I mentioned in our monthly newsletter last month that my Avianca flight to Colombia was another reminder just how far the U.S. airlines have fallen in comparison to most of the international carriers.

Avianca made me feel like a passenger again instead of a  number on a spreadsheet to be optimized and squeezed.

This matters because soon Avianca will probably be the name you see the most besides LAN in Latin America. It merged with TACA last year and by the end of May the TACA brands will all change to Avianca. By the end of 2013 the Ecuadorian airline AeroGal will change to Avianca name too.

On the way down to Bogota from Ft. Lauderdale, I was flying in economy but still had a seat-back entertainment system, a real meal, and a glass of wine. The flight attendants smiled instead of just nagging everyone to turn off their Kindle. My business class report will have to wait for another time, but it looked far superior to what I’ve seen on United and American.

Since international and domestic passengers can check two bags without fees, there was plenty of overhead bin space on my first flight and the three that followed. Naturally the plane boarded a lot faster for the domestic ones since there was no economic reason for bringing a rollaboard bag on the plane

We even got drink service on a 45-minute flight from Bogota to Pereira. Nice.

A few fun facts and some history about Avianca:

Avianca is the second oldest airline in the world after the Dutch carrier KLM.

TACA was created in 1931 in Honduras. It grew fast the past couple decades through acquisitions. In 1991 TACA bought all the airlines of Central America that were in financial trouble (Aviateca of Guatemala, SAHSA of Honduras, LACSA of Costa Rica) and merged them into GRUPO TACA.

In 1999 GRUPO TACA created an airline in Peru called TACA Peru

TACA stands for TRANSPORTES AEREOS del CONTINENTE AMERICANO (American Continent Air Transport)

Last year Avianca and TACA joined STAR ALLIANCE, in many ways the best international alliance for frequent fliers.

Avianca and TACA have 4 main connection hubs in El Salvador, Costa Rica, Bogota and Lima and fly to all Central America and South America.

North American gateways (direct or in code shares with partners) include San Francisco, Los Angeles, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Washington-Dulles, JFK, Chicago-O’hare, Toronto, and Mexico City.

See more at Avianca.com for more info and flight deals. See SeatGuru’s Avianca section for seat pitch and plan configurations.

The new airport in Quito, UIO, officially opened February 20 and flights stopped at the previous one the same day.

By most accounts, the new opening was smooth and without major hiccups. The main issue at this point is how long it takes to get to the city on roads that are not up to the increased traffic.

“To facilitate access to the new airport, Quito is building the $48 million La Ruta Viva freeway, which will open in phases by 2014 and aim to reduce the drive time from downtown to the airport to approximately 40 minutes.”

In other words, the airport opened long before the road to the airport was finished. It’s only 24kms from the city, but you’ll have a much shorter trip if you arrive at night–as little as 45 minutes in an official taxi (set fee $26). During the day, it could be three times that long. If you don’t feel like taking a cab, there’s also an $8 shuttle bus to near the previous airport or you can have your hotel or tour company arrange transportation.

This new airport was a necessary step, despite the loss of convenience. The other one was 52 years old, with buildings surrounding it. Some large long-haul jets couldn’t land there, while the new runway is one of the longest on the continent. This should enable more direct flights from Europe.

You’re going to be paying for it though: the departure tax went up $15. That increase should already be in your ticket price if you bought it recently.

If you’re a member of the Priority Pass business lounge membership program, or get it because of your high-end credit card, there’s good news: you’ve got entry to both the domestic and international lounge here. Sign up at Priority Pass if you don’t look forward to regular boarding lounges. Priority Pass – 10% Off

Andean Travel Company has a nice rundown on the new airport with facts and figures. Get it here: Quito Airport fact sheet.

Check out luxury hotels in Quito here.

On this luxury travel blog we’re usually pointing to new hotel reviews, tour stories, or high-end real estate round-ups. Sometimes we’ll sip some tequila or rum. There’s always a lot going on under the radar in the tourism world though, so here’s an update on some travel news.

We’ve reviewed Mexico’s Interjet airline in the past and we’ve been impressed by their growth. The airline now has 25% of the Mexican market and after adding flights to Miami and San Antonio last year, in November they stated flights between Mexico City and Las Vegas. They also headed south to Costa Rica and Guatemala. What’s next? This year they’ll start flying to Colombia. Pull up Interjet.com.mx next time you’re heading to Mexico to check out the options.

Think Brazil is becoming an economic powerhouse? Yes, they’re now the 6th largest economy, but because of domestic deman, not globalization. Latin Business Chronicle released a survey rating it as last on the list in Latin America for globalization. Measuring imports and exports as a percentage of GDP and other factors such as tourism receipts, it ranked the lowest, after Venezuela and Colombia. Who’s at the top? If you’ve been there you can probably guess: Panama. (In preparation for the World Cup though, Brazil’s prostitutes are busy learning new languages.)

A few times before on this blog we’ve pointed to ugly warning signs that Argentina could be facing another big financial crisis similar to the one that brought the country to its knees a little more than a decade ago. The latest was the revelation that Argentina grounded the presidential plane, their equivalent of Air Force One. Long story short, the country still owes more to creditors than it can pay back and this plane is something that could easily be seized to repay debts. To travel abroad, president Kirchner now has to charter a jet from a private carrier. We assume they’re asking for payment in advance.

Meanwhile, the Falkland Islands will vote in March on whether to remain a British territory or not. Few outside of Argentina expect the vote to go their way. In the meantime, British cruise company P&O has suspended trips there because of hostilities.

What’s the story with American virus scan gazillionaire John McAfee and Belize, then Guatemala? We’re not sure and probably nobody is except the man himself. But one movie script has already been sold and another will probably surface soon, even though we don’t know the ending yet. Get what we know so far here: Mystery Follows McAfee to Miami.

The news came out yesterday that the various brands owned by the merged Avianca/Taca company are going to be combined under one brand. Avianca won out, so the others will go away in 2013. Aerogal will be the last to switch.

I picture a bunch of execs in a board room screaming at each other over their favored brand, but the official word is more market-based. They said, “After rigorous market research and business analysis it was decided that Avianca will be used as the single commercial brand for the airlines that today comprise AviancaTaca Holding S.A.”

The majority of travelers in the U.S. and Canada haven’t heard of any of these airlines anyway, despite the long history of Taca especially. As these various entities have merged or been bought out though, the combined company has become a major force in Latin America, flying to nine countries in South America and all of Central America. In many countries they serve multiple cities.

Also, the combined company is part of the Star Alliance, so you can book flights with points or earn points on them to use elsewhere. See more at the Taca site, which for the moment has a separate link to Avianca.

See our Latin American airlines reviews and news in past posts.

As an editor of a luxury travel blog and webzine, I get inundated with “news” releases that none of you would care about in the slightest, so most go in the virtual trash bin. This week, however, a few items have come down the line that could either impact your future travels or enhance them while you’re there.

The big news this week was that Taca/Avianca officially joined the Star Alliance network of airlines. This is a huge deal for frequent fliers going to Latin America, both from a miles earning standpoint and a cashing in standpoint. Most road warriors consider the Star Alliance to be the best network of the three, in no small part because you can book the award tickets online, transparently. (As opposed to using AAdvantage miles for Lan flights, where you have to call a representative and pay $25 to get it done.) The Star Alliance includes United, Singapore Air, Air Canada, Lufthansa, and many more. Panama’s Copa is in there too, so you’re well-covered in the Americas. See the options at Taca.com.

This story came out two months ago, but I just saw it. Apparently a staggering 95% of Brazil’s tourism is domestic. I’m sure the reciprocal visa fee doesn’t help, but tales of poor value and high airfares probably has a lot to do with it as the booming economy led to a rapidly rising currency. The World Cup and Olympics should change that number a bit though.

Speaking of Brazil, as I’ve remarked in the newsletter before, Brazil is going to have a tough time accommodating visitors for the World Cup in 2014. Their cities are woefully underbuilt when it comes to hotels (especially high-end ones). I admire Kensington Tours‘ proactive move of offering World Cup Tours of Brazil that include tickets and a place to stay. See these links for their 8-day tour and their 9-day tour.

As of yesterday, one of Mexico’s most famous chefs took over food and bar operations at Hotel Matilda in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. Chef Enrique Olvera, who launched to stardom running Pujol in Mexico City, has built a menu in his style and this is a huge leap forward for San Miguel.