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Use Miles to Visit the Ski Resorts in Latin America This Summer

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February 4, 2022

Use Miles to Visit the Ski Resorts in Latin America This Summer

Just like skiing in Europe is synonymous with the Alps, skiing in Latin America is all about the Andes. And because of the difference in seasons, the big ski season there is actually our summer so you can pick this hobby up again in June by flying south. This is the perfect time to plan that trip. If you start now, you can earn your free ticket there in time for the start of their season.

There are a few standout ski resorts in Latin America that make all the top lists for travel there: Portillo in Chile and Bariloche in Argentina. These two resorts couldn’t be more different.

Bariloche is in Patagonia, but it looks and feels like Europe. You might even forget you’re not in a trendy Alpine resort. Bariloche has dozens of hotels for all budgets, bars and nightclubs staying open until the wee hours, and everyone there, it seems, is partying late into the night. Best time to ski in Bariloche is from mid-June to early October.

Portillo is the exact opposite. This venerable skiing resort that dates back to the 1940s, is quiet and peaceful, albeit with all modern facilities you would expect from a first-class world resort. And they limit the number of skiers to 450 daily, so there is never a lift line or even the hint of overcrowding. Portillo is an all-inclusive resort, with three lodging options – from budget to upscale with all guests having access to all resort facilities. The projected 2016 ski season in Portillo is from mid-June to the end of September.

Getting to Bariloche

Bariloche is served by San Carlos de Bariloche Airport. Despite the limited number of airlines flying there, getting to Bariloche on an award ticket is usually not an issue, especially if you have miles from a few airline programs.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles on OneWorld Partners

LAN Airlines seasonally: via Santiago de Chile.
LAN Argentina: via Buenos Aires.
TAM seasonally: via Belo Horizonte, Brasília, Sao Paulo (Campinas-Viracopos and Guarulhos), Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro.

United MileagePlus miles on Star Partners

Azul seasonally: Sao Paulo (Campinas-Viracopos), Porto Alegre.

Delta SkyMiles on SkyTeam Partners

GOL seasonally: Belo Horizonte, Brasília, São Paulo (Guarulhos, Campinas-Viracopos), Curitiba, Porto Alegre, Rio de Janeiro.

Cathedral Ski Resort, Bariloche, Argentina

Getting to Portillo

You would need to fly to Santiago, then drive or take public transportation to the resort, which is about two-hour drive from the airport. Santiago is served by Comodoro Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport.

American Airlines AAdvantage miles on OneWorld Partners

American flies to Santiago from Miami and Dallas
LAN: from Miami and New York (JFK)

United MileagePlus miles on Star Partners

United: from Houston
Copa: via Panama City
Avianka: via Bogota and San Jose

Delta SkyMiles on SkyTeam Partners

Delta: from Atlanta
Aeromexico: via Mexico City
Aerolineas Argentinas: via Buenos Aires

Cost Of The Award Ticket

Round-trip tickets purchased with American miles (booked before 03.23.16) cost:

40,000 miles off-peak in economy (from Mar 1 and May 31, or Aug 16 and Nov 30).
60,000 in economy
100,000 in business
125,000 in first

Tickets purchased with American miles (booked on or after 03.22) cost:

60,000 in economy
115,000 in business
170,000 in first

Round-trip tickets purchased with United miles cost:

60,000 miles in economy.
110,000 in business.

There are no first class service to Santiago available, either on United or the partners

Round-trip tickets purchased with Delta miles cost:

60,000 miles in economy.
125,000 in business.

First class tickets can’t be purchased with SkyMiles.

Editorial Disclosure: Opinions expressed here are author's alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, hotel, airline, or other entity. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of the entities included within the post.

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Oneworld Best Business Class Redemptions to Latin America

Andy Shuman

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July 31, 2020

Unlike Europe, you don’t have a lot of options for Latin America with AAdvantage miles. Aside from American Airlines, there are only two carriers that can get you there, the Chile-based giant LAN and Brazil-based behemoth TAM. The two carriers merged a few years ago to form an even bigger airline called LATAM, but they are running things separately for now, until at least 2017.

Of course, we are mostly interested in flying in premium class to real long-haul destinations, such as Lima, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Buenos Aires, or Santiago de Chile. The American Airlines award chart puts these destinations in South America Region 2.

Redemption rates between North America and South America Region 2 (one-way) are:

Business Class: 57,500 AAdvantage miles (two-class aircraft)
First Class: 85,000 miles (three-class aircraft).

You can’t search and book awards on LAN or TAM by searching AA.com. Your options are the British Airways website, Qantas website, or you could just roll the dice and call AA, which might not be your best strategy. Please see our previous post: Oneworld Best Business Class Redemptions to Europe.

LAN (including LAN Peru and LAN Argentina) flies to the following U.S. cities:

From Santiago
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York (JFK)
From Buenos Aires
- Miami
- New York (JFK)
From Lima
- Los Angeles
- Miami
- New York (JFK)
- Orlando
- Washington (Dulles)

TAM

From Sao Paulo
- Miami
- New York (JFK)
- Orlando
From Rio de Janeiro
- Miami
- New York
From Brazilia
- Miami

LAN has a great Premium Business cabin in 767s on all its long-haul routes (and lately 787s on some routes). It features lie-flat beds, gourmet cuisine, fantastic wine list, and great choice of entertainment programs.

In our last installment we discussed searching your flights on the British Airways website. The BA site is not designed so that we could conduct a speedy research, but it is more accurate. The Qantas site is more user-friendly, as it offers a calendar view, but it’s more prone to errors, like this one.

When you see an error message where it shouldn’t be, try to log out and log in again. In addition, keep in mind that Qantas doesn’t like when you are doing a lot of research on its site. At some point it will kick you out, and you will have to wait to find your way back in.

How to search availability and equipment on Qantas

In the next screen uncheck Economy and check Business. Then click Go.

If you can’t find availability (and if you’re flexible) click Previous 14 days in the left lower corner. When you see a gray little man-in-a-chair symbol, you’ve found availability. In our case, it’s March 18. Click this date, then Continue.

Click this date, then Continue.

The flight you’re interested in is at the top: LA2605. Write it down and call AA to complete your booking.

Please remember that you have to call the American Airlines Call Center with your flight numbers to complete your booking.

Next: Strong American Airlines and One World: Best Business Class Redemptions to Asia

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