Avianca is making some noteworthy upgrades to its business-class experience.
The Colombian flag carrier is rebranding its premium cabin, as well as introducing additional amenities for flyers splurging for the fanciest seats.
Going forward, the airline will market the forward cabin on long-haul flights as Avianca Insignia. Plus, those traveling on short-haul regional flights will now see the business-class cabin sold as the Executive Cabin.
Want more airline-specific news? Sign up for TPG's free biweekly Aviation newsletter.
Avianca will also add some new amenities for those flying on single-aisle aircraft within the Americas. This includes a new main meal service (breakfast, lunch or dinner, depending on the time of departure), a full drink service and a prearrival snack service. The airline will also debut several comfort essentials, such as a blanket, pillow and amenity kit on these flights.
This represents a major strategy shift for Avianca, as the carrier scrapped regional business-class cabins on short-haul flights during the pandemic. The airline maintained its spacious front cabin but just sold these seats with a premium extra-legroom surcharge on top of the economy fare.
Travelers splurging for these seat assignments would receive the standard economy service.
Going forward, the new regional business-class cabin will maintain the existing seats that are already flying in the first three rows of the Airbus A320 aircraft; it's just the "soft product" — the part of the experience that isn't bolted to the plane — that's changing.
Loyalty basics: Best ways to earn airline miles
This new offering will be available beginning July 1 on routes from Bogota, Colombia, to Santiago, Chile; Sao Paulo; Buenos Aires; Montevideo, Uruguay; Rio de Janeiro; Miami; Washington; New York; Boston; Toronto; and Mexico City. Depending on how the rollout goes, I wouldn't be surprised if Avianca expanded this new service to additional routes that are shorter than five hours.
I'd also expect that the reintroduction of business class will also usher in a more expensive upcharge for these seats on trips that are longer than five hours.
Meanwhile, the long-haul business-class experience isn't changing that much. The airline will maintain lie-flat business-class pods in a reverse herringbone configuration on its Boeing 787 Dreamliner fleet.
While these may not be the latest cutting-edge suites with doors, Avianca's business class is certainly above average.
The airline will launch new long-haul amenity kits with collectible cases designed by Mola Sasa in collaboration with the Gunadule Indigenous community, with beauty products and other essentials from Loto del Sur, a Colombian beauty brand focused on promoting its
The website maxtravelz.com is an aggregator of news from open sources. The source is indicated at the beginning and at the end of the announcement. You can send a complaint on the news if you find it unreliable.
When I first started at The Points Guy all the way back in 2011, it wasn't unusual for me to spot a mileage deal, grab my suitcase and hop on a plane at the drop of a hat. These days, however, I'm more likely to plan ahead and plot out each trip I take moment by moment well in advance (mainly so I don't annoy my partner with the frequent disappearing acts!).
A transatlantic United Airlines flight had to turn around after a business class passenger's laptop got stuck in their seat, travel news site Paddle Your Own Kanoo reported.
It's been a good week for business-class deal hunters. We saw incredible Air France Flying Blue business-class award space earlier this week and then stumbled upon first-class flights to Hawaii as low as 40,000 each way.
When it comes to the world's best airlines for business class, the same names and products have long dominated the conversation, especially when it comes lie-flat products on Middle Eastern routes. But these days, with new technology for a post-pandemic travel era coming to fruition and the elevated-class competition strong, travelers would do well to pay attention to newer business products that are emerging to compete with those major players—particularly on smaller routes, where the service is more focused and the airport less-crowded, no less.
Flying on Japan Airlines has always been, well, delightfully Japanese. Think of it as an introduction—or if departing from Tokyo, a bid farewell—to the country’s characteristic tenets of respectful, nearly differential service; seafood-forward and fresh cuisine; and commitment to cultural traditions. (Onboard oshiburi, anyone?) Add in comfortable seats across all cabins—yes, even decent economy ones with 34 inches of recline—and you have an experience worth writing home about. Or at least not complaining to someone about.
Looking to travel to Hong Kong in 2025? Cathay Pacific — a Hong Kong-based carrier — currently has open award availability in business and first class from January through March 2025, as first flagged by @FindFlightsforMe.
I'm a frequent United Airlines flyer. I pretty much have to be since I live near Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) — a United hub where most of the gates in the airport belong to the legacy carrier.
In April 2020, United MileagePlus removed its partner award chart. Partner awards continued pricing at the lowest Saver level from the last-published award charts for a while. But over time, United Airlines has slowly raised its unpublished partner award rates. Last month, United devalued first-class partner redemptions, increasing award prices up to 100%. Now, the loyalty program has struck again with another devaluation.