Punta Arenas? Where? Patagonia! On our bucket list! It is hard to get to, but the reward for the journey will be worth it. And now that there is no more $160 reciprocity fee for American citizens visiting Chile, Chile has definitely become a more attractive tourist destination.

Torres del Paine, Patagonia, Chile Photo: cordyph, used under Creative Commons License (By 2.0)

Sample Travel Date:

• September 2nd – 9th

Fare Availability:

• Valid for travel from August 18th – December 10th with a 5 day minimum stay requirement. Must purchase by June 9th

How to Search for Availability:

• Use ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search and use the following search criteria:
  • Departing from: LAX
  • Outbound Advanced Routing Code: mia scl
  • Destination: PUQ
  • Return Advanced Routing Code: scl mia
  • (Click on Advanced Routing Codes link to enable advanced routing code input)
  • Select “See calendar of lowest fares”
  • Length of stay “0-7” (the max date range is 7 days. So 0-7, 5-12, 7-14 etc)
• Beginner’s Guide on How to Use Matrix by ITA Software
• How to Read Airfare Rules and Use It to Your Advantage

Fare Class:

• US – Chile: O
• Within Chile: Y

Routing:

• LAX – MIA (Miami) – SCL (Santiago de Chile) – PMC (Puerto Montt) – PUQ (Punta Arenas) – PMC – SCL – DFW (Dallas) – LAX.

Stopover:

• Two permitted. One in each direction.
• How to Take Advantage of a Stopover

Mileage:

• 15,271 miles or 6.0 cents per mile. LAN is a member of the Oneworld Alliance and American partner. Per ITA, this fare is O class between US and Chile and Y within Chile. As such, it should credit 100% mileage with American. However, it is entirely possible that the intra-Chile segments are in another fare class that only earns 25% mileage and as such, you will earn 13,957 miles with this sample routing. Be aware of the possibility.

How to Book:

• Support us by using our Orbitz link to book with dates found on ITA Software Matrix Airfare Search. Make sure you select “Additional Search Options” and then “Narrow the search to my preferred airlines” and select LAN. Make sure you only select flights operated by American or LAN, LAN Peru, LAN Ecuador, LAN Colombia or LAN Argentina to receive mileage credit with American. LAN flight numbers operated by Aeromexico will not earn mileage with American or Delta or their partners besides LAN and Aeromexico.
• ITA is showing this at $882. However, we could not get it to price at anything less than $912.

• Save $400 off your next travel purchase after signing up for the Barclaycard Arrival Plus™ World Elite MasterCard®.* Earn 40,000 bonus miles when you spend $3,000 on purchases in the first 90 days – that’s enough to redeem for a $400 travel statement credit

Accommodations:

For hotel bookings, we recommend that you only book using online travel agencies (Hotels.com, HotelsCombined.com or Hotwire.com) if it is a non-chain hotel. We don’t want you to miss out on earning rewards with chain hotels.

• Accor Hotels
  • Sofitel, Pullman, M Gallery, Grand Mercure, Novotel, Mercure, Ibis
• Aloft Hotels
• CheapTickets
• Country Inns and Suites
• Four Points
• Hilton Hotels
  • Waldorf Astoria, Conrad, Hilton, DoubleTree, Embassy Suites, Hilton Garden Inn, Hampton Inn, Homewood Suites, Home2
• Hotels.com
• HotelsCombined.com
• Hotwire
• Intercontinental Group
  • Intercontinental, Crowne Plaza, Hotel Indigo, Holiday Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites
• Le Meridien
• Orbitz
• Preferred Hotels & Resorts
  • Preferred, Sterling, Summit
• Radisson Hotels
  • Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza, Park Inn, Hotel Missioni
• Sheraton
• Venere
• Westin
• W Hotels
• Wyndham Hotels
  • Wyndham, Tryp, Wingate, Hawthorn, Microtel, Dream, Planet Hollywood, Ramada, Night, Baymont, Days Inn, Super 8, Howard Johnson, Travelodge, Knights Inn

Car Rentals

• Avis – US and Canadian Rentals
• CarRentals.com
• Fox Rent A Car
• Hotwire
• Orbitz
• Payless Car Rental
• Sixt Car Rental – Good Agency for Rentals in Europe

Background Information:

• Visa: US Citizens – Not required. Other nationals, check the TIMATIC Visa Database
• Currency: Chilean Peso (CLP). $1USD = 550 CLP

Tips for saving when using credit cards at international destinations:

• No Foreign Transaction Fee Credit Cards to save on international purchases
• Don’t get hit with Dynamic Currency Conversion
• Get your taxes refunded when shopping
• How to Avoid International Data Roaming Charges

For more of the latest cheap Los Angeles Flight Deals:

• Go to the The Los Angeles Flight Deals page

* The Flight Deal will receive a commission if you use the Orbitz, accommodation or car rental affiliate links to make a booking or apply and is approved for a credit card using our link above. Thank you for your continuing support.

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The Flight Deal does not sell travel products or services. We provide you with information about third-party travel suppliers’ offers, and link you to their sites. The information posted by The Flight Deal is valid at the time of publication. However, we have no control over the suppliers, and we therefore do not warrant or guarantee that their offers will not change or become unavailable. Nor are we responsible for their products, services or site content. Please see their sites for their most up-to-date offer information and all applicable terms and conditions.