Hello to all of you!!! here it is my first T.R...hope you enjoy it.

Well all the story begins right here:

April 2nd, 2007 CCS-MIA

Flight: Lan 560
Eqp: Boeing 767-300 CC-CZW
Scheduled Departure: 17:20
Actual Departure: 17:45
Arrival: 20:55 (on time)
Seat: 14A


Finally the day arrived. I was waiting for this trip since January...My university is a little bit stressful so the Spring Break is like a medicine to me!. So let's go back to the report. I woke up that morning at 9 A.M since i had to be ready by 10 A.M because my sister told me that she will be picking me up at 10:30.

Well she was very punctual in fact. At 10:30 she picked me up and we were ready to go to the airport, but before we had to wait for my brother in law 'cause he was our driver. As some of you might know going to CCS could be a little bit tricky so we tried to go to the airport earlier because it was holy week and you never know what you could find on my friend "LA TROCHA".





We started our journey to the airport at 12 p.m and for my surprise the traffic was very but very light!...we arrived to the airport at 12:45 and LAN counters were already open.



After we made the line we reach to the counter and we were ready to check in. Everything was quite good, the Counter Lady was very nice with us and she made her job very fast. At 13:30 we were ready with our boarding passes on our hands.

Then we went to the food court at CCS to eat something because we were a little bit hungry. Right after eating and chatting it was time to go inside to make the customs and pass the security point. This part was very quick indeed, we passed al the points very fast and 15:50 we were already inside. Right after that we decided to go to the V.I.P lounge with my Priority Pass Card, here are some pics:

My two nephews playing with the computer


A view of the lounge (Sorry about the light)


My Bailey's    


LH A340 and my plane in the background


Aserca's Dc-9 right in front of me


Well after drinking my Bailey's it was 16:40 so we went to Gate 22 for the boarding process. When we arrived to the gate there was already a huge line so we were almost the last ones to board the plane. We made our boarding with an airport bus so i could take some pics:

My two nephews once and again


Iberia's engine


Airport Overview


RAVSA 737/200


And finally mi big boy




So we went upstairs and there we were inside the 767. Like i said before i was seated on 14A with my bigger nephew right beside me on 14C. When we seat we noticed that there were PTV's so it was fantastic for the 3 hours flight.

PTV



Very impressive Leg room


Window view



Doors were closed at 17:30 and since we were parked on the remote stand we didn't make pushback. The pilot started the engines and we were taxing to Rwy 10 for our Takeoff. While we were taxing a video very similar to this one was played:


After the video ended we were already on Rwy 10's holding point:


We waited for AZ 767 and Ravsa's 737 that were cleared for takeoff before us. And then we were ready for departure. Here is a video of the takeoff (Sorry about the sound quality):


The take off was very smooth we climb very fast as i said bye bye to Venezuela!! We made the usual left turn to Miami.



Soon after takeoff the Cabin Crew gave us the headphones for the PTV's and 30 minutes later it was lunchtime. I was watching Night at the museum when the F.A gave me the lunch. It was Italian ñoquis and they were quite nice. The dessert was a really weird cake but it taste very good. Here is a Pic


45 minutes later the F.A cleaned up the cabin and gave us the I-95 Form so i started to fill it. When i finished i take a little nap and at 20:25 the captain announced that we were approaching to MIA. The descend was very soft and at 20:50 we were cleared to land on Rwy 8L. After overflying Miami we touched down at 20:55 and it was a very rude landing. Then we taxied to our Gate that was A23 and we disembarked the plane. Since we were with two children we made the customs and the immigration very fast and finally we were at Miami.

Conclusions from this flight:
Plane: 10/10. I must say i love Lan's 767 they are in very good shape.
Airline: 10/10. Fast check in. Great Service.
Food: 7/10. The food was ok but it wasn't excellent.
Overall Performance: 9/10

Here is the Second part
21 days later...

April 23rd, 2007 MIA-CCS
Flight: Lan 561
Eqp: Boeing 767-300 CC-CCZ
Scheduled Departure: 06:50
Actual Departure: 12:20 (Delayed)
Arrival: 15:08
Seat: 29L

So this is the second part of the trip. I must say that i had a very good time in MIA but nobody knew that this day everything just went wrong!. I woke up at 4 a.m because i was quite far from KMIA and it usually takes 20 min to arrive from my sister's home to the airport. Well everything was ok by the moment, we reached the airport at 04:45 we parked the car and then we went to concourse A where LAN's counters are. The line was very long here is a Pic:



Well when i was almost the first one in the line a Lan worker came to me and told me the "beautiful" notice...the flight is delayed!...i asked if the delay was for an hour, and then he told me the other "wonderful" news...no it's almost 6 hours of delay...then comes my expression "ME ESTAS JODIENDO" (in english: You're kidding me!)...and then he said no! really the flight will depart at 12:15 aprox.

So after the big news i took a deep breath and went to the check in counter...and surprise! i was seated on 26F...that means i was seated in the middle of the middle (As you know for an A.netter no window seat is like apocalypse)...so i started to be a little bit angry by the moment so i told to the Lan's worker that find me a window seat. After looking in the system he found me a place on 29L.

Ok if you think that here ends my bad luck day you're wrong everything got worst. After i checked my baggage and leave it on the TSA we went to the parking to pick up the car and go again to the house and take some sleep to get back to KMIA at 11:00...but when i was on the car i couldn't find my passport!!! so i ran very fast to the counter again and there it was the crew from Lan had it!. Well so after this big scary moment we drove home and took some sleep.

Then i woke up at 10:30, dressed up again and my sister took me to the airport once and again. As i checked my baggage before i went directly to the security points and 10 minutes later i was on my way to gate A23.




I made a stop at Starbuck's and bought a very relaxing coffee.


Right after that i went to gate A23 and the boarding began at 11:45


I board the plane and right when i seated i notice that there were no PTV's what a disgrace!!!...well thank god i had the ipod...Right in the cabin i took some pics:



Leg Room


Some AA's and LA planes



At 12:10 doors were closed and we started a very fast pushback. It was 12:15 when the captain turned on the engines and by 12:20 we were on our way to Rwy 8R. Again the same LAN safety video was played. Here are some pics while we were taxing

3 Vh's planes parked on the maintenance area




When we reached Rwy 8R we made a very fast takeoff. Here is the video



Some Pics of the climb...BTW it was a very smooth takeoff.




20 minutes later the crew gave us the headphones and the main feature started. It was Friend's and the Simpsons two of my favourites series so i can't complain. at 13:15 the food service started, i could choose Meat or Chicken...so i chose meat.


Oh i forgot i also drank a lot...but a lot of wine since we had open bar on the flight... 

So at this point everything was ok...but as i said before everything went wrong. Right after the Simpsons the entertainment system broke off and we still had one more our of flight!!!..At this point i was a little bit frustrated with the day so i turned on my ipod and took a little nap.

I woke up again when the captain announced that we were arriving to CCS. The descent was very fast and 15 minutes later we were on finals for Rwy 10. Here is the video of the landing.


We touched down at 15:08. Right after we went to our gate that was again a Remote Stand. Finally i was in Venezuela again after a messy day...but it doesn't end here. When i arrived to the immigration it was total disaster....there were people from 9 flights (AZ,IB,AA,TA,LR,LH,AF,LA,TP) so you just can imagine the LINE!....and of course the customs were not very different!.

But well i think it was just a bad day.

So well here it is i hope you enjoy it and have fun with my first trip report

Cheers

Tavo

Nice Report Gustavo!!!!
I really enjoyed a lot,

Quoting Cybergus (Reply 1): Well when i was almost the first one in the line a Lan worker came to me and told me the "beautiful" notice...the flight is delayed!...i asked if the delay was for an hour, and then he told me the other "wonderful" news...no it's almost 6 hours of delay...then comes my expression "ME ESTAS JODIENDO" (in english: You're kidding me!)...and then he said no! really the flight will depart at 12:15 aprox.

That´s the best part, I imagine your face when the Lan Worker said that!!!!

Saludos, Orl777

Great Trip report man! I really enjoyed the videos and the pictures!

Though I had no idea that LAN flies between CCS and MIA. Why's that?


Also Lan has a good safety video!

Quoting Orl777 (Reply 2): Nice Report Gustavo!!!! I really enjoyed a lot,

Thanx Orlando...i'm glad you liked it!

Quoting Orl777 (Reply 2): That´s the best part, I imagine your face when the Lan Worker said that!!!!

Yes just imagine it!! jajaja

Quoting KLM685 (Reply 3): Though I had no idea that LAN flies between CCS and MIA. Why's that?

Hey man thanx a lot!...well yes they fly the route only mondays and fridays. The complete route is SCL-CCS-MIA and MIA-CCS-SCL. They also have SCL-BOG-MIA and SCL-PUJ-MIA.

Saludos!

Thanks for a great report! It brought back memories of my trip to SCL last June on LAN, esp. the safety video.

Gustavo!

Awesome report man! I really enjoyed and found it quite refreshing.

It's a shame the second 763 had no PTVs. Obviously the flight to MIA was a thousand times better, plus the food looked more attractive!

Another lucky point was to board on the remote stands. How luckier could you have gotten!!!

Thanks man, and see you on the A.net meeting!

Enrique

Quoting 797 (Reply 7): Awesome report man! I really enjoyed and found it quite refreshing.

Thanx Enrique...i'm glad you liked it

Quoting 797 (Reply 7): It's a shame the second 763 had no PTVs. Obviously the flight to MIA was a thousand times better, plus the food looked more attractive!

Yes as i said in the return flight everything went wrong...but the best part of all is that i could see the good and the bad face of Lan.

Quoting 797 (Reply 7): Another lucky point was to board on the remote stands. How luckier could you have gotten!!!

You're right on that....it was one of the great moments of the trip.!

Saludos man and see you on the A.net Meeting too!

Tavo

Nice report and pictures!

767747

Thanx for all your comments...BTW i just realize that there are a few grammar mistakes...like when i said seated what i really mean is sit...sorry about that i made the report and didn't check out the redaction

Saludos
Gustavo

Cool report man.. thanks!!
I laughed with the part of "Me estas Jodiendo".. lol

Quoting Cybergus (Reply 1): flight is delayed!...i asked if the delay was for an hour, and then he told me the other "wonderful" news...no it's almost 6 hours of delay

You know, my parents just came to Miami to visit me, and when they went back to BOG on LAN, their flight was delayed a couple of hours too. Has this become a "normal" behavior in LAN flights from MIA lately?

Quoting RICARIZA (Reply 11): You know, my parents just came to Miami to visit me, and when they went back to BOG on LAN, their flight was delayed a couple of hours too. Has this become a "normal" behavior in LAN flights from MIA lately?

Thanx man for your comment...well i really don't know in fact i had taken this flight a lot of times before and it was always on time...is the first time that i had a big delay with LAN.

Tavo

Nice trip report from my favorite airline!
It's amazing how you went through on the day of the return flight it seemed like a disaster!

Quoting Cybergus (Reply 5): The complete route is SCL-CCS-MIA and MIA-CCS-SCL.

The route for CCS-MIA-CCS on fridays is GYE-CCS-MIA-CCS-GYE.
I've taken that flight myself, but its a really stressing stop in CCS.
Hope you write more trip reports!
AA300B

Quoting AA300B (Reply 13):

Thanx man...i'll be posting more reports soon. Yes i made a mistake you're right the flight is SCL-GYE-CCS-MIA on Fridays...

Saludos

Gustavo

Thanks, nice report & some decent photo's, made for good reading.

I'd like to fly LAN one day, hopefully soon.

Rgds

Mark

Nice report. LANs on my list of must fly airlines.
The 767s looked great.
Kev.

Quoting FlyKev (Reply 16): LANs on my list of must fly airlines.

Yes you must try them in the near future. Their service is excellent and the fleet is very new if you look the other airlines in S.America!.

Tavo

A very interesting trip report Cybergus, although I could imagine how disheartened you must have felt when you were told of such a long delay! What is really going on these days, it seems as though everybody is running into lots of delays on flights!

I like the videos too, they added a special element to your report. It was good to see CCS again, I have not been there since 1993 when flying UA from POS to MIA and vice-versa; in 1992 they took over the old PA route via CCS. On each flight we all had to disembark at CCS and go though a new security screening before being allowed to board again. When I first went to CCS on a proper visit in 1988 I was impressed at how many European airlines flew there (and still do, only losses since then being BA and KL though the latter consolidated its services with AF who now goes more often). I wondered at times whether it would have made sense for CCS to be marketed as a hub to Europe in Trinidad (at that time only BA and KL served POS, BA has now returned).

Thanks for writing. Salud!

TrinToCan.

Hey Gustavo!

Very well written report especially for being the 1st one. Keep up the good work so you can reach 797's and me TR quality levels, hahahaha! J/K

I was in SCL last week and saw this massive LAN operation and all these old 732s parked by LAN hangars, I must have counted like 20.

Sad to hear that you didn't get PTVs on the return flight which was also delayed, no luck for you on that flight.

Keep the reports coming, it's fun to read them.

Saludos desde Caracas,
Luis

Quoting Trintocan (Reply 18): A very interesting trip report Cybergus, although I could imagine how disheartened you must have felt when you were told of such a long delay! What is really going on these days, it seems as though everybody is running into lots of delays on flights!

Thanx! yes it was a really messy day

Quoting Trintocan (Reply 18): When I first went to CCS on a proper visit in 1988 I was impressed at how many European airlines flew there (and still do, only losses since then being BA and KL though the latter consolidated its services with AF who now goes more often).

Yeah i really miss those times too when CCS used to be a BIG European airlines Hub.

Quoting Luisde8cd (Reply 19): Very well written report especially for being the 1st one. Keep up the good work so you can reach 797's and me TR quality levels, hahahaha! J/K

JAJAJA thanx Luis i would try so hard to reach those levels!!...

Quoting Luisde8cd (Reply 19): was in SCL last week and saw this massive LAN operation and all these old 732s parked by LAN hangars, I must have counted like 20.

I'm really jealous about that...SCL is one of my MUST BE THERE destination! I'm waiting to go there in the near future to see my favourite airline's hangars!!

Well thank you so much for all you comments!

Saludos!

Tavo