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Los Angeles (LAX) to Bogota (BOG)
DEP 8:25PM ARR 5:25AM
Duration: 7hr
Seat number: 7A
Aircraft: Dreamliner 787-8
Miles Redeemed:
35,000 United Miles + $20.60 USD
The Verdict
PROS: Nice reverse herringbone 1-2-1 configuration seats and comfortable lie-flat bed. Good award availability and requires decent amount of miles for business class’s redemption between North America and northern South America such as Colombia.
CONS: Mediocre food without menu, huge disappointing customer service from the crew working in the business class cabin.
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| Review: Avianca AV89 Business Class Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner Los Angeles (LAX) to Bogota (BOG) |
Points Booking
I transferred 35,000 Chase Ultimate Rewards (UR) points to United MileagePlus for 35,000 United miles to redeem one-way business class seat from LAX to BOG with Avianca airline. If you are flying out or to these northern South American countries such as Colombia, Ecuador, French Guiana, Guyana, Peru, Suriname and Venezuela, you will only need 35,000 United miles for a one-way business class seat. Other parts of South America require much more United miles.
Avianca Flights Leave From Tom Bradley International Terminal, Not Terminal 3
It’s worth mentioning that if you check in with Avianca online, your boarding pass will say terminal 3. However, according to the information on the LAX website, you check in at terminal 3, but you have to walk or make your way to terminal B, which is the Tom Bradley International Terminal (TBIT) to catch your flight. The flight does not leave from terminal 3.
“Avianca Passengers Terminal 3 for Check-in. Passengers will walk from Terminal 3 to Terminal B for departure. Departures and Arrivals will operate at Terminal B.”
If you have a layover in LAX that means you probably already got your boarding pass, then simply proceed to TBIT upon arrival. The good news is, terminal 4, 5, 6 and 7 are now connected to TBIT so you no longer need to exit the airport, catch the shuttle bus through each terminal and then go through security checkpoint again to go to TBIT. It is quite a waking distance though so be prepared for that or ask for mobility assistance at the airport on your arrival.
Check-In and Lounge
My travel companion and I had a layover in LAX for around 8 hours long. We were connecting from another domestic North American airport on one award ticket. There were no additional miles required. Fortunately, we were able to access the Star Alliance Business Class Lounge because Avianca is a member of Star Alliance and the lounge’s access policy only cares if your flight departs on the same day of your visit or latest by 05:00 AM the next morning.
United Polaris Lounge is also another nice lounge to experience at LAX airport. However, according to the United Polaris Lounge’s policy, the route LAX-BOG is not included in the list as eligible long-haul International flight and thus business class passengers cannot access the lounge. The United Polaris Lounge is also not inside the Tom Bradley International Terminal. It is located at Terminal 7 which is quite away from TBIT. But Star Alliance Business Class Lounge is amazing enough.
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| LAX Star Alliance Business Class Lounge |
Reverse Herringbone Seats & Lie-Flat Beds
The seats on Avianca’s Dreamliner 787-8 are reverse herringbone seats and it is 1-2-1 configurations. There are a total of 28 lie-flat bed seats in Business Class cabin with row 1-5 upfront and row 6-7 at the back before Economy Class cabin. I want to stress that if you sit in the business class cabin row 6 and 7, you will encounter a lot of foot steps from economy and premium economy passengers during boarding, and then possibly noise during flight from the premium economy cabin. Otherwise there are only 8 business class seats in that section and the rest is upfront at the nose of the plane. The business class lavatory is also all the way to the front.
The seats are true lie-flat business class beds, which can be reclined or lied flat with the seat’s remote control. My seat was comfortable and it was a red-eye flight so I was able to catch some good sleep in my sky bed before arriving in Bogota.
Service
The service is very slow for a business class flight that I have been on thus far. It is also hard to see a flight attendant came around. In fact, I pressed the flight attendant button to see if I could get an extra pillow, but not a single one flight attendant came to my seat. So I just gave up and turned off the flight attendant’s request light. I wish those flight attendants in business class cabin were just easier to get a hold of or they came around more often with their friendly services. It was not like there were a tons of business class passengers on the flight that night and there were total 3 assigned flight attendants in the business class cabin!
Food & Drinks
The food is so-so to me. There’s no menu, just 3 choices of meats offered by the fight attendant. If I still remember right, they are chicken with potatoes, beef with mashed potatoes and emperor fish with rice and vegetables. I picked the fish option as I’m not a big fan of potatoes.
After giving us meal and drinks, of course the flight attendants were gone again. Not a single one came back to refill drinks or to see if the passenger needed anything else. I finished my food almost 30 minutes later and that was when they came back to offer dessert and coffee or tea. The raspberry cheesecake dessert was good though. After the food and drinks service, I went straight to bed.
Given it was only a short 7 hours fight, no breakfast was served. But they did offer orange juice or coffee/tea before landing.
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| Fish, Rice, Vegetables & Salad |
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| Raspberry Cheesecake |
Amenity Kit
Good basic amenities. Although I did ask if they had slippers, they said none. Oh well! Generally, slippers are not being offered in business class anyway.
Conclusion
The Avianca 787-8 Dreamliner Business Class offers a true lie-flat bed experience between United States and South America. The solo reverse herringbone seat is good in terms of privacy and the comfort level; however the service of the crew on the flight really disappointed me the most. Food was mediocre but provided it was not a long-haul international flight, I can’t complain much about that. All in all, great seat on this Dreamliner but I just wish the flight attendants were a little bit more approachable and more efficient.
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