I Took 31 Flights With LATAM This Year: Here Are the Pros and Cons

When traveling around South America, you’ll likely have a flight with LATAM Airlines. It’s the largest airline on the continent, formed in 2012 through the merger of Chilean LAN and Brazilian TAM.

Having spent several months in South America and taking no less than 31 LATAM flights in 2025, I’ll put my experience to paper to see whether LATAM really is the best airline in South America.

Pros of Flying LATAM

From great perks and an impressive flagship lounge to consistency with customer service, cabin crews, and premium inflight catering, there’s a lot LATAM does right.

1. Excellent Staff

After 31 flights, the chances I’d come across a subpar crew should be high. Yet I don’t think I know of an airline (other than maybe Virgin Atlantic) where the crew have been excellent on every flight I’ve taken. It probably has something to do with the warmth and hospitality that Latin Americans pride themselves on, especially Brazilians.

Take my red-eye economy flight from Los Angeles (LAX) to São Paulo (GRU) in March.

Before takeoff, a crew member greeted Black and Black Signature elite status holders in economy (lots of us missed out on upgrades). She asked us what our preferred meal choice would be, as if we were in business.

Each experience checking in at LATAM’s dedicated Black and Black Signature at Lima, Peru (LIM); Santiago, Chile (SCL); and São Paulo was a delight. But it was on arrival at Fortaleza, Brazil (FOR), in the northern state of Ceará, that I had my most memorable experience. Crew member Sol had a list of Black and Black Signature status holders and led us to our bags. Wow.

2. Great, Free Wi-Fi on Most Short-Haul Planes

Free inflight Wi-Fi is a must for airlines in an increasingly competitive market.

LATAM Pass members with Black status or above get complimentary, gate-to-gate Wi-Fi, including surfing. The downside is that it’s only available on narrow-body Airbus A320 types.

All other passengers without status get unlimited messaging from the moment they step on the plane.

LATAM will start rolling out Wi-Fi on some of its long-haul routes in 2026.

3. Elite-Status Upgrade System That Actually Works

With LATAM Pass Black or higher, you use segments to bid on upgrades. Qualified members have unlimited segments to use on flights within South America, but are limited on long-haul international flights.

My top-tier statuses with The British Airways Club and Flying Blue don’t offer official upgrade perks, but LATAM’s does, and I regularly got upgrades.

The LATAM app clearly displays the number of available seats and requests, followed by a ranked list of passengers, their status level, and whether they have a credit card. For example, Black members with a LATAM Pass credit card rank higher than I do.

Black status helped — I got upgraded on this flight with 31 requests but 5 spare seats.

Another time, sixth in line for 1 seat, I wasn’t.

To increase my upgrade chances on a long-haul flight to Miami, I made a cash bid of $729. Not even money saved me from a long-haul, economy red-eye!

4. Amazing Flagship Lounge in Santiago

LATAM’s flagship lounge at Santiago Airport is my favorite in South America. I’d heard great things from Ryan Smith, news managing editor, who’d visited.

My status gave me access to the most premium of LATAM’s 3 lounges at Santiago, the Signature Lounge.

The stunning atrium above the full-service bar is the standout feature. It’s just a shame this is the only natural light. The wide selection of excellent food and drinks is also impressive.

This lounge opened in this international terminal as recently as 2022. I wish they’d prioritized finding a better location within the terminal for a flagship lounge in its primary base.

5. Premium Check-In for Elites

One of my favorite perks of LATAM Black elite status is Signature check-in areas. These are reserved for passengers with the highest levels of status. Passengers in business class without LATAM Pass Black or Black Signature status aren’t eligible.

The best Signature check-ins are in Lima and Santiago. São Paulo Guarulhos’ Terminal 3 has one, but it’s smaller and feels far less premium.

6. Solid Business Class Seats on Most Long-Haul Planes

The Vantage XL seat is the business class seat you’re most likely to find on LATAM flights, depending on the country.

Essentially, all of the airline’s Brazil-based Boeing 777-300s and Peru-based Boeing 767s have this solid business class cabin in a staggered 1-2-1 configuration.

As for the airline’s growing fleet of Boeing 787 Dreamliners, none of the -8 variants have this seat, and only around half of the -9 variants do.

In better news, some of LATAM’s Boeing 787-9s are being fitted with a brand-new business class suite featuring a fully closing door. In the meantime, the Vantage XL is an excellent product.

Although these seats don’t feature a closing privacy door, the hard-shell wraparound provides privacy.

7. Consistently Above-Average Business Class Catering

Overall, I’ve been impressed by LATAM’s catering in its premium cabins. That said, meals vary significantly by route. The most premium cabin on flights on narrow-body aircraft within Brazil or short-haul international hops around South America is classed premium economy. However, when wide-body Boeing 787s operate these routes, the cabin is classed as business for international routes but premium economy on domestic routes.

For example, this surprisingly tasty chicken sandwich was one of the snack-size meals on the 3-hour domestic flight from São Paulo to Fortaleza. My ticket was marketed as premium economy, even though I had a lie-flat seat on a 787-9 Dreamliner (with the good business class).

I enjoyed my first proper, full meal on a short-haul, international flight from São Paulo to Santiago in business class. This was also aboard a Boeing 787 Dreamliner, but the -8 version with the older seats and 2-2-2 layout.

This delicious chicken salad was also served on a short-haul international flight from Asuncion, Paraguay (ASU) to São Paulo. This time it was on a narrow-body Airbus A320 in premium economy.

My favorite was this squid-ink pasta on a short-haul international flight from Santiago to Lima. This was a business class-marketed ticket on a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.

I hope to try out LATAM’s business class catering on a long-haul international flight next year.

8. LATAM’s Relationship With Delta

Delta bought a 20% stake in LATAM back in 2019. As such, the airlines have a close relationship that includes codesharing and, for those with LATAM or Delta status, the ability to use said status when flying the other airline.

9. Short-Haul, International, Narrow-Body Flights With Amenities in Business Class

I was shocked to see pillows, blankets, and amenity kits on the business seats of an Airbus A320. This was the only flight where I noticed this, but it was also the longest international flight I’d taken in South America that wasn’t operated by a Boeing 787 Dreamliner.

This flight from Lima to Bogotá, Colombia (BOG) was 3 hours and 15 minutes. My guess is these additions are for business class international flights over 3 hours.

Cons of Flying LATAM

As you can probably tell, I’m quite the fan of LATAM. However, there is definitely room for improvement. No airline is perfect, right?

1. Only 1 Lounge in Brazil

For flag carriers like LATAM, airport lounges are an integral offering for passengers in premium cabins or holding elite status.

In addition to its excellent lounge offering in Santiago, LATAM also operates lounges in other key South American airports, including Bogotá, Buenos Aires (EZE), Lima, and São Paulo.

However, despite LATAM being the flag carrier for Brazil, it has only 1 dedicated airline lounge in the whole country. It’s in São Paulo’s international terminal, so only passengers leaving the country can use this lounge.

There is no dedicated lounge at Guarulhos for domestic LATAM passengers with elite status or flying a premium cabin. LATAM markets its most premium domestic cabins as premium economy rather than business class, so that’s a loophole they could be taking advantage of.

There are still lounges in domestic Terminal 2. I only visit the Plaza Premium Lounge. It’s always the least crowded, offers the best selection of food and beverages in the terminal, and boasts excellent views over the aprons and runways. It even has a self-serve açaí station.

Elsewhere in Brazil, if you’re a LATAM elite or flying in a premium cabin, you might find yourself hanging out in bus-station-style terminals with no lounge and, worse, no air conditioning.

2. Miles Are Poor Value

If you thought Delta’s award flights were expensive, then you haven’t seen LATAM’s. A one-way, business class redemption from New York (JFK) to São Paulo in March would set you back a cool 524,000 miles with LATAM. Flying with Delta is around 60,000 less.

As you might expect, economy redemptions are considerably less. However, at almost 100,000, this doesn’t represent great value when a one-way cash ticket would only cost around $500.

It’s not all bad. I’ve often found low redemption rates for flights within South America. A trip I make often between Rio and São Paulo can be as little as 7,000 miles.

Though that’s great, even after taking 31 flights this year, I still only earned enough miles to make 2 short-haul economy redemptions. LATAM Pass clearly relies on Brazil-based members transferring tons of points from their credit cards for redemptions.

3. 2-2-2 Business Class on Older Planes

As mentioned, LATAM’s wide-body planes feature different-quality business class seats. All of its Boeing 787-8 fleet and a chunk of its 787-9 fleet feature an older version of business class in a 2-2-2 layout like in the photo below.

While LATAM is in the process of installing gorgeous suites with closing doors, this is the cabin you’ll be greeted with when flying one of its Boeing 787-8s.

Window seats don’t have direct aisle access, the IFE is ancient, and there’s zero privacy.

For what it’s worth, I find these fully flat seats to be comfortable.

The highest chance you have of getting this seat is flying to or from Santiago. The entire fleet of 787-8s is based there, and they operate routes to the U.S. and Europe.

You might also end up flying on a Wamos-operated Airbus A330. LATAM has wet-leased Wamos aircraft and crew while its Dreamliners are out of service for retrofitting.

These plans feature a slightly better 1-2-1-configured business class cabin, but the product is old.

4. No Alliance

One of the things I used to love about LATAM was its participation in the Oneworld alliance. In 2020, it pulled out after SkyTeam member Delta acquired a 20% stake in the airline.

You’d think the natural next step for LATAM would be to join SkyTeam. However, almost 7 years later, LATAM isn’t in any of the 3 alliances.

This makes flying LATAM frequently a bitter pill to swallow. Now the points and status I earn flying LATAM are only useful when flying LATAM (and to an extent Delta, but I have top-tier SkyTeam status anyway). I miss earning a ton of British Airways Avios and Tier Points while traveling around Brazil.

Final Thoughts

LATAM has rocketed to the top of my favorite-airlines list. Not because it’s fancy, has a first class shower, or serves caviar, but because I am almost guaranteed to have a pleasant experience in any cabin.

The consistency of crew and catering makes me look forward to every single LATAM flight. Once the long-haul fleet is fully retrofitted with business class suites and Wi-Fi is on every plane, there won’t be much else to ask for — other than joining SkyTeam and more LATAM lounges in Brazil.

I look forward to heading back to South America soon and racking up more time in the sky with my favorite South American airline.