Flights on Sale to Rio and Sao Paulo....

[Badboy81]

Flights are on sales via Google Flights up until March 2020 with some blackout dates, of course during the holidays...

Flights are direct from MIA but leave out of FLL, MIA as well as Toronto and Montreal...

[CaliPexx]

14 hours ago, Badboy81 said:

Flights are on sales via Google Flights up until March 2020 with some blackout dates, of course during the holidays...

Flights are direct from MIA but leave out of FLL, MIA as well as Toronto and Montreal...

Thanks for the heads up! Per Google Flights, from the West Coast (LAX), and selecting some random, non-holiday dates in early November (dep 6 Nov, ret 14 Nov), it looks like the best deals for a round-trip 1-stop to São Paulo (GRU) in Economy Class are with Copa ($710) and Avianca ($867). In Business Class, the lowest prices LAX-->GRU RT 1-stop are with Aeromexico ($2,295), Avianca ($2,331), and Copa ($2,496).

Does anyone on this board have experience with the Business Class seating on Aeromexico to Brazil? Are their Business Class seats only partially reclinable, like those of Avianca and Copa? Or are they fully reclinable, like those of American and Air Canada?

Edited May 1, 2019 by CaliPexx

[Walker]

Business class in both Arromexico and Avianca have lay flat seats.  Aeromexico uses 787. Avianca uses 777.  Copa only use narrow body airplane 737, I don't think they have any lay flat seats in their fleets.

[CaliPexx]

2 hours ago, Walker said:

Business class in both Arromexico and Avianca have lay flat seats.  Aeromexico uses 787. Avianca uses 777.  Copa only use narrow body airplane 737, I don't think they have any lay flat seats in their fleets.

@Walker, thanks for the info, particularly about Aeromexico. Their business class flight might be worth a go since the total trip time from LAX to GRU on Aeromexico is one of the best of all flight options from the West Coast, with the exception of the 12-hour nonstop service on American Airlines from LAX to GRU.

In regard to Avianca, I guess I was thinking of the aircraft they acquired from TACA when they took over that airline several years ago. Avianca continued to use the same TACA narrow-body metal on their 2-stop service from the West Coast to El Salvador, El Salvador to Lima, and Lima to São Paulo Guarulhos (GRU). At that time the flights didn't connect through Bogatá, AFAIK. None of those TACA-sourced flights were wide-body planes but I can't remember if TACA was using Boeing or Airbus in their livery. As I recall, business class on the TACA flights was quite similar to U.S. domestic first class although the seat recline was slightly improved compared to their U.S. domestic equivalents.

Do you know if Avianca has replaced the TACA aircraft with wide-body planes in their flights from the West Coast to Latin America?

[pauleiro]

2 hours ago, CaliPexx said:

 

Do you know if Avianca has replaced the TACA aircraft with wide-body planes in their flights from the West Coast to Latin America?

My experience on Avianca from US is not so good. My comments from May last year :

"Arrived in Rio from Miami withAvianca. Until last year they used A330 from Bogota to Rio during the night with full flat bed. Perfect. Now they use the new A320 Neo. No longer beds... but OK flight except that the pilot did not show up on time... ".

Since then I flew again on Avianca to Miami, either through Bogota or Lima and it has always been A 330 with flat bed. I used them again not because of the service but their business offer ftom MIA or FLL was very attractive. 

In Brazil, Avianca Brazil experiences many problems and flights are often cancelled or delayed. They can be bankrupt some day. Better to avoid ! 

After having written what is written above, I checked on internet and found this article which was published in Rio Times in April 2019 :

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Avianca Brasil on Friday canceled 179 flights scheduled for the next five days after a judge denied an appeal by the carrier to hold on to nine disputed planes, marking the unraveling of the airline four months after it filed for bankruptcy protection.

Avianca Brasil was operating with 35 planes, a representative said, but a federal judge late on Friday ordered the return of nine planes “immediately,” denying the carrier’s last-minute appeal, according to a news release by the Brazilian court.

Lessor Aircastle was scheduled to repossess its remaining nine planes leased to Avianca Brasil by Sunday, Brazil’s civil aviation regulator said.

The vast majority of the airline’s 179 cancellations so far are scheduled to take place between Monday and Wednesday and include some flights between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro, by far Brazil’s most popular route.

For months, Avianca Brasil managed to hold on to its fleet despite continuing to miss lease payments, as judges repeatedly ruled that the carrier should be able to keep operating the planes until a creditor meeting could define the fate of the enterprise.

The creditors meeting took place last week, lifting that restriction. Creditors approved the auction of most of Avianca’s assets.

----------------------------------

Personnally, I will avoid flying on Avianca

[CaliPexx]

2 hours ago, pauleiro said:

SÃO PAULO, BRAZIL – Avianca BRASIL on Friday canceled 179 flights scheduled for the next five days after a judge denied an appeal by the carrier to hold on to nine disputed planes, marking the unraveling of the airline four months after it filed for bankruptcy protection.

@Pauleiro, I fully agree with your concern about Avianca BRASIL [BOLD ITALIC ALL-CAPS emphasis mine on the word BRASIL to distinguish the airline from Avianca, in Bold Italic Initial Cap+lowercase]. During our trip to Brazil in March 2019, some of our domestic Brazilian flights were on Avianca BRASIL and, after hearing news reports of the bankruptcy and imminent demise of Avianca BRASIL, we were on pins and needles every day wondering whether our domestic flights might be canceled.

While Avianca BRASIL has been operated as a subsidiary of Avianca and has been headed by a brother, JOSÉ Efromovich, of the guy who controls Avianca, Germán Efromovich, the two airlines are actually separate and distinct corporate entities. In fact, Avianca BRASIL (formerly OCEANAIR) flights have the IATA symbol "O6" while Avianca flights contain the IATA code "av". Furthermore, one even had to book flights on the two entities on two separate websites, WWW.AVIANCA.COM.BR and www.avianca.com. At last report, Avianca is still fiscally sound while, as pointed out in the news item you referenced, Avianca BRASIL most certainly is not.

All that said,  my question had nothing to do with the failing Avianca BRASIL (which, as of this week, has been reduced to serving domestic flights in just four (4) airports in Brazil) or even to do with the flights from the U.S. East Coast of the still solvent Avianca. Rather, my concern is whether Avianca is still using the single-aisle Taca aircraft with partially reclining seats in Business Class on its international service from California to Brazil via San Salvador, El Salvador (the former hub of Taca). I'll repeat my question again here, in case someone with personal experience with flights from the U.S. West Coast on the former Taca division of Avianca can answer it.

5 hours ago, CaliPexx said:

Do you know if Avianca has replaced the [single-aisle] TACA aircraft with wide-body planes in their flights from the West Coast to Latin America?

[Walker]

This Youtube clip indicate Avianca use Airbus 321 narrow body 

https://youtu.be/gd5i-SomHTM

https://youtu.be/gd5i-SomHTM

You can always check the aircraft type before you make the booking.  If it is 787 or 777, you can expect flat bed.  Transit through MEX is terrible because the airport is old, messy and chaotic, whereas BOG is a modern, orderly, new airport.

Edited May 2, 2019 by Walker

[Uqtyang]

I did San Francisco to Rio de Janeiro via San Salvador and Bogotá, back via Lima and San Salvador to San Fran business class with Avianca in January. Only one segment in each leg had angled bed, while other two segments were both on narrow body having slightly bigger recline seats. You cannot lay down on narrow body aircraft.

in my opinion, it is not much better than economy. lounges are all very basic except Bogotá.

I have never been on Aeromexico. But I know Copa is all narrow body 737. 

google flights will tell you the type of aircraft you are on, and if it is lay flat bed or recline seat. Otherwise Seatguru has the info too. 

[Uqtyang]

And yes between San Fran and San Salvador it is taca crew and aircraft. 

Beyond San Salvador it is Avianca (Colombian) plane but still no bed in narrow body aircraft. On the wide body A330 there is angled bed but really old, bad quality. My bed/seat collapsed during descending into San Salvador from Lima.  I had to move to another seat for landing.  The worst seat/bed of all airlines I have been on but the crew is nice, at least some of them. 

Edited May 2, 2019 by Uqtyang

[CaliPexx]

19 hours ago, Walker said:

You can always check the aircraft type before you make the booking.  If it is 787 or 777, you can expect flat bed.  Transit through MEX is terrible because the airport is old, messy and chaotic, whereas BOG is a modern, orderly, new airport.

 

14 hours ago, Uqtyang said:

And yes between San Fran and San Salvador it is taca crew and aircraft. 

@Walker and @Uqtyang: Checking Google Flights it looks like you are both right about the aircraft used on Avianca flights from the West Coast -- but it depends which city you are departing from and the specific flight option you select.

• From SFO to GRU, it looks like the old TACA narrow-body livery is still being used and they send you on flights with stops in San Salvador and Lima.
• From LAX to GRU they do have a couple of narrow-body choices, also through the old TACA hub in SAL. However, as @Walker mentioned -- and this was news to me --Avianca do offer a 787 Dreamliner option in both directions on the segment from LAX to BOG. Of course, traveling from BOG to GRU, as @Uqtyang noted, you would board an A330 plane to GRU. Unfortunately, you would have an 8h 10m LONG layover in BOG, before boarding that A330 to GRU.  Maybe time enough to meet a couple of those Chaturbate.com guys we've been reading about in this Forum?