Nearing Home: Review of AEP-SCL Aerolíneas Argentinas 737-800 in Economy
What a way to travel! Photo by: Evan Berman
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Flight Info:
Route: AEP-SCL (Buenos Aires, Argentina’s Aeroparque Internacional Jorge Newberry to Santiago, Chile’s Arturo Arturo Merino Benitez Airport)
Date: Sunday, 11/27/2022
Flight: AR 1280 (Aerolíneas Argentinas)
Plane: Boeing 737-800
Seat: 9F (Main Cabin Window)
Est. Departure: 7:30am local time (5:30am EST)
Taxiing: 7:37am local time (5:37am EST)
Takeoff: 7:41am local time (5:41am EST)
Gate: 17 (International Terminal)
Est. Arrival: 9:50am local time (7:50am EST)
Touchdown: 9:27am local time (7:27am EST)
Arrived at Gate: 9:34am local time (7:34am EST)
Gate: C3 (International Terminal)
Pricing:
Flight: I booked all of the intra-South American flights through Chase Travel. The entire trip cost $531.60 and I used the $300 travel credit from the Chase Sapphire Reserve as well as 15,440 UR Points to pay for the flight. As such, I paid $0 in “real money.”
Earnings: 359 Delta SkyMiles
Flight Info: Class Q (Discounted Economy), 714 miles
MQM: 359 (50% of distance flown, per fare class Q)
MQS: 1
MQD: $72
Booking:
As mentioned above, I used the Chase Travel portal to book these flights. Argentina’s official exchange rate makes everything much more expensive in USD than using the “Blue Dollar” rate of converting to Argentine Pesos from USD in Argentina.
I compared prices on Aerolíneas Argentinas’ own website, AmEx Travel Portal, Capital One Travel Portal, Chase Travel Portal, and Google Flights. The prices on the AmEx Portal and Chase Travel Portal were equivalent (lower than the price of Google Flights). I chose Chase as I could use the Travel Credit and redeem at 1.5 cents per point, compared with AmEx’s 1 cent per point.
Because I booked via a travel portal (as opposed to directly with the airline), despite inputting my Delta Frequent Flier Number (both are SkyTeam members), it did not show up in the confirmation email from Aerolíneas Argentinas (AR). Additionally, I had to call Chase as for some reason, despite receiving confirmation, the trip was not showing up on AR’s website. Thankfully, I spoke with a competent supervisor who was able to do something that made the reservation appear on AR’s website.
Note that if you have elite status with another SkyTeam partner, you may choose to include this frequent flier number instead. I have entry-level Silver Status with Delta and that entitles me to a free checked bag, priority check-in, priority baggage handling, and priority boarding on SkyTeam flights.
This was particularly useful on this flight. The grumpy check-in agent insisted that I was not entitled to a checked bag and would have to pay at the other desk. While I knew this to be wrong as the confirmation indicated I had 1 checked bag included, I informed her that I was SkyTeam Elite and she begrudgingly allowed me to continue with the bag. I might add, I was in the Sky Priority line so it should have been evident!
The other consideration is where to credit your flights. I use this helpful website, Where to Credit to determine the best course of action. All you need is the airline and booking class. Look for that on the confirmation email after purchasing or when choosing the specific fare, note the class. In this case, I valued Delta status perks over redeemable miles, but you may have a different calculus.
Lounges:
There is 1 lounge in AEP, Aeropuertos VIP Club Lounge, though it appears to be closed. This lounge is located in the international portion of the terminal and is only accessible by paying a $50 entry fee. There is; however, a Priority Pass Restaurant, Outback Steakhouse. This turned out to be a false flag as I was told that the Priority Pass is only valid for people who are dining in. Thankfully, we had to wait only a few minutes before boarding.
Recap:
As mentioned above, this plane is a Boeing 737-800. All of the flights I review on this trip save the ones to and from North America were on either 737 or 737 MAX planes.
Although we left a few minutes late, the flight was quick and we had perfect weather conditions that got us into Santiago early while affording beautiful views.
I selected a window seat since I had flown in the aisle seat when doing this route in reverse, SCL-AEP. I was not going to be denied a front row seat to this beautiful view once again!
The 737-800 we flew has the typical setup of 2-2 seats in Business Class and 3-3 in economy. There is no premium economy on these flights.
Meals:
Our flight was 2 hours and as with previous flights, we were allowed a delicious granola bar. I opted to catch up on sleep with a quick power nap and skipped this delicacy, figuring I’d had enough on previous flights. You know what they say about too much of a good thing…
Sleep:
As mentioned above, I took a quick 30 minute power nap on this short flight and woke up to the above view of us passing over the Andes. What a way to wake up!
Experience:
The advantage of flying early in the morning is that you are much less likely to face delays or bad weather. As is to be expected, the flight was very uneventful and therapeutic given the beauty just outside the window.
We finally passed the Andes and descended into Santiago shortly thereafter. We pulled in roughly 15 minutes ahead of schedule which was good because we needed every minute due to the extraordinarily long lines in customs heading out for our next flight!
Customs:
As you might expect at 9:45am local time, customs to enter Santiago took almost no time. The majority of flights arriving from the US come in at the same time, so we had to deal with many fewer people than the previous trip. Unfortunately, that was not the case with the next flight. 🙁
Recap:
Our time in Buenos Aires was very enjoyable but we had to head back to Santiago to catch our flight back to the US. This was the only business class flight of the trip, so I’ll provide more commentary on service as well as what to expect.
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