Review of JetSmart flight from Santiago to Valdivia in Economy

Hello!

The topic "Birthday" keeps popping up all around me after I turned 50 at the beginning of October 2021. This time this girl standing next to me on the TurBus to the airport persistently hits my nose with her Happy Birthday balloon. Is Life making fun of this elderly man nearing his winter days?? Or is it just trying to wish me a happy birthday??

I hope that balloon will burst on the plane. Ha.

The bus leaves me on the third level of what has become (starting March 2022) the domestic terminal of SCL…

…after Terminal 2 was opened last week! Here's a partial view of the access to the east piers…

…and the main building.

New information kiosks.

Don't forget to sanitize your hands!

At the moment of this flight there's still a strict health policy in place.

You won't access the security checkpoint if you don't have your pasaporte sanitario stating you have all your vaccines.

I'm an obedient, concerned citizen. So I'm free to go.

Quite a crowd, but the line always moves fast at SCL.

Airside. Nooo!! Maxi K is closed! Too bad.

McDonald's, perhaps? No the queue is too long. What do I see?

A new VIP lounge! Not that I ever visit them, but this might come handy for some of you.

Is that our avión for today? It is! It's CC-AWN, christened Carpintero Negro (Black Woodpecker)

JetSmart seems to have relaxed its policies lately. Someone is wearing a flowery cloth mask, which was prohibited until some months ago. The flowers are OK, but not the cloth! XD

boarding

At around 1 pm…

…boarding starts. Boarding procedures have also been simplified, it seems. Just two groups divided into front and rear rows.

Weee!! Long walk to the gate today.

Doesn't CC-AWN look handsome in…

…that racoon mask?

Oh! Look there! Only a couple of weeks ago CC-AWO - Tortuga Verde - had a problem in an engine and made an emergency landing at IQQ on its way to Cali, Colombia. We saw it in this report from the beginning of this month.

And that would be CC-AWQ, christened Carancho, which is a bird of the center and south of South America. See the fauna decorating the tails of JetSmart planes here. Even the mascot of a local bank (a duckling) is there! XD If you wonder why a bank has a duckling as its mascot, it's because in my very creative country pato (duck) also means broke. Toy pato = I'm broke.

Oh, happy day! The blessings never end! We'll be boarding by stairs!

My cellphone decided that the handrail was a relevant subject for a photo and took this one on its own.

JetSmart's weak side is their hard seats. Not recommended for long flights.  Nevertheless, there's a good chance I'll choose JetSmart for my first trip to Colombia, since it's the cheapest choice. :( It's going to be six looong hours for my poor back and buttocks.

My sister recently moved out and I took over the second floor, which I call my "penthouse." Aunty Nena made her contribution to the decoration work in the form of a good number of plants from her garden.

Woo - hoo! Vacant middle seat! I'll tuck my bag in there. "Not so fast," says the FA. Not until we have taken off.

You always thank the shade in Santiago.

the flight

Some additional information about this flight.

Pushback. Trying to follow the shade.

Bye, Green Turtle. Try to stay in the air in the future!

This code is still working. Anyway, I'm leaving the PDF here.

We make it to the runway…

…followed by CC-BLA.

I wonder what's the situation like for LATAM five months on. Are those aircraft still mothballed down there? Won't know until next April.

We head south above the shockingly dry landscape. It's springtime. All those hills should be verdant!

The new terminal comes into view.

The main building and the four new piers.

Santiago used to be so much fun when I was a kid. Not anymore. Just crowds, litter and heat.

JetSmart is selling their products in combos. You choose a beverage and a sweet or salty snack. Quite convenient, I think.

Sandwich autopsy.

The clouds will prevent me from getting many views of the land below…

…but I still can see Capitán Pastene…

…a picturesque town founded by Italian immigrants.

I had no idea! I just learned this while writing this report!  (Source of the photo)

The yellow patches of rapeseed are a new sight for me, too.

I had never seen them from the air. They look nice. Yellow is my favorite color. Along with green, blue, orange, red, pink, purple…

The sight of Nueva Imperial on river Chol Chol - with Villarrica volcano and Temuco in the background - let us know that we are descending towards Pichoy (ZAL)

To think that my mother went rowing on that river with me when I was less than 10 years old… wearing no life jacket!! I usually tell her "You grounded me only a couple of times. The rest of the time you were trying to murder me!"

River Toltén.

Then come these fields…

…around San José de la Mariquina…

…just north of Valdivia…

…welcoming us…

…to ZAL.

FAs insist that we remain seated while the front rows disembark first.

They say that ZAL is about to be completely revamped, with a new terminal and stuff. I'm crossing my fingers! So this photo might become history very soon.

Farewell photo of CC-AWN

I always miss the south so much whenever I leave. So many trees…

…so much water…

…and so close to natural beauties like river Calle Calle. I'm happy to be back home.

Thanks for reading!