As my wife is from Argentina we have to go at least once a year to check up on the house to make sure there are no urgent repairs and pay the bills. Mother in law has to be visited as she is getting on a bit and misses her daughter terribly and last but not least Cuqui the terrier has to be given lots of love and affection to keep her happy for the future months we are not with her.

We have used several airlines in the past to travel to Buenos Aires, Air France lots of times, British Airways and Iberia the rest with the price usually being the deciding factor. Although British Airways would be our favourite choice they are not very competitive on pricing so Air France, which offers a service closely matching that of British Airways, was usually the winner. Last year however Iberia won on price and as they offered a daytime flight we travelled to Madrid the day before and stayed the night at one of the airport hotels.
I had enjoyed the day flight and the seating arrangements on the A340 so much, I thought that Iberia would win our custom again this year until I saw that TAM were offering a very competitive Business Class fare on their new service from Heathrow to Sao Paulo then onward to Buenos Aires. So unusually, unusually for us anyway, we would be travelling in Business Class again after our recent Cairo trip, which can be read here; GLA-AMS-CAI With KLM World Business Class (pics) (by Comeflywithme Oct 25 2006 in Trip Reports) with the return trip here; CAI-AMS-GLA KLM World Business Class (2) Pics (by Comeflywithme Nov 9 2006 in Trip Reports)
I usually make notes about the flights as they happen but I left them in the seat pocket!! So this report is mostly compiled by memory. If you spot mistakes please let me know.

Sunday 17th December

Glasgow Airport.

Getting to Heathrow from our home city of Glasgow was going to be with British Airways, so the evening before I decided I would try the much praised online check-in to choose some seats nearer the front as we had been allocated 36A and 36B – sods law was of course against me as it turned out not to be working, so decided to wait till the next day and use the old fashioned method at the airport.
We arrived at Glasgow Airport after a twenty minute taxi ride just under two hours before the flight and made our way to the BA desks, on the way wifey decided she wanted to visit the ladies so I waited with two suitcases and two roller cabin bags loaded on a trolley besides the BA self checkin machines where a delightful BA girl came up to me and enquired if I needed help. She asked me where I was travelling to and when I told her Buenos Aires she said I was lucky as it was one of her favourite destinations when she was cabin crew, my wife appeared and they chatted for a while about Argentina before we proceeded to the check-in queue.
A short wait and then we were issued with boarding cards, I had decided to collect the luggage at Heathrow so was not sure if BA would have checked it through to EZE or not. We were handed a notice informing us that our aircraft had to go for scheduled maintenance and rather than cancel the flight BA had chartered in an aircraft from Titan so as not to disrupt the passengers.



GLA-LHR
BA 1486
757-200 G-ZAPU (operated by Titan Airways)
ETD 16.10 ATD 16.40

It turned out to be a 757-200 operated by Titan crew and the flight was certainly up to BA standards with the service consisting of tasty sandwiches, chocolate biscuit with coffee as well as a refreshing gin and tonic for afters all included in the price.





I hadn’t bothered to change our allocated seating at check in, as it is only a flight of around one hour and fifteen minutes so we were seated in the last row at the back in rather comfortable leather seats. I noticed that seated in front of us were some BA cabin crew girls positioning down to LHR. As we had a row of three seats to ourselves we were able to spread out and relax.



BA as usual delivered, from the pleasant check in, to the on board service, albeit through Titan, we were very impressed. The return ticket with BA to LHR cost around the £80 mark which considering the professional service one receives is tremendous value and the main reason I prefer to use them on this route .It had been a very enjoyable start to our long journey to South America and as it would be another twenty four hours before we would be turning the key in the lock of our home in Argentina the relaxing experience certainly helped towards making the journey that bit easier.

Flight Score 10/10 (couldn’t have been bettered)

London Heathrow
.
We arrived more or less on time around 17.30 at Terminal 1 and as the TAM flight was to leave from Terminal 4 at 22.05 it gave us ample leeway to connect without having to rush, which is a blessing at LHR. By the time we collected the two suitcases and made our way to the train it was only a five-minute wait for the 18.23 service to Terminal 4. One thing, which I don’t like with the platform on arriving at T4, is that you have to lug your suitcases quite a distance before a trolley can be had, I noticed a woman struggling to manage the entire luggage she was carrying.
It had been a good few years since I had been at T4 returning from Hong Kong and my impressions on being there again was how cramped it was, so after I popped out for a quick smoke we wasted no time in going to get checked in.

No queue awaited us at the priority desk and the pleasant girl issued us with boarding cards for the London – Sao Paulo flight as well as the Sao Paulo – Buenos Aires leg and gave us invitations to visit the KLM Holideck lounge which TAM passengers have use of.
After wifey had purchased some perfume at duty free we headed for the lounge where on entering we were confronted by a suspicious girl who asked to see our boarding cards even after having our invitations in her possession. I later found out why all the suspicion from her, as I witnessed her turn away more people during our stay than she allowed in for one reason or another.
First impression of the lounge was that it was modern with light coloured furniture and decoration. If you visit the Holideck lounge with an empty stomach it will likely remain empty, as there is not many edibles on offer - we were glad that we hung on to one of the sandwiches we didn’t manage to eat on the flight down, though this had the effect of hungry fellow lounge guests searching the shelves for the same – the quizzical looks on their faces when they couldn’t find any was sadistically amusing.
If you have a biscuit fetish then you will be pleasantly surprised as there is quite a selection on display. The drinks on offer will suffice if, you have either a thirst to quench or - you are a nervous flyer. The lounge was quite empty and did serve the purpose of getting some peace and quiet from the hustle and bustle outside and has the added benefit of having a smoking room, Internet, reading material as well as TV to pass an hour or two.


Flying “the magic red carpet”



JJ 8085
LHR-GRU
A330-200 PT-MVL
ETD 22.05
ATD 22.45
Seats 7H & 7K

From the relative calmness of the Holideck lounge we found ourselves unwillingly taking part in what seemed to be a Guinness Book of World Records attempt at seeing how many people could be crammed on to a bus as we made our way to board our Airbus A330-200 seemingly parked miles away in a remote corner of the airfield. To be fair, the girl at the gate on seeing our Executive Class boarding passes apologised for us missing the priority boarding bus.

On all TAM flights the Captain stands at the door welcoming his passengers onboard which is rather old fashioned and quaint but I can imagine if the departure was delayed some passengers may wish he didn’t, and got on with more important timesaving duties instead.
On entering we found our seats and were offered drinks and warm nuts, wifey took orange juice and I thought I would give the champagne another go even after not liking the one on offer with KLM on a flight to Cairo we took in October. This one however was not so dry and more to my taste. We were then given our substantial amenity kits and found a large blanket and pillow in the overhead compartment.



The economy passengers on entering have to go through the larger of the two Business Class cabins and may explain why the FA’s don’t quite get the chance to give you the attention that you would normally receive before doors are closed.
A classy looking menu was handed to us and our choices taken before departure, unfortunately the menus were taken off us probably to be reused as they were not the normal paper covered ones so I am unable to detail all that was on offer other than what we chose. I must remember to try and keep one on the return.
After a smooth take off it wasn’t long till meal service began. I had chosen smoked salmon for starters and cream of mushroom soup, which was served at the same time. The soup was delicious as was the salmon.



The main meal was fillet of beef with green beans, carrots, turnip and garlic infused buttery mash.



The meat was lovely and tender and melted in the mouth, the mash had just a hint of garlic to give you it’s flavour without overpowering the whole thing and the gravy added that little bit of extra taste, one of the best dishes I have had on a flight.
Dessert of choice was Ben and Jerry’s strawberry ice cream, which cleansed the mouth. An excellent Argentine red wine was kept topped up throughout the meal. Freshly made coffee followed





Now, I had noticed that the IFE had not been turned on. I had not heard any announcements so asked one of the FA’s about it - she confirmed it was not working, and apologised.
I find it hard to believe that an aircraft has faults that cannot be rectified before it’s evening departure after being parked at Heathrow for eight hours since it’s arrival earlier in the day from Sao Paulo. One benefit of it being non operational though, meant that I had one of the best sleeps on a long flight ever as there was no distractions to be had from peeking at the screen from time to time.

The seats in Business Class are lie flat and I found them very comfortable, one point though, do not choose the bulkhead facing seats at row 7 as we did. The basinet access means they are very close to the bulkhead and once the seats are extended leg room can be tight, which, although adequate for us would be a big problem if you are of the long legged variety.
Before they dimmed the lights, we were asked if we wished to have breakfast or preferred to sleep as long as possible – we chose the former.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzz…………..

Morning of the 18th of December.

Breakfast was served around two hours before landing and on opening the window blind I saw that it was daylight and I placed us somewhere over northern Brasil - I guessed, due, to the lack of being able to refer to the flight mapper. Beneath lay a scene of an ochre coloured river meandering through land of the same coloured soil, with a mixture of what looked like trees and cultivated land.





Breakfast was much needed and just to my taste with a meat and cheese starter



followed by one of the best mushroom omelettes ever tasted in the air as well as on land. The omelette came along with sausage and caramelised onions with sliced potatoes. Yoghurt with honey, fresh fruit with warmed bread and fruit juice completed the large breakfast.



Not long after breakfast service was cleared, we started our descent to Sao Paulo and soon we were over the sprawling city.



I put my watch back three hours for local time. Landing was smooth and we taxied to stand and I took a picture of some of the aircraft on show.



Due to our late departure from LHR we had been running late but when looking at my watch assumed we had made up some time so I worked out we had about an hour to make our connection (a big mistake.)

Summary

Food on this flight was excellent, simple yes, but good, which suits me fine. I cannot say for definite if there was an announcement made or not regarding the IFE being down but it would have been nice if someone in charge had come round the passengers and individually informed them about the problem.
The FA’s although young did their job very well and had obviously been very well trained, they did seem to lack a bit in the personality department, no calling you by name (no big deal) or much general chatting with the passengers.(would have been nice).

During the night I went to the galley in search of a coffee, on either side of it, two FA’s were sat reading very quietly and upright and it reminded me of an Air China flight where the FA’s would carry out their duties with military precision.
On asking if there was any chance of a coffee, one got up very obligingly and said no problem, which was a lot different from some of Air France’s FA responses when making a similar request on past flights.

There seemed to be no “ help yourself ” snacks or drinks on offer, so I assume that you have to ask for anything you may be in need of although they did pass through the cabin with drinks throughout the night. Seats are a bit old fashioned by today’s standards although comfortable, with plenty of room in the 2-2-2 layout which makes them easy to exit even when in the flat position unless you are in row 7.

One incident occurred about half an hour before landing. My wife visited the toilet and on entering found there wasn’t any toilet paper and on asking for some was told by one of the attendants that there was none available, which seemed rather odd.

TAM have a few things to iron out in Business Class I would say before it can entice premium passengers away from the big boys of Europe on this route. Their prices are a lot cheaper than the others though and on the whole I would say it was, for value, a very good experience. I look forward to the return flight for comparison. Loads were good with just a few empty seats in our cabin, which some of the crew used for resting at night, on taking a stroll through economy in the dark I was surprised to see that it was full.

Flight Score 7/10 (would have been very much higher but lost points on no IFE working, row 7 legroom and timekeeping)

SAO PAULO

On arriving at the gate some of the passengers were rushing to disembark and I thought it strange they should be in so much of a hurry. In the terminal I noted that the Buenos Aires flight was leaving from gate 11? So as we were in no rush, we took our time, stopping at the duty free on the way.

When we arrived at the gate I saw on the screen that it stated the time for the Buenos Aires flight was 10.30am instead of the 09.10am showing on our boarding cards and the wrong flight number was up as well…………. Still I hadn’t realised something was wrong and just thought someone had entered the wrong information. After about ten minutes though I had an uneasy feeling and decided to go to the desk and ask if we were at the correct gate.
Our boarding cards were taken and the girl in charge apologised saying due to our incoming flight being late and with Business Class on the next available flight being full we would have to travel in economy. I protested that we were not that late and according to my watch there was ample time to catch the flight. Suddenly, the penny dropped when I looked at the clock display. I had turned my watch back one hour too much. Unbeknown to me, Brasil is two hours behind the UK and not the three that Argentina is. Feeling stupid I apologised to the girl and she explained that we would be given a $200 refund on each ticket for the downgrade. We were issued with new boarding cards as well as the credit vouchers.

As it happens the passengers who had rushed past us to get off our incoming flight were identified at the gate and in conversation with one of them, I found out they had not been allowed on the earlier Buenos Aires flight that we should have got, despite having twenty minutes to spare. So we wouldn’t have made the flight anyway had we not taken our time due to the time difference mistake? (I suspected overbooking).

Monday 18th December
GRU – EZE
JJ8010
A320 Reg. PR-MAK
Seats 21A-21B

So we were to travel in economy and on boarding we passed the welcoming Captain and made our way sheepishly through Business Class to the back. Luckily we had three seats to ourselves, which helped ease the pain. The FA’s handed out a pre-departure sweety and soon we were off passing some interesting aircraft, a few Skymaster cargo planes.





I suspected that this flight could be bumpy, as past experience has shown me that tremendous storms can affect this part of the world, one flight in particular had us seat belted weaving a course to avoid a great cauldron of threatening black and orange clouds reaching high into the sky. Luckily not this time though, and what ensued was one of the most enjoyable short flights I have had. Around three hours long, during which we were given a very adequate meal with wine. I chose the fish and rice dish, which came along with a pasta and chicken starter and a nice crème caramel type pudding. Two cups of strong coffee were also drunk after the meal.





Entertainment was had by drop down monitors and headphones supplied at every seat with plenty of audio channels. I was very impressed with the service offered by TAM on this flight as well as the professionalism of the crew who also had a pleasant manner.
The approach to EZE took us as usual over Uruguay across the River Plate and over Buenos Aires with a good view of the city and the football stadiums of Racing Club and Independiente so close together.










Flight Score 10/10 (despite being downgraded it was a very enjoyable experience and could not be faulted)

BUENOS AIRES

Although missing the earlier flight we had planned for such a delay and had arranged for the taxi to meet us at 13.00 so at 13.10 we exited arrivals after collecting our suitcases which were unloaded first with the help of the Executive Class labels, which had been put on at Heathrow. We were also asked for our baggage receipts by a lady to see if they matched the bags we had collected, this was the first time that this has happened to us at Ezeiza, although a regular occurrence the last couple of times we have used Aeroparque the domestic airport. I think it’s a good idea and should be used at more airports.
We found our usual taxi driver holding up the name card to take us on the two-hour journey to our second home, in the town amongst the vast flat lands of the wet Pampa.



Usually when we travel in economy we are very tired at this stage but we felt quite refreshed probably due to having had such a good sleep during the flight. Around 15.30 we finally arrived, from door to door it had taken us around twenty eight and a half hours.
Waiting in the back garden was Cuqui and after the usual jumping, licking and barking she posed for the camera wearing a bit of a snooty expression as if to say “didn’t miss you at all”




Two days later saw us having to visit Buenos Aires as my wife had to renew her Argentine passport so we decided to go to the TAM office to enquire about the compensation level for being downgraded.
$400 for both tickets didn’t seem to be a lot and on closer inspection of the credit slip saw that they gave the reason for the downgrade as being overbooking. I didn’t mention the time difference gaff to them. J
First we asked the pleasant staff if they could refund us the amount in cash, as we were not sure if we would be travelling with TAM again within the year validity of the vouchers. They agreed to give us a cheque for the amount minus $20 admin charge (bit of a cheek) but did not have the authorisation to increase the amount and suggested we send an email to TAM to dispute the compensation for the downgrade as well as for there being no working IFE on the LHR-GRU flight. As I sit doing this report the email has been sent and I await a response. I shall post any outcome in the return trip report.