I Flew LATAM Over the Andes Expecting Nothing Special. It Quietly Surprised Me

LATAM is the biggest airline group in Latin America, and for a lot of travelers in South America it's simply the default way to fly. I'd flown plenty of airlines on the continent, but never its economy cabin on a short international hop, so I booked LATAM's A320 economy from Buenos Aires to Santiago on LA 454 to see what the default actually feels like.

The flight crosses the Andes in about two and a half hours. My plane was an 11-year-old Airbus A320 registered in Brazil, which makes sense once you know LATAM shut down its Argentine airline in 2020, so flights out of Argentina are flown by its sister airlines from other countries. I went in expecting a basic, forgettable trip. It ended up being a little better than that in ways I didn't see coming.

The Airport

I flew out of Aeroparque Jorge Newbery, Buenos Aires' city airport, which handles mostly domestic and regional flights while the big long-haul routes use Ezeiza farther out. Aeroparque sits right on the edge of the Río de la Plata, and the drive in along the water gives you some genuinely great views before you even reach the terminal.

The airport itself is fine, but it isn't spacious. The check-in hall downstairs was packed, with people sitting around everywhere, although checking in with LATAM was quick and easy. My best tip is to head upstairs after check-in and before security, where there's a lot of comfortable seating and good food options that most people seemed to miss. Security took me less than five minutes.

Once I was through, the terminal felt small and very crowded, and the gate areas were tight. Power outlets were in short supply at first, until I found several charging stations scattered around. It's not a great airport, but it's newer and nicer than I expected.

Boarding

Boarding was the low point of the ground experience. LATAM uses boarding groups, but at my gate they didn't mean much, and the line quickly turned into one big crowd pressed toward the door. It was chaotic.

One thing I did appreciate was the announcements. There were a lot of them, in both Spanish and English, which made it easy to follow what was happening even with all the chaos at the gate.

The Seat

I was in 7F, a window seat toward the front of economy, which is laid out in rows of three on each side of the aisle.

The seat isn't anything special, but it's better than I expected. It reclines, which plenty of short-haul seats no longer do, and it has winged headrests that make it easier to lean back and rest. Legroom was typical for economy and definitely not roomy. Still, it was a step up from the thin, flat regional seats some European airlines use on flights this length.

Each set of three seats shares two power ports, one USB-A and one USB-C, which is handy if you've forgotten the right cable. They stopped working for the whole second half of the flight, so I wouldn't count on them.

The plane looked to be in good shape overall, though my seatback pocket still had someone else's trash in it and the tray table was dirty. Sitting near the front also meant a long walk to the bathrooms at the back, and with only two for all of economy, there always seemed to be a line.

Wi-Fi and Entertainment

There are no seatback screens. Instead, LATAM streams movies and shows to your own phone, which didn't work for roughly the first third of the flight before it came to life.

The Wi-Fi was the bigger surprise. LATAM offers three tiers for the whole flight: messaging for $2, browsing for $8 and streaming for $11.25. LATAM Pass members on my flight got messaging for free. I bought the streaming tier, and it worked well the entire time, exactly as advertised.

Snacks and Drinks

LATAM handed out two complimentary snacks in economy, which is more than I expected on a flight this short. When I asked for a Coke, the flight attendant asked whether I'd like another drink as well, and plenty of people around me took her up on it. That's a small thing, but it's unusual in economy, and it made the service feel generous.

The Crew

The crew set a good tone from the moment I stepped on, smiling and friendly at the door. During the service, they were attentive and warm, and the offer of a second drink felt like it came from them rather than a rulebook.

After the snack service, though, the crew mostly disappeared apart from one trash pickup. On a flight this length, that's normal, but it meant there was no second chance at a drink later on.

Worth Booking?

LATAM's A320 economy isn't amazing, and it doesn't try to be. Boarding was messy, the cabin needed a better clean and the power gave out halfway through. But the things that make a short flight pleasant were all there: free snacks, a crew that seemed happy to help, a seat that reclines and Wi-Fi that actually works.

If you're flying between Buenos Aires and Santiago, LATAM is a solid, slightly better-than-expected choice. Just get to the gate early, and bring a battery pack.

You can see how LATAM compares with every other airline I've reviewed in the Contrail Index.