- Konrad Tillman
Review: LATAM Airlines New Business Class 787-9 Sao Paulo To Santiago
Intro
After a hectic day on Friday getting to Rio, an amazing time visiting Christ The Redeemer, enjoying some good food, and plane spotting from Sugarloaf, it was time to start my journey back to the US.
Originally, I had an Aeromexico ticket out of Santiago, up to Mexico City, and back to Los Angeles, which I scored at a great price. That changed later. However, the plan was that I had to make it to Santiago on Sunday to catch my evening departure to Mexico City. LATAM was the best option for this route for a number of reasons we will discuss during how I booked.
So, what are my thoughts about this LATAM product in a 1-2-1 configuration? This might rank in my top 5 business class products after spending 18 hours onboard. The crew is friendly, the seats are great, the food is decent and the whole experience comes together.
Let's get into the review!
Route- Sao Paulo-Santiago
Plane- 787-9
Seat- 7A
Flight Number- LA715
Date- March 24th 2024
Flight Time: 3 Hours 42 Minutes
Price Paid- 20K BA Miles+15$
How I Booked
With all of my plans up in the air, I had to figure out a way to get from Brazil to Chile for my flight. Flight prices for my last-minute dates during March sat around 800$ in Business Class for a 4-hour flight. It's a bit steep, but with a lie-flat bed, it's not too bad either! However, I was able to find award space through British Airways and booked this one-way ticket for 20,000 miles+15$ in taxes. It's not a bad redemption in my book.
Fares typically aren't too bad on this route due to high competition. They can even go as low as 323$ one way in Business Class!
Check-In
After a stay at the Hampton by Hilton, it was time to head off to the airport bright and early. The Uber dropped me off and I was curbside by 4:00 am ish.
Sao Paulo GRU was quiet at this hour, with few people about. However, there is a dedicated check-in for Business Class customers and within no time, I had my boarding pass in hand.
Security is easily locatable here, and very efficient. Looking back over the course of this trip, I have been blessed how everything has come together!
Completely empty.
Once clearing security, I spent about an hour and a half in the lounge. I wrote a separate extract about the lounge, which you can read about here! A great lounge!
At about 5:45 am, I made my way over to the gate to board our 787-9. Just passing by a 777-300 that had flown in from Rome. Hot take: I prefer the 777-300 to the Dreamliner, just me, though.
Boarding
Boarding was scheduled for 5:55 am, a whole hour before departure. However, boarding didn't commence until 6:08 am which is more realistic. Can we look at the size of that group 1 line????
Soon enough, it was my turn to board the bird.
The jetbridge was packed at this hour, and not moving for a hot minute.
A quick snap of the wing and I was onboard. I could tell the crew were going to be lovely by the smiles on their faces. At 6 am, that's an impressive feat!
It was a whole 8 steps until I found my seat 7A for this hop. How beautiful are the features of this cabin!!!
Departure
At 6:40 pm, the captain came on to announce our flight time of 3 hours and 40 minutes, as well as telling us to "relax and enjoy our flight." In this seat? I most certainly will!
By 6:46 am, the FA came over, addressed me by name, and took my meal order. Sadly, the Ham and Cheese Sandwich was out of stock, but she offered an alternative strategy to the situation!
A minute later, boarding was finished, the cabin doors closed and the jetbridge detached.
We ended up pushing back a couple of minutes ahead of schedule.
It took us a bit of time, but eventually, we began on the short taxi to the runway, passing by some widebodies. Brazil is incredible for Avgeeks as the planes are amazing! The BA351, TP339, TAG773, the list goes on.
At this point, I was all settled and ready to depart.
We departed Westwards at 7:10 am.
Once we broke through the rainy clouds, the views were breathtaking.
Does it get any better than this?
The Seat/Cabin
Upon arrival, I stayed behind for a cockpit visit and to photograph the cabin. Seats are laid out on this variant of the 787-9 in a 1-2-1 configuration.
On the side rows, there are 7 seats, with odd-numbered rows closer to the window and even-numbered rows closer to the aisle.
The cabin is simply gorgeous, with fantastic colorways, and the design is beautiful! Here are some more pictures of the cabin I took.
Each seat comes with lots to explore! To start with, there is a handy storage compartment at the side of your seat. You don't have to open it, but the barrier prevents anything from falling off.
The seat controls are done by holding the button. The fact you can lock it is another great feature.
Another storage compartment is located within the storage compartment😅.
It also allows for the fitting of small items such as a passport or phone.
A literature pocket pocket was located on the exit of the seat, although it was empty.
Underneath the faux marble table is the tray table. There is an easy latch that allows the table to open.
Just in case you are too lazy, there are also buttons right next to your seat for reclining.
A reading light was located next to the coathook. Seriously, there is not a part of the cabin that isn't pleasing.
And another small little one.
The Faux table was perfect for a glass of champagne and my laptop. If you proposed LATAM, I might accept😉.
The bed goes into a 180-degree, lie flat position. Even though I didn't sleep on this flight, I found the bed to be very private and comfortable. I would go as far as to say the seat itself is more "comfortable" than Q suites or ANA (not more private).
When stepping on board, I was a little concerned with the footwell. Turned out that it was plenty large and not an issue at all.
This is a highly competitive hard product, even if it doesn't have doors. The cabin is simply gorgeous, the seats might be the most comfortable business-class product, and storage is efficient. A+ here LATAM.
My recommendation is seat 7K or seat 7A.
Meal Service
Waiting upon my seat when I stepped onboard was a menu for today's flight. There were three options: a frittata, a ham and cheese selection, and a ham and cheese sandwich.
My first selection was the ham and cheese sandwich but they had just served the last one to the person in 6A. Therefore the cabin crew offered to bring me bread with the ham and cheese selection. Good problem-solving skills!
25 minutes after takeoff, the cabin crew came around to give out hot towels.
20 minutes later, my tray table was pulled out, and my meal served!
A few moments later, the lovely FA came by to deliver my ham and cheese selection. It was a "heavy snack," and everything tasted very fresh. Note that it was served on one tray, but that's not an issue for me at all.
In regards to drinks, there is a beverage trolley that comes by after the food has been served. I asked for an obligatory glass of champagne and they sort of looked confused at first😂. The FA ran to the back to pop a bottle.
Throughout the flight, my champagne was constantly topped up. LATAM serves Champagne Vollereaux which retails for about 35$ a bottle, it's not too bad actually.
Amenities
After my last 9 flights were in economy, it was nice to be back in Business Class. Waiting upon my seat when arriving was a boatload of amenities for a flight of this length. First, let's take a look at the amenity kit.
It came stocked with everything you might need for a 4-hour flight. It's not over the top, but it doesn't need to be. The amenity kit was changed for my flight up to Los Angeles.
Next up came a cool bag that contained a blanket and a pillow!
The blanket was good quality, while the pillow was plush. Once again, props to you LATAM!
Lastly, came the headphones. They were good quality but didn't fit fully over the ear. Still worked perfectly as I watched the Expendables though! They also came in this cute little bag like the bedding did!
In my opinion, this was more than enough amenities to keep me occupied for this flight. Quite frankly, this rivals some Asian carriers in what they offer.
IFE
Since I haven't covered much of the IFE, now would be the time to do so. On the back of the seat in front of me, laid a beautiful screen with great quality.
Here are a couple of pictures of the movies that are offered, but I had to watch Expendable 4 since I love that series! The color schemes again!!
Wifi was also offered for a fee. If I remember it was about 14$ for the whole flight.
The Lavatories
The lavatories are relatively basic and the standard for a Dreamliner.
There were no special amenities or anything. This is one aspect on which LATAM could improve.
Crossing The Andes... Again
After the meal, the next 2 hours of the flight remained quite relaxed. I finished the expendables and listened to some music before we started our crossing of the Andes.
The last time I did this, there was a little chop. Surprisingly, there was almost no turbulence this time!
As always, the views are special❤️.
For this route, select 7K, as I mentioned above, as I missed the big mountain!
Arrival
Once on the backside of the Andes, the captain announced our initial descent into Santiago at 10:10 am.
The cabin crew came around to thank us for flying LATAM, another nice touch.
25 minutes later the cabin crew were instructed to take their seats for landing.
3 minutes later we touched down at 10:38 am, back into Chile! I'm already hungry and thirsty, thinking about all of the wine and steak to consume!
A fellow KLM plane thought it was a good idea to stalk us, hmmmm.
It was a short taxi to our gate, and we were there 15 minutes ahead of schedule.
C5 was our gate for today, not as inconvenient as last time.
After letting all the business class passengers de-plane, I made my way up to the cockpit to chat with the captains. I got a quick video of me in the cockpit and took some snaps of this one-year-old bird.
She looks brand new hey!
After snapping some empty pictures of the cabin, I bid farewell to the 787-9 that had taken us on the journey!
Sunshine is that you? I forgot what you looked like😅.
Immigration was a hot mess at this hour and took me 25 minutes. 25 minutes isn't that bad on paper but I have been quite blessed recently.
But I made it!
And in no time, was on the way to Santiago. Okay, officially, country 81 now that I have left the airport!!!!
Final Thoughts
This flight can be booked for as low as 323$ and for this level of what you get, it might resemble the best business class in the sky. Q suites and The Room are a lot more private, but with great service (I mean great), over-the-top comfortable seats, efficient storage, good food, and a fantastic entertainment system, it all comes together to create a stellar business-class experience.
If I am being very nitpicky, LATAM could improve on the meal a tad and the bathroom amenities, but that is it!
I mean, you combine that with the lounge in Santiago and Sao Paulo, and it's incredible. A special shoutout to the flight deck, which was super friendly, although it got even better the next flight as I got to sit in the FO's chair for 10 minutes before departure, just chatting about aviation!
A lot of LATAM, thank you! Stay tuned for the review from Santiago to LAX and thanks for reading!
JETTOAJET SCALE
Meal Service | 8/10 |
Seat 7A | 9.5/10 |
IFE | 9/10 |
Ground Experience | 9.5/10 |
Overall Service | 10/10 |
Total | 46/50 |
