Hi and welcome to another trip report
My last trip had left me only a couple hundred qualifying points short from hitting platinum with LATAMPASS, LATAM’s frequent flyer program.
Spent wise this meant I only had to spend around US$30 to make the jump. Had I paid for seat selection on my latest flight would had been enough to make it through, but a miscalculation on my end made me think that wouldn’t have been necessary.
Anyway, this meant I had to take the cheapest flight anywhere to make it to Platinum and that’s exactly what I did.
The plan was to fly to Chiclayo a city in northern Peru from my home city of Lima, spend a few hours and take a flight back to the capital.
I took an early morning flight from Lima. Unfortunately I did not take any pictures of that leg. The flight was uneventful. I was on a basic economy ticket which means random seat selection regardless of elite status, however the gate agent managed to move me to an aisle seat in the first row of economy for fee.
Once at Chiclayo (CIX) I did venture out for a coffee at one of the city’s main hotels, but without much else to do I was at the airport with loads of time to spare.
Chiclayo’s airport is quite small and only serves around 10-12 turnarounds a day. Most flights operate to and from Lima, except for Star Peru’s daily departure to the Peruvian city of Tarapoto and Copa’s flight to Panama City
The airport is about to undergo a major renovation project which involves maintainance works in the runway and a terminal expansion.
Having plenty of time to spare I grabbed a snack and a drink at the land side cafe overlooking the apron located in the second floor of the terminal. At that time the airport was pretty quiet with only a JetSmart turnaround from and to Lima about an hour before our flight.
Landslide cafe
I did stop by the check in counters to get a printed boarding pass. The check in agent informed our flight would be delayed for 35 minutes die to ATC delays in LIM. The delay ended up being more than an hour as the plane took off Lima around the time of our original departure time.
Security was quick and then off I was into the main gate area which is small. The airport only has two gates both without jet bridges.
There’s not a lot to do in the gate area, there’s a convenience store a cafe and a vip lounge located at the far end of gate 1. The lounge does take priority pass, however with my card not giving me complementary access to domestic lounges, I gave it a pass.
With nothing else to do I sat down and watched some shows on my iPad until our aircraft touched down at CIX.
The aircraft was turned around in no time and we were soon allowed to board. Boarding was done by groups.
This time I was seated in 4A, a window in the first row of economy. Funnily enough as soon as I hit Platinum after the outbound flight, LATAM’s system automatically changed my seat for the return flight to something closer to the front.
LATAMs A320s are fitted with 180 seats. The first 5 rows have extra legroom. The first 2 or 3 rows are sold as Premium Economy (depending on demand) while the remaining extra legroom seats are sold as LATAM+ seats which retail for about US$20 in domestic flights.
Once we were all onboard the captain came on the PA announcing we would be taking off with a 20 minute further delay due to ATC restrictions at LIM.
We pushed back and were held on the taxiway.
In the meantime a Star Perú Boeing 737-300 landed from Tarapoto.
You can see large scale farming areas outside the city, which I’d say is its primary source of formal income.
Once reaching cruising altitude the crew came around offering a snack.
LATAM usually gives out a protein bar with a beverage choice of water or coffee.
I then explored its IFE system which can be streamed to one’s own devices. It had a wide choice of movies and TV shows, which is the same you can find onboard wide-body aircraft.
There was also Wi-Fi on board. Inflight messaging is free for all LATAMPASS members, while browsing is fee for LATAMPASS elites.
The cabin is fitted with USB A charging ports which is welcome, considering these A320 make some longer routes including flights to Brazil, Mexico, the Caribbean, etc.
We had a smooth descent into Lima where unlike most of the year the day was crisp and clear.
We parked at one of the C gates which can accommodate both domestic and international flights.
It was a bit of a walk to arrivals where I was out in no time.
Thanks for reading.
