Welcome to my subsequent journey report sequence, protecting the current evaluation journey that I took to Latin America. Really, it was two journeys to Latin America, kind of, however I’ll write all of it as a single evaluation sequence.
So usually I fly to distant locations to evaluation among the world’s greatest airline merchandise, although there’s additionally worth in reviewing experiences nearer to dwelling. Dwelling in Miami, there’s no scarcity of alternatives to fly to Latin America (I imply, in all honesty, Miami principally is Latin America).
On this journey I flew a complete of eight segments and coated simply over 20,000 miles. On this sequence you’ll be able to anticipate flight evaluations of LATAM’s 787 enterprise class, Delta’s A350 enterprise class, Delta’s 737 enterprise class, Aeromexico’s 737 MAX enterprise class, Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330 enterprise class, GOL’s 737 MAX premium economic system, and Copa’s 737 MAX enterprise class. There may even be evaluations of a number of lounges, plus some resort evaluations.
On this put up I’ll define all of the fundamentals of the journey, after which I’ll publish the whole journey report sequence within the coming days and weeks.
Why I took this journey
This was a pure evaluation journey, plain and easy. That’s to say that I took this journey completely to have the ability to evaluation sure premium airline merchandise, all whereas being away from dwelling for as little time as attainable. I booked fairly final minute, and as a result of how award availability opened up, I ended up taking this journey in two components, with two days at dwelling between the journeys (which was actually nice when it comes to having the ability to atone for sleep).
Generally after I plan evaluation journeys, I’ve one particular product that I’m seeking to attempt, after which I plan all the things round that. On this case, I simply knew that there have been numerous premium airline merchandise in Latin America I hadn’t reviewed, so I used to be open to any of these.
So I deliberate my journey solely days earlier than departure. The wonderful thing about residing in Miami is that no positioning is basically required, given the huge variety of southbound flights from there.
The airways I flew on this journey
I booked this itinerary as six separate tickets, so let me share the small print of the tickets within the chronological order that I traveled.
To kick off the journey, I flew LATAM’s Boeing 787-9 enterprise class from Miami to Santiago. LATAM doesn’t belong to any of the worldwide alliances, however there are a number of applications that allow you to redeem for LATAM enterprise class. I ended up reserving the next for 123,500 British Airways Avios plus $45.30 in taxes and charges:
9/17 LA503 Miami to Santiago departing 9:15PM arriving 6:30AM (+1 day)
Let me acknowledge that it is a substantial variety of Avios, although I had quantity in an account that I had acquired with a switch bonus, so I most well-liked that to utilizing one other forex. Nonetheless, there are different applications with decrease absolute redemption prices.
Subsequent up, I flew Delta’s Airbus A350-900 enterprise class and Delta’s Boeing 737-800 enterprise class from Santiago to Atlanta to Mexico Metropolis. Often it may be laborious to redeem Delta SkyMiles and get good worth for premium cabin journey, however the trick is that in the event you don’t begin or finish in the USA, the worth is a lot better.
So I booked the next for 65,800 Delta SkyMiles plus $87.32 in taxes & charges (if I had terminated in Atlanta, the award would have value 5x as a lot):
9/19 DL146 Santiago to Atlanta departing 8:40PM arriving 5:15AM (+1 day)
9/20 DL602 Atlanta to Mexico Metropolis departing 12:21PM arriving 1:55PM
After that, it was time to go dwelling briefly, so I flew Aeromexico’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 enterprise class from Mexico Metropolis to Miami. I booked the next for twenty-four,000 Air France-KLM Flying Blue miles plus $113.22 in taxes and charges:
9/21 AM412 Mexico Metropolis to Miami departing 7:10AM arriving 12:40PM
After a few days at dwelling, it was time to go out once more, beginning with flying Boliviana de Aviacion’s Airbus A330-200 enterprise class from Miami to Santa Cruz de la Sierra. I can’t even say how excited I used to be about this flight, given how a lot this airline has intrigued me.
The catch is that Boliviana de Aviacion doesn’t have helpful airline companions, so the one actual choice is to pay money. So I booked the next for $695.42 (fairly fare for enterprise class, eh?):
9/23 OB767 Miami to Santa Cruz de la Sierra departing 11:00PM arriving 5:50AM (+1 day)
After a protracted layover, I flew GOL’s Boeing 737 MAX 8 premium economic system from Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Sao Paulo. I used to be in a position to redeem American AAdvantage miles for this, and booked the next for 17,500 American AAdvantage miles plus $94.20 in taxes and charges:
9/24 G37717 Santa Cruz de la Sierra to Sao Paulo departing 1:00PM arriving 4:40PM
Final however not least, it was time to fly Copa’s Boeing 737 MAX 9 enterprise class all the best way from Sao Paulo to Panama Metropolis to Miami. I managed to e book the next for 50,000 Air Canada Aeroplan factors plus $57.34 in taxes and charges:
9/25 CM702 Sao Paulo to Panama Metropolis departing 3:10AM arriving 8:00AM
9/25 CM334 Panama Metropolis to Miami departing 9:23AM arriving 1:31PM
Along with flight evaluations, you’ll be able to anticipate evaluations of the next lounges:
- The LATAM Lounge Miami (MIA)
- The LATAM Lounge Santiago (SCL)
- The SkyTeam Lounge Santiago (SCL)
- The Amex Centurion Lounge Atlanta (ATL)
- The Aeromexico Lounge Mexico Metropolis (MEX)
- The Lounge VIP Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI)
- VIP Lounge Santa Cruz de la Sierra (VVI)
- The Banco Safra Lounge Sao Paulo (GRU)
- The Amex Centurion Lounge Sao Paulo (GRU)
The motels I stayed at on this journey
On these evaluation journeys, I spend most of my time within the air, and never in motels. On this journey I had in a single day(ish) stays in Santiago, Mexico Metropolis, and Sao Paulo.
In Santiago, I had a little bit of time to get pleasure from city, as I used to be arriving early within the morning, and departing late the next night. So I made a decision to remain on the town, and booked the Ritz-Carlton Santiago. I booked a membership room by the Marriott STARS program, as this is without doubt one of the extra moderately priced Ritz-Carlton properties on the market (although as I discovered, for good purpose).
Subsequent up, I had an in a single day in Mexico Metropolis, however given my very early morning departure, I made a decision to remain at the Hilton Mexico Metropolis Airport, situated inside the terminal. It’s a handy property that was lately renovated, although has some quirks.
Lastly, I had a really lengthy afternoon and night in Sao Paulo, as I landed round 5PM, and was departing round 3AM. So I made a decision to e book a keep at the TRYP by Wyndham Sao Paulo Guarulhos Airport, which is the transit resort situated inside the terminal. A correct nap could make such an enormous distinction on journeys like this.
Backside line
Whereas maybe not as luxurious as a evaluation journey to the Center East or Asia, I actually loved my journey to Latin America, because it’s all the time enjoyable to attempt merchandise I’m a bit much less acquainted with. Dwelling in Miami, a visit like this was overdue. Keep tuned, as I’ll have plenty of flight, lounge, and resort evaluations, with experiences starting from excellent to no bueno.
Thanks for studying, and keep tuned!
Supply hyperlink
