at home gets freshly baked bread from local markets, shoppes and stands.
      If your experience was a light bread with a firm crust, it could have been marraqueta.
      https://breadtopia.com/chilean-marraquetas-sourdough-or-yeast/

      It's unfortunate your dining experience wasn't up to expectations on your flights.

      Safe travels!

  16. Kevin Guest

    Wow looks at that wing...full of speed tape...a common occurrence with the 787 unfortunately

    1. Jack Guest

      That wing is a maintenance mess

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

AJO Gold

@lucky: how can you say that it's the best in South America, when you have never reviewed Azul?

1
Chris Guest

Lufthansa, are you listening?

1
Apple Guest

Great review, and agreed that LATAM is a lovely experience. My one downside with them is how they only stock 2-3 bottles of champagne for a long haul. Once that tray of champagne is filled, very little is left which is a shame. Even the flight attendants wonder why.

1
Meet Ben Schlappig, OMAAT Founder
5,163,247 Miles Traveled

32,614,600 Words Written

35,045 Posts Published

Keep Exploring OMAAT