Welcome to my 3rd trip report on Jetsmart!
This is my ride, a one-year old Airbus A320neo (CC-DIU) just arrived from Concepcion.
Introduction
I decided to book with Jetsmart for this flight because at that time of booking, the Airbus A321neo was scheduled to operate on this flight. However a few months before the date of departure, the flight was changed to Airbus A320 according to Flighty and it was not stated whether I was flying on the neo or ceo version. Whatever it is, aircraft changes is part and parcel of aviation travel! So for this route, I would be flying one-way with this airline and would then fly with Sky Airlines from Concepcion back to Santiago and connect to another flight to Sao Paulo and this would be coming up next after this trip.
This would be my 2nd time flying on Jetmart Chile, the last time I flew with this airline was departing from this airport to Buenos Aires AEP airport. You can check out the trip report over here.
Checking-in experience
The website experience was no different from my previous two bookings and like I mentioned before, I had to use the VPN in order to access the booking. It can take a while before I manage to access my booking as I received numerous numbers of errors stated by both Chrome and Safari browers which tried their best to obtain my flight information.
It's a pity because the airline's website interface is quite nice.
Prices for the seat is quite expensive even when you are doing the web check-in, you still need to pay if you want to change seat.
If anyone is wondering why I didn't choose the higher tier ticket that includes seat selection and that is because when I booked with Trip.com, the 3rd party app booked the basic tier and of course I can add on but it cost quite a bit more so I decided to just stick to this and maybe pay for the window seat directly with the airline.
Once again, I decided to skip paying for the seat and I got myself a middle seat from the computer system.
After some battle with the airline's website, I managed to complete the web check-in.
Did I manage to change my seat to a window seat? Do continue to read to find out.
On the day of departure
The view from my apartment
I had a bittersweet time at Santiago because something happened to my main phone and due to the incident, I had to purchase a replacement phone when I get back to Singapore. I wanted to buy my replacement phone over there but it cost about $300 more and also I have to pay additional taxes for it so I gave up that idea. Fortunately, I had my spare phone with me and so the photos from this blog onwards are photographed with it.
I walked to the bus stop about 10 minutes from the apartment and paid 2,300 Chilean Pesos for the ride to the airport.
The ride took about half an hour and I alighted at the terminal 1 arrival hall.
The Holiday Inn hotel at Santiago Airport (SCL). You can check out the hotel's website over here.
This was my 2nd time departing from this terminal.
The last time, I flew with LATAM and this time I was flying with Jetsmart.
I received my boarding pass and once again, the nice ground staff changed my middle seat to a window seat and it is an emergency row seat, I struck gold!
Initially I thought of having my lunch at one of the restaurants over here. However, there was nothing that caught my attention.
I decided to head for the 2nd level.
I settled for Dominos once again and tried another hotdog. I had the lemonade to enjoy along with this.
After the meal, I went over to the airside. Security check took a bit longer due to a queue.
LATAM's domestic flights consist of both double and triple digits while for international flights it uses 4-digits flight number.
Passing by the duty-free shops.
My last flight departure from this terminal, I departed from one of the gates at concourse B.
This time I would be departing from concourse A.
It is quite a spacious concourse and what is great for us, aviation enthusiasts, is that there are great spots for aviation photography.
This is one of the great spots for plane spotting.
There are charging ports at some of the seats over here.
This part is sealed off as upgrading is being done over here.
A couple of Sky Airlines aircraft getting ready for departure.
This was my assigned gate for my flight .
Overall I prefer this concourse over concourse B.
LATAM's Airbus A321ceo
Qantas Boeing 787-9 and Sky Airlines A320neo
Qantas Boeing 787-9 heading to runway 17R for the 12 hours flight back to Sydney.
This is Aerovias DAP's 32 years old (CC-CZP) BAE-146-200 also known as Avro RJ85 aircraft.
The passengers for my flight
Let's go to Concepcion!
Welcome on board Jetsmart's A320neo!
My ride: CC-DIU
Airbus A320-271N (Leased from BOC)
Name of aircraft: Mara W
Configuration: Y186
Engines: 2 X PW1127G
Delivered in June 2025
MSN: 12458
Built in Mobile (BFM)
Route: SCL-CCP
Miles: 266
Average Flight Time: 50 minutes
Airlines Flying On This Route: LATAM, Jetsmart and Sky Airlines
My seat: 19E changed to 14A
Photo: Aerolopa.com
Date of departure: 18th December 2025
Airline: Jetsmart
Flight: JA503
Route: SCL-CCP
Aircraft: Airbus A320neo
Registration: CC-DIU
Seat: 19E changed to 14A
Load: 90%
Flight Time: 45 minutes (On Average)
Actual Flight Time: 43 minutes
Schedule Departure: 1517
Boarding: 1420
Push Back: 1510
Take Off: 1528
Schedule Arrival: 1626
Actual Arrival: 1610
Departure Runway: 17R
Departure Weather: Clear
Arrival Runway: 20
Arrival Weather: Clear
My flight experience
We boarded the aircraft quite early as the ground and cleaning staff did a fast and efficent job preparing our aircraft for this flight. Once on board, I was greeted by the friendly crew and I made my way to the emergency exit. One of the staff came to brief us about the emergency procedure. Even though she spoke Spanish, I roughly understand what to do as I have sat on this seat a few times.
The legroom space is very much appreciated and to make things even better, the middle and aisle seat remained vacant. However just before push back, the cabin crew approached one of the passengers and ask whether she wanted to move to the aisle seat and there she goes, but it doesn't matter, the middle seat remained vacant and that is still great!
Once we pushed back, the captain made his announcement but unfortunately only in Spanish. Once again the engine start up took quite a while similar to the 737 MAX. We taxied to the runway 17R with one engine and once we passed the halfway mark, the other engine was started. We took off in grteat weather with just a few bumps along the way. This seat position is not really ideal for window shot photos (you can check them below) but still the spacious legroom space is definitely great for longer flight sectors.
As this is the short flight, time went past very quickly. Buy on Board (BOB) service was done but before we knew it, the aircraft started decending into Concepcion. This city is much closer to Santiago than Puerto Montt so the ride on average is around 50 minutes.
We touched down smoothly on runway 20, arrivng around 16 minutes ahead of schedule. While I will be heading towards my accommodation after arrival, for this aircraft, it has a few more flights to do before it can call it a day. Next destination for CC-DIU was Calama as flight JA540.
Cabin photos of this aircraft
Comparing this cabin to the A320ceo fleet, the economy class seats are of a newer product. This seat model is the Recaro SL3710 slimline leather seat without adjustable headrest.
I prefer these seats over the old ones.
This is the emergency row seat with good amount of legroom space.
The legroom space is very much appreciated.
The slimline seat
Just like the other aircraft models, there is no WiFi installed on this aircraft so to view the menu, you need to do so before departure with your mobile network.
Another view of this row of seats
So for the emergency rows, row 12 and 14 are available on this A320neo aircraft. Row 13 number is skipped.
Can you see the difference between the legroom space between the emergency row seat and the seat behind?
The front row seats
Tighter legroom space in this row of seats.
Most window seats are aligned with the window.
First row seat offers slightly better legroom space.
More photos of the emergency row seat
36 inches of legroom space
Originally I had the whole row to myself.
There is no IFE system installed on this aircraft.
For the emergency row seat, there is extra instruction shown to the passengers sitting in these seat on how to open the emergency window if an emergency happens.
The emergency seat window
Notice the window shade is pulled up instead of the standard pull down only on the windows on the emergency rows (row 12 and 14).
There is extra label above the emergency row on how to open the window hatch.
Foldable traytable
The view from my seat
What's provided for each passenger?
Safety Card
Window view photos (Take off to Landing)
We were ready to push back.
The single engine took a while to get started.
A fellow company's A320 being prepared for departure.
On the way to runway 17R.
At this point, the other engine was started.
Watching another aircraft taking off.
We were 2nd for departure.
On the runway, waiting for clearance to take off.
Off we go!
It was certainly a beautiful day for flying.
V1.... rotate....
See you in a few days time, Santiago!
Just in case anyone is wondering, you see the red arrow marking? That is for passengers to exit the aircraft with a slide being deployed in case of emergency.
For this flight, we made a slight change of heading as we headed south-west towards our destination.
The wing area limits the view.
Nice to be able to fly in clear blue skies!
Flight was a bit bumpy at this point.
We were able to see a bit of the Andre mountrains from the distance.
For the rest of the flight, I spent the time admiring the view.
We were cruising at our assigned flight level.
After 10 minutes of cruising, we started our descent.
A good view of the lake.
We were on final approach.
Few more seconds to go
Touching down at Concepcion for my first time.
The view of the airport.
We slowed down to taxi speed.
On our way to the airport gate.
We reached the gate ahead of schedule.
My flight summary
Another early arrival
Welcome to Concepcion Airport!
A lot of families were on board this flight.
These passengers were heading for Calama.
Thanks for the ride, CC-DIU!
The departure hall (airside)
The arrival information
Luggage carousel
This is the arrival hall (landside)
A Christmas tree was on display near the check-in counters.
Quite a pleasant airport.
I waited for my ride just outside the terminal.
One last look before my ride arrived.
Hope you enjoy this trip report!
My ratings
Airline Website/Mobile App: 1/5
Check-in Experience (SCL): 4/5
Inflight Service: 4/5
Seat Comfort: 5/5 (Emergency row)
Inflight Entertainment: 0/5
Cabin Ambiance: 5/5
Seat Condition: 5/5
Cleanliness: 5/5
InFlight Meal/Beverage: 0/5
Punctuality: 5/5
Overall Rating: 34/50
Percentage: 68%
Conclusion
Among my Jetsmart flights, this has to be the most comfortable ride and it was a pity that the ride was short (50 minutes). All thanks to the ground staff for the seat change and unexpectedly to this emergency row seat. This is one of the advantages of being tall as I have been given this seat quite a number of times on some flights and I remembered there was once I turned down a request to move to the emergency row seat because I wanted to take photos from my original seat. Whatever it is, it is a good way to fly getting one of these seats especially on low-cost carriers. Seat legroom space does matters especially with the airlines trying to squeeze as many seats as possible on the aircraft and that may be good for the bean counters but for us, passengers especially the tall ones, bad for our legs. For emergency row seats, it is mandatory for the airlines to leave more legroom space as it is one of the requirements needed to ensure a smooth and quick exit for the passengers if an emergency takes place.
Although I am disappointed with the website's issues, I am glad to have flown with the airline. The inflight experience has been pleasant with the cabin crew being enthusiast and friendly towards the passengers and for that I give points to the airline. Would I fly with the airline again in the near future? Yes, I like to fly on the airline's A321neo and I hope this time I would be able to book directly with the airline.
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With that, this concludes my Jetsmart trip report, hope you enjoy the review.
Thanks for reading and have a great one!
Charles Ryan
For my previous trip report (LATAM Premium Economy Class A321ceo PMC-SCL flight), click here
Next trip report: Flying another Chilean Airline, Sky Airlines from Concepcion to Sao Paulo via Santiago in a 2 parts series, coming up soon.
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