This is my first trip report on AFF so thanks to those who pointed me in the direction of the Trip Reports and Trip Photos section of the Community Forums.
A female friend and I took advantage of a special fare promoted by Qantas and using the fairly recently introduced Lantam flight from Melbourne to Santiago, Chile, and return - LA 804 and LA 805.
Apart from a one day stop at Cartajena in Colombia on a Panama Canal cruise in 2013 is was our first experience with South America despite much international travel in our mature years.
Both flights were on time. The return trip actually arrived in Melbourne nearly one hour ahead of schedule.
I, particularly, was looking forward to our first flight on a Dreamliner. It was not disappointing. The one thing that took me some time to work out was the curious arrangement for manipulating the plug on the headphones. The selection of movies was fine but I do find less that appeals to me. At 67, hopefully, I haven't entered the "grumpy old man" phase!
The food was interesting and something of a new experience; a very pleasant meal served on a circular plastic plate. The "dessert" was one Tim Tam; an Australian touch for sure! That was it. There was a beverage service with the meal but again that was it. Service was professional but matter of fact. Surly would be putting too much of a point on it but on the other hand it would probably be something of an exaggeration to call if friendly. But professional just the same.
The other meal was breakfast since it was an "overnight" flight from Melbourne. Again, very pleasantly presented. I chose the Belgian waffle but only a very small serving taking less than half the same plastic circular plate. And there was a small tub of yogurt.
A disappointment, was that almost all the electronic windows on the Dreamliner were drawn as we approached Santiago passing some incredible Andean scenery. As is customary in 2018, there was little interest in scenery among the passengers - most of who were preoccupied playing with smart phones.
On arrival at Santiago airport, the first thing to do was to pay the "reciprocity fee" imposed by the Chilean government on all Australians, as I understand it, a quid pro quo for Canberra charging Chileans for a visa. My Australian credit card was readily accepted and it was only a few cents short of $A150 when the transaction appeared. There were two middle aged Chilean bureaucrats staffing the desk and they epitomised the classic public service "drone". No doubt they'd attended to thousands of incoming Australians and both appeared bored out of their minds. Perhaps counting the days down to a well deserved (?) retirement. Both men would have been well into their 50s.
Next we booked a private transfer, through Transvip, before we left the arrival hall and that worked well. It was a confusing for a few moments outside the terminal until we realised there were separate stands for Transvip "shared" and "private" taxis. The driver took a little while to input our B&B details into his GPS but the door to door service was good and took no more than 45 minutes.
It had taken a little while to find an ATM in the arrival hall and we withdrew our Chilean pesos without any problem.
On our return journey, we took Uber from our B&B to the airport. The driver told us, as best he could in broken English, that he had to deposit us in the airport car park because Uber was not allowed to stop at the terminal. An unexpected gesture was that he carried our bags from the car to the terminal, about 250 metres.
The airport terminal was busy but check in was quick and hassle free. We spent our last remaining Chilean pesos on two cups of coffee that worked out at more than $A6 each but we were in the airport terminal!
There was a supplementary bag inspection, similar to what I'd previously experienced leaving Hong Kong, immediately prior to entering the aircraft. Many people had unwittingly filled water bottles within the terminal (after initial security) and there was zero tolerance to retaining these although the bag inspection did appear to be somewhat cursory.
The homeward trip was uneventful. The meal experience was similar to the forward trip. There was no water served but it would be obtained from the crew section at the back of the aircraft. I imagine many of the passengers were parched by the time LA 805 reached Melbourne.
The Dreamliner took a southbound course over Chile and it appeared there were some magnificent views outside but again almost all of the electronic blinds were drawn as the passengers immersed themselves in their smart phones and onboard entertainment.
The captain had intimated the course would go close to Antarctica and I was hoping, fingers crossed, there many have been a once in a lifetime view from the plane. But, alas, it seemed a case of so near yet so far. In any case, sitting in the middle row and with almost all blinds drawn it would have been intrusive to try to get a view if we'd been flying closer to Antarctica.
Getting off the plane in Melbourne was straight forward with immigration formalities, baggage collection and customs formalities quick and hassle free; probably the easiest on any of my many international arrivals back in Melbourne. Late Friday afternoon must be rather quiet at the Melbourne international arrivals hall?
A friend had kindly offered to pick us up at the airport rather leaving us to our beloved 901 SmartBus "direct" to our nearby bus stop at Ringwood; a 2.5 hour leisurely trip. But the traffic on both the Tullamarine and Eastern freeways made a VERY slow trip.
Our 10 days in Chile were confined to Santiago and Valparaiso. It was a very interesting holiday and good value for a Qantas fare of less than $1100 plus applicable QF frequent flyer points and status credits.
A female friend and I took advantage of a special fare promoted by Qantas and using the fairly recently introduced Lantam flight from Melbourne to Santiago, Chile, and return - LA 804 and LA 805.
Apart from a one day stop at Cartajena in Colombia on a Panama Canal cruise in 2013 is was our first experience with South America despite much international travel in our mature years.
Both flights were on time. The return trip actually arrived in Melbourne nearly one hour ahead of schedule.
I, particularly, was looking forward to our first flight on a Dreamliner. It was not disappointing. The one thing that took me some time to work out was the curious arrangement for manipulating the plug on the headphones. The selection of movies was fine but I do find less that appeals to me. At 67, hopefully, I haven't entered the "grumpy old man" phase!
The food was interesting and something of a new experience; a very pleasant meal served on a circular plastic plate. The "dessert" was one Tim Tam; an Australian touch for sure! That was it. There was a beverage service with the meal but again that was it. Service was professional but matter of fact. Surly would be putting too much of a point on it but on the other hand it would probably be something of an exaggeration to call if friendly. But professional just the same.
The other meal was breakfast since it was an "overnight" flight from Melbourne. Again, very pleasantly presented. I chose the Belgian waffle but only a very small serving taking less than half the same plastic circular plate. And there was a small tub of yogurt.
A disappointment, was that almost all the electronic windows on the Dreamliner were drawn as we approached Santiago passing some incredible Andean scenery. As is customary in 2018, there was little interest in scenery among the passengers - most of who were preoccupied playing with smart phones.
On arrival at Santiago airport, the first thing to do was to pay the "reciprocity fee" imposed by the Chilean government on all Australians, as I understand it, a quid pro quo for Canberra charging Chileans for a visa. My Australian credit card was readily accepted and it was only a few cents short of $A150 when the transaction appeared. There were two middle aged Chilean bureaucrats staffing the desk and they epitomised the classic public service "drone". No doubt they'd attended to thousands of incoming Australians and both appeared bored out of their minds. Perhaps counting the days down to a well deserved (?) retirement. Both men would have been well into their 50s.
Next we booked a private transfer, through Transvip, before we left the arrival hall and that worked well. It was a confusing for a few moments outside the terminal until we realised there were separate stands for Transvip "shared" and "private" taxis. The driver took a little while to input our B&B details into his GPS but the door to door service was good and took no more than 45 minutes.
It had taken a little while to find an ATM in the arrival hall and we withdrew our Chilean pesos without any problem.
On our return journey, we took Uber from our B&B to the airport. The driver told us, as best he could in broken English, that he had to deposit us in the airport car park because Uber was not allowed to stop at the terminal. An unexpected gesture was that he carried our bags from the car to the terminal, about 250 metres.
The airport terminal was busy but check in was quick and hassle free. We spent our last remaining Chilean pesos on two cups of coffee that worked out at more than $A6 each but we were in the airport terminal!
There was a supplementary bag inspection, similar to what I'd previously experienced leaving Hong Kong, immediately prior to entering the aircraft. Many people had unwittingly filled water bottles within the terminal (after initial security) and there was zero tolerance to retaining these although the bag inspection did appear to be somewhat cursory.
The homeward trip was uneventful. The meal experience was similar to the forward trip. There was no water served but it would be obtained from the crew section at the back of the aircraft. I imagine many of the passengers were parched by the time LA 805 reached Melbourne.
The Dreamliner took a southbound course over Chile and it appeared there were some magnificent views outside but again almost all of the electronic blinds were drawn as the passengers immersed themselves in their smart phones and onboard entertainment.
The captain had intimated the course would go close to Antarctica and I was hoping, fingers crossed, there many have been a once in a lifetime view from the plane. But, alas, it seemed a case of so near yet so far. In any case, sitting in the middle row and with almost all blinds drawn it would have been intrusive to try to get a view if we'd been flying closer to Antarctica.
Getting off the plane in Melbourne was straight forward with immigration formalities, baggage collection and customs formalities quick and hassle free; probably the easiest on any of my many international arrivals back in Melbourne. Late Friday afternoon must be rather quiet at the Melbourne international arrivals hall?
A friend had kindly offered to pick us up at the airport rather leaving us to our beloved 901 SmartBus "direct" to our nearby bus stop at Ringwood; a 2.5 hour leisurely trip. But the traffic on both the Tullamarine and Eastern freeways made a VERY slow trip.
Our 10 days in Chile were confined to Santiago and Valparaiso. It was a very interesting holiday and good value for a Qantas fare of less than $1100 plus applicable QF frequent flyer points and status credits.
. Can you give us a few more details- eg what seats were you in and how was trying to sleep? Any pics from on board?
