Today is a lesson in why it’s always worth seeking out a wide body aircraft
on any flight that offers it. Join me for this trip report from Miami to Bogota, coming up.
Good afternoon from Miami. I landed earlier today on a short flight
from Atlanta to position me for this flight we will take a look at today.
As I was super early, checkin was a breeze and I was through security in under 10 minutes.
It’s worth noting how big Avianca’s footprint in Miami is. On the day I’m writing this in April,
they had 13 departures from Miami to Bogota, Medellin, Cali, Cartagena, San Pedro Sula,
Managua, Guatemala City and more- plus around 8 cargo flights per day to Colombia and Brazil.
It’s also partly why its surprising that Avianca hasn’t reopened their lounge here yet- but they
are famous for cost cutting so I suppose that's asking too much. But, I’m not complaining as that
means we get to check out the new Turkish Airlines Lounge which you see here. From seating, to views,
to food and drink, the lounge is actually pretty impressive and I was more than happy to spend a
few hours here on the far side of the lounge where I could just sit back and do some plane spotting.
I left the lounge with plenty of time to spare but got distracted a few times
on the way to my gate at the end of the concourse. SAS’s new livery on their A350s
is hands down one of my all time favorite planes to look at. And Air France isn’t too bad either.
So, I know why you’re here. I know why everyone clicks on Avianca trip reports.
You want to see how bad the experience is. It’s almost a right of passage for an
aviation youtuber to publish a bad Avianca review. But, that is not whats happening
today! That is what will happen in my next video! Today, it was actually quite pleasant.
At the end of the concourse was our five year old 787-8,
one of 13 in Avianca’s fleet. Boarding was already underway, again- earlier
than the posted time- not sure if this is a Colombian thing or just my luck recently.
On board I was instantly very pleased with myself for selecting this bulkhead seat.
Let’s take a look at the best seats on board.
Avianca uses Zodiac or rather, Safran Cirrus seats in it’s 787 business class.
These are reverse herringbone seats in a 1-2-1 configuration with all aisle access. These seats
are very similar to the Collins Aerospace Super Diamond seats, with a few differences I’ll mention
in a bit. First off, the best and worst choices. The main boarding door and galley is just behind
row five so it’s best to avoid it as you’ll be walked by constantly. For the best seats, get
a window seat in the bulkhead for a whole bunch of extra room. I chose 6 Kilo for this flight.
The seat is well padded and goes fully flat. There’s a movable armrest as well as a touch
screen remote, but it was not allowing me to watch the moving map on it with other content
on the main screen. I do like how clearly laid out the seat controls and outlets are though-
nothing is hidden. There’s a small cubby for headphones and a water bottle holder.
In front of you is the first of 3 benefits to the bulkhead seats. There is a whole lot of extra
width to this area, not to the seat, but just a lot more empty space and a more open feel to it.
There’s a frustrating storage compartment next to the seat which honestly
I don't know how I finally got it open. And some wonderful overhead air vents.
Another benefit of the bulkheads especially for long flights is this space up here-
before landing I always find such spaces nice to reorganize my bag. The tray table is small,
but sturdy and comes from under the side table. One downside to the specific design that Avianca
chose is the lack of privacy. Other airlines that use this seat such as Cathay Pacific or American
have shells around the seatback which gives you a bit of a cocoon feeling. Nothing of the sort here.
Ok, today's flight. We’d be taking off from Runway 27 and heading way
up to 41000 feet for the three hour flight south to Bogota’s runway 13L.
As I said before, I prefer the Super Diamond seat over the Cirrus mainly for the side storage
compartments and the fixed position IFE monitor. In most Cirrus seats you need to stow the monitor
for take off and landing. Which is the final benefit of the bulkhead seats on Avianca-
the screen is in a fixed position and viewable throughout the flight.
Pushback was just 12 minutes late and my eyes were glued to this big red engine for
the majority of the flight- except for all of the widebody spotting on our very short
taxi to the runway. I didn’t realize it was essentially right behind us.
We’d be taking off towards the west today before a big ‘ol turn to the south east.
The spool up is coming up next.
By the way, if you’re enjoying this video, please give it a like and consider subscribing
for two new videos each week. Always feel free to ask any questions in the comments, I make sure to
reply to all. Also, if you enjoy full length take off, cruising or landing videos, please check out
my new Roam Above channel where you can watch this flight's full length take off and landings.
Links are in the description below and a big thank you in advance for checking it out.
The IFE was surprisingly decent. If I had one complaint it would be that the moving map
is the older 2D version, but there were plenty of movies and content on offer
especially for a short one movie flight.
After crossing the Cuban coast, the meal service began. There are two things I like about this
service and two things I don’t like. Starting with what I don’t like. Well firstly the sandwich looks
like something served in a school cafeteria and second, the box. I could understand if
the box had everything inside- but the sealed box just had a bottle of water and a napkin inside…
what’s the box for? What I did like: Actually, the sandwich was pretty good.
It had a Roy Rogers roast beef things going for it. The second good thing, at least it
was hot. On the same flight I took on American the month prior, I just got a snack basket.
The bathrooms are more or less standard for a 787 except for the
wet wipe dispenser which I’ve never seen in an airplane bathroom before.
And then, the sunset. If you have been watching my last few videos lately, you’ll notice that
I might just be choosing flights and seats that will give me the best views of them.
Approaching Bogota from the northwest, Avianca does something that I honestly can’t stand-
and maybe I’m wrong but I also thought it was a safety thing.
They leave the cabin lights on while it’s dark outside during takeoff and landing.
It’s not like a missed any spectacular footage though- it was pitch black and
as soon as we landed, the windows fogged right up.
And now onto a very smooth transfer to my next flight.
For this flight though, that’s all there is to write so let’s get to the Flip Flop Score.
Like I said in the intro, being on a widebody aircraft makes a huge difference here.
That combined with surprisingly good service on the ground and in the air made for a nice flight.
Biggest knock was for only having one meal choice. Overall,
a better than expected 84/100. Would I fly Avianca again? On a 787 I’d have no hesitation.
I really hope you enjoyed this video, if you did please subscribe so you can catch the next
leg of this trip down to Sao Paulo and see where I stand so far with my Aviation Youtuber Bingo card.