AFF Review: Avianca A320neo Economy Class (CNF-BOG)

[AFF Editor]

Avianca A320neo Economy Class Review is an article written by the AFF editorial team:

Avianca A320neo Economy Class Review

We review the new Avianca Economy Class experience on an Airbus A320neo flight from Belo Horizonte to Bogota.

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

You can leave a comment or discuss this topic below.

 

[TAK]

Good timing thanks Matt, I have just spent a few hours trying to sort out out LPB-BOG-QIO. After dealing with all the quirks of the Lifemiles booking process ( and the usual fare increase as soon as you enter the passengers) I booked an L Bundle points booking and paid $85USD for row 2 seating (they appeared to be the best based on reviews) AreoLOPA has the most detailed info but leaves out row 1 pitch details. Anyway - got the booking and the seats for the first leg were not allocated (and not charged for) I only noticed this when I saw the CC charge. SO back I go and I has look at about 20 reviews and videos - most of which were conflicting. BUT when selected purchase seating - row 1 came up for free - go figure. If all of these arrangements stick and the plane actually flys on the selected date, it will be a reasonably good outcome as a redemption booking, based on the cash price of this particular flight. I cant say as much for other Avianca flights in South America, the value really varies.
I have been running down my points with them for a while now and there new (to me) 4 level "bundle" seems to be OK, but the fact that they charge $US50 to redeem your points, their clunky website, the changing prices and lack of availability most other places means that I will run out my points and never go back to lifemiles. the only other plus is that there seems to be the ability to book early and save around 20%

 

[dhdrummer]

Good timing thanks Matt, I have just spent a few hours trying to sort out out LPB-BOG-QIO. After dealing with all the quirks of the Lifemiles booking process ( and the usual fare increase as soon as you enter the passengers) I booked an L Bundle points booking and paid $85USD for row 2 seating (they appeared to be the best based on reviews) AreoLOPA has the most detailed info but leaves out row 1 pitch details. Anyway - got the booking and the seats for the first leg were not allocated (and not charged for) I only noticed this when I saw the CC charge. SO back I go and I has look at about 20 reviews and videos - most of which were conflicting. BUT when selected purchase seating - row 1 came up for free - go figure. If all of these arrangements stick and the plane actually flys on the selected date, it will be a reasonably good outcome as a redemption booking, based on the cash price of this particular flight. I cant say as much for other Avianca flights in South America, the value really varies.
I have been running down my points with them for a while now and there new (to me) 4 level "bundle" seems to be OK, but the fact that they charge $US50 to redeem your points, their clunky website, the changing prices and lack of availability most other places means that I will run out my points and never go back to lifemiles. the only other plus is that there seems to be the ability to book early and save around 20%

Did you take the flight yet? Were you able to get row 1 for free?

 

[zan5hin]

Thanks for your review. This review and a couple of videos on YouTube convinced me to spend the extra $200 for Row 1 doing the reverse trip, BOG-CNF.


What also helped me decide was that while I was thinking about the seats, I opened another window to look at other options to get anywhere near CNF and there really was nothing.... also the price of my flight went up on my preferred day so if I had not booked then and there, it would have cost me even more.

It was about $387 for the flight, $60 or $70 for the bag and about $200 for the front seat. So about $650 all up..... not including food, or a blanket, haha.

With a 10:25pm departure and 6am arrival, that seat choice was mandatory to get some decent rest. About $35 an hour for the fancy shmancy seat.

If I had more time I could have used GOL and flown premium economy (3 seats with middle seat blocked) from BOG to EZE and then to CNF via RIO/GRU using 15k AAMiles but each flight had US$86 in taxes anyway and I'm short on time.