Air travel can be amazing, and traveling in comfort can make the experience even better. Many people are curious about what it’s like to fly business class on different airlines. They want to know if it’s comfortable, if the food is delicious, and if the service is VIP. However, the main question should be whether you get good value for your money.
Following the pandemic, demand for air travel has increased, and as a result, airline ticket prices have risen. This includes the cost of business-class tickets, which can now be up to four times the cost of an economy-class ticket on some routes. For example, a business-class ticket from São Paulo—Guarulhos Airport (GRU) to Paris (CDG) on Latam Airlines can be considerably more expensive than an economy-class ticket. So, is it worth paying extra for a business-class seat on Latam Airlines?
In the following post, we’ll explore the benefits of flying business class on Latam Airlines and help you determine whether they are worth the higher cost.
Table of Contents
About Latam Airlines Group
As you may know, Latam Airlines Group is an important airline group in Latin America, along with Avianca Group. The group comprises subsidiaries in many countries, such as Brazil, Chile, Peru, Paraguay, and Ecuador. Most of its flights connect South American destinations, but it also has routes to Central and North America and Europe.
Latam Brazil is the key subsidiary of Latam Group, and São Paulo (GRU) is its main hub for domestic and international flights. There are direct flights from GRU to many European cities, such as Lisbon (LIS), Madrid (MAD), Barcelona (BCN), London (LHR), Paris (CDG), Frankfurt (FRA), Rome (FCO), and Milan (MXP).
In this post, I review my GRU-CDG-GRU flights on Latam Premium Business. The flights took place in September 2022. Check out how the whole experience was!
Check-in and Bag drop
I began my journey at Brasilia Airport (BSB), where there isn’t a designated check-in counter for business class passengers. Nevertheless, the bag drop was quick and efficient, and the service would be faster than what I’d have experienced at Guarulhos Airport (GRU).
You can print the bag tags yourself and drop the bags at the self-service bag drop counter. You just need to scan your boarding pass and bag tags at the counter. It’s quite straightforward. In LATAM business class, up to three 24-kg bags per passenger are normally included in your ticket price.
At GRU Airport, there is a specific check-in counter for business class and elite customers, which also speeds up check-in. If you board at GRU Airport, be sure to look for them and avoid wasting time in queues.
The flight between Braslia (BSB) and Guarulhos (GRU) is carried out in an Airbus A320 or A321. On this flight segment, I flew in Premium Economy, which comprises the first seats of the cabin with few differences from the other seats, such as a blocked central seat.
Latam Vip Lounge at GRU Airport
Upon arrival at Guarulhos Airport (GRU), Terminal 2 (primarily for domestic flights), you will need to transfer to Terminal 3, the international terminal, where you will have to go through immigration and security procedures for international flights.
On the mezzanine floor of Terminal 3, just after clearing immigration, you will find the LATAM VIP Lounge, which is accessible 24/7, making it convenient for business class passengers.
If you have Platinum, Black, or Black Signature status as a Latam Pass loyalty customer, you are entitled to use the VIP Lounge and bring a guest with you. When traveling in business class without this status, you have exclusive access to this benefit.
The lounge room is quite spacious and comfortable, although it can get a bit crowded at night due to the large number of international flights departing during this period.
Besides taking a rest, you can also have a meal, have a drink, and use unlimited Wi-Fi (the airport gives you only 2 hours of free internet access) while you wait to board your flight.
Some snacks were available to customers, such as sandwiches, cheese bread, mini pizzas, and fruits. For dinner, there was rice, noodles, and stewed chicken. For dessert, there was lemon pie and “cocada” (coconut sweet) in cups. All were very tasty, but nothing was exceptional.
Drinks available include wine (white and red), water, soda, juices, and beers.
The Latam VIP Lounge at GRU Airport also has showers, a business center, a sleeping room, an entertainment room, and a meeting room. It’s one of the best Vip lounges in Brazil.
During my return flight, I visited the Air France VIP Lounge at Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport (CDG). The lounge is spacious yet cozy, and I was impressed by the quality of the food. I had pasta with chicken and a variety of Arabic sauces, which were absolutely fantastic.
The lounge also features a bathing area, private sleeping cabins, a sauna, and a play area for kids.
Boarding at GRU Airport
At GRU Airport, boarding was quick and efficient for business class passengers, thanks to a separate queue. In Brazil, business-class passengers board alongside passengers with priority by law, including elderly passengers, those traveling with children under 2 years old, and passengers with disabilities.
Latam Boeing 787-8
Our aircraft was a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner with a 2-2-2 configuration in Business Class. It was new and very comfortable, with seats that reclined 180 degrees (flatbed) and were spacious. Despite being 1.74 meters (5.70 feet) tall, I was able to lie down comfortably without feeling claustrophobic.
Interestingly, the Boeing 787s used by Latam Brazil were transferred from Latam Chile to be used on long-haul flights. According to Airline Geeks, Latam Brazil plans to retire its entire fleet of Airbus A350-900s.
The Premium Business Class on the Latam Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner offers 30 flatbed seats with a pitch (bed length) ranging from 72 to 75 inches (up to 188 cm) and a seat width of 23 inches (58 cm), as reported on the SeatGuru website.
Amenity Kit
When I arrived at my seat, I found an amenity kit, a pair of slippers, and a bottle of water waiting for me.
For years, Latam’s amenity kit has remained the same in both design and content. It comes in a small, white and black striped bag and includes various L’Occitane products. While some airlines periodically update the design of their amenity kits, Latam has kept the same design over time.
Inflight Service
On both the outbound and return flights, I found the flight attendants to be a bit inattentive. Nobody offered to help us put the “bed cover” on the seat, which meant that many business class passengers did not use it. Additionally, there was no welcome drink, which is usually a common benefit of this type of service.
Prior to takeoff, a menu is provided on your seat, and you must select your choices for both dinner and breakfast.
For dinner, there were various cold cuts for starters, and as the main course, one could choose between meat, pasta, and salad. For dessert, there was the option of the day (on my flight, lemon pie), fruit, or ice cream.
Unlike some airlines that serve the dishes one by one, in Latam, they bring the entire meal at once. I honestly prefer the first way. The food can be accompanied by wine, beer, soft drinks, or juices.
The dinner options on the flight included various cold cuts as starters, followed by a choice of meat, pasta, or salad as the main course, and lemon pie, fruit, or ice cream for dessert. Unlike some airlines that serve dishes individually, Latam brought the entire meal at once. Wine, beer, soft drinks, and juices were available to accompany the meal.
For breakfast, passengers could choose an omelet or cold cuts, with a side of yogurt with granola or coconut cream. Coffee, tea, and packaged juice were the drink options.
On the outbound flight, I had the salad with Parma ham, which was alright, and on the return flight, I enjoyed the goat cheese ravioli with tomato and pepper sauce.
However, the breakfast was quite basic and similar to that served in economy class, but with a better presentation.
Entertainment onboard
There was no internet available on any of the flights, and it wasn’t even available for purchase. However, the entertainment system had a decent selection of TV series and movies, although none of them were very recent. The same entertainment options were offered for all classes.
During my return flight, I found that the remote control for the entertainment system was broken. I informed the flight attendants before takeoff, but they told me that nothing could be done to fix it. Having to get up and perform every action manually was not very comfortable, but since it was a night flight, I slept right after the meal without watching any movie.
Overall Review
Latam’s Business Class flights provide excellent comfort with their flat and generously sized seats. Nonetheless, there is room for improvement in their onboard service, which is merely satisfactory.
In terms of value for money, I recommend buying a Latam business class ticket only when there is a good promotion available. Although these promotions are not common, they can occasionally be found on Latam flights to Barcelona (BCN), Frankfurt (FRA), and Madrid (MAD).
