Colombia-based airline Avianca, which, incidentally is one of the oldest operating airlines in the world, installed its latest business-class seats aboard its fleet of new Boeing 787 Dreamliners a few years ago. So when the opportunity arose to fly the stylish seats from the airline’s hub in Bogotá to Los Angeles, I booked an award ticket using airline miles and prepared for a comfortable ride.
Flight Details
Number: Avianca AV086
Route: Bogotá (BOG) to Los Angeles (LAX)
Departure time: 2:40pm
Arrival time: 7:20pm
Duration: 7 hours, 40 minutes
Seat: 4A
My flight departed Bogotá in the afternoon and arrived that same evening, about seven hours later. Unfortunately, we were delayed by about an hour in Bogotá, boarding late and sitting on the tarmac for a stretch, but we landed in Los Angeles only about 20 minutes past our scheduled arrival time. The flight timing meant I had plenty of time to enjoy a meal, get some work done and take a solid three-hour nap before we landed in California.
Booking
When considering my options for getting from Bogotá to Los Angeles, Avianca made the most sense since it is the only airline operating a non-stop flight between the two cities. That said, even economy tickets were expensive, at around $600-$700 one-way. Business-class tickets were roughly double, at $1,400-$1,600 one-way.
However, Avianca is part of the Star Alliance, which meant I could use airline miles to book an award ticket. I had three main options. The first was Avianca’s own Lifemiles program, which regularly offers bonuses on purchased miles and is also an instant transfer partner of Citi ThankYou Rewards points. A business-class award would have cost 33,000 miles and $90. The second choice was Air Canada’s Aeroplan partner mileage program, which charges 37,500 miles each way between the continental U.S. and northern South America and roughly the same in taxes and fees.
Instead, I transferred Chase Ultimate Rewards points into my United MileagePlus account and redeemed 35,000 of those and paid $80 in taxes/fees for my ticket. Why spend 2,000 more miles for the same award? Because I already had some United miles in my account and the redemption process was easy and straightforward. I was thrilled – I would enjoy over seven-hours in one of the premier business-class cabins operating between South America and the U.S. for significantly fewer miles than it takes to fly to other destinations such as Europe or Asia.
Soon after making my booking, I used my Avianca confirmation number to log into my reservation and select a window seat, then prepared for my trip.
The Lounge
After a quick check-in but a long security and immigration line at the Bogotá airport, I only had time for a brief visit to the airline’s flagship lounge at the airport. The lounge is located one level up from the main concourse.
It is one large, open space with plenty of natural light from the huge windows overlooking the tarmac.
There was a self-serve bar with a few wine and spirits options as well as an espresso machine.
The buffet at the back had pastries, salads and sandwiches, though the choice was limited.
There were plenty of different seating types ranging from sofas and armchairs to café-style tables with chairs around them.
Among the interesting décor touches is a light sculpture by the reception desk highlighting the airline’s international route network.
With only a little time before my flight, I freshened up then headed directly to my gate, which ended up being unnecessary since we boarded 30 minutes late and all the passengers were simply lined up near the gate to wait.
Cabin and Seats
Once we did board, the process went quickly. Boarding took place through the second door on the aircraft’s left-hand side.
Because business class is split into two cabins, passengers seated up front did not have the folks passing through there into economy, so boarding was relatively fast and calm.
Avianca’s 787-8s have 28 business-class seats total in seven rows of four seats each. The front cabin contains five rows, while the smaller mini-cabin behind has only two rows. There is a small galley separating the two areas while the main galley and two lavatories for the section are up at the front of the aircraft.
The seats are arranged in a reverse-herringbone 1 – 2 – 1 pattern. Those on the sides are angled out toward the windows while those in the center are angled toward one another.
These seats are similar to the ones you will find on other airlines like Air France, American Airlines and Cathay Pacific.
The finishes on these are somewhat sterile, with either black or gray upholstery depending on the plane, whitish gray paneling and a splash of red along the leg-side cubby. Each is 21 inches wide, though wider without the aisle-side armrest down, and reclines to a lie-flat bed that’s over six feet long.
The table slides out from the non-aisle armrest, which is interesting ergonomically, but makes for a small surface area and one that’s more of a trapezoid than a square. The design also makes it easy to swing the table back and forth, but not to adjust its distance from your body for a more comfortable position while dining.
Underneath the table armrest is a bottle holder, which is convenient for stowing a bottle of water during the flight.
The aisle side of the seat has a folding armrest that latches next to the seatback for takeoff and landing.
Then below that is another cubby where you can fit a tablet or slim laptop.
Next to the backrest is a panel with a hand-held touchscreen remote control for the entertainment system and the buttons for controlling the seat and the overhead light.
Below those are jacks for the headphones, a USB port and a universal power plug.
On the other side of this is a compartment with a red interior where the headphones are stowed. In its version of the seat, Air France has a small vanity mirror on the door, which is a nice touch, but no such luxury here.
After boarding, flight attendants came through with large pillows and duvets. While not the most luxurious, they were comfortable, and the duvet was nice and lightweight.
The one other element I might have added was a cover for the seat itself when reclined to bed mode so that passengers do not have to sleep on the same surface that every other passenger before them has sat and slept on.
As you can see from the pictures, one other thing to keep in mind on a day flight on a Boeing Dreamliner like this one is that there are no window shades.
Instead, windows are dimmed electronically with a tinting mechanism that, though mostly effective, still does let some light in, so you might want to use an eye mask.
The bed was comfortable, though, and made it easy to sleep during the flight.
Food and Beverage
Shortly after boarding, flight attendants came through offering water or sparkling wine and bowls of mixed salted nuts. They also handed out menus for the meal service, which would take place about 90 minutes into the flight. It would have been better, both in terms of allowing customers to work or rest more as well as for making the time change to Pacific time easier if they had gotten service underway faster.
The meal presentation itself was lackluster. Rather than coursing it out, the flight attendants put both the starters and the cheese plate on the same tray, then came through later with the main course. The entrée was a salad of peas, baked carrots, parmesan and croutons over mixed lettuce, and was served with a small plate of cheeses and a hot roll.
For mains, there was rib-eye steak in red wine sauce with potatoes, baked chicken breast with a Caribbean coconut curry sauce and cilantro rice, and butternut squash ravioli with cheese sauce. I opted for the chicken, which looked like a meal you might find in economy, though the plating was fancier. For dessert, there was an Oreo cheesecake, but I skipped it.
About 90 minutes before landing, there was a second meal service of ham-and-cheese pita sandwiches with pest and cherry tomatoes, though I skipped this, too, in favor of eating once I’d landed.
As you might expect from a country famous for its coffee, there were several café-style beverage selections including espresso and cappuccino, as well as a couple of creative cocktails like the Café Royal with cognac, black coffee and sugar.
There was also a selection of spirits and two choices each of red and white wines, all from Chile. The reds were Aliwen Reseva Cabernet-Shiraz and Sibaris Reserva Caremenère, while the whites were Sibaris Chardonnay and Aliwen Sauvignon Blanc. The menu had tasting notes and pairing suggestions for each, though none of them were terribly distinctive taste-wise.
Overall, the meal service was nice if unremarkable. Still, there were several decent options and the service was efficient and attentive once it got started.
Entertainment
The entertainment screens on these seats stow into the seatback of the preceding seat. In order to view them, you have to click the button to release a latch so that the screen swings out toward the seat.
Each is 16 inches wide, and the airline provides noise-cancelling headphones with which to watch the entertainment, though ones you bring yourself will almost certainly be better than those provided.
The selection of movies was extensive and included recent releases such as Thor: Ragnarok and Mother! while the television selection included choices like Game of Thrones and Westworld.
You could watch entertainment on the main screen while keeping track of the flight’s progress on the handheld remote.
Amenities
During the pre-departure checks, flight attendants came through the cabin distributing amenity kits. Those offered by Avianca are small brown Tumi pouches.
Inside were the usual inclusions such as a dental kit, eye mask, earplugs, socks, tissues and a pen plus lip balm and L’Occitaine hand cream, which was also stocked in the lavatories.
Final Call
In general, the experience aboard Avianca business class was very positive, apart from the gate delay.
The seats were comfortable both in sitting and lie-flat modes and made it easy to get some sleep on the flight, especially with the bedding provided. The entertainment system and selection was up-to-date and diverse and the TUMI amenity kits were a nice small touch that added to the experience.
The meal service, while not the most polished, was still decent and the flight attendants were efficient, cheerful and more than happy to converse in either Spanish or English. Add to that the comfort of flying a Boeing Dreamliner, with its enhanced cabin pressure and humidity, those large windows and the quiet ride, and this is probably one of the best ways to fly between the U.S. and South America.
