- 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
After an ill-advised long night out (while slightly under the weather), I woke up at 5:20am, muy tarde for a 7am flight. I quickly crammed everything I could find into my bags, finding out later I forgot my TSA-approved check-in luggage lock. Darn. I quickly settled my bill with the hostel, short of $20/night, and ate a couple of bites as they had graciously made me tea and a couple pieces of toast. I ran outside the house’s complex to hail a taxi, something I wasn’t expecting to get done quickly at all at that time of morning. Ten minutes and six Peruvian Nuevo Soles later, I was at CUZ Airport.
Only a few airlines fly out of CUZ, but it’s evident that LAN is the big player. At 5:50am, only my flight was checking in. The only lines are for bag-drop (short) and check-in (long), though I don’t know why anyone would voluntarily elect the latter line, as there are a few kiosks that print BPs, allowing one to go to security or bag-drop. From what I saw, there are no lines or ways to skip lines if one is a LAN/OneWorld elite. To the left of the LAN counters is a PriorityPass lounge, but it wasn’t open at 6am.
While boarding was scheduled for 6:35am, security didn’t open until 6:15am. Again, I cannot say how great security works in Peru. After a quick ID check, I simply emptied my pockets and walked through the scanner, keeping my belt, shoes, jacket, and laptop where they were. I even had a 1L water bottle in my bag!
LAN 2019 operated by LAN Peru
Cusco (CUZ) – Lima (LIM)
Depart: 7:05am
Arrive: 8:35am
Duration: 1h30m
Aircraft: Airbus A319
Seat: 5L (Economy – Window)
Instead of zones, LAN uses rows. When boarding A319s with jetways, they board rows 12-24, then rows 1-11. While I heard something about OW Elite members on the recorded announcement, I don’t recall any preferred boarding. The method works, though, as soon as I boarded the aircraft, I was able to quickly put my bag in the overhead and get in my seat, to catch a few Zzzs.
We landed early at LIM, and after a short wait at baggage claim, I got a taxi at a registered Taxi Green booth at the airport. At first, I thought 45 Soles was a bit high, but the drive to Miraflores is a bit longer than I thought, and I didn’t have to deal with any potential shenanigans on this drive, unlike the return trip.