Flying low cost with Flybondi to Iguazú

Nuevo flight report, new aerolínea and this time we flew low cost with Flybondi to Iguazú.

During a vacation in Buenos Aires, take advantageé the low costs of tickets domésticos in Argentina thanks to what thereá they call «la revolutionón of airplanes» with 8 aerolíneas regulars doméstatics operating in this countryís almost 49 millions of inhabitants.

In particular, you haveíhas seen the destination Iguazú to know their increíbeautiful cataracts, cabin turníworld-famous aesthetician and it is not because «take out pica» to the readers of Ecuador, but this flight of almost 2 hours of hardáción round trip including taxes it cost meó nada más and nothing less than alone $25 dólares per person.

This cost, we envy him in Ecuador, where a flight of this durationón equivalent to beingía Galápayments do not cost less than $180 en graduationón, but we already know that fares in Ecuador are high.

Hereí tell themé the experience of flying with the first aerolínew low cost from Argentina, which was generally acceptable, but in punctuality and customer service, wateró much to be desired.

ticket purchase

On página web of Flybondi está highly worked and refined, so your b systemsúflight search, reservation and purchase work perfectlyón and they are very user friendly.

The purchasing process on the Aerol websiteínea works as follows:

1. selectódestination n and núpassenger grouper.
2. selectónumber of dates.
3. selectón de tarifa (a single optionón de tarifa).
4. selectóNo. of additional services.
5. Complete passenger data.
6. Payment.

There is no optionón of úJust book the flight and you must pay immediately to secure the fare.. On páwebsite accepts all types of credit cardsénational to international transfers, in my case usé Ecuador card and copperó comes trueó No problem.

Additional services

As we advance it from títitle of this report, Flybondi is an airlineílow-cost line and charges for all additional services that are notán included in the base rate.

We can highlight the following additional:

• cabin baggage (sports bag or carry-on).
• Luggage in hold 12 kilos.
• Luggage in hold 20 kilos.
• Purchase of 5 extra kilos.
• Sports or musical team.
• priority boarding.
• Café o té Prepayment.
• Prepay for airport check-in service.
• Mascot on board. Airport transfer.
• selectóseat number.

The costs of each service varyían, but if they are purchased in advance on the páwebsite has a discount of 50%, but for example transporting a pet has a cost of 1.799 Argentine pesos that at today's exchange rate are about $47 dóhomes.

Luggage

with the rate úFlybondi nica is included úonly a personal accessory such as a backpack, the goalíNo wallet up 6 kilos of weight at no extra cost, any additional luggage, It has a cost that can be consulted on the Aerol website.ínea.

The dimensions that they can have are:

• Additional carry-on bag up to 9 kilos de 45cm x 25cm x 55cm.
• Luggage in hold up to 12 kilos up 158 centílinear meters.
• Luggage in hold up to 20 kilos up 158 centílinear meters.

In my case I did not payé for additional services or extra suitcase in the hold or cabin, since I was only 3 días well as Iguazú, yoursé lightweight all in one backpack.

Check-In

in this airíthe web check-in process opens 48 hours before flight departure time, and the same as the purchase process, Doing it is very simple and also allowsén select seats, paying of course.

Finished the web check-in arriveá mail the boarding pass, which is nothingás than a PDF file with a cóI say QR, which can be presented with the cell phone or printedéearrings. If it were the case that none of the other 2 options is feasible for you, you can print it at the airport for an additional cost.

Airport and Boarding

The El Palomar International Airport It's a small oneña terminal, to talk abouté más extensively in a future post I am preparing, but hereí operates for now úFlybondi only, so the processes are very ráI ask.

Go through security filters, if you have all the documentationón and boarding pass ready, no toma más de 5 minutes and not needás come into contact with the airínea and ningún moment.

Regrettably, in the díto my flight, Flybondi sufferó major delays in all its flights due to maintenance on one of its planes, themselvesúI didn't listené in the hallways, what it generatedó May my flight take off with 7 hours delay from El Palomar.

Despite this delay and the fact that many other flights alsoén tenísignificant delays, the rest of the passengers that were noticeable were not notified or did not read the itinerary change notification email that they did send for my flight, a ningúAt one point they complained or made a claim and the airlineínea tampoco if you pronounceó over the loudspeakers apologizing or informing about the delay.

The boarding process is máIt's slower than other aerosolsídenies, since first a person of threeáI'll review ité seat you have assigned and thenés another check your boarding pass, what they are 2 steps that can beíto do in one.

Sayún auto assigned rowáethically by the system or by you, approachás through the front or back door, This is because Flybondi does not use sleeves and is always approached by stairs., which speeds up the process and reduces turn around times.

Itinerary

Flybondi flies once a dayíbetween El Palomar and Puerto Iguzú argentine side, with his fleet 5 boeing aircraft 737-800.

The flight mustíto take off from El Palomar at 14:38, but it took offó exactly 5 hours laterés and landedó at 16:28.

Scheduled with a durationón of 1 hour with 50 minutes, the return flight from Iguazú took offó on route at 17:00 and landedó back in Buenos Aires at 18:50.

On board

The núThe best flight was the FO5100 and we were able to see how Flybondi has managed to capture so much of the market and transport más de 500 thousand passengers.

Inside the avión, the crewón is very strict with security measures, but at the same time a very friendly atmosphere is felt and the safety announcements and flight details are always made with some funny phrase or details that make people laugh and even applaud, very similar to Wingo.

The food service is quite báphysical, there is no menuú where the different product options for sale are shown, such as LATAM Market or as they sayía, all aerosolsídenies. Simply the crewón gives the notice that they have cold drinksías, hot drinks and snacks for sale, later if someone isá interested in the products tell you whaté It's what they have available.

The costs are veryándar and similar at what costíto any of the products offered at an airport and start from the 50 d centsólar up, where you can buy the products separately or in combo, that dirty más cheated.

Inside the avióThere is no entertainment, no upper screens, no magazines, all to lower costs and reduce the takeoff weight of the aircraftón, that in the end, generates fuel savings for the airlineínea and allows you to keep your prices low.

The flights, both going and returning, They had an important occupationón always higher than 80%.

From El Palomar volé and el Boeing 737-800 Next Gen matríLV-HQY with núMSN serial grouper 34406, which has 13 años since its first flight and is powered by 2 CFM56-7B26 engines.

Configured in a single class with capacity for 187 passengers, fly on Flybondi since May 2018, previously voló new of fábreak in Turkish Airlines and its exterior and interior condition are quite well maintained..

As the flight continuedó at night due to the delay, don't takeé many más photos of that section, but yesí this one from the avión on platform:

Return flight

I leave some imágenes y vídeo left over from the return flight on the Boeing 737-800NG matrícula LV-HKR núMSN serial grouper 32614 With almost 17 añyou from your first flight to American Trans Air.

something that calledó a lot of attentionón on the return flight was the cabin steward's announcement asking whoénes were the passengers who were flying for the first time in their lives, It was amazing to see how some 40 passengers raised their hand, which brought applause from the entire audienceón.

I leave you a vídeo of the flight back to Buenos Aires recorded with the GoPro:

Concludedón

As usual, flying in a low cost does not have to be a negative experience, if you know the rules and conditions of flying with them. In this specific case, The experience was normal to any airplaneínea actual, but the delay, the lack of communicationón and attentionón to the user they generated that what could be a good thing, no sea así.

The delay of 5 hours I took offó important hours to know Iguazú, I had to change taxi hours, hotels and cancel a tour, but worst of all and this leaves me with doubts about the regulationón argentina, is that there has not been anyún type of compensationón and that all passengers have taken the delay as something very normal, not an apology, just an email notifying the change.

Fly on any airplaneílow-cost or traditional line can cost expensive, anyone can have delays or cancellations, everything isá in cómo la aerolítreat the passenger and report on the situations.

¿I recommend flying with Flybondi? Becauseé no, you can save a lot of money, but don't expect great service or concernón by the client, except an apology if there is a delay of 5 hours.

Additional data

• Since there is noún type of entertainment, I recommend bringing your cell phone or tablet with audioíheadphones to watchípreviously downloaded files or series.
• Due to the distance between El Palomar and the center of Buenos Aires, I recommend going out 2 hours 30 minutes before flight departure, but only if they previously checked-in online.
• They can bring your own food on board like potatoes, sandwich or similar máIt's a drink in case you don't want to spend on the avión.