LATAM A321 Economy, Santiago (SCL) to Punta Arenas (PUQ) [review]
Excellent all-economy plane for regional flights
There are several flights a day taking you from Santiago down to Punta Arenas and back, some with a stop and some without. Many of these will be on the A321, but a few will be an older A320 which is a less desirable option. Sky Airlines has some cheap routes in Chile, but being the points aficionado that I am, I decided to opt for earning some American miles for the few econ hops I had to make in South America, and you should too! Here’s what my experience was like…
What’s awesome:
- lots of extra legroom at the exit doors
- friendly cabin crew
- snack service with free beer!
- a good number of seats offer extra legroom due to the positioning of the exits
What’s not:
- all-economy config so no chance for an upgrade 🙁
- Recaro slimline seats are comfortable but firm…
Getting on LATAM with miles and points
LATAM is part of Oneworld alliance, which means BA Avios are an easy way to get on their flights. I often choose to go this route because Amex runs transfer bonuses for MR -> Avios usually once a year. For Amex, the card choices for me are:
- The Amex EveryDay® Preferred Credit Card from American Express — for daily spend, especially on groceries.
- The Platinum Card® from American Express — 5x on travel + lounge perks makes this a no-brainer for me.
- The Business Gold Rewards Card from American Express OPEN — I put ad spend for clients on this card, which gets me 3x points on online media every year.
Another points opportunity can be had with the American Airlines branded cards from Citi. My picks are the Citi® / AAdvantage® Platinum Select® World Elite™ Mastercard® because I see it as a good value, and the Citi® / AAdvantage® Executive World Elite™ Mastercard® since Admirals Club access is a great perk that I use at least once a month.
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The Bottom Line:
If you have a choice of jets to fly with LATAM while in South America, make the A321 one of them. It’s a nice, fresh economy cabin and the use of doors instead of window exits on the plane means there are ample opportunities for extra legroom.
What else?
Have you flown on LATAM’s regional flights before? What did you think? Let us know in the comments below…
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dennis ruckel
I have never felt so caged in as on a Latam economy class 38 row jet between Buenos Aires and Santiago nor Santiago and Lima. They say it is 30 inches. The last row is less.They werethe most uncomfortable flight I have taken on any non charter airline. There 787 is good , though.
Seatlink
Yes, I actually believe those seats further back are more like 29 inches...