Avianca 787 Insignia Business Class: Basic And Boring

Hello from Paris, as I’ve just completed the outbound portion of my quick, special trip to Paris. After flying Avianca’s Airbus A320 business class from Miami (MIA) to Bogota (BOG), I flew Avianca’s Boeing 787-8 business class on the 9hr30min flight to Paris (CDG).

It had been around a decade since I had flown Avianca’s Dreamliner business class, and I was looking forward to seeing what has changed over the years. In 2024, the airline made a big deal of introducing a new business class experience, which it brands as Insignia.

To sum up my Avianca long haul business class experience, I don’t think the airline is worth avoiding, if it has the best schedule or fare. At the same time, I walked away from the flight with a similar impression to what I had on the previous flight, despite a very different hard product — it was totally forgettable. It just felt like such a generic and uninteresting experience, with some odd corners being cut.

In fairness to Avianca, maybe that’s the company’s best bet, just based on the markets it operates in. But among carriers from Latin America, LATAM is significantly better than Avianca, in my opinion.

Avianca’s 787 business class seats do the trick

Avianca’s 787 business class consists of reverse herringbone seats, and it’s quite an intimate cabin, with just 20 seats, spread across five rows, in a 1-2-1 configuration.

Specifically, the airline has the Safran Cirrus reverse herringbone product, and on the 787, it doesn’t feel quite as wide as it would on the 777. When in bed mode, I found it to feel quite tight (at least as a side sleeper), with my knees hitting the side console.

Reverse herringbone seats have evolved a lot over the years, but Avianca has one of the original seats, so it doesn’t have much in the way of bells and whistles. Beyond that, can we just take a moment and acknowledge how bland and colorless the cabin is? I can’t believe the airline ordered these planes factory fresh, and chose these interiors, with literally zero branding.

Hey, at least the airline has individual air nozzles on its 787s, which is a treat on a non-US carrier.

Avianca’s business class bedding is very good

To Avianca’s credit, the business class bedding is excellent, with a thick pillow, a plush duvet, and a mattress pad. That helps with making the sleeping surface more comfortable. I wouldn’t quite rank it as being among the best airlines for bedding, but it’s definitely in the top quarter of airlines, give or take.

As far as the amenity kit goes, it was okay, with one bizarre quirk — it didn’t have toothpaste. It had a dental kit, but then that only had a toothbrush, and no toothpaste. I don’t think I’ve ever seen an amenity kit without toothpaste, so I found that to be quite strange. I asked the crew about this, but they just seemed confused by why I was expecting there to be toothpaste.

Avianca’s 787 entertainment is okay, but there’s no Wi-Fi

Avianca has seat back entertainment in business class on its 787s, though the selection is quite basic. We’re talking around 100 movies, a few dozen TV shows, etc. I’d recommend bringing your own entertainment.

On top of that, at least most of the carrier’s 787s don’t yet have Wi-Fi. I know the airline plans to eventually install Wi-Fi on its Dreamliners, but I’m under the impression that not much progress has been made.

Avianca’s business class meal service is oddly basic

This is where the Avianca business class soft product falls apart, if you ask me. I was on a flight departing in the early afternoon, and it was a fairly long transatlantic flight, at 9hr30min.

A meal was served after takeoff. The service immediately began with the entire meal being served, except dessert. There was no initial round of drinks, but instead, I was just asked what I wanted to drink, and that was handed to me at the same time as my meal tray. Heck, there was even a little nut and dried fruit mix on the tray.

Then once that tray was cleared, either dessert or cheese was offered.

This just seems like such an unnecessarily simplified service flow, since there was never even a chance to get a drink refill before my meal tray was cleared. It just makes no sense to me… why such a quick service?

The food quality as such was fine. The meal consisted of a salad (mixed greens with apple, spinach, sesame seeds, and vinaigrette), a starter (I was served the pork with corn and sour cream), and a choice of three main courses (I selected the shrimp in coconut sauce with rice). You’d think they could’ve done a little more with the cheese plate, as there wasn’t even an offer of crackers, or anything.

The airline doesn’t seem to cater many extras, though, and the general service flow just didn’t feel very premium:

• By the time they took my meal order, only two of the three main courses were left
• There was supposed to be a choice of two starters, but I was just automatically given the pork starter, as I guess they were out of the other option (I was never even asked)
• When dessert came around, I asked if I could have cheese and dessert (since both portions are quite small), and the flight attendant apologized and said they had no extras
• For breakfast, only one of the two options was left
• All of the service was done from carts, and we’re not talking elegant display trolleys, but rather, the same carts you’d find in economy

Individually, none of these things are a big deal, but when you add them all up, it felt like a really downgraded service compared to what you’d typically get in business class. And to the crew’s credit, they were quite friendly, so I don’t think they were the issue.

Bottom line

Ultimately Avianca’s 787 business class got me across the Atlantic in relative comfort, with a flat bed, good bedding, and edible food. However, I’d really describe the experience as being pretty rough around the edges, from the very basic meal service, to the uninspiring cabin, to the lack of toothpaste in the amenity kit.

The sad thing is that with a little more effort, the experience could be so much better. When the airline rebranded its business class as Insignia, I was hoping we’d see a few new bells and whistles that make a material difference, but that didn’t seem to be the case.

I’m happy I checked out both of Avianca’s premium experiences, but I’m not dying to repeat either of them. Don’t get me wrong, I’d gladly fly long haul with the airline again if the price or schedule were right, but I certainly wouldn’t seek out the airline.

What’s your take on Avianca’s 787 business class?