Aeromexico to South America

Aeromexico has extremely cheap business class fares to south america right now. I see that the flights connecting in Mexico City use the 787 Dreamliner which is supposed to be very nice.

 

Has anyone flown this route with aeromexico and if so, what did you think? I am looking at flights from Los Angeles to Buenos Aires connecting in Mexico City and return from Santiago to LAX through Mexico City. The fares are under $1900 for business class RT which is much cheaper than any other airline. United wants over $4,300 to fly there.

 

Thanks for any help.

Have not flown AM south to EZE or SCL, but have done transatlantic service in business with them several times. Their inflight product is nice but not top tier. The 787 is supposed to have flat-bed seats, though they are not individual pods. Catering was fine, and the inflight amenity kit is packed in a rectangular neoprene case that you can use for a tablet/iPad afterwards (with standard type contents). Cabin staff service was professional and friendly.

 

The one drawback to flying AM is that arriving international flights process you through customs and immigration, even on a connection. I got caught in the red light/green light system with full cruise luggage (had been 28 days with Mrs FT) and they went through EVERY BAG taking apart EVERYTHING.

 

AM likely offers a lower price because you are having to make your connect at MEX rather than flying non-stop from the USA. Also, your flight from/to LAX may be on a narrow-body aircraft so business will not be flat-seats - the 787 is only on one flight from LAX and it doesn't operate every day of the week. You also leave MEX around midnight heading south, so it can be a long day. Whether those are deal-breakers only you can say.

 

Probably gonna lose my secret decoder ring for this, but....AM is one of the hidden gems for FF award tickets to South America (and sometimes to Europe) The DL computer rarely picks up on that routing for FF awards to EZE or SCL, but an agent can look for it if you ask. One more SkyPesos tip while I'm at it...you can redeem FF awards from LAX to GRU (Sao Paulo) on Korean!! (even most agents don't know that trick)

 

Overall, I'd have no qualms either flying or recommending AM as long as you know what you are getting. Check out seat details at various websites, look at the AM description of Premier, and also cabin photos at airlliners.net. At that degree of savings, it can be quite attractive. And if you are saving SkyTeam miles, that's a bonus.

Thank you for this excellent review. I see that the layovers at MEX are 3 hours at least and it sounds like I will need them.:eek:

 

You are correct that the LAX to MEX segment is on a 737 or 738.

 

I will pay special attention to the flight times to MEX. Some may not be overnight. In any case as long as their record is fine I am OK for those prices.:)

Thank you for this excellent review. I see that the layovers at MEX are 3 hours at least and it sounds like I will need them.:eek:

Just to be clear, the customs is on a red/green light system. If you get a green light, you are waved through. It didn't take a very long time, but they did open up all the bags and poked around everywhere. The nice part was that after they finished with a bag, they let you repack while they went on to another. As with all C&I inspectors around the world, YMMV.

You are correct that the LAX to MEX segment is on a 737 or 738.

Depending on your day, you might get the 787. Also, know that you can have a longer/shorter connect by booking any of the LAX-MEX flights, not just the one they may offer.

I will pay special attention to the flight times to MEX. Some may not be overnight.

Just took a closer look at the AM times out of MEX. Seems the flight to EZE is a daytime one, so you would need to be in MEX for the departure at 10:20am. That would require an overnight stay as nothing gets in early enough in the morning to make the connect. (There is a late-night flight one day a week, I believe on Thursday) The good news is that there is an NH hotel in T2, so you don't have to leave the airport property. (Have stayed there...good airport hotel). And, you might be able to get the 787 out of LAX and then spend the night and take the 787 south.

 

On the return from SCL, the flight is overnight, with an arrival around 3:30am. You could connect out to LAX without a hotel room unless you wanted one. Note that the SCL service is NOT daily, so you may have to adjust your return time to stay in SCL (which I would recommend - love the town!!)

In any case as long as their record is fine I am OK for those prices.:)

The whole thing about "record" is subject to interpretation. DL just overshot the runway at LGA. Their "recent" record is therefore not so good as it was yesterday. But would I hesitate to fly them because of that? Nope...put me on any reasonable major carrier from that standpoint.

Thank you again for all the help. I agree, "record" is open to interpretation.

 

Although I have been a little upset with Delta lately, so I might not chose them so quickly. But basically, when a price for business is as low as Aeromexico, it pays to try and make it work.:)