LATAM is one of South America’s largest airlines, and its Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner is the backbone of its long-haul operation, connecting cities across Latin America and beyond. I recently flew economy class on this aircraft from Brazil to Mexico, a journey stretching over 9 hours, and came away with a mixed bag of impressions.
The flight had genuine bright spots: a 3-3-3 seat layout with 31 inches of pitch, a Bluetooth-enabled entertainment system, a friendly crew, and complimentary meals. But it also had a few quirks that stood out, from bus boarding a wide-body jet to a dirty seat and a 45-minute runway delay with no explanation.
Here’s a full breakdown of the positives and negatives I encountered.
Booking LATAM Economy Class
I didn’t book this flight with the airline. LATAM was selling basic economy (its Light fare with no checked luggage or seat selection) for $736. Standard, the fare that included a checked suitcase and seat choice, was available for $842. That included a domestic connection within Brazil before this longer flight from São Paulo (GRU) to Mexico City (MEX).
Instead, I redeemed Delta SkyMiles for this flight. I paid 35,000 miles plus $74, and that booked me into a Standard fare, meaning I had a free checked bag and could choose a seat in advance.
I saved $768 by redeeming 35,000 SkyMiles, giving me a value of 2.19 cents per mile. That’s far above our average valuation of Delta SkyMiles at 1.2 cents each.
Positives of My LATAM Economy Flight
Let’s start with the good stuff.
Seat Space and Cabin Layout
LATAM’s Boeing 787-9 aircraft had a 3-3-3 layout in the economy cabin.
Seats were blue and red, and each seat had a plastic bag holding headphones, a blanket, and a pillow. Headrests were adjustable.
For a flight lasting over 9 hours, the space at my knees was nice: Seats had 31 inches of pitch (the space between rows). I’m 5 feet, 10 inches tall, and my knees weren’t buried in the seat in front of me.
Seat Features
Each economy seat had a personal entertainment system. The screens weren’t large, but they worked well and responded to touch easily. There were also universal power outlets between the seats, as well as air nozzles and reading lights overhead.
Tray tables released in a folded setup, and they were quite big when unfolded to full size.
Meal Service
LATAM honored my special meal request (vegan), though the delivery could have used improvement. During the main meal (breakfast) and light lunch (sandwich), flight attendants tried to place a meal on my tray, and I had to push it back while explaining I’d requested a special meal. Only then did they check the list and go look for my meal.
My breakfast was couscous with vegetables, and it was mediocre in terms of flavor. Other guests had scrambled eggs.
About 2 hours before arrival, the crew served sandwiches to guests. My sandwich had a few slices of zucchini and tomato; it wasn’t anything special. The options for meals were simply yes or no, not a choice of meal type.
Friendly Crew
Flight attendants were smiling and helpful, giving off positive energy from boarding through deplaning. They were friendly when distributing meals, smiled often, were polite, and they also kept the bathrooms clean throughout the flight.
Negatives
None of the negatives were brutal, but there were oddities to my flight.
Strange Boarding Process
I was really surprised that we boarded a Dreamliner using buses. The fact that our plane was at the absolute farthest corner of the airport added more surprise.
While we followed boarding groups at the gate, cramming everyone into buses made the boarding groups irrelevant.
Poor Cleaning
On arrival at my seat, I noticed red fingerprint stains on the cupholder built into my seat’s tray table. I wasn’t sure if it was blood or something else and asked a flight attendant for wet wipes. Rather than giving me wet paper towels, she insisted on cleaning the spot for me — which turned out to be red wine.
Whatever it was, its presence when I arrived at my seat told me the plane wasn’t cleaned thoroughly.
Lack of Wi-Fi
LATAM is in the process of adding Wi-Fi to many of its planes. A solid number of its narrow-body planes used for regional flights around South America have free Wi-Fi. However, the vast majority of LATAM’s long-haul flights don’t have onboard internet service.
Delayed Departure
I fell asleep during the safety announcement. I woke up to the captain announcing that it was our turn to depart. I checked to find I’d been asleep for 45 minutes.
Why did we sit on the runway for 45 minutes before departing? I have no idea, but we departed and arrived late.
Overhead Bins Request
I have honestly never seen this before — or even heard of it. Once all the passengers were on the plane, the cabin crew asked everyone to stand up and close the overhead bins above their seats, saying this would save time and effort for the flight attendants, helping us depart on time (which obviously didn’t happen anyway).
Final Thoughts
This wasn’t the best flight in the world, but it also wasn’t the worst — far from it. As far as long-haul economy flights go, this was an OK experience.
I got my special meal, seats had decent spacing, and the Bluetooth feature was nice, but the cleaning and boarding processes could use some work.