- Introduction
- American Airlines Admirals Club New York JFK
- LAN Business Class: New York to Lima
- LAN Economy Class: Lima to Cusco
- Machu Picchu
- LAN Economy Class: Cusco to Lima
- Radisson Decapolis Miraflores
- SUMAQ Lounge Lima
- LAN Business Class Lima to Easter Island
- Easter Island
- LAN Business Class: Easter Island to Santiago
- Santiago
- LAN Neruda Lounge Santiago
- LAN Business Class: Santiago to Lima
- LAN Business Class: Lima to New York
- Yotel New York City
- American Airlines Transcontinental Business Class: New York to Los Angeles
I started my trip in Los Angeles the day prior, by flying Delta Air Lines from LAX to JFK. In 2011, I was flying during a time when weather grounded a lot of operations in New York, so a lot of flights were overbooked. I volunteered my seat 3 times in one day and earned $1200 in Delta flight vouchers. I used $155 from one voucher to fly Delta from LAX to JFK, so I don’t count it as a cost of the trip. I flew the day before since I didn’t want to miss my outgoing flight to South America on a different carrier, plus I have a lot of friends in NYC that I wanted to catch up with on a Saturday night.
On the day of my LAN flight, I used the GroundLink app to order a car, mainly because I had received a $75 credit via a Jetsetter Groupon-like deal. With taxes and fees, I ended up paying a total of $20 out-of-pocket for the ride, much less than a cab. A good deal in my book. My driver showed up before time and was quiet the entire ride, so I just played with my iPhone while on the Van Wyck. Smartphone-playing, my generation’s solution to social interaction.
Since I was flying business class, check-in was very quick, as there was only 1 other person in front of me. I got my boarding pass and headed toward the AA Admirals Club just past security. LAN had just moved to Terminal 8, which is much better than their old home at Terminal 4.
The AA Admirals Club is accessible to anyone with an Admirals Club membership, to anyone flying international business class on AA or OneWorld partner (such as LAN), and for any OneWorld Sapphire Elites flying a OneWorld international flight in any cabin (AA Platinum, 50K elite miles/year, is OW Sapphire).
There is also the Flagship Lounge within the Admirals Club, accessible to anyone flying international/transcontinental First Class on AA or OneWorld partners, as well as OneWorld Emeralds traveling internationally on OneWorld flights in any cabin (AA Executive Platinum, 100K elite miles/year, is OW Emerald).
The lounge is decent if you just need a place to relax before a flight, check your email, or grab a drink. Non-well premium drinks aren’t free for members, but if you are in the club because of a business class ticket or international flight in coach with status, you should get free drink chits from the desk. It’s an annoying set up, I think.
My flight coincided with the Super Bowl, Giants v. Patriots. Pretty awesome that the Giants won while I was in New York City. I was just barely able to watch the ending before boarding my flight, LAN #531 to Lima, continuing onward to Santiago.
