HIGH FLYER - LAN
High Flyer - LAN - Luxury Travel Magazine
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High Flyer - LAN | |||||
| By: Lucy Jones, Issue 49 - Summer 2012 | |||||
| (LAN, Sydney, Santiago) | |||||
| ROUTE SYDNEY TO SANTIAGO BY LUCY JONES | |||||
| CHECK-IN: | |||||
| There was no line for the early morning check-in and the staff all seemed thrilled to see me. I received my express pass and breezed past the huge queues at emigration to be in the lounge in less than 10 minutes. | |||||
| THE LOUNGES: | |||||
| LAN uses the Qantas Club lounge at Sydney airport. The lounge is bright and spacious with a good selection on offer for breakfast, though was fairly crowded as I was departing early on a Monday morning. There’s a very quick stopover in Auckland for refuelling with just enough time for a coffee (or a champagne) once again in the Qantas lounge. In Santiago for the return journey, there are two lounges to choose from and I recommend the Neruda lounge next to gate 20. It’s the larger of the two, has showers, a few large recliners, a full business centre and an impressive buffet including fresh sushi. | |||||
| THE SERVICE: | |||||
| Impeccable. Cabin crew are friendly and efficient (and generally rather gorgeous). I particularly liked that the head steward came around to personally introduce himself to all the passengers when we came onboard. It may have been because the cabin was half empty, but there seemed to be a higher than usual ratio of staff to passengers. | |||||
| THE SEATS: | |||||
| The A340s don’t have a first class cabin so premium business is split between two cabins. The seats are arranged two-two-two all facing forward so everyone gets a window or an aisle. I was in the front cabin, which was fairly empty, so after the Auckland stop passengers could spread out and have two seats to themselves, though there is a fold-down privacy screen between the seats if the flight is full. The seats recline completely flat and there’s 74 inches between each of them which feels incredibly spacious. If you’re in the window seat it’s still possible to walk around the person next to you even when they are fully reclined. The comfy pillow and doona combined with the in-seat massage function meant I got a solid six hours sleep between Auckland and Santiago. | |||||
| ENTERTAINMENT: | |||||
| A 15.4 inch screen is in the back of the seat in front of you and has a huge range of entertainment – almost 50 movies, more than 100 television channels (in a mix of Spanish and English), hundreds of music channels and games. While the screen is large and good quality the unusually large seat pitch means it is quite far away, so my feeble eyes had a little trouble watching a movie with the seat even partially reclined. | |||||
| FOOD & BEVERAGE: | |||||
| The standard pre-takeoff offering on LAN is water, champagne or a freshly made pisco sour. It’s like a little bit of South America before you arrive. The menu has a number of light options available if you don’t like to eat a large meal while flying. I took advantage of this and chose a soup and a smoked salmon salad for dinner which were both fresh and tasty. The wine list is selected by Latin America’s only Master Sommelier, Hector Vergara, and features an interesting selection of South American wines including a crisp and peachy Chilean sauvignon blanc. For breakfast passengers fill out a card, similar to a hotel room service card, after dinner to select from hot options, fruit, cereal and pastries. You can choose between the full or express breakfast (which I chose) that gives you more time to sleep. | |||||
| THE EXTRAS: | |||||
| The amenity kit is stocked with a full range o Bulgari miniatures, toothbrush, comb, socks, eyeshade and lip balm which I happily unpacked and played with as soon as it was handed out. The products come in a slick black case with a Bulgari embossed zipper. | |||||
| THE GRIPES: | |||||
| The in-flight entertainment was turned off almost half an hour before landing, which is particularly annoying when you have timed the run of your final movie. | |||||
| ON TIME PERFORMANCE: | |||||
| The flight departed on time and the turn around for the Auckland stopover was impressively quick. We touched down in Santiago a few minutes ahead of schedule. | |||||
| FARES: | |||||
| Return premium business class fares start from A$9,029 in low season. Visit lan.com | |||||
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