LATAM Airlines Reviews

I am a small, single woman traveling. I was afraid the entire time and refused to leave the airport for safety. The crew actively wanted me to leave the airport and instructed me to do so, which would have resulted in missing my flight. Besides the egregiously inaccurate information they provided, I am HIGHLY concerned about the safety of young women traveling alone through this airline. Don’t do it.

When changing the first segment, there was a slight difference of $80 dollars for the flights but Latam charged our credit card in full for the new reservations instead of just charging the difference. The original $ goes into their Latam Wallet, and you have to wait to eventually transfer that money from the Latam Wallet to your bank account. In addition, their online system does not seem to reflect the flight changes made, even though we received email confirmation and spoke to an agent.

On the second segment we went through the change process to change a date. Online, the change process seemed to go ok, it put $37.60 in my Latam Wallet (out of the $363.20 full fare), but it did not send me an email confirmation, nor does it reflect the changes made in my online trips summary. I ended up buying new tickets for the date we needed, and cancelling the original reservation. I went ahead and used the $37.60 in the wallet towards the payment of the new tickets.

When I cancelled my original $363.20 ticket, it came back with a confirmation of a $202 refund! I expected they would subtract the money I used from the wallet and see a refund for $325.60... that is $123.6 that they are pocketing! I called their Customer Service, and they told me I had to wait to get my refund of $202 (which takes 2-3 weeks), then I can call them again to make a claim for the amount!

Despite all my efforts to arrange an alternative flight to make my connection, THEY REMOVED me from the flight. The entire experience was deeply frustrating and disappointing. I STRONGLY ADVICE AGAINST using this airline; their customer service and consideration for passengers are severely lacking. Not recommend. The worst airline with the worst customer assistance. Horrible experience. Latam Airlines is a disappoint at all.

I speak to the ticketing area, I find out that there are 3 other people who missed their flight because of the gate change. And the ticketing lady says for a 9 pm flight there are seats but I have to pay another $150. I could get a cheaper flight on another airline and she told me to do this. Again, she never tells me my luggage is still in Bogoda. I catch a 7:30 flight on Wingo that left an hour late, only to find out when I get to Cartagena that my luggage isn’t here and the 6-7 reps that are at the Latam podium state they can’t help me. There is no supervisor to speak to. Finally, by calling delta, I get a working customer service number. I’m still waiting on the line. Alone as a woman, not knowing the language, with no luggage because of this airline. Not knowing what to do. Should I just leave and go back home. Is my luggage still in Bogota. I don’t know what to do.

When we landed in Sao Paulo for our layover, we were waiting for our stroller to be returned to us at the gate, but it never arrived. The staff was unhelpful, stating that they didn't have it and didn't know where to look for it either. They refused to call anywhere to make inquiries on our behalf. They simply turned their backs to us and walked away. They treated us like we were some sort of nuisance that they wanted out of their space as quickly as possible.

We were exhausted, confused, and frustrated. We were forced to rush into the baggage claim with a sleeping toddler in our arms in the middle of the night, and our hands full with our carry-on bags. When we finally reached the baggage conveyor, the attendant stated that we had a wrong tag and our stroller was sent directly to San Francisco. Who in the world sends a motion-assistance device all the way to the final destination??

I purchased the stroller for this airplane trip specifically, so that our toddler son can get some rest in the airport in-between the 4(!) flights that we had to take to return home, but the stroller was just taken away from us by a person who doesn't know how to handle them correctly. This is the same as making a disabled person run around the airport trying to locate their wheelchair and subsequently being told they can't have it until they complete their journey. I was shocked and appalled by how our family was treated by the airline.

When we reached the LATAM check-in counter in São Paulo airport, the employee on duty confirmed what we suspected: we have been misled by the airline workers. The employees we spoke to prior to this moment knew exactly what happened to the stroller: the luggage tag is always white, and the stroller gate check tag is always pink. They willingly made us run around the airport while holding a sleeping child, because they didn't want to do the work of correcting the mistake of the gate attendant in Joao Pessoa. I was shocked and appalled by the lack of professionalism that we faced during our journey.

This experience left me feeling disrespected as a customer, as well as an individual. The airline made it very clear that they have zero regards for the health and experience of their customers, regardless of their age group. I'm utterly disgusted that my 1.5 years old son was treated in this manner. All my attempts to contact the airline to make things right were fruitless. The customer service representative simply hung up on me when I called. Avoid them like a plague. This is a money-grabbing conglomerate that doesn't care about their passengers' wellness and safety.

I don't agree with the company's apparent lack of staffing support for such a vital part of your business as the CUSTOMER IS the business, but instead we feel that the prior reimbursement was just an attempt to pacify us and avoid culpability of your companies disregard for the customer. We would like a refund of the $2993.00 we incurred due to LATAM's neglect to staff Customer Support.

I had to change the tickets dates for me, my kids and my mother in March 2023. Every time I called it was a different problem. Every single time they encountered a problem in the system. Every time I called (same day) the fare would have a different price, it would vary from 2k to 3k and then $700 on the same day (this is only the fare difference on the ticket I have already purchased). I know the fare changes constantly, but it didnt make any sense.. every representative would give me an insane price every time I called. The changing fee would be different on every call.. in one call he said there would be no fee, another one told me it would be $150, and then $300 and $450.. no consistency at all... even when I agreed to pay a lot more for the fare difference the system would not process the payment and I would have to call back later and go through the same process over and over again..

Also, my mother was on a different reservation so I had to double the calls because they could not resolve everything in a single call.. always saying the system was down or payment could not be processed at that time. I even cried at some point. After several calls the problem was resolved at 2am. Don't get me wrong, the customer service representatives are polite and friendly but they CAN'T help!

Fast forward to June I had to change my mother's reservation again. When I booked her flight several months ago, I bought a more expensive ticket so we could have flexibility on changes, and guess what.. it was the same nonsense. Several calls, crazy fare changes and to put the ticket on hold they wanted to charge me $450 + changing fees, + the fare difference whenever I book in the future.. so it was better just not show up for this flight and buy a new ticket with another airline company. I don't usually write reviews, but I wasted so much time and money that I want to warn people that Latam was my worst airline experience.

I had written multiple times, pleaded, begged and implored to get some compensation so I can complete this trip when the situation is better. But it was like talking to a wall- like a “broken record” they kept pointing the finger at the travel agent to issue the credit/refund/voucher BUT confining them to follow fare rules which is to keep 70% of the fare and tack on fees and charges on top of that.

And then the LATAM agent had the audacity to hope I “comprehended” his response. I COMPREHENDED the answer well. By keeping to the fare rules and punting to the travel agent, they could basically say “too bad, so sad, we don’t give a ** about you, but could you please direct your frustration to the travel agent”… If they could give the agency the ability to return/refund/voucher/credit ANY reasonable portion of the fare that would be great and I would have been HAPPY to ask the agency.

And I did – for the fares bought through United and Delta. They were happy to help! Imagine that… These foreign companies were willing to help the customers, but not the local one (LATAM). LATAM’s policy, “keep the money, point the finger at someone else”. LATAM doesn’t give a ** about their customers. United and Delta are based in a culture where customer service is important. LATAM is apparently missing that part.

I'm so sorry I ever had the misfortune of dealing with LATAM. I'm guessing that is why their rating is so poor worldwide. They basically "don't give a **". And even proof of that is, when I asked how to file a complaint, they didn’t waste a second emailing me the link where I could a lodge a complaint so they can likely delete it… Thank you for the education; lesson learned.

When I used my phone to photograph his name tag, he tried to cover it up. JOAQIN ** and LATAM AIR are perpetrators of racism, discrimination and human rights violations. In any other country, JOAQIN ** and LATAM AIR would be criminally charged and convicted. SHAME ON YOU LATAM AIR. Here are the photos of those guilty of discrimination.

I keep emailing the airline since the travel agency is stating to me that the airline is denying my refund and when I get in contact with the airline, they do not want to help and automatically puts the blame on the agency and says they cannot help, but not once have they asked me for my Covid results or given me any help stating that they will contact the agency directly to ge to the bottom of it all. This game of hot potato puts us, the customer, in a limbo that all it gives us is a bad experience and no help at all.

To put it in perspective, my Argentine friend had carry on bag with a different airline and they only charged him 3,000 Argentine pesos. LATAM charged me 10 TIMES that amount of money, and there was absolutely nothing I could do. To add insult to injury, there was a lot of extra space in the carry on bins. It wasn’t even a full flight or anything. Absolutely ridiculous amount of money, they are clearly just trying to take advantage of their customers. I filed a complaint and they never even got back to me.

Case 3 - ** created 26/09/22

Lack of respect for a customer. I will never buy a ticket with them.. Be aware.

A week or so later Latam then cancelled the Rio to São Paulo sector of our return flight, again without notification, consultation or explanation, requiring me to spend a further 4 hours on the phone (and again, multiple disconnections) to be offered an alternative routing via Belo Horizonte. A few days later on Latam then cancelled this flight too, again without notifying me, automatically replacing it with a flight via Brasília which, although frustrating, I accepted. Latam then again cancelled the whole sector, meaning we'd have to make our own way to São Paulo from Rio for our connecting return flight to London. No explanation was given or any alternative ticket offered. After another 4 hours on the phone trying to resolve this cancellation when I then noticed LATAM had cancelled our entire return flight - effectively stranding us in Brazil without any explanation.

The staff repeatedly hung up on my calls while I frantically tried to fix the fall out. As a result of the previous changes I'd had to amend, at my expense all of my other travel arrangements to accommodate the ticket changes. All I wanted was the return flight from London to Rio I'd booked and paid for in December 2021. I didn't care about the routing as long as I could get from A to B. I have spent 16 hour in total on the phone to Latam over the course of 32 separate calls (many due to being disconnected/hung up on). I have reached out for help via their social media channels and have been exchanging pointless and unhelpful messages at a rate of 1 every 3-4 hours. As it stands I depart for Brazil in the morning and have no return flight booked (as they cancelled the ticket).

I make the distinction between airlines cancelling a flight and cancelling tickets because through all of this, they were still selling tickets on the flights they'd cancelled for us - all of them were still running, LATAM were just reselling our tickets. I have never been treated so poorly by any company I've had dealings with and can categorically say Latam is THE worst airline I've been misguided enough to book with. I have zero confidence that my outward ticket will still be valid by the time I get to the airport in London and no confidence that any of my bookings will be honoured. My only option is to travel without a return ticket and purchase a new ticket from a different airlineI How can this airline even still be in business. Please don't make the same mistake as us - take the many terrible reviews for Latam's service very seriously and avoid at all costs!!! Our benefit of the doubt approach has benefitted nobody but Latam!

I found out a customer service number throughout internet since LATAM website doesn't have a way to cancel the reservation. I asked the agent if I could cancel and make the reservation again and he told me that it was not possible and if I do it, they would only refund 30% of the cost. Impressive this is just an hour after I made the reservation. I have never had such a bad experience with any company you always get a 24 hrs. grace period to make changes or cancel without any penalty.

5. They sent me the voucher weeks later and I called again. 6 They told me they would now send it to the department that makes the transfer from voucher to refund 7. I received an email asking for my Mom's passport. I sent it. 8. Then even though it was on the same reservation I received another email asking for my father's passport. I sent it. Finally: After months of waiting I received this email asking me for the following information in order to process the refund from Steven **.‍

Reservation number: -

I wrote back demanding an answer and a refund immediately. It's been almost a week and I did not get even an email response demanded by my email. Trash airlines. Never travel with them. My parents are in their early eighties and this airline is holding their hard-earned money for no reason! I would give them a zero star if I could.

I created a support case straight away to ask for a full refund, as I couldn't afford that ticket. It's been 1 month and there is no reply on my support ticket. I call customer support every day and they say they cannot do anything apart from wait for the correct department to answer my case. Latam is clearly not caring about the customer and it is stealing money from the customers. Doing a bit of a research I found out that I am not the only one that fell under this trick that Latam is using to steal people's money... Don't trust this website... Don't trust this airline company!

As I was getting back to my home country after nearly 3 years as were waiting for our residence renewal in Spain this was a huge issue for me, my daughter and my dog as we were without money, food and a place to stay in Madrid! Being a unemployed women my husband and family from Brazil managed to arrange everything necessary to return back for our safety; but adding to our humiliation none of the LATAM staff provided help nor support to us. They were always shouting and keeping us away from them until the flight departed and sent all our luggage without us! It was not just that the lady who was dealing with the pets dragged me, my daughter along with our dog when we were trying to explain our complicated situation with them.

Not just that, the lady said that she will gave 5 euros to buy some food for my daughter! Me as a mother of a daughter and a small dog had to stay empty stomach whole night without food with uncertainty at the airport! Next day when I complained to Civil police and explained our situation they said that they will help her to get the documents for our dog urgently. They gave us food and supported that they will help us in our safe return. Even after that the LATAM staff were not ready to provide us a new ticket for the next day fight. Only when the Civil police interfered they provided the tickets with "Shameful smiling faces" as if nothing happened! I think the Spain care more for women, animal as well as children rights than LATAM Brazil! I want the whole world to know what this LATAM airlines is capable of! If they can do this with the people from their own country just imagine what they can do for others.

Maria Fernanda Maciel Teixeira Sanmukh

While speaking to Valerie ** (emp # **), she had no idea what she was doing, and told me to get my refund from Expedia. I kept telling her I booked DIRECTLY FROM THE LATAM SITE AND NOT EXPEDIA. She then kept me on hold for 40 minutes, spoke to her manager Felipe **, and told me sorry they could not process the refund. I told them several times that I received an email confirmation, and all they could say was sorry, refund was rejected. NEVER EVER FLY WITH LATAM, they are CROOKS! I’ve publicly listed the names of the incompetent staff I had to deal with and will continue posting until I get my refund.

The hoops you have to jump through to get a refund are arduous as well. I had to cancel one at a time, not the entire reservation. They will not refund to your credit card, only to your bank account. I filed for a refund yesterday and filled out their repetitious forms one-by-one and then they issue a travel voucher and then you have to go through the process again and give them your bank account information. NOT SECURE in my book. FLY with ANY OTHER airline but LATAM.

A week before my flight and they said everything was fine, the man said he would email a confirmation, he didn't. Then I tried to check in 72 hours before my flight, the website wasn't working. I called again in Portuguese and they then told me the flight was cancelled which I would have had no way of knowing if I didn't speak a bit of Portuguese.

They helped me change the flight which was good. However I then checked in online and bought an upgraded seat, the payment was taken from me and a receipt emailed, but my seat has not changed on the website or my ticket. So they have stolen money from me and not delivered their part of the service. I tried to call again to sort it, I had to call the Portuguese line again as no one answers in English, and he told me to call back the English or Spanish and wouldn't help me. I explained there was no one on the English line but he wouldn't help me. How am I supposed to sort this problem? It's the worst experience I've ever had with a flight and I want compensation for my experience, I need a refund of the stolen money and someone from Latam to actually respond and fix the problems!

Last December 2019 we purchased tickets to fly to Peru on New Year's vacation and we were not able to pay for the tickets online with our credit card. My husband tried every which way to pay for the tickets and was not able to. We had to call a family member in Peru so that they could purchase our tickets in Peru because their system would not take our payment. About a week later we tried to purchase tickets to fly to Australia together. My husband was not able to buy our tickets on the same order he had to buy his ticket separate from mine. Why? Because their system would not accept payment for both tickets online. This is outrageous!!! So, he had to buy both his ticket and my ticket separately.

Before we flew to Peru this past December, we checked to make sure everything was ok with the reservations to Australia and long and be hold, they issued my ticked but they did not issue his ticket even though they charged the credit card. So, this is where all the trouble started again with Latam. My husband started calling them asking them why they had not issued his ticket to Australia, they said they would in time, to keep checking back and gave us a case number.

While we were in Peru we went to a Latam center and they said that our case was not important, that they needed to focus on other cases that had flights sooner then ours to Australia. We kept calling and checking with them and we got to nothing. Then they said there was an issue with my husbands member number and told us to call another number to get a telephone code so we could get another case number. Then they said we needed to call their Brazil office to deal with the issue. We kept getting the run around and no answers!!!

We were in Peru for a month and all this time nothing was resolved with Latam. They eventually cancelled my husbands ticket to Australia and refunded the money without advising us. But now we are left with my ticket. So we are trying to cancel my ticket to Australia but we get nowhere with this company. Same excuses!!! They send us from here to there with no solution and I'm so sick and tired of this lack of professionalism and waste of our valuable time!!! They gave us a case number for this ticket and now a week away from when our flight was, we still have no resolution to this chaos!!!

Consumers need to be aware of what this company is doing!

Anyway, since they did not give us another option no matter how many times we said no, we took the $20 cash voucher. Here comes the worst part.... they told us that we could go to any LATAM agency and that they would exchange the voucher for cash, as the counter at the airport was not authorized to do that. (First lie) So, we went to the LATAM office in Cusco and they told us that on in Lima could be done (Second lie). Upon our return to Lima we went to the LATAM agency in Chacarilla, but they told us that they couldn't do it and that we had to go to a different agency in Miraflores (Third lie). We then proceeded to go to the agency in Miraflores on our last day before our departure back to the U.S. and they proceeded to tell us that they couldn't process the request as it had to be done over the phone (Fourth lie).

It has been 5 months since that day and in the interim we have been communicating with their "Customer Service" department. We have been changed at least 7 times of representative and every time they ask us for passports, copies of IDs, notarized letters to approve disbursement of funds for our children voucher credit, more questions and more emails. Once we thought we finally were done, and we would finally get our credit they said they needed an account in Soles, which is the Peruvian currency. Now, why in hell would they give a voucher that specifically reads $20 (DOLLARS) if when you redeem it you need an account in a different currency!!!

Anyway, I was able to contact a friend in Peru that was willing to provide me with her account information for the deposit to be done in her account for her then to transfer the funds. LATAM then said that needed another letter approving such transaction. We did. We sent them once again what they requested. This was followed by a response saying that only 5 vouchers will be credited. The other one was missing a voucher number. That was 45 days ago and we still haven't received any credit.

I then received an automatic email saying that if I wanted to receive the funds I had to complete their forms again because they voucher was going to expire. Then I email them again asking where my "approved credit" was and they ignored my question by saying please provide copy of passport, ID, notarized letter, etc etc etc etc etc. This is beyond ridiculous and a joke of customer service. I don't do all this for $20. It is a matter of principle. I will forever discredit this company. I will hire a lawyer to help me make this right. This is abuse.

I should point out that the folding table used to serve meals in one of the seats closed to me got loose and the supervisor had to tight it. It looks like these seats are not given the proper maintenance. Another surprise to me is that when I tried to get my boarding pass in my cell phone when traveling with Latam from Miami to Lima, Peru, it was said that I couldn't do that because Latam don't participate with the TSA program in the USA, so I had to show a printed boarding pass.

After explaining the situation of what happen, supervisor at Latam said they only accept claim within 5 days of the issue. I would not have to file a claim with them if the insurance wasn't in place but insurance is denying reimbursement, and the airline is denying responsibility. In the meantime the damage is my loss. I do NOT recommend this airline because they hold records of the travels and baggage descriptions, and they know there was no damage to the baggage when they first transported, but is not being honest about taking responsibility about the damage they caused.

Now I wake up today to discover they have once again changed my departure time and I have an 8 hour layover in Miami.... I just want to go home people!!!! This is unacceptable and I am on the verge of cancelling my entire trip and just going to Vegas for NYE or something. Smh. Soooo disappointed and by the Yelp reviews, the actual flight may be terrible as well. Beware flyers!!!!

After 4 days, the credit card charge is still there, no refund and when I called back Latam they told me that I have to provide the details that were requested in the email they sent me. Such details include credit card number, my ID number, amount, etc. Hello?? If they cancelled the change of date I requested, is that difficult to generate a refund? I believe the agent who did it, did not not know what she was doing. How can this agent cancel the change after my credit card was charged and then do not even call me to explain the situation? The funny thing, is that the first thing they ask you is about your phone number in case they need to call you back.

The remaining 9 people with whom we were meeting for a group tour in Cuzco had to wait for us to arrive on a flight 4 hours later. We were offered a voucher for McDonald's (which we don't eat) and $20/ticket or a $40 voucher for future LATAM flight. We did not accept this and filed a complaint that day. Over 7 weeks later, we received an email stating that we could receive $20/ticket or a $40 Latam voucher. I've had to make numerous calls as I received no response via email and now have to submit additional documentation for my daughter to receive the $20. Be aware of LATAM and make sure that you check in 48 hours in advance or they could bump you!!

My loved one was currently IN the emergency room, and I didn’t know the hospital. Even if I DID, should THIS be what I’m thinking about in an emergency? Their stupid policies??? I booked on them through Travelocity, so hopefully they can help me. But I am writing to CEOs of both LATAM and American Airlines (this partnership hurts the other carrier and makes them look bad), and reporting to anyone and everyone I can. DO NOT GIVE THESE CRIMINALS YOUR MONEY!!!

One of the three girls was ignoring us and talking on her cell phone to her friend while fixing up her nails... Latam had other flights to Santiago they could have placed us on but because the next flight was with Sky Airlines they said they would not be accountable for our missed connection. While I understand that it is not required, most airlines will at the very least help you book another flight when there are open seats on a flight going to your destination regardless of whose airline you book on if the flight was late by 3+ hours as common courtesy.

We had to spend the night on the airport floor and were sent back and forth in and out of security because personnel would not call one another from the ticket booth to the counters and the gates. While my wife was handicapped and walking on crutches they did not offer assistance to make this easier for us. No food or water was provided to us in the trouble. We were told Latam's job is to "get you to your destination, but not at any particular time" and they warned that we should never book another flight on the same day. So the bar is set extremely low.

Otherwise a decent flight and the staff were great, except of course the company stripped them of any power based on the "we aren't allowed to do that" response from every question, including the supervisor who also had no power. Clearly they create walls for people to complain to and never actually want to deal with anything. They only care about their bottom line clearly. Hopefully if enough people complain it will affect their bottom line.

Once back home in Australia we tried to claim expense of the voucher with completely incompetent staff who would pause and not answer a question that was asked for minutes at a time. Finally after much heartache was told the transfer was complete and would take no longer than 15 working days to show up in account.... Never showed up. Called/emailed multiple times to follow up only to get transferred to an alternative team member and told my case was still getting resolved. 4 months later no money has been transferred. Easily the worst experience I have ever had to endure in not only an airline but any form of customer service. I REPEAT.... NEVER TRAVEL WITH THIS AIRLINE.

Finally he found my flight, issued my boarding passes and looked away as I ran towards the passport control. Nearly missed my flights! Dead tired, frustrated and enraged by "I don't care" attitude... Great way to start a 23-hour journey back to Australia. And as I am writing this, my wife, who was going to catch the same flight today, just lost her flight to Santiago and with that her connection to Sydney. Only 2 check-in counters, checking in hundreds of passengers, many of whom with some kind of problem, so no quick and easy check-in process.

When they asked all of the passengers on her flight to come forward and jump the queue, it was too late. The flight was closed, and she now has to travel the following day via Melbourne to Sydney, extending the journey by 3 ½ hours!!! I have never had to deal with more incompetent bunch of people! Sadly, flying from Australia, for us this is the only option unless we want to spend 36 hours traveling in order to bypass LATAM. Sad sad sad...

Since then I wrote seeking compensation according to the relevant legislation they post on their website. They claimed they do not comply with that legislation. When I referenced it on their website, the next response was, "In your particular case, your ticket shows domestic flights within Chile, therefore we must apply the local regulations, as established by the Chilean Aeronautic Code. Unfortunately the website is only available in Spanish." The compensation they have offered is less than the costs of the tickets we bought. They also did not comply by seeking volunteers. They claim they did but they would not even allow us to go to the gate. They refuse to tell us the fare difference between the flight we paid for and flight they put us on. So going to sue them in Canada where the ticket was purchased.

When I reached out to ask for an explanation and give them a chance to correct the situation, they asked me for all kinds of information and docs, and receipts, they even asked to see a bank statement showing the tickets payment, after I supplied everything, they came back and told me that they're sorry, that it was a system and agent error and that was nothing they could do about it. Unbelievable, stay away, buy from someone that cares, if they treat their customer this way, how do they treat the maintenance of their planes?? Think about it!

The doctor, after diagnosed her on the phone decided that she cannot fly despite the fact that she is holding a certificate from her surgeon stating that she is in excellent condition and allow to fly. The doctor suggest that she fill a form called medif. Now, in order to this medif be valid it must be approved by him (trying to justify his fee) and it has to be fill and sign by surgeon (understandable) the same that issued an "allow to fly certificate". This form needs to be send 48 hours before fly and has to be approved by "airline doctor" which is not the lady in counter. Moreover, the day after she was supposed to fly they open a case number, so you have to give that number every time you call or talk to "customer service" that provide not service because they have not authority to take decision, they just listen.

This happens when you put some nonsense individuals to follow directions from a big company that see you as a number. They are inconsiderate, disrespectful and discourteous believing that they have some kind of authority. Making a long story short, it will take over 72 hours if you are lucky to get my wife back to U.S., So forget it, we end it buying a same day ticket from a different airline. In conclusion, it is an airline flying to United States which organization and procedures are from an undeveloped country. Do not use it.

So, I got a huge surprise at Check-In in Miami when I was FORCED to pay $100 for the Golf Bag for being a sporting equipment bag, this is ridiculous since that it is not the case in other airlines and I bought the airline ticket under false pretense!!! On my return flight from Bucaramanga, I got a bigger surprise, when I was charged a HIGHER fee this time, $119.27. WHY? Why do you have this thievery and discrepancies? This is wrong, that I bought an airline ticket under false pretenses!! Also, the food service was awful, the plane was dirty and it looked like it was poorly maintained. My seat on the return flight was lost, seat 13L. They only provide entertainment via an application and the seats have NO charge connections for the IPAD or Phone!!

Sao Paulo is where all the problems began. When we were due to board the flight at 13.30 we were informed that our flight had not left EZE and we were to leave on another flight at 18.00 hours. At this time the passengers were not informed why or that the delays were caused by the fog at both airports in Buenos Aires, but LATAM knew of these conditions. LATAM decided to fly to EZE anyway and of course they were unable to land in the fog, so we were diverted to Montevideo in Uruguay where the fog was not quite so bad.

The passengers were given no information when we landed in Montevideo and we tried to find out what was happening from the flight attendants during the more than three hours that we sat on that plane in the airport. Many passengers were seniors and young children and other passengers had missed connecting flights to other places as well and because of bad planning by LATAM. We had all already experienced many delays of long hours up to this point as well.

Passengers began to complain when we heard that LATAM was thinking of returning to Sao Paulo GUARULHOS airport, which they should never have left in the first place due to the fog they already knew about in Buenos Aires, because the passengers wanted to stay the night in Montevideo. During our 3 hours on the plane LATAM only offered sandwiches or deserts and sweets. Because I was placed in the very back row, seat#29D, by the time the food cart arrived there were no sandwiches left. I am a diabetic and need regular meals without sugar and they had only cakes and sweets!! I had not eaten for more than 8 hours because of the delays. I was weak and lightheaded. Fortunately, I had extra medication with me, otherwise I would have become really sick.

Finally, we were told that we could get off the plane and get our luggage and then we would be taken to a hotel for the night until we could fly to Buenos Aires EZE the next day. Many of the passengers waited an hour at the luggage carousel and our bags never arrived! When we asked what happened we were told that the bags were waiting for us at EZE in Buenos Aires (43 bags in total). We had to go to the hotel with nothing but the clothes we were wearing. There were long lines to get buses and taxis to the hotel and it was cold and foggy, so many of the old people, young children and people with medical conditions were not doing well. By the time we got to our hotel it was 1.45 am and we had started our travels the previous day from our hotel in Salvador at 4 am! We were all exhausted. The Hilton Garden hotel took good care of us and sent food and water to the room where we finally got some sleep.

At 12 noon on Sunday, they called us from the front desk of the hotel to inform us that buses would take us to the airport at 2.30 pm, but without assurance that we would be able to board or when. Really one uncertainty after another. An employee of LATAM assured us that the flight that would return to EZE was the same LA 8018, with the same crew and in the same plane of the previous day, where she said, our bags were waiting. The bags had never been unloaded from the plane in Sao Paulo!! How could the airline have never checked that all 43 bags had never been unloaded from the plane in Sao Paulo??

This just keeps getting worse. The plane we eventually boarded to return to EZE turned out to be another one of a smaller inferior airline TAM, and with another flight number LA 9458 and it was now July 1st. and many passengers had missed connections, meetings etc. We finally arrived in EZE at approximately 8.30 pm and were excited to get out lost luggage. After another hour of waiting at the luggage - imagine our distress when it still did not arrive!! We all filed lost luggage complaints at the counter and the agent went to find out where the bags were. When the LATAM representative returned he informed us that the bags were on another flight and would arrive at 9.30 pm at EZE. Well they did not! By this time all the passengers were exhausted and distressed from the last 48 hours of endless problems and we asked again about the bags.

Here is the kicker: The bags had been sent to Aeroparque and we had to get on another bus to go there and pick them up!! By this time it was about 10 pm and we had to wait for a LATAM bus to take us to Aeroparque. By the time we got to Aeroparque and finally got our luggage it was after 11 pm and there were long lines for transport. I was not able to get the Tienda Leon until 12 midnight or a remise until 12.30 am in the morning! I broke down and cried right there - I was weak and dizzy and I had had enough!! I finally got home at 1 am July 2nd!! In addition to this, I have an 83 year old disabled roommate who was waiting up to let me in when I arrived at home at 1 am - already July 2nd and hours late for my diabetic medication!! It took me several days to recover from this ordeal.

In conclusion I request a timely response from LATAM airlines and adequate compensation for the damages caused by their disorganization, the lack of support by the company, the lack of managers to help at critical moments, bad decisions, and for the suitcases being left on the plane at Sao Paulo in the first place which caused all the following problems as outlined above. Most of the passengers, including myself, said it was the last time they traveled with LATAM! We all deserve support in compensation for the delays, confusion, bad decisions and problems with the luggage. I am prepared to copy this complaint to the appropriate Aviation Authorities and to the most important social media websites if I do not get a satisfactory response.

To make a 20 hour story short, suddenly the code didn't work. Every time I called back I spoke to a different phone support person at LATAM (12+ total). I was told by one operator that we should get to the airport so that we don't miss the flight "The ticket will be issued soon, we have our top executive working on it with an assistant". We went to airport (girlfriend crying) and were turned down at the window counter, "We don't get involved with call center support". Missed flight, now it's 2 am Lima time and still on hold with call center (Don't worry, they answer phone by default every 2 minutes and let you know, in roughly 1.3 seconds). "Still working, be right back". I finally hung up on Aaron as I was sitting on hold for about 60 minutes with the normal "be right back" every 2 minutes when they are required to pick up their phone, before putting you back on hold.

Day 3: I called at 7:45 am. Each time, I have to explain this drama and problems all over again. That alone takes 7-12 minutes. They don't get that their previous colleague has already tried everything possible. So it seems, we are really waiting for them to fix some problem in their system, but I was not informed and can only guess while they promise "I will fix it for you, we will get you the tickets, only 2 more minutes please". By 2:30 pm on day 3, they finally had a ticket (also not without issues). I had to punch in my Multiplus password on 4 different times along with my account number. The line disconnected two times (the connection is better if you get THEM to call you back). Let's see how the flight goes now. Fingers crossed as the plane is about to take off. I will be switching to Avianca, and other US Airlines after this experience! Many choices are great for the planet!

So I decided to miss my flight to GIG because I completely sure that I could check in all the way to my final destination as I have done this route several times. Later on, I spoke with Lufthansa in English who fixed the issue in one minute! So my luggage got checked in to my final destination. And I flew in a different flight to GIG.

This experience just blew my mind, for a moment based on the response of the 4 LATAM team. I thought perhaps I made a mistake booking my flight. So I almost had heart attack because I knew if they were correct I would miss my flight and couldn’t afford to get a new one. All they said was “sorry, I don’t know what happened” in her broken Spanish. I just don’t understand why they don’t offer a service in the customer’s language? As many other airlines do. Why is it OK when they make a mistake but if a customer does it is not OK? I wasted 10 hours at the airport, time I could have used to meet my friends in Rio, but nothing but if I was late, I am sure I would have paid fees to change the flight or book a new one.

I got there an 57 mins before the flight and was told the check-in was closed, and that it in fact closed an hour before the flight and there was nothing they could do. Despite the fact also I only had carry-on therefore would just need to get through security. They re-directed me to what I thought was a customer service help desk but in fact was a LATAM shop where the attendant informed me that due to me not checking in for that one flight the system had automatically CANCELLED ALL SUBSEQUENT FLIGHTS. That is to say that because I missed my flight from Sao Paulo > Bogota they cancelled my flights from Bogota > Medellin, Medellin > Cartagena, Cartagena > Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo > Buenos Aires!!!

Their explanation? It is an in person check in and if I'm not there they assume I am no longer taking the trip. Except of course I was there but they wouldn't let me check in. And to be honest, as far as I'm concerned I could have chosen to swim round the continent to Medellin but that gives them no right to cancel my subsequent flights which I have already paid for and therefore are my right! The real reason of course is that they want any excuse to be able to sell further seats. Anyway, as a result of this I was forced to spend the night at a hotel nearby and buy new flights (with a different airline this time of course) which cost me a total of £649. I have tried to contact LATAM customer service about this several times via their online form (which it seems they make purposely complex to fill out, they do not have a direct email) with no reply.

I again emailed the complaint through 14 June 2017 with total silence again from LATAM. And still nothing has happened after 3 months regards the costs I incurred wrt clothing items I had to buy due to LATAM severe delay in baggage. A certain Erika ** || Agente Administrativo de Equipajes, LAN PER | LATAM AIRLINES GROUP | Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge **, Lima Peru || www.lan.com contacted me on 20 July 2017 to say that LATAM is going to compensate me with USD179 for the excessive delay in my luggage! This is not half of the costs I incurred. But it seems like it was just further evidence of LATAM's poor service because up to date nothing happened! This is totally unacceptable! I definitely would not make use of LATAM Airlines again and I will escalate this to the Social media to caution other travellers of making use of LATAM Airlines!

When we get down to the correct line, the line was extremely long and was not moving. So we go over to the electronic check in. We couldn't get the machine to work and we asked for one of the LATAM representatives to assist. Not ONE of them would take the time to assist us. So we sat there trying to figure it out. As soon as I got ready to hit complete to finish our check in, they closed the flight.

We tried to talk to one of the representatives standing there to assist but they told us to go to the line. Mind you at this point it is about 4:28 PM local time and our flight didn't leave until 5:35 PM local time which is clearly more than 45 minutes prior to the flight closing. We go to the main line but they refer us to the "Missed Flight" line. We stand in the "Missed Flight" line for a long period of time, then one of the representatives told us they can't do anything and to go to the rebooking line but informed us there is a 3:50 AM flight leaving out that isn't booked.

Prior to going over to the rebooking line, we look online for this flight and it existed. We stand in the rebooking line for at least 30 minutes before getting to the window. In the meantime I tried calling their partner airline, American Airlines, as they assisted me in helping me book a reward ticket. But there was a long wait, so I had to wait for a callback. When we get to the counter, the lady said should couldn't help me because I booked through American Airlines. My friend did not and told her the 3:50 AM flight was booked. We couldn't understand that as we saw it online and we were told it was available by another representative.

We then approach the ticketing counter regarding this 3:50 AM flight and two other individuals with LATAM said the flight was booked. American Airlines returned my call and said the 3:50 AM flight was booked as well. At this point we are stuck in Lima with no place to stay and the potential of our short vacation being ruined thanks to LATAM. At this point we start researching alternatives but none of them appeared to be reasonable and the WiFi stopped working for us at Lima's airport. So I called my aunt back in the US who doesn't work for any airline or travel agency to find this 3:50 AM flight. She finds it and books it! Clearly it was not booked!

After my return, I filed a complaint with the airline due to: 1) Poor customer service - the representatives would not assist us in checking in on the electronic machines. 2) Poor customer service - more than one representative lied saying the flight was booked. 3) Misleading booths - Why are there two booths for LATAM at Lima's airport? 4) The flight was closed on the electronic machine prior to 45 minutes to the flight departing.

It took LATAM the entire month of July to review my complaint just for them to respond with a complete disregard for the issue. LATAM has no respect or concern for the customer and would recommend to anyone to never fly them. In result I ended up paying for two plane tickets and my friend had a problem with her return flight being cancelled. It also resulted in us paying an additional $300 each for a flight.

The lady at the check-in counter, who was less than pleasant, told us to wait an hour and come back because they might have a flight on a Monday for the passengers who missed it. If not, we would have to fly out Tuesday. We waited an hour and came back and she simply told us that there was no flight. We were told to go to the ticket booth and change the flight. The lady there told us that the Tuesday flight was now all full (because we were told to wait an hour!!) and that the next flight was Wednesday. We told her absolutely not, we wanted to be flown on Tuesday. She was very nice and found us a flight that flew from Guayaquil to Quito and then finally to Galápagos. We booked that immediately.

When I asked about reimbursement for the hotel that we paid for, they told us to fill out a claim. I filled out a claim on Monday and heard back Tuesday morning. I was happy to hear back so quickly but I received a generic response that thanked me for taking the time to reach out and that was it. I emailed back and said I was looking for someone to call me and talk about the troubles we received.

On Tuesday we flew from Quito and the plane was honestly two feet from the ground on the landing strip on the island and it look back off and flew away!! We received zero communication about what was going on. I (after witnessing the Boston Marathon bombs go off) was very nervous and anxious about my plane being so close to landing and then abruptly taking off. After 15 minutes of ZERO communication from any crew members, I stopped the flight attendant and asked her. She said that it was too windy and we had to fly back. TWO HOURS BACK TO QUITO. Are you kidding me??? I've been on much windier flights. This was ridiculous. We fly two hours back to Quito. Wait for luggage. Wait in line for an hour. Find out that we are going to a hotel for the night and they will bus us back to Quito the next day, Wednesday.

Now, our 7 day vacation has turned to 4. We paid $180 a night for three nights of a hotel we did not stay at. We couldn't see any of the other Islands due to lack of time, so we tried to call to change our flight to take off at the only island we were able to stay at, not the other island that we originally going to leave from. HA. We called countless times. We were put on hold for half hour increments. Hung up on. Lied to. It was amazing. Our Hostel owner tried to call on our behalf and they hung up on him as well. He had countless Latam horror stories to share with us. So we had to pay $30 a person to ride a "ferry" to the other island to catch our plane.

I finally received an email from them today (Monday, 7 days later) stating they received my reply email and would take out ANOTHER claim. Huh?? I called and was transferred to someone rather quickly, but was on hold for the better part of the first 8 minutes. He finally said he couldn't do anything and there wasn't any information he could give me so he would place a new request. I asked him what having a new request would do and he had no idea. I asked to be transferred to the department that handles the claims and he said they don't have a phone. I told him that he could do a new claim but I demanded someone call me tomorrow. I vowed to call back every single day until I receive a solution to the disaster of the first half of my vacation they caused. Only time will tell if I even get to speak to someone in the customer service department who handles these claims. I'm not holding my breath.

I asked if they could get me to Rio (as I was going to miss my domestic flight because of them, but they said I would be charged). Then they said I could go via Santiago, then they decided I couldn't as it was a route change. I called several times during the day and had a terrible experience every time. I finally called to accept their offer of going at the same time the next day and then they said I was confirmed for the original delayed flight they had told me was cancelled which was about to leave. The online chat was only available in Portuguese and not even available to me because my reservation started with 045 which apparently means it's a LAN reservation, even though it was bought via LATAM. All in all by far the worst experience I've had with an airline. They have no idea what is going on.

Then 5 min later I've got a message saying that the flight was canceled and when I called TAM, again, to change my reservation the attendant kept me on the line for 45 min. (No kidding... 45 minutes!!! To process the change!!!) It's absurd!!! Terrible customer service. When I thought that the nightmare was over... I was placed on a 9:50 am flight and when I tried to connect to the wifi onboard so that I could at least work from the plane guess what... The aircraft was so old that it had no wifi!!! So I wasted an entire working day thanks to TAM!

Spent near two hours earlier today (April 3rd) and had no solution for my request. BUT IF I DECIDE TO CANCEL MY TICKET, I HAVE TO PAY A PENALTY FEE. A penalty fee for a service that hasn't been even concluded properly. Therefore, my suggestion, pick another company such as United or American where you can do all online and have a bit better service support from their help center. If anyone has any question and believe I can be of any help, just reach out to me.

To my surprise when I arrived the guys said - "well you will have to run to make the plane - if it leaves, then we will arrange alternatives!" - at this point I had to run all the way to gate 20! I suffer from asthma and the run was not helping. Once I arrived I was given my boarding pass - oh great. I made the flight, then even after selecting my seat with weeks in advance (window seat) you decided to locate me in the worse sit in the plane - middle-middle. At that time I'm just glad I made it.

Then my itinerary originally showed a connection of 1 hour in Auckland. Turns out that after a 12.5hrs flight my connecting flight doesn't exist - the screens didn't show the flight number you had provided and not one Latam staff member was around to assist passengers. You should try running across the airport to the transfer desk and multiple gates to work out what flight you are supposed to be on - well after flying for 18 hours my legs hardly responded and I fell multiple times running around the airport from one gate to the other until a Qantas member found out that I was on a flight that was about to leave - meaning my 1 hour connection turned to a 15-20min connection.

I run once again to the gate which was wrongly announced by the crew at landing - and I fall once again - at this point I'm exhausted, I'm angry and frustrated for your lack of communication. I was the last passenger on the plane - the Qantas crew were very kind and then told me 8 people missed the connection due to the mix up of the flight numbers and times. I then had to fly another 4 hours with bruised hands and knees and in the worse level of pain. Having to go and see a doctor on arrival at Melbourne and on top of everything having to organise my luggage collection as it didn't connect and was left in Santiago.

If you cannot make sensible connections you should review the way you are selling your airfares. This is the worst experience I've ever had. The staff on the ground were not helpful at all!

SO POINTS TO NOTE: Please ensure you write down all the details of your flights AT THE TIME OF BOOKING because your FLIGHT CONFIRMATION DOES NOT CONTAIN THE INFORMATION you need to fly. Don't buy the ticket directly. The flight agency might actually look after you better than LATAM. If you are asked to run to make your flight - DONT! Don't even try their customer service number. They will put you on hold - then hang up! Hope this helps fellow passengers!

We have been trying to get a waiver code for a refund since 31 July 2016 but LAN Chile refuses to cooperate. I have contacted every published number for them. Their customer service refuses to help me because they say I need to speak to the travel agency support desk. Rolf at the travel agency support desk, either hangs up on me or transfers me to the customer support desk. I have made over 150 calls so far.

I finally reached a gentleman, Joe ** in Los Angeles who is supposed to be the Senior Sales Manager for LAN. He helped me one day making 3 way calls but getting the same results, either disconnected or transferred. He said he would contact the office in Santiago and get a resolution for me. He hasn't called me back and it's been over a month. I leave him a message every day but he doesn't respond. I have sent him a certified letter which he has refused. This is no way to do business. LAN is claiming there was never a ticket. They advised the client that we never issued a ticket. I have provided both the reservation number and the ticket number but they still refuse to do anything about it.

For example: I purchased Thanksgiving tickets for myself and the General in January 2016 directly from LATAM (ex TAM). I had confirmed every detail INCLUDING the seats for the General and I. Now, I discover that supposedly several flights are suddenly "unconfirmed". In other words, LATAM took thousands of dollars of my money for a trip back to the USA for Thanksgiving and right now it appears that I will not be able to spend Thanksgiving with my family in the USA. On another flight, also purchased directly from LATAM, I was arbitrarily bumped on my return flight from their morning flight to their evening flight. I already contacted LATAM via their Facebook page on Tuesday. Well, it's Thursday and still no answer.

NEVER ASSUME THAT YOU CAN CALL LATAM. LATAM's Customer Service phone numbers frequently do not work. Sometimes ALL of their call centers in the USA and South America will be "out of service". LATAM often will oblige you to contact them via their Facebook webpage. Their webpage promises a prompt reply. That promise is simply laughable! I contacted them on Tuesday Aug 16 regarding the trip where I was "bumped" from the morning flight to the evening flight. On Wed Aug 17 they wrote back asking for my reservation code. I sent them the reservation code. Then they wrote back again re-stating they could do nothing without my reservation code. Two days later and nothing has been resolved.

NOT ONLY THAT! On the aircraft my mother had pieces of glasses in her food, she swallowed one small piece and managed to take one bigger piece of glass out of her mouth. My parents made a complaint on the aircraft and we have had no response. This has been so stressful for my family. We are losing money and health especially my mother with her health condition. This instead of being a joyful time being reunited with my parents has been a NIGHTMARE. VERY DISAPPOINTED WITH LAN AIRLINES.

Original Review: Feb. 10, 2016

Eleven days after my daughter's arrival in Iquitos, Peru, LAN Airlines has yet to deliver the only bag she checked. I understand it is held up in Customs in Lima. It took days for the LAN baggage service in Iquitos to deal with it. They say they have sent the necessary Customs paperwork to Lima. There, LAN must deliver the paperwork to American Airlines, which took her to Lima from the US. Has this been done? Is anyone looking for her bag? I have no idea! I messaged them on Facebook, and they keep saying they are "insisting" on my case.

The problem began when her flight out of Denver was delayed, and American Airlines put her on a United Flight so she wouldn't miss her connection from DFW to Lima. However, after arriving in Iquitos, my daughter had reservations to go on a side-trip and is now without internet service. The LAN online option for tracing baggage says "INVENTORY RECEIVED/TRACING CONTINUES. PLEASE CHECK BACK LATER." But how much longer will this tracing continue?

Your lavatory did not drain the water correctly. This was noticed by me way prior to flying while passengers were being seated and I used the lavatory to wash my hands. I could open the Faucet however the water did not pass through the drainage. The pocket in front of my seat was filled with small bubblegum papers and residuals of napkins. What all these issues noticed by me, says about LAN, is that you are more interested in cashing and flying, than the passengers good experience and comfort, and of course, the lack of maintenance and cleanliness of your aircraft fleet, since I see there is a lack of maintenance.

God forbid this same lack of maintenance is not upon brakes, safety equipment, food conditions, bacteria, etc. When I called the attendant, she said she was going to reset the equipment. When I saw nothing getting better I called the supervisor a lady, who said that the system was broken. Easy to say. Hard to digest in the long trip. I’m a frequent flyer with # ** and I travel the most I can with LAN in the routes you have, however, unless this matter is resolved and reviewed, taking the time to not only to fly, but to maintain your fleet, I believe I will need to see other options available. I look forward to hearing from you soon.

#1. A female who seemed to be a "greeter" attempted to block our access to the preferential line for TAM "Red Category" customers. I showed her my Red Fidelidade card. She did not even know what Fidelidade is. She was quite rude to the General; she told him we could not "sneak" into the preferential line if we had tourist class seats (Almost laughable as there was no one in front of us!). Not to be stopped by her, I simply waved my red card in the air and asked (loudly), "Isn't this the line for Fidelidade Red Category?" It was, of course. And the agents waved us forward.

#2. We went through the check-in. The agent was a very nice, efficient, well-spoken lady. I liked her. But then, the damnedest thing happened. The agent commented that I had a wheelchair reserved. I said yes. She then said, "I had requested 'special attention'". I explained, "I requested a wheelchair - AND - I made it clear that I cannot go downstairs. I was told to always make that clear when going to Sao Paolo since TAM flights sometimes deplane out on the runway with those steep movable staircases."

She then said she "was cancelling the special attention request". She next asked me for a Doctor's Note. I told her that I gave my Doctor's note and TAM'S own form (filled out by my doctor) to TAM in April of this year. At the Asuncion airport, they told me they were sending that form to TAM headquarters to keep on file. Next thing, she told me she was going to cancel my wheelchair!! I had to tell her very sternly that would be against U.S. Law under the provisions of the ACAA (Air Carrier Access Act).

She called over her supervisor. I was quite careful to ask them to SPEAK IN SPANISH so that General ** could understand the conversation, and of course, be a witness to this conversation. The supervisor reiterated the claim that it is TAM's policy to require everyone who requests a wheelchair to present a Doctor's note PRIOR to each flight. FACT: THIS IS NOT A PUBLISHED TAM POLICY. Rather, this seems to be a gross misperception or abusive, bullying.

The airline does NOT have the right to request a Doctor's note/medical certificate for a wheelchair. An airline cannot request a medical certificate unless the person: is on a stretcher or in an incubator; needs medical oxygen during flight; or has a medical condition which causes the airline to have reasonable doubt that the person can complete the flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical assistance. "For passengers who require mobility assistance with wheelchairs, TAM provides a special service to ensure all necessary aid. You can request it from our Sales, Fidelidade and Service Center at least 24 hours prior to departure." Air Carrier Access Act.

#3. Boarding. I handed the boarding gate person both my Boarding Passes, my U.S. Passport and my Paraguayan Cedula. He began to flip through the pages of my US Passport looking for a VISA to enter Paraguay. I said, "You won't find a VISA, I have a Cedula, I am a resident of Paraguay." He tells me that he will NOT allow me to board; that an American cannot have a Paraguayan Cedula. That it's "illegal" - complete nonsense. I was wheeled over to the TAM counter.

I caught the eye of a male supervisor by waving my cane, passport and cedula in the air while I said "help!" (A tall, handsome fellow). The supervisor listened to me and exclaimed, "That's ridiculous, who told you that!" Thank goodness for him. He had me turned around and wheeled right back to the head of the boarding line. He said something to the young kid at the boarding gate that I didn't quite catch; either "you don't do that" or "why did you do that".

As we all know, TAM requires passengers to accumulate 50,000 base points on international flights to remain in the Red Category. To that end, I have already purchased three round trip tickets for 2016; with another 2 to 3 round trips in the planning stages. Frankly, these three back-to-back incidents make me wonder and worry about my upcoming trips.

They wouldn't and didn't help me recuperate my original reservation and I missed the flight, despite arriving in GIG airport 3 hours before my scheduled flight. I wound up sleeping in the airport until I was able to find a reasonably priced one-way ticket home. I told them I didn't mind paying a fine as a result of the missed flight in Salvador, but they said no, my original reserved ticket back to the US no longer exists and I'd have to buy a new flight. I wound up buying a new flight, but with another company, GOL.

When the ticket agents exhausted their VERY limited recourses, I called the customer service hotline, which was even less helpful. Every time I called I selected English in the automated menu, but they kept redirecting me to Spanish speaking representatives in Colombia, every time! Luckily, I speak enough Portuguese that I was able to just go ahead and converse with a Brazilian representative, but I got nowhere. TAM refused to help me with my original flight, so I'm refusing to fly with them again. They boast about being the largest airline in Brazil, then in the same breath tell their customers there's nothing they can do to help them. TAM is a shameful corporation and has lost at least one client...

I then drove to the physical office listed on the LAN website in Los Angeles, only to be told by LAN check-in counter agent at LAX that the office is permanently closed. This agent was kind enough to look up our tickets in his system and print out a receipt showing that the tickets are refundable. I then called customer service again and the agent told me the tickets were fully refundable and that he was processing the refund. He then told me that the refunds department would be in touch. However, I never heard from the refund department, and then received a credit on my credit card for the taxes only (a discrepancy of $4300).

I contacted the complaints department and filed a claim for the refund via email (the ONLY option). After two weeks I received a reply (via email): "We apologize for not having answered your inquiry in due time; we are working on assisting customers proficiently. If you do not receive a prompt reply next time, we invite you to call us at any of our Contact centers. Our representatives will be willing to help you in any matter." No refund. No information about my refund. No information about my claim. Appalling that a multinational company can take your money and then just decide not to give it back, ignoring the terms of the ticket purchase.

I waited for 20 min and he did not appear so I tried to find LAN staff again to ask for the compensation. 20 min again to wait and he came and told me USD 30 is the maximum. I asked him to give me the detail of the cost if he thought that would be enough for me to fix the damage. He said he did not know. Then I asked USD 30 does anything for my suitcase to be able to be used again? He said yes. I asked how much to replace a roller. He said he did not know. He returned to the office and came back to me and said my option was either to receive USD 30 or ring a call center to negotiate. Every time I asked a question he went to the office back and forth. I thought it would have not been wise for me to leave without getting any evidence of the damage after seeing this kind of attitude of LAN staff.

His explanation did not make any sense and he even said this damage might not be caused by LAN. Also he said there was no my sign on back of suitcase tag, which made me confused so I asked what he meant then he could not explain well. Then I felt that he just wanted to make it up to defend himself. Then I asked to make a certificate with photo of the damage with a manager's sign. He went back to the office and came back with a manager. It has been 2 hours this time since I have started talking to LAN staff. The manager did not show any sympathy but straightway asked me to use my own insurance. I said No. Then he said USD 100 to be paid so I accepted it. Then he gave me the document and damaged USD notes which was old and taped every single notes (USD 20 notes x 5).

I certainly did not see their heart from the beginning to the end. It was awful and the worst airline service I have ever experienced. I recommend to anyone using LAN airline to make sure the compensation before leaving your stuff to them.

Meantime midnight came and went and the BA flight left and the doors of the plane were not opened. A fracas developed in the tourist cabin as no food or water had been provided by the airline. As a result the federal police were called to calm the situation down. The pilot made one announcement that we were going to Sao Pauo and the ongoing flights would wait for us. However the crew were out of hours and the plane was going nowhere. Finally at 3 am we were allowed to deplane. The airline did not follow the DOT procedures it has published on its website, nor the procedures published by the Brazilian airport authorities. I brought all this up to LATAM and asked for compensation as in the end I was delayed 24 hours and nearly missed all of Christmas.

LATAM's first disingenuous reply was that weather conditions were act of god and out of their control. I replied noting I agreed but that my claim was due to 6+ hours sitting on the plane with no food, drink, medical service available and non compliance with DOT and other published protocols. LATAM then replied stating that the DOT procedures in the event of a delayed flight with passengers detained on the plane only applied to flights to the USA! Eventually after 5 months of arguing, trying to persuade the Brazilian Airport authorities to take action as their procedures were not followed etc. LAN finally agreed to compensate me $US100 (on a $US 5000 ticket). A month later still waiting.

I can only state that to me it is true that LATAM value cargo more than passengers and although they may have one Latin America's best airline award a number of times there is not much competition and if compared with the Middle and Far east airlines they are truly well behind. Their slogan 'the delight of flying' is the biggest misnomer in the industry!

UPDATED ON 09/25/2015 - Since submitting my review of LAN's customer service published here on 6/16/15 I am still waiting for full resolution. As noted by others on this site LAN continually ask for information, back up and details which have been sent several times. There seems an endemic culture within the company to lie and obfuscate. Even though I have been promised full repayment of my costs and a laughable $100 for compensation, I have only received about 1/3 of the costs incurred by the rerouting and delay, no explanation why the full amount promised has not been paid.

In an attempt to sort this out face to face with someone other than the programmed 'customer support' executives (now there's a misnomer as well) I went to the LAN corporate offices in Santiago to speak with the manager of client services - was told (of course) he wasn't available and when I asked for his contact telephone number or email address, I was told by Francisca, the person I spoke with, that she didn't have access to the corporate directory!

As the national ombudsman in Chile is toothless, if a company which has a complaint made of it does not answer they can do nothing and the reply of the ombudsman to the complainant is 'get legal advice' LAN's modus operandi is to wait out unsatisfactory customers. As I am based in Chile I would be happy to group with others who have complaints of a similar nature against LAN and start a class action suit. If I could give the company a negative rating I would do so! 'Voted the best Airline in South America' - My A**!

The first flight on Feb 15 was CANCELLED due to weather conditions. LAN informed about the cancellation and instructed all passengers to call customer service to reschedule the flight. They did not assist with flight rescheduling in the airport as would have been more reasonable. They refused to provide accommodation or meals for foreign passengers. The passenger asked for help to a friend in Peru to call, because as expected a foreigner does not have a phone available (especially if you were not even planning on staying in Lima, so no access to a hotel) and the call center replied saying that they will call back in 2 hours. They never called back. Furthermore when calling a second time the call center informed they might be taking longer than usual due to no seat availability. However when asked if we could book a completely new ticket they said they do have seats available.

Since the delay was already too long and implied losing pre-paid accommodations in another city and missing out vacation days, the passenger bought tickets with another airline to reach the final destination. The passenger then asked LAN AIRLINES for a reimbursement of the unused ticket, the ticket had a fully flexible fare and thus reimbursements were accepted. LAN printed a refund document and promised to return the money on the credit card within 14 days. It has been 4 months and NO REFUND was received. After calling several times to LAN to complain that the refund was not received on the credit card, LAN issued a Word file saying that they refunded on Feb 19 as proof of payment. The refund was never received though, we complain again and requested LAN to provide copy of the bank transaction for the refund and they REJECT our request.

We have thus, had an awful experience with this airline. Lost twice the value of the flight ticket. Had to buy a new ticket with another airline. Lost time during the vacation, one night of hotel in Lima, lost time for phone calls and it has just been a terrible experience. HOPE OTHER PASSENGERS DO NOT HAVE TO GO THRU THIS KIND OF NIGHTMARE! DON'T FLY LAN!

A very kind TAM representative by the name of ** sold me the ticket the number of which is listed above. He assured me repeatedly that he had taken care to sell me a ticket that was fully refundable as I had explained that I had no intention of ever using this ticket. He even came with me to the COPA check in desk and showed the ticket to the staff there to help me finally check in. I had an awful night as you can gather but figured that the next day I would ask TAM to cancel the ticket and return my money.

Since 4th April I tried EVERY single day to get my ticket money back but every time I tried a different obstacle was put in my way: Language Issues/ Non availability of information & service for non-Portuguese speaking customers. Firstly, though the flight is operated by AA I need to have the money back from TAM. When I called the TAM customer services helpline in Mexico I was told TAM no longer had any English speaking call centre staff. As a non Portuguese speaker, I would have to call LAN. When I called LAN, the call centre agent there told me he could do nothing for me but "open a case".

When I told him that I was contactable by e-mail only but had no phone, he was very rude to me, told me he could do nothing for me and slammed the phone down. A very kind travel agent in Mexico eventually found a free phone number for me for TAM customer services for the US. I decided to try and wait until I got to the US.

TAM desks at airports are not authorized to assist clients with customer service related queries. Before flying to the US I had one last hope: the TAM offices at Mexico City Airport. I was told they could do nothing for me, I had to go downtown and see someone at the town offices. Their offices open at 9:00 am, my flight to Vegas took off at 8.20 am. There was no chance for me to go into town.

Upon arrival in Las Vegas I immediately called the free phone number. A Call centre agent ** told me the ticket I had bought for US 388.00 and which I had been assured on a number of occasions by ** was refundable was in fact non-refundable. When I asked her to put me on to her team leader, I had to ask five times before she finally put me through to someone called **. He in turn told me there was nothing they could do for me and they were not customer services anyway. By this time I was in floods of tears. The money I had spent with TAM I had spent in good faith only to find that now: I had been given the wrong information by **. Why? Was he not trained well? I was never shown any terms and conditions for the ticket, all I had was his word to rely on but surely an airline representative should know what he is doing/selling.

I feel TAM have mis-sold me the ticket which is a very serious legal issue. When I pointed this out to **, he was totally indifferent to this. Mis-selling is serious!!! Please, could a SENIOR member of your management look into this as a matter of urgency? If this happens to me, it will happen to other people!! Any reputable company should make itself accessible to its clients but way of suitably trained multi-lingual staff and by providing offices in locations accessible to customers. So if you sell tickets at airports your agents should be able to issue refunds at airports. In Mexico City Airport this was not possible. No customer should be sent round the houses with no one claiming responsibility.

Other travelers may find it helpful to know that since TAM Airlines merged with LAN Airlines, customer service calls may go to a variety of call centers. I have been consistently given incorrect information when my call has been routed to an LAN call center. If someone tells you your Reservation Locator Code does not exist – you have been routed to an LAN Call Center. The LAN call center personnel are quite inattentive and rude. Just try calling again. And, ask if you've gotten a TAM call center. I now believe that many previous misunderstandings may have been due to non-TAM personnel.

On these last 3 trips, TAM was great about requesting a wheelchair at each stop. The only difficulty was caused entirely by the São Paulo airport. Travelers requiring a wheelchair should know that the São Paulo airport does not seem to have enough available wheelchairs; and, also seems to have coordination and scheduling issues. This is NOT a TAM issue since the airport provides all wheelchair and boarding assistance. TAM might want to suggest to that the airport invest in several "courtesy carts": electric carts which can transport several passengers at one time.

Original Review: April 10, 2015

Background: I have been a frequent flyer of TAM Brazilian Airlines for many years. In fact, I was in their Fidelity Program's RED Category which requires the passenger to accumulate 50,000 points during a calendar year. During 2014, I accumulated over 70,000 points. During 2014, I was also repeatedly subjected to abusive and dismissive treatment.

Having a physical disability, I am accustomed to purchasing my tickets about six months in advance: always asking for and reserving an aisle seat; and requesting a wheelchair as both the Miami and Sao Paolo airports are enormous. Without fail, on at least one segment of each trip, the wheelchair was not available. Without fail, on at least one segment of each trip, I was arbitrarily reassigned to another seat DESPITE the TAM staff being well aware that I was a frequent flyer with a disability. TAM's business practices also leave quite a bit to be desired.

RECOMMENDATION: If you decide to choose a TAM flight, DO NOT book your flight directly with TAM. TAM has a very poor refund policy; even in cases of family death and illness. Instead, book your flight with an on-line USA-based travel website that offers Travel & Flight Interruption Insurance. Interestingly, the USA websites are often cheaper than purchasing directly from TAM; even with the added insurance.

Although my frequent flyer account shows ALL of my 2014 flights; I have now been informed that the airline has a HIDDEN rule to their Frequent Flyer Program: it's NOT published, mentioned or cited in the Frequent Flyer Program. Rather, it is surreptitiously hidden in another section. I was informed of this nearly secret clause when I went in person to an Asuncion, Paraguay TAM office. (Amusingly enough, the lady behind the counter was also unable to find this rule when I asked her to please point out "just where it says that.") This hidden rule states that 75% of the points awarded to Red Category customers are excluded from the annual points accumulation requirements.

Note: during 2014, I did consult with local TAM personnel. I had been told that I only need to accumulate 50,000 points. No other condition was ever mentioned. And, I was repeatedly told I needed to fly only four round trip South America - USA flights. TAM's customer loyalty program is ironic and laughable. The purpose of a Frequent Flyer Program is to encourage Customer Loyalty which would logically require an airline to show loyalty to their customers. TAM could very easily have clearly communicated that TAM would require Red Category Customers to fly a minimum of five round-trip international flights per year. Instead TAM chose to be unclear and misleading; both in publication and verbally. I would GLADLY give all of my 133,000+ points to Brazilian charity to provide airfare for cancer patients or whatever; just to be done with TAM.

Unfortunately, I had already purchased four round trip tickets from South America to the USA for 2015. I would NOT recommend TAM to anyone unless you take steps to protect yourself and your purchase. BUY your tickets ONLY through a USA-based travel website and purchase Travel & Flight Interruption Insurance. I would recommend that you carefully document each problem you encounter.

Incredibly a few days later my credit card company informed me of a potentially fraudulent charge on my card of $200 from TAM Airlines. I told the credit card company that I had never authorized TAM Airlines to charge my credit card for $200 additional dollars. I then contacted both TAM Airlines and cheapoair travel agency only to discover that before TAM Airlines would issue the "$834.22 refund", first it needed to charge an additional $200 into my credit card. Quite frankly, given the horrendous record I had this far with TAM Airlines I highly doubted whether after charging the additional $200 that it would ever remit my refund to me.

At that point I ended my negotiation with TAM Airlines and cheapoair and instead contacted Chase Credit Card services department directly, specifically the division regarding disputing a charge. After relaying these same facts to the agent at Chase, he informed me it was one of the worst cases of fraud he had ever heard about and told me it was very likely I would ultimately receive a full refund.

I called my credit card company and they said there was no problem with my credit card. I called back Lan Chile and the representative said all he could do was to book the flight for an extra $25.00 per ticket. I said to him that the extra charges were unfair since the problem was on their side. He adamantly refused to remove the charges saying that neither him or his boss could remove those extra charges. I told him I would book the flight with another airline, he said "that's fine, go to another airline."

I've never had a more frustrating and disappointing experience with an airline. I will NEVER use LAN again. WARNING to anyone who does decide to use them...at least do carry-on only, and even then, if you're American, be careful not to have the bag (no matter how small) weigh over 35 lbs. We saw them pulling only Americans' carry-on bags out of the passengers hands as they boarded, and then checking them in. Such a scam. Horrible airline!

On Nov. 7, 2014, I took UA 1095 and checked in one luggage, tag# ** . My final destination was Santiago, Chile. The flight required a transfer in Lima, Peru by LAN airline. I arrived in Santiago, Chile via LA637 at 7:30am on Nov. 8. However, my checked in luggage could not be found. So, I immediately filed a claim for the delayed luggage, case# ** at the LAN customer counter at the airport and left my local hotel contact information. The hotel is about 30 minutes from the airport. The LAN representative told me that the luggage was sent to Panama. It should be returned the same day.

However, on Nov. 9, Sunday, the luggage still did not arrive. I asked the hotel representative to speak with LAN Baggage Service (600-526-2000) in both Spanish and English around 6:00pm local time. We were told that my luggage was at the Santiago airport but they could not deliver, they have to deliver on Nov. 10, in the morning. From Monday to Thursday were my business meetings with local Chilean officials and business people. I emphasized this. They said it would be delivered in time.

Again, my luggage did not arrive as promised on Nov. 10. I had to borrow clothes from my colleagues to attend the business meetings with a CFO and other business people. Around 9:00pm, the hotel representative helped me called the above phone number again. This time, we were told mixed stories, some said the luggage was still not located, some said it was in Santiago, and some said it was with COPA airline. In the end, I had to wait. The call lasted around 1.5 hours. My request to speak with the supervisors or LAN staff at the airport were all rejected. I also asked for reference number with COPA so I could reach out to them on my own, again, my request was rejected.

On Nov. 11, around 9:30am, I had to skip from my business meeting and went to a nearby LAN office at Av. Isidora Goyenechea 2888 (Isidora) to speak with the LAN representative in person. The representative helped to call the customer service again. The answer was that they were still tracing the luggage. So, I decided to go to the airport Lost and Found, in case the tag is missing from my luggage. I arrived at the LAN office around 10:50am. The representative checked the claim on the computer again. She found that my luggage was in fact at the COPA office upstairs, only few minutes walking. She brought me to the COPA office and I got my luggage around 11:00am. The tag was on the luggage.

The three and a half days was the worst travel experience ever. Not only I lost the use of my belongings, but also I was not able to present myself in an appropriate business appearance. More so, the poor customer service from LAN caused me lived in anxiety and unable to conduct business in a normal manner. Not only I had to incur my own expense to retrieve my luggage, but also lost time to conduct business and later to file complaint.

On Nov. 19, when I contacted UA customer service, I was advised to file a complaint with LAN and they would charge everything back to UA. However, LAN's customer service was not able to take the complaint on the phone and I had to file the complaint on their website. However, their website could not process the complaint either after I tried twice at the different time from different browsers. LAN had not shown any courtesy about my situation throughout the entire incident. Until now, I have no means to resolve the matter and obtain appropriate compensation.

LAN then informed me I would have to travel to Heathrow airport to amend the problem that they created themselves. I know for a fact that a date change can be done over the phone through the GDS quite simply. I am on their Facebook page now (both TAM and LAN) asking for an immediate resolution. oh yes, the first agent asked us to sort this out at the office in Uruguay BUT we are in England!! I have never dealt with such incompetent staff in my life. Now here we are, 6 hours struggling to get a call back as we have spent a fortune on phone calls today and got so stressed. Compensation is expected with this case for sure.

One week left before the return flight needs to be changed and no resolution yet. If I was to hang up on a customer in Sabre customer support I would have been fired on the spot. They also asked me to fill in a complaint form on their website. Guess what? It does not work. What a surprise. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I am determined to get a resolution and compensation for this awful treatment we have received.

Needless to say, I went, the suitcase arrived but it was missing a few items. I have contacted LAN and all they said was that because it was due to maintenance of the plane, that nothing could be done. They don't want to pay for the extra expense I had to endure nor the time and extremely bad experience I had with them. They told me that it was not their problem and any time I ask to speak to a supervisor, I am told that no one else is available.

But now that I am warned of potentially fraudulent practices in some flight situations, I wonder if there is some kind of back-up plan a flyer should have, in the event of a rogue ticket counter. I decided to read the LAN reviews after I read the reviews of COPA and TACA, airlines I was considering for a trip to Nicaragua. Similar extortion practices and horrendously delayed flights were reported. I have not had the opportunity to fly either of these airlines, so no comment on them.

I tried finding out on what legal regulations were they following but I never got an accurate response by LAN. I also noticed that depending on what country website you are, the prices increase for the same exact national flight. Which to me has no reason to be. If you are a tourist, the fee should be equal for all no matter what country you come from. That could even be considered by some discrimination. I wanted them to explain on what grounds they were charging tourists but again their response was very vague. LAN is a Chilean company. And they do not charge non-resident fees in CHILE. You can verify it yourself. So my question is yet not answered by anyone and I think we consumers have the right to know how this Airline comes up with all these irregular fees. This is what they responded to me:

"LAN Airlines Customer Relations Committee acknowledges receipt of your e-mail regarding the fares published by LAN. To this respect, we would like to inform that the fare structure with lower fares for residents and foreign traveler is designed to make travel more affordable for more people. Also, LAN and its affiliates offer convenient products for foreign travelers to the region. With the South America AirPass, when foreign travelers fly internationally to the region, they can buy one-way tickets to the destinations operated by LAN Airlines and its affiliates, making the most of their experiences at accessible prices. We appreciate the opportunity to provide an explanation and we hope to serve you on-board our flights in the near future."

Not only did they not answer my question but moreover they try to sell me some products like one-way tickets for tourists which absolutely useless. I found a page on Facebook that is working on putting together a petition for all mistreated consumers to sign against LAN. You can find it by typing Facebook/LANdenuncias. I suggest you all join.

I thought everything was alright until I went with my son on August 9th, 2013 for check-in at Miami's airport. Unbelievably, my son's ticket was saying in LAN system "NO GO" and the supervisor in charge told me loud and clear that my son couldn't make the trip unless I repurchase his ticket. I showed him my account's statements, emails from LAN, etc., etc., but because LAN and all its employees feel they are super powerful he couldn't care any less. My son started crying, telling me that he wanted to go to Machu Picchu. I kept telling LAN supervisor to correct the error but he said that either I repurchase my son's ticket or he couldn't make the trip. I was traveling also but had a different reservation code. So I had no other choice but to repurchase my son's ticket for another $676.64. Be careful about LAN airlines. The worst airline ever. I think they are cheating the US by screwing up with the finances.

I received a small offer to be compensated. I still don't get the correct compensation and can't find where I must claim the offer of a ticket with a smaller value that it cost this inconvenience. On the fly back to the US, I had to transfer in Lima, Peru to an American airlines flight, their partners, only to have the flight cancelled and be sent at the airport back and forth to claim a flight of my own either in Lan Chile (being completely ignored) or another American flight. Stuck again in Lima airport until the next day, just to have another 4 hours delay in flying back to Miami and losing my fly back to San Francisco.

Now calling and trying to locate in San Francisco anybody to answer my claim of where to claim the voucher offered, the only person who was able to answer the phone answered in Spanish, "Que quiere usted" (What you want?). They haven't even been trained to answer in English, "May I help you sir?" The operator or airline employee just left me on hold and never got back to me. I work in the service industry and I am shocked by this poor service by an international airline. Amazing. 21st century and I bet Greyhound bus system in the 60's was way more reliable than these two airlines. Lan service, the poorest travel service I have ever experienced.

I have not heard back from Lan Chile at all and it has been at least two weeks and not even a useless automated email to let me know that my claim is pending review. I’m very dissatisfied. I would not fly Lan Chile again if I had other choices. Good luck even finding a customer rep in Chile who can converse in English. I had to ask my host hotel staff to translate my entire claim in Spanish when I was in Chile. I painstakingly listed all the expensive gear that they lost for three days. A lot of work for nothing.

Dealing with your company has been one, if not the worst experience of my life. It is almost as though I have suffered a frontal lobotomy and I cannot complete actions coherently, and then I wake up and realize that it is you who has the problem in contacting customers and responding. You should be ashamed of yourselves and your customer service. Bow your heads in shame “Servicio Al Cliente” LAN Chile.

I have worked in the customer service space in call centers as a senior computer engineer for the past 8 years of my life, and never have I witnessed such a pathetic display of ignorance coming from an international organization. Next time, I will be flying with a different company. You both lack the professional ethics, qualifications, respect and courtesy necessary to respond to someone's emails. It’s as if LAN Chile customer service is run by a circus master.

For those who are interested, LAN Chile's customer service number Servicio Al Cliente is (56-2) 6872396. Tell them Henry from Brisbane, Australia sent you. I hate those incompetent buffoons!

I hope Lan Chile consider this mistake for the future. Persons like me don't have to seat in a seat where it does not give you the freedom to sit in and out. Perhaps the person who was assigning the seats in Punta Cana, did not care for a passenger with special needs. I also requested a wheelchair in Punta Cana airport, so when I arrive in Miami, I could disembark without any problem. Instead, I had to wait 20 to 30 minutes for a wheelchair. Please, I hope you correct this matter for future passengers with a special need. Thank you.

This is a formal request of refund for the delay of the flight of the flight LA2706 Lima-Malpensa (via Madrid) on the 14/01/2012. The flight was supposed to leave from Lima at 20:10 of the 14/01/2012. The flight left 4 hours late, at 23:59. We lost the connection flight Madrid-Malpensa. We were re-booked to a new flight going to Linate (not Malpensa) that left at 20:10. This was the only possibility to arrive in Milan the same day. We landed after 22:00, at the airport. There were no buses available at that time. So we had to take a taxi from Linate to Malpensa Airport (where we parked our car) and we payed the taxi 100. We are asking for a refund of this money.

Moreover we underline the bad service we had in Lima. Once the delay was announced, there were only 2 employees to give information to hundreds people. One hour and forty minutes to speak with them, and they even were able to speak English. Once we agreed with the Lan employee (his name is Santiago ** and he was very impolite) to rebook the flight to Linate to arrive the same day, he simply wrote down the number of a flight, telling us that everything was okay, and that we didn't need any printed reservation. It seemed so strange that we went to the Lan service center, where we found that nothing was fixed at all. We didn't have any reservation from Madrid to Linate. Here, the lady was able to print us the flight reference only, and to reserve the seats. Finally, nobody knew where our luggage was going to. We were told to collect them at Claims in Madrid, to go to Claims in Malpensa, to Linate, and finally, to ask to the Iberia desk.

We are used to taking almost 30 flights per year, and we never received such a bad service in the last 15 years. As promised by your staff in Lima, at least we hope to have the money for our taxi back. I have attached hereunder all related documents: the taxi receipt for 100, our boarding pass (Lima-Madrid; Madrid-Malpensa; Madrid-Linate), the first page of our claim, and the flight reference given to us.

After I complained a lot that I will not leave the airport in a foreign country, the option to be sent back to Chile was given. I then had to wait at the airport until 8:00 am to return to Chile. My husband was not notified in any way by Lan Airlines of any of these issues. He repeatedly called the Lan phone number. They said I arrived in Los Angeles 3 hours prior to him calling, saying no wife at the airport at 10:00 am. Even late that night, Lan employees at their customer support department were unaware that Lidia ** had not arrived in Los Angeles.

I would also like to state that my luggage was searched through. All gels, lotions, soaps, and makeup containers were opened with the lids left off, making contents leak out onto my cloths. One of the wheels of my suitcase was also broken. I view this entire incident as an attack upon me because I am of Hispanic origin. Currently, I am stuck in Chile, South America with no way back due to this company's actions.

The statement clearly said Tam, New York and the purchases were made 2 minutes apart from each other. I went back to the travel agency and they told me they hadn't debited that amount. They called TAM Airlines and were told that it wasn't them either. I spent two hours trying to see if they would refund my money or if they would issue me a ticket and they did neither both of them. Instead they said give me 24 hours and I will let you know what happened. My problem was my ticket was for the next day at 6:50 so I did not have 24 hours. I came home, called my bank and asked them to dispute that amount. My problem is, I don't need to travel because I was only going to take my family and come back and now I've lost my ticket money and it seems that I've paid for someone else's ticket as well.

On January 13th 2011, I took the flight 8096, LA 754, which had two stops: Brazil and Paris, before getting to the final destiny: Warsaw, Poland. When I did the check in at the LAN office, they told me that I must take my baggage in Paris. In Brazil, I had to change the flight, because the connection time with TAM was only 25 minutes and nobody could tell me correctly where the airplane was and, anyway, the distances at São Paulo Airport was too big to reach boarding, having that period of time. Finally, I boarded the TAM flight JJ8096, the same day, that means January 13th at 23:20 hours, Brazilian time.

As I got to Paris, none of my two baggages were found. I spent a lot of time at the TAM office (lost baggages). They promised me to ship them to my home in Poland next day. Well, those next days, they called me, telling me that I must take my baggages at the Warsaw Airport and I was living in Belchatow, a small city, two hours from Warsaw, where there was no train or subway and the bus service was so complex (too few people speak English in Poland), so I had to take a taxi to the Warsaw airport, which cost was 200 euros and what happened at Warsaw airport? They told me that my baggages were not there. They should have arrived to LOT Polish Airlines, because it was the last airplane I took.

The manager of that last airline called TAM Paris and they told him that my baggages were still in that city. I had to make a second two hours trip to Warsaw, a week later because there were holy days in between. Getting to Warsaw airport again, they told me that they have sent my baggages by Air France. I have never been informed that I should ask all airlines to know where my things are, that is just ridiculous and I never flown with Air France in my whole trip. I have to say that, passed two days of my baggage delay, I got an apology card.

Being in Chile again (i flown using the same airlines named before), at TAM, they told me that I should receive USD50, the same thing they told me in Milan (a joke compared with all the money we spent), but the TAM office was closed, which cause LAN flight from Brasil to Chile in four hours delay and I just found a girl who gave me two phone numbers (both false). I called three times to the french TAM office, the number of which was written on the apology paper that I got from TAM. There, they promise me to call me back, but they never did!

I just can say, after all that, that LAN and TAM are too cheeky! If you have flights with those companies, there are a lot of probabilities that you could waste a lot of money, time and energy, because they don't care for your things and don't even carry out what they promised. I don't recommend those airlines at all. I had to buy all my stuffs to survive for a week (200 euros minimum), paying 400 euros just to get my baggages and paying about ten phone calls from Poland and from Chile to French, Polish and Chilean TAM offices!

Seven days in advance of my return flights (Easter Island-Santiago-Miami-Newark), I presented medical papers (in Spanish) to the LAN Chile office on Easter Island, which stated that I was to keep my ankle elevated for the duration of 5 hours, then connecting 9-hour flights. (I later learned that this was to avoid a serious blot clot condition called deep vein thrombosis). They said that they had made a note in the passenger record that I would need assistance.

On the day of travel, when I asked the gate operations people about an opportunity for a courtesy seat change to a business class seat, they said that I would need to ask the flight crew when I boarded the plane. LAN Chile ground crew did move my seats around in the economy section of the 5-hour flight from Easter Island to Santiago. However, what was amazing to me is that two entire business class sections of the Airbus A 340 were completely empty.

When I explained to the flight crew my condition (which was clearly visible) and asked if I could just sit in the empty section (I did not want business class meals or service) so that I could keep my leg elevated, I was told that I needed to have arranged that with the gate/ground operations people in advance. So, each service area was pointing to the other and no one had responsibility for this. Instead, I had to elevate my foot on the wall of the bulkhead in front of me. When I expressed my concern about the connecting 9-hour flight, one flight attendant said that they would check ahead with American Airlines to make arrangements. From my connecting experience, that did not happen and the ball was dropped.

Things got worse on the connecting 9-hour flight from Santiago to Miami on American Airlines. On American, after asking, I did learn that there was a single open business class seat on the 767 aircraft and asked the flight crew about the possibility of a courtesy move. After this conversation, the Santiago-based cabin crew did everything to avoid eye contact. American Airlines gate did move me within the economy section seating me at the bulkhead on the aisle. Due to the 2-3-2 configuration of the economy seats, this time, my affected ankle was in the aisle, on a corner, directly in the way of in-flight service cart, flight attendants, or any wandering passenger. The fact that this was a night flight and the lights would be dimmed made this seat location of even more concern to me.

So, seated with my crutches between my legs, not a single AA flight attendant in the economy and business section cared to notice my situation or condition. I had to ask 3 or 4 different flight attendants for help and nothing happened. When I asked again (5th flight attendant) if I could move to an empty business class seat (without service) to elevate my leg for a while, he told me that flight purser suggested that I would have to pay the difference for the class of service change. I had already paid close to $3,000.00 for this itinerary.

When I pressed the flight attendant call button, it took 20 minutes for a crew member to talk with me and only after I had to stop her passing in the aisle. When I asked her if they did not hear the call bell or see the light above me, she said that they were busy and did not notice it. It was only when asked to speak directly with the flight purser, that anyone took notice. The flight purser came to speak with me after being in the air for two hours. When I again asked if I could move to an empty business class seat to elevate my leg for a while, she then arranged for me to move to an emergency exit row which did have more leg room but no way to elevate the leg.

So, with my apologies to the passenger in the row ahead of mine, I had to place my old-fashioned plaster cast from Easter Island on the top of the seat in front of me. Additionally, they took my crutches somewhere else in the cabin so I never knew where to find it. Because I did not want to "disturb" the flight crew, I felt like a prisoner in this inhospitable cabin, afraid to even ask for water or any other assistance.

In all, the return flights were an exercise in frustration and poor service. Understandably, the airlines are trying to make money but there should be some allowances for passengers who are injured while away from home and are trying to return. After all, the seats were empty anyhow and no one was asking for a seat to be given up. Passengers are not asking for special assistance because they want a free ride in business class, they are trying to avoid further personal injury, limit the disruption of service to other passengers, and get home in one piece.

Since then we have contacted LAN over 19 times and only had a small number of responses. On one occasion, they offered a total of $140 and on the next $300. As they comply with the Montreal Convention, their liability extends well over the amount claimed, yet they seem unwilling to pay or give any reason why they won't. Communications from LAN have been extremely poor and despite numerous follow-up emails, I have heard nothing back from them since 28 April. Their customer service team has escalated the issue to "Central Baggage" and I have a direct email address for a contact there. However, she seems unwilling to acknowledge my correspondence, advise what action is being taken or provide me with any other contact person who can assist. Without luggage for four days in Easter Island, wasted time shopping for clothes, wasn't able to do long walks as no decent footwear, wasted time visiting airport every day and LAN office several times. Wife and I very worried the complete loss of luggage could have a massive impact on the next two months of traveling. Still not had a full refund from LAN for items bought. When luggage turned up damaged and with items missing, we had to make do without good quality hiking clothes and other items for the rest of trip. Security concerns as luggage unable to be locked for the next 2 months of traveling due to damage to zips. I have since wasted many hours trying to get LAN to pay.

Now Lan airlines claims it was weather related and won't refund the money. They missed their pre-paid vacation to the jungle. There was no rain or wind at the time, and the other airplane took off without problem. Two weeks prior after a big festival in Peru, they stranded tourists in Cusco after overbooking flights, again claiming it was weather while other planes took off and landed, keeping these travelers' money as well. Beware LAN airlines

LOst a vacation that was planned for months, took typhoid vaccine and malaria vaccine unnecessarily, and cut a trek to Machu PIcchu short in order to travel back in time during a national strike so as not to miss this flight!