Hello everyone!
Welcome to the third lg of my series of reports from my trip to California last year.
So, I had arrived from SCL early in the morning. Past migrations I collected my luggage since I was flying on another reservation. This time it was Avianca, the oldest airline of the Americas. The migration agent laughed when I told him I was going to be in Colombia just for a couple of hours.
I went to the upper floor of El Dorado Airport, where the check in counters are located. It was still almost six hours for my LAX departure. I asked an agent near the self-check in machines if it was already possible to get my boarding pass and dispatch my luggage, and she helped me to do so.
After that I went again through migrations and security, which took a couple of minutes.
On the airside I found they are now offering sleep pods. I think its very cool for people like me that have many hours to kill on this terminal. Thankfully I got another way to kill that time.
LATAM Boeing 787 CC-BBA waiting to return to SCL
When I bought my BOG-LAX ticket, on AV website, they were offering VIP lounge access. It was very cheap, something like 15 or 20 USD.
Avianca´s VIP lounge is on an upper level. The receptionist greeted me and asked for my passport and boarding pass and welcomed me in. She asked me if I wanted to take a shower and I said: sure!
I waited a couple of seconds and one of the staff took me to my shower, she gave me some towels and bath products kit.
I enjoyed that shower a lot, since I had left my home almost 24 hours ago.
After that I went to the main lounge, where the food is. The selection of food offered at that time (breakfast time) wasn’t too large. Mainly cakes, pancakes and some sandwiches. It’s not self-service, so you had to ask for a staff member to serve you. But it was all ok, nothing too special.
They also have a coffee machine and a dinks fridge which are self-service.
After resting for a couple of hours I exited the lounge and went downstairs to find my gate.
The gate staff announced that the embarkment will be made by groups. But instead of this a huge line was formed and people started accessing the aircraft in no particular order.
The aircraft was a Boeing 787-800 N795AV
And it was full. Legroom is ok, and they have foot-rest.
My view for the next 7 hours
At 1.30 we took off, just half an hour delayed.
Almost an hour after takeoff they served the meal. And it surprised me how tiny and tasteless it was. It was rice and chicken, with 2 Oreos for dessert. To drink just a small bottle of water as only option.
Some time before my flight I heard Avianca´s new business model was to become a low-cost carrier. They would charge for meals, drinks and extras on any route. With the exception of LAX and the European destinations. It´s kind of sad, because at least in Argentina, people used to have a good image of this airline. But now everyone is upset with the idea of having to pay for everything in such legacy carrier.
After lunch, I tried to get some sleep.
Eventually I woke up somewhere over the Mexican dessert with very nice views. And later the FAs offered a snack service. It included another tiny bottle of water and some cheese snacks.
Some minutes before 6 pm the captain announced our descend. After some turnings we started crossing Los Angeles from East to West.
But then I saw below us the LAX Airport and we started elevating. It was go-around. An announcement was made, the FA explained that it was a common thing that occurs, and that the captain will approach the airport soon again.
After some minutes and, again, some nice views of Los Angeles, we landed at 6.30 pm.
We headed to the Tom Bradley International Terminal, and disembarked via jet bridge.
The iconic welcome to LAX giant US flag.
Thankfully, migrations was very quick. But my luggage took several minutes to come off.
Then I took the FLYAWAY bus to Union Station, and the Metro to my hotel in Hollywood area.
Now I leave you some pics from Los Angeles
Hollywood Bv
Downtown and Hollywood sign
Beverly Hills
Amazing sunset in Griffith Observatory
Santa Monica, Venice and Malibu
Fun at Universal Studios
Camitaaaaa.... ???? Mi mejor amiga.
En serio??? Cama, y VIP lounge a precio de huevo??!! (Claro que los huevos están re-caros últimamente ?) Este aeropuerto le hace honor a eso de "El Dorado"!!! ?
Estoy sorprendido por todo lo que muestras del aeropuerto. En cuanto a Avianca... bueh, nunca he leído muchas maravillas de ellos. Será viejita y venerable, pero no da muchas razones para quererla. Es de esas abuelas odiosas ???
Me alegra que lo hayas pasado bien, y que hayas visitado esos lugares tan interesantes como Hollywood.
Gracias por compartir!!
Hola! Gracias por tu comentario.
No se bien el precio de la cabina para dormir, pero seguro no era muy cara! A la vuelta de California tenia unas 20 horas entre vuelos asi que consegui un hotel en el centro para descansar. Era mucho si me quedaba encerrado en BOG jaja
Y Avianca, una pena la verdad. Aca la gente se queja mucho...para un vuelo de 6 horas aprox, ni un vaso de agua... Me parece un montón.
Saludos!
Nice trip Viajero y excellent FR, saludos!
Hey! Im glad you liked it. Saludos!
Wow, definitely worth it at that price!
Avianca has really fallen far since they because an LCC. I guess in that context it's good that they at least still serve a free meal on such a long flight. I suppose you were "lucky" to be on the only route that gets a free meal outside of flights Europe. But wow, it is veeery small and sad looking.
At over 7h duration, this flight is about the same length as transatlantic flights between the East Coast of North American and Europe, which get 2 meals normally.
Just a snack before arrival on such long of a flight is really cheap. I don't know if you can even buy a meal if you are hungry on this route--I know on every other route you can, but not sure about those that get the free meal. Would be a good option to have since the 1st meal was so small.
Looks like you had some great weather and minimal smog on your visit to SoCal. October is usually a great time to visit because it's usually still warm and there are a lot less tourists--that is, when there are no fires. This year Sep/Oct/Nov have been beautiful here in Socal with temps between 28-32C most of the time and no fires at all because we got record amounts of rain in the winter/spring.
Thanks for sharing!
Hello! Thanks for your comment.
Here in Argentina we´re very used to take long flights anywhere. We´re also used to the new policy of airlines to serve little food (or nothing at all). But this was too much! Even the portion was minimal. There was no buy on board service at all. I think it would be good if they offered it, so at least I can buy more drinks if i need to. 2 small bottles of water is almost nothing!
This was my first time in California, and I had a great time there! Im looking forward to get back soon.
Cheers!