CApreppie

I am headed down to South America on AA/LA and will be using SCL and EZE airports during my trip. I am AA Plat/ow Sapphire. I have searched FT looking for lounge information and have a few questions concerning what I found.

EZE - looks like the AA Admirals Club is the lone shared lounge for oneworld carriers?

SCL - In addition to AA AC, LanChile has two lounges. Are both LA lounges open to oneworld sapphire passengers?

Any advice on which ones are the nicest to use?

Thanks!

JuPe

At SCL, the Neruda Lounge is open for OW Sapphire. It's a very nice lounge, with some light food (small sandwiches, cakes, fruits) and a good choice of beverages. The lounge also has shower rooms and computers with internet access. If you have a longer waiting time, the lounge has a quiet area with blankets, pillows and comfortable easy chairs.

Viajero

Four days ago I went to IB's lounge at EZE, but found it closed (one hour before the flight), I didn't feel like asking around why or when, so moved on to AA's lounge: nice, quiet, almost empty, light food (good), drinks (plentiful), internet, no showers, no easy chairs but otherwise more than adequate.

Eastbay1K

SCL - The Neruda lounge is the best in the airport, and one of the better "non-luxury" (ie, without a chef, haircuts, etc.) lounges anywhere.

The Mistral lounge is a pay-per-use lounge available to anyone, run by LA - I do not know for sure, but it may be where the UA RCC was.

You can skip the AA lounge - it was so so.

EZE - The AA lounge is ok. It is not exceptional, but it is pleasant. Further, the gate area is so unappealing, in comparison, the lounge is just, well, great.

virtualtroy

I'm not a great fan of Admirals Clubs but IMO the one at SCL is one of the best on the network - even though the decor is, characteristically, Dallas kitsch circa 1986. At times when the LA lounge is overcrowded, it's worth considering as a quieter alternative.

CApreppie

Thanks for the information about the lounges! I'll try to check out the AC in EZE and the Neruda and AC in SCL. I'll put in my two cents' worth when I get back.

CApreppie

Back from my trip to South America and here are my EZE and SCL lounge takes as AA Plat/OW Sapphire:

EZE AA Admiral's Club: Arrived at the AC lounge at 6:20AM for my 7:20AM LAN flight to SCL. The lounge opens at 6:00AM. The front desk agent had me sign in on a clipboard sheet and took a look my boarding pass and AA Plat card and in I went. I was the only person in the lounge for the entire time I was there, but I'm sure it get's quite crowded for the evening flights out. The lounge had typical decor: black marble/granite accents, dark wood, leather seats, patterned carpeting, and lighter walls. The windows looked out upon the planes, but there was a hallway between two sets of windows. I never saw anyone walk through there but it looked to be a customs hallway for arrivals. Breakfast food consisted of two types of cereal and milk, orange juice, yogurt cups, apples, and snack peanuts. There were the usual drinks, soda and water, in the refrigerator.There were a couple Internet terminals to use in the small business area.

SCL AA Admiral's Club: Arrived at the AC two hours before my 11:50PM SCL-DFW flight. No problems getting in with my BP and Plat card. This AC is done in lighter gold shades of wood with the typical lounge quad seating. The lounge is rectangular, longer as opposed to wider. The windows look out upon the planes from the ground floor, one floor below the main terminal level. There was a separated completely enclosed smoking area on one side of the lounge. There was a big screen TV hooked to satellite TV that could be contolled by the viewer. The food consisted of bowl snack mix, peanut snack packs, cold cuts, orange juice, and the usual drinks in the refrigerator. There was also complimentary alcohol, but I didn't look at what it was. I didn't even stop for a sip of water as I hoofed it out of there for the LAN Neruda Lounge.

SCL LAN Neruda Lounge: The front desk agent wrote down my AAdvantage number from my card and let me in no problem. She said that there were no announcements for the AA flight to DFW but I could look at the monitors. This lounge had much more contemporary decor (blues and grays); however it was on the same level/same view, the same shape and about the same size as the AC. I took my initial tour through the place and noticed the smoking area was separated by a partition only. Blech! That was the side with the business area with about six Internet terminals. I retreated to the other side and there was a great area with curved semi-reclined 'S' chairs with pillows and blankets. They were great leather chairs with an adjustable headrest and no smell of second hand smoke. I noticed that the staff was sometimes a bit slow at taking away glasses/plates from empty chairs. So if a chair looks to be abandoned, it might be worthwhile to investigate. There were food/drink stations on each side of the club. The food was better than the AC with a fruit plate (kiwi, cherries, orange slices, strawberries), bowl snack mix (almonds, peanuts, gold raisins), peanut snack packs, dessert plate, cheese and cracker plate and cold cut plate (I think). There were various juices (orange and peach for sure), still and gas water and soda in the refrigerator. I don't drink but there were various bottles/cans of alcohol around. They had bottles of Inca Kola, originally Peruvian, and now bottled by Coca-Cola, in the fridge. It's worth trying as it is a bit harder to find in the US. I spent my time on one of the lounge chairs and the lounge cleared out when the last LAN flight departed before 11:00PM, also closing time. The lounge is definitely busier than the AC due to more LAN flights. The front desk agent took the time to let me know that my flight was departing soon as well. That left me and a mother-daughter couple on the AA flight. I guess that not a lot of AA elites know about the far superior lounge a few gates away.

virtualtroy

They do now. Great (and accurate) report CApreppie.

PresRDC

I am on record in this or the AA forum as preferring the SCL AC to the Neruda Lounge. I just don't see the appeal of the LAN lounge. As reported, it is smoky. The majority of the seats are uncomfortable. While it has a decent food spread (nothing hot or overly fancy), the SCL AC has, for an AC, a very good food spread and is much less crowded with more comfortable seats.

When in SCL I use the Neruda lounge for an e-mail check and, if desired, a shower, and then head the other way to the AC. This really is the only city I've been to where I would choose an AC over another OW lounge.

In flight, no question, LAN wins hands down.

Eastbay1K

I like the Neruda lounge better because I like being able to set up in one of the internet terminals, grab some snacks, try a varied selection of wines, and have my absolut w/damasco juice and fizzywater cocktail. I'm also almost always on Lan, and well, announcements are made. (I'll be passing through SCL 5 times on my next Chile trip, but only 1 trip to the Neruda lounge ) - At least the other side of the airport has the Pacific Club Salon VIP for my other (national) departures.

Darren

I am surprised no one has mentioned, but the Neruda does have wireless internet access set up. I had a very long layover over the summer and just parked in the S chairs and whiled away my time on the Internet and having a snooze.

Viajero

Free WiFi is available not only in the lounge but throughout 80,000 m2 of the international and domestic public areas of the airport, even the loo, where sometimes you can hear the loud click-click sound of busy keyboards, coming from 'next door'.

Good airport SCL, puts many others, from much bigger countries, to shame.

CApreppie

I definitely agree the non-separated smoking area is terrible in the Neruda Lounge. For nonsmokers, I think it makes that side of the club offlimits for lounging. Fortunately, the other side of the club has the great 'S' chairs as mentioned. Unfortunately, that side of the club has a bar counter with bar stools and tables with four chairs as the only options other than the lounge chairs. If one minds upright chairs/bar stools, the AC would make for a more comfortable stay. I still think the food and drink in the Neruda Lounge is far superior to the AC.

The moral of this Sapphire lounge story? Use both! Eat, drink, surf and shower at the Neruda Lounge and relax at the AC if you find it more comfortable.