Premium Economy to South America? Please Help Me Decide

[hxhbk]

One way to fond out is to do a dummy booking on AA.com for the exact flight that you have in mind and see what class of services pricing (economy, premium economy, business, first) do they have for that flight. 

[Rumpymuffin]

28 minutes ago, hxhbk said:

One way to find out is to do a dummy booking on AA.com for the exact flight that you have in mind and see what class of services pricing (economy, premium economy, business, first) do they have for that flight.  

Yes! 

[Hawaiidan]

1 hour ago, Rumpymuffin said:

Hi Dan, 

 

Would that were true! I typed in the flight number (AA 973) on Seat Guru, and it says the plane is a Boeing 777-200. It also says the Boeing 777-200 has two layouts -- one with Premium Economy and Main Cabin Extra, the other with Main Cabin Extra only. Unfortunately, it doesn't specify which version will lbe flying from O'Hare (ORD) to Rio (GIG) on February 11, 2020. It does mention that Layout 1 -- the one with no Premium Economy -- is the most common version. So it's not looking good, on that flight at least

If I recall.... there is a sub type like 772  or such  that is displayed       Because so many flights to South America are  shorter and not crossing a lot of time zones  its easier for people to cope rather than flying LA to Frankfurt with extended time zones and red eyes..    I found the airlines dont fly their premium equipment to South America....

  Me, Id look at someone other than AA....   have you looked at Avianca or  the other carrier?      USE   MATRIX  to shop   AA and Delta are usually the MOST expensive.

Good luck   I flew UAL  IAH-Lim-Bueno-IAH   

 

[FlyerTalker]

5 hours ago, Rumpymuffin said:

Would that were true! I typed in the flight number (AA 973) on Seat Guru, and it says the plane is a Boeing 777-200. It also says the Boeing 777-200 has two layouts -- one with Premium Economy and Main Cabin Extra, the other with Main Cabin Extra only. Unfortunately, it doesn't specify which version will lbe flying from O'Hare (ORD) to Rio (GIG) on February 11, 2020. It does mention that Layout 1 -- the one with no Premium Economy -- is the most common version. So it's not looking good, on that flight at least

 

There is a partial, NON-GUARANTEED hack.  If you go to the AA website and make a dummy booking (or for some airlines, even just requesting flights), you can often see a link to a seat map.  Using seatguru and the airline's own website, you can often determine which version you are seeing.

 

That's the airplane that is CURRENTLY scheduled to operate on that route.  It may change. But this is good when you have aircraft with the same classes of service but different configurations.

 

When you have Rumpy's situation, it's much different.  One version has Prem Econ, one doesn't.

 

If AA is selling Prem Econ tickets for a specific flight, then they are going to use the version with......tada......Prem Econ seating.  If the aircraft didn't offer Prem Econ, they wouldn't offer to sell it.

 

Now, this doesn't cover the situation where there may be last minute equipment swaps due to maintenance issues or the like.  But otherwise....if they are selling a class of service, the aircraft will have it.

 

An extreme example....Cathay has some aircraft flying between the USA/Canada and HKG that have a first class cabin, while others only have business.  If the flight doesn't allow you to buy a first class ticket....there's no F on that plane.  Same route, but you can use this to know which version you are flying on.

[Shawnino]

A note on Avianca: Anytime I've flown them they've been fine, along with their affiliates. But they have expanded and some of the regional airlines they have swallowed up have given them indigestion. Avianca Brasil, for instance, has been rather regurgitated. Our flights completely disappeared.

 

Happy ending for us as we got on another Star Alliance carrier, but I would be reluctant to book any regional Avianca flights for the next while. (No reason to think Avianca proper out of Colombia is not OK.)

 

 

[FlyerTalker]

1 hour ago, Shawnino said:

A note on Avianca: Anytime I've flown them they've been fine, along with their affiliates. But they have expanded and some of the regional airlines they have swallowed up have given them indigestion. Avianca Brasil, for instance, has been rather regurgitated. Our flights completely disappeared.

 

OMG....another "my flight disappeared" complaint.

 

Flight schedules change.  Fact of life.  And it can happen at any airline.

 

If you really want to avoid any kind of schedule change, I suggest you try NetJets or XOJET.

[RJ2002]

4 hours ago, Shawnino said:

A note on Avianca: Anytime I've flown them they've been fine, along with their affiliates. But they have expanded and some of the regional airlines they have swallowed up have given them indigestion. Avianca Brasil, for instance, has been rather regurgitated. Our flights completely disappeared.

 

Happy ending for us as we got on another Star Alliance carrier, but I would be reluctant to book any regional Avianca flights for the next while. (No reason to think Avianca proper out of Colombia is not OK.)

 

 

 

Our recent Avianca flights operated on time and as scheduled, but the onboard experience left a lot to be desired.

 

There was some recent news on Avianca's Columbia operations.  They defaulted on United's investment in the airline, and United has forced out the top shareholder.  link:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-avianca-holding-ual/united-airlines-shakes-up-avianca-leadership-after-shareholder-default-idUSKCN1SU1ZW

 

Hopefully this shakeup will improve the onboard experience.  I recently traveled LAX-BOG-LIM and SCL-BOG-LAX on Avianca in business class, and was not impressed.  Limited service and sparse food offerings.  The service on the seven+ hour BOG-LAX leg consisted of a pre-departure drink offer, then about 2 hours later a single tray meal and beverage offering, followed by a dessert cart and beverage offering.  There there was about a four+ hour gap in service, with no attendants in the aisle at all.  About 45 minutes prior to landing, they came through taking orders for a final round of beverages.  So during the 7+ hour flight, a total of three appearances by the attendants.  Pretty sad.

[Shawnino]

5 hours ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

OMG....another "my flight disappeared" complaint.

 

Flight schedules change.  Fact of life.  And it can happen at any airline.

 

If you really want to avoid any kind of schedule change, I suggest you try NetJets or XOJET.

 

Sorry, Son. Let me be more clear for you: the planes were repo'ed. And now Avianca Argentina faces same fate:

https://www.aerotime.aero/clement.charpentreau/22727-after-avianca-brasil-avianca-argentina-suspends-operations

 

The mother company, Avianca proper out of Colombia, offered no rerouting. 

[Shawnino]

1 hour ago, RJ2002 said:

 

Our recent Avianca flights operated on time and as scheduled, but the onboard experience left a lot to be desired.

 

There was some recent news on Avianca's Columbia operations.  They defaulted on United's investment in the airline, and United has forced out the top shareholder.  link:  https://www.reuters.com/article/us-avianca-holding-ual/united-airlines-shakes-up-avianca-leadership-after-shareholder-default-idUSKCN1SU1ZW

 

Hopefully this shakeup will improve the onboard experience.  I recently traveled LAX-BOG-LIM and SCL-BOG-LAX on Avianca in business class, and was not impressed.  Limited service and sparse food offerings.  The service on the seven+ hour BOG-LAX leg consisted of a pre-departure drink offer, then about 2 hours later a single tray meal and beverage offering, followed by a dessert cart and beverage offering.  There there was about a four+ hour gap in service, with no attendants in the aisle at all.  About 45 minutes prior to landing, they came through taking orders for a final round of beverages.  So during the 7+ hour flight, a total of three appearances by the attendants.  Pretty sad.

 

Sorry to read this.

I haven't had a bad experience on Avianca but it's been a couple years.