TACA Airlines

Guatemala City to Los Angeles through El Salvador. I took the connecting flight that left early in the morning so that I ca be back in LA by early afternoon. I get into El Salvador and wait in line for 1 hour to check what gate I need to go to because I can't see it on the monitor and after waiting as long as I did I was very casually told my flight has been cancelled and next flight will be 12 hours later. They asked me for 3 different telephone numbers and an emergency contact but no one in this airline thinks to use one of these numbers to say the flight is cancelled. Now I am in el Salvador with nothing to do when I could have at least taken the night flight from Guatemala and worked an extra day. I know that some of Taca's employees are frustrated but they need their jobs so they can't complain. I will never fly TACA if there are other carriers available.

LIM-CUZ-LIM on TACA in coach class. Making the reservations on the TACA web site was easy with the only difficulty being getting our United FF # listed and I had to telephone TACA to do that. The flight to Cusco was only 15 minutes late and pleasant with soft drinks and a tasty snack. The return flight was good and service with a light and tasty snack was great. The price and service make TACA a great bargain.

Lima - Buenos Aires. Although we had documentation stating our flight was confirmed Taca refused to accept and we need to pay again US$750. No consideration from staff in fact stalling would appear to be the solution hence we almost missed the flight. Pay again or find an alternative was the attitude as we needed to meet an international flight in Buenos Aires the options were limited.

GIG-LIM. For a 5.5hr flight was expecting a little more especially since the ticket wasn't cheap. Main screen entertainment which would have been fine but the movie they showed wasn't played in English as the book described. When I asked the FA she just shrugged her shoulders didn't even go and investigate with the senior. Food terrible and very small. No pillows no blankets. Leg room very good. More like traveling easyjet in the UK.

ASU-MVD-LIM-SAL-JFK round trip. Check-in was a breeze all flights on time onboard service excellent. Would definitely fly this airline again.

LIM-CUZ. 75 minute flight nothing out of the ordinary hardly a check-in queue at either end. Great price.

GUA-MIA-GUA Economy on new Embraer 190 plane was nice but pitch is small. I got seat on the emergency row on the first leg and row 4 (first row in coach) on the return leg so had nice leg room.

ORD-SJO-ORD via GUA in Business. Service and plane quality variable. Overnight flight from ORD to GUA in new A320 with seats that barely reclined and were horrible uncomfortable GUA to SJO in older A320 with seats that reclined further. Offered drink before flight from SJO to GUA and a drink with meal on 75 minute flight. After takeoff from GUA it was an hour before we saw an FA appear from behind the curtain then we got a drink dinner drink refill and then they were behind the curtain until landing. The food was fine but the lack of service a disappointment. Perhaps some of the difference had to do with a LACSA crew for the flights from GUA to SJO and a TACA crew for the ORD-GUA flights. Flights on time and no problem with baggage. Our web check in boarding passes worked for the return flight not the flight to GUA not sure why. No business class lounge in any airport that we flew through. It wasn't awful but I wouldn't go out of my way to fly them again either.

YYZ-SAL-GUA-SAL-YYZ in economy. Well organized check-in and boarding processes for all flights. Convenient schedule and flights all on time. Connections in SAL straightforward and well timed. Hot meal served on the YYZ-SAL legs; no service on the 45-minute SAL-GUA legs. Inflight entertainment consisted of a main screen movie (no PTVs). Seats comfortable enough and legroom was adequate. FAs only appeared for the meal and beverage services and did not make any other passes through the cabin during the flights. They served the hot meal on the YYZ-SAL leg at the end of the flight at lunchtime rather than at the start of the flight in the middle of the morning -- although this makes a lot of sense it's rare to see an airline make an effort to serve meals at mealtimes. Best part of the trip was not having to make a connection in the US thereby avoiding US security hassles.

YYZ to EZE return via San Salvador and Lima in Business Class. All flights on time. Flight attendants friendly and efficient. Flying during the day to Buenos Aires was a nice change from overnight travel and not flying through the US was a nice change and a welcome break from having to deal with redundant (but necessary) security checks. The only complaint has to do with the meal service. Passengers sitting in row 3 often did not have a choice of entree since they ran out after row one. Apart from this I enjoyed the experience of flying with TACA and will probably fly with them again to Buenos Aires.