Skybound Comfort: A Comprehensive Review of LATAM #1451 Quito to Lima in Premium Economy

We were looking to travel from Quito in Ecuador to Cusco in Lima, as always I go to my trusty Skyscanner to search for routings (and always by preference, OneWorld airlines). We had recently used Latam quite extensively when flying within both Argentina and Brazil, and the routing from Quito to Lima then Lima to Cusco seemed like the best option. As I’ve often found though with Latam, having booked almost a year in advance the flights changed a number of times, both in terms of timing but we also had to reschedule because of the connection times. Ultimately though we should be leaving Quito at 9:30am getting into Lima (Peru) at 11:49am, with just under a two hour connection time in Lima then flying on to Cusco at 13:32pm for a 1.5 hour flight internally within Peru.

We’re sorry to leave Quito and the amazing boutique hotel Casa Gangotena, this being our second stay in a week, having used that as a base before and after our trip into the Ecuadorian cloudforest at Mashpi Lodge. Quito is a lovely place and we could have stayed longer, but Peru (the next stage of our trip) is calling. I’ve written a review of Casa Gangotena (and Mashpi Lodge) on my website and cannot recommend both highly enough. If we thought the room at Casa Gangotena on our first stay was great, there was only one word for the room we were given when we went back - WOW!

We leave the hotel at 7am and get to the airport around 8am - although it’s not a big distance the traffic in Quito seems to be bad most of the time, but we were told that an underground is being built to try and avoid some of the current congestion. The airport used to be located right in the centre of Quito (which would have been very handy and must have given incredible views on landing) but was relocated about six years ago out of town. It’s a great airport, obviously very new, well organised and with great facilities. At around 10,000 feet above sea level you get amazing mountain views and we see that there is actually cloud below us as the airport seems to be on a plateau.

Flying Latam, we found their check-in area at one end of the airport and it was relatively busy with, we noticed, the priority check-in entrance blocked off. We asked about access to this, showing our boarding passes (we had already checked-in online) and we were allowed through, but after waiting behind an older couple that had jumped the queue and got in front of us, the check-in agent told us we were at the wrong check-in desk for the flight to Lima. We therefore had to backtrack and go across the concourse area to Latam desks on the other side. There was minimal queue here and we were attended to quite quickly - we had learnt our lesson in Brazil with Latam that while pieces and weight aren’t particularly an issue no item should be more than 23kg, unlike the co-OneWorld airline British Airways that seem to allow baggage up to 30kg. We are both OneWorld Emerald and had booked Premium Economy (highest available) on the flight to Lima, so I think we're allowed two bags plus an extra for the OneWorld status, but I now take miniature weighing scales so that I made sure no bag was in itself more than 23kg.

We relatively quickly managed to navigate through security (no fastrack) and then through immigration, I got through very quickly without question but “Mrs” ThePrivateTraveller was questioned about why he was going to Lima, how long he was staying etc. On the other side of immigration, again the airport was exceptionally clean and well-signposted, we noticed a sign for the VIP lounge on the third floor - having not been mentioned at check-in, we went up in the elevator to check it out. I asked at the desk about access, showing both the Latam boarding pass and my BA gold card - he showed us a Latam slip and said we should have been given one of those at check-in (we weren’t). He tried to make a call (presumably to the Latam desks) but no one answered so he checked boarding passes again and allowed us access to the lounge. It was a beautiful lounge, decent size with panoramic windows on two sides. There was plenty of seating, great drinks and food stations (including what seemed to be ‘a made to order’ station) but having had an amazing breakfast at Casa Gantgotena (very helpfully they start serving breakfast from 5:30am for those departing early) we just opted for a drink. It wasn’t long before our flight was showing as pre-boarding, but making our way down to gate A8 we see that there is no pre-boarding and no obvious signs of this happening anytime soon.

There were boarding signs for Exclusive access, then by row and (as we had found out on numerous Brazil/Argentina flights) a special queue for the “elderly”. When boarding did start, after the attendants had seen off a drunk American man who wouldn’t leave the boarding area because his flight had been delayed (albeit he was on a different airline but still expecting Latam to fix it) “the elderly” go first before Exclusive. As I’ve commented on previous blogs, the definition of elderly seems very loose - everyone looked very sprightly and were carting (in one instance) five backpacks it seemed with no apparent mobility issues!

The cabin was clean, seemed newish and Latam standard, with friendly crew - the first three rows were obviously being designated as Premium Economy (which to be fair would probably just have been Business class on other domestic/short-haul airlines) - basically just the middle economy seat on both sides being converted into a table so the configuration was 2-2. Despite there being seating for 12, no one else joined us but we already had seats 1A and 1C allocated. Boarding was relatively prompt and we took off from Quito at 9:37am, only 7 minutes behind schedule. Announcements were made in both Spanish and English and just before take-off we were given Customs cards for Peru. With Quito being high up in the Andes mountain range the take off views were stunning and it was an incredibly clear day. Soon after take-off a curtain at both the front of the cabin and behind row 3 were closed off and the captain announced that the flight time today would be two hours.

About 25 minutes in, we were given (very wet) and (exceptionally) hot towels before being offered a meal. Despite having had my vegetarian preferences stored with my BA/OneWorld card for years, I seem to be the most unlucky vegetarian with many airlines and I probably don’t get it as many times as I actually do. The meal was ham with cheese and tomato, a bowl of fresh fruit with a choice of a warm bakery items (butter and jam provided) accompanied by a choice of hot or cold drink. The male flight attendant profusely apologised for not having a vegetarian meal and suggested I send a complaint form to Latam. A helpful donation of the other half’s fruit bowl gave a meal of double fruit and a roll with jam. Soon after, meals were cleared away and the rest of the flight progressed without incident. 

Although there was no indication of WiFi being available, the in flight magazine did detail that it would be available through Latamplay. This (theoretically) should involve connecting to the LATAM Play WiFi network then entering http://latamplay.com in your browser, meant to be available on all Airbus 319, 320 and 321 aircraft. Despite us being on a 319, nothing worked. There should have been a choice of 80+ movies on the app (150+ if the aircraft had individual screens, which it didn’t), 300+ series’ episodes, 2,800+ songs with route maps, daily news (app only), children’s entertainment and 15+ games (screens only). All very commendable and sounded great choice, but only when it works! This should have also offered connectivity packages (all the above entertainment should be free) for inflight WiFi. Very helpfully, the magazine suggested if you needed help you contact live chat through the http://latamplay.com website! Maybe it’s only me seeing the irony of this, but if you can’t connect to the onboard WiFi service, what hope have you of contacting them through live help!

The flight landed into Lima ahead of schedule at 11:35am to gate 26, we were able to disembark (or for any US readers de-plane) quickly and transfer to our onward flight to Cusco, thankfully our baggage was checked all the way through. We still had to pick this up though and go through customs, but the preferential Latam check-in was right after security and we were able to drop the bags off again very quickly.

All in all this was a decent flight, we’ve done Latam a number of times now and everything is generally ok - we could have been given the lounge access pass at check-in, but it wasn’t the end of the world as we got access anyway. The Premium Economy option (presumably available because the flight was technically international, though short) gave the guaranteed spare middle seat though we had been lucky on most previous Economy only Latam flights with no one else being allocated into the third seat of row 1. The scenery throughout the flight, when showing through the light cloud, of the Andes was exceptional.