South America - Multiple cities - please help

We are taking a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparisio the end of January of 2013. We would also like to go to Iguazu Falls and Machu Picchu.

We are flying out of New York.

What routing should we be looking at for the best fares? Which would make the most sense?

Flying round trip NY to BA? Flying round trip NY to Lima? Flying into BA or Lima and then flying out of the other?

Then there are the interior flights. Round trip from Lima to Cusco?

Round trip from BA to Iguazu? Should we be doing a continuous interior loop with no return flights?

The only times that are written in stone at this point is the cruise. We're not concerned whether we do both MP and Iguazu before the cruise, the end of cruise or one at each end. We really need to get our flight arrangements set up in order to book hotels, etc. We;re looking to spend 5-6 days doing our MP adventure (including flights, etc.) and 2 nights at Iguazu if that makes any difference.

I've tried looking at different sites and I'm being befuddled (yes, befuddled!!) So I am turning to the great minds and resources of the cruise critic participants as you are all such a resource that I am so thankful I found.

I know there are some seasoned birds out there. (I just began flying again a few years ago and not so extensively). If anyone can point me in the direction(s) we should be going, it would be sooo appreciated.

We are taking a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparisio the end of January of 2013. We would also like to go to Iguazu Falls and Machu Picchu.

We are flying out of New York.

 

What routing should we be looking at for the best fares? Which would make the most sense?

 

Flying round trip NY to BA? Flying round trip NY to Lima? Flying into BA or Lima and then flying out of the other?

 

Then there are the interior flights. Round trip from Lima to Cusco?

Round trip from BA to Iguazu? Should we be doing a continuous interior loop with no return flights?

 

The only times that are written in stone at this point is the cruise. We're not concerned whether we do both MP and Iguazu before the cruise, the end of cruise or one at each end. We really need to get our flight arrangements set up in order to book hotels, etc. We;re looking to spend 5-6 days doing our MP adventure (including flights, etc.) and 2 nights at Iguazu if that makes any difference.

 

I've tried looking at different sites and I'm being befuddled (yes, befuddled!!) So I am turning to the great minds and resources of the cruise critic participants as you are all such a resource that I am so thankful I found.

 

I know there are some seasoned birds out there. (I just began flying again a few years ago and not so extensively). If anyone can point me in the direction(s) we should be going, it would be sooo appreciated.

Do you plan to do any of the trip using frequent flyer miles? There are some pretty good awards that let you piece together an itinerary like yours, using partner airlines within an alliance. There are usually some routing restrictions (e.g. no backtracking or visiting the same city twice), and you may need to be flexible in your dates and times of travel. But with a lot of research and some out-of-the box thinking you can get a good deal if it works. Depending on the award, adding a non-award / paid flight segment may open up more options in using the award. Examples would be flying from home to a "gateway" airport, or getting an open-jaw award ticket to and from SA and "closing" the open jaw with paid flight(s).

Even if you're not going to use award tickets, using alliance partner airlines and even codeshares often provides the best results.

As FYI a friend travels to SA for vacation a lot...I recall him saying the flights to Igauzu aren't cheap but it's a "must see".

Hope this helps!

We went Rio to Valpariso Chile Jan 2012. It is truly a marvelous cruise. I have gone to Machu Picchu about 10 years ago and it is a marvelous trip and I remember everything like it was yesterday -- outstanding but a rugged trip. Long way and the altitude does cause some people real medical problems. (use the search function of this thread (SA) for Machu Picchu and altitude sickness. Some folks say do it first and MANY say do last so does not hurt rest of trip.

I chose not to go to I. Falls -- I do not handle heat and humidity well and the temps in January are 95 degrees plus with equal humidity. I was afraid for my health but hope to see the Falls someday in their winter. Cruise package is very expensive and you can use a gudie or travel agency to duplicate for much cheaper price. Plan ahead -- facilities are very limited as are flights. Again search this thread for many many posts discussing this

You might consider looking at LAN airlines for your SA trip. They have a multi leg South America pass that seems to save money but you really just have to work it out. I found a bargain open jaw fare that worked better. Go to LAN.com to read about this. Also can look at ITA software to see what the possibilities are. Just keep your eyes open to see what a reasonable fare is and when you see it take it. Identify what you want or what is acceptable then look for sales etc. Be aware of when Carnival is in that raises prices.

You will be going HIGH season and possibly EXTREME High Season around Carnival time which is also SA vacation time. We had so many Argentina citizens on the Star Princess Jan. 2012 they had a Spanish speaking ACD and many activities in Spanish. This did not bother me but it was the most diverse cruise I have ever been on with a large German group, Japanese group, Argentina, lesser French and Brazilian. May be that US was not more than 50% but it was lovely and the diverse populations did not particularly mix with nor bother each other (other than lots of kids in the pool which I was not expecting:rolleyes:)

Google "LAN South America Airpass."

Just what you're looking for, combined with an ordinary open-jaw to/from itinerary.

Google "LAN South America Airpass."

 

Just what you're looking for, combined with an ordinary open-jaw to/from itinerary.

That was what I was thinking of. I now remember why it did not turn out to be useful to us (trying to get to Easter Island a 5 hour flight and expensive) because the routes are often not direct with the pass. Have to keep going through certain airports like Santiago and each part counts as a leg so not worth the cost and the time. This could just be because of the time restraints we had and special circumstances of Easter Island flights. I guess my caution is to check out the cost in both time and money and then compare to non-pass flight fares. For us last year, tickets from another airline were cheaper even though our Florida to Rio flight allowed for the SA pass.

Lan and Tam have announced merger plans which may shake up travel within South America.

If you are using a TA for the cruise it may be worth while to pay them to plan the internal air and save yourself some additional headaches.

I was trying just one side trip for next year's cruise and I feel your frustration. Good luck!

If you are using a TA for the cruise it may be worth while to pay them to plan the internal air and save yourself some additional headaches.

That's good advice....if you have a REAL travel agent and not just a cruiseline specialist or an order taker.

Find out their airline knowledge bona fides.

We are taking a cruise from Buenos Aires to Valparisio the end of January of 2013. We would also like to go to Iguazu Falls and Machu Picchu.

We are flying out of New York.

 

What routing should we be looking at for the best fares? Which would make the most sense?

 

Flying round trip NY to BA? Flying round trip NY to Lima? Flying into BA or Lima and then flying out of the other?

 

Then there are the interior flights. Round trip from Lima to Cusco?

Round trip from BA to Iguazu? Should we be doing a continuous interior loop with no return flights?

 

The only times that are written in stone at this point is the cruise. We're not concerned whether we do both MP and Iguazu before the cruise, the end of cruise or one at each end. We really need to get our flight arrangements set up in order to book hotels, etc. We;re looking to spend 5-6 days doing our MP adventure (including flights, etc.) and 2 nights at Iguazu if that makes any difference.

 

I've tried looking at different sites and I'm being befuddled (yes, befuddled!!) So I am turning to the great minds and resources of the cruise critic participants as you are all such a resource that I am so thankful I found.

 

I know there are some seasoned birds out there. (I just began flying again a few years ago and not so extensively). If anyone can point me in the direction(s) we should be going, it would be sooo appreciated.

You want to fly LAN open jaw such as into Buenos Aires and out of Lima. We just flew the LAN flight out of JFK to Santiago this past March. You then use your booking number on the LAN international flight to book the other internal flights using LANs South America pass. You will save tons of money. You can read about it on LAN's website. You need at least 3 legs on the internal flights and you will have more than that. We left our ship in Lima and rejoined in Ecuador, but you may want to fly into Buenos Aires and out of Lima. You then need internal flights to Iguazu falls pre-cruise and at the end Santiago to Lima and Lima/Cuz, and Cuz/Lima.

In our case we used FFmiles on American to book our international flight on LAN.

Thank you all for the replies.

Not sure if we have any sort of FF miles - I'm pretty sure we have been using cash back, (as I said in my opening post) I have just begun to fly in the last few years, and therefore ff miles would have been pretty useless to us. Although now that I've got the traveling bug to travel further than a car would allow, we may have to reconsider our options.

Anyway, my questions seem to raise more questions.

Kenish, and others,

1. Not sure what is meant by open-jaw flights.

I'm thinking it means flying into one city and out of another?

2. What is a gateway airport?

Bowiemowmow:

1.What is ITA software?

Machu Picchu - I am a bit nervous about the altitude sickness - think we will try to route this portion for after the cruise, if the fares don't seem too high in flying into one city and out of another.

Iguazu Falls - Think we will appreciate a bit of heat and humidity as we will be in full swing winter when we leave here!

We leave the end of January and will be on this ship when full swing carnival is going on. As for the diversity of travelers on the ship - I grew up in a "melting pot" neighborhood - all immigrants (my parents included) and absolutely loved learning about the cultures of my neighbors, so I would almost look forward to that.

I'm planning on doing a bit more research on the different flights this weekend, and if it does seem too mind-boggling, I may seek out the aid of a travel agent.

Again, thank you all that have posted replies. I just knew I could count on cruise critic to be of assistance!! Thanks so much! If there are any other knowledgeable flyers/travelers that have any other info it would be so helpful and appreciated.

Just a suggestion:

As others have posted, fly AA or LAN and use the South America Air Passes. Will save you about 1/2 over buying individual point to point tickets.

You can look at open jaw flights (fly into one city before your cruise, out of Lima after your trip to MP). Use the multi city option and just put in the two cities and your dates.

BUT the new LAN Airpass is routing Buenos Aires to Iguazzu through Lima, which adds a LOT of money and time. I can't get either the South American (OneWorld) or LAN Airpass to route any other way.

If it was my flight, I would book it like this-either AA or LAN (depends on the price-LAN is very often considerably more expensive) from JFK to EZE (Buenos Aires). BUY a separate ticket from Buenos Aires to Iguazzu and return to Buenos Aires to get on your cruise. You have your choice of about three airlines-TAM, LAN and Aerolineas Argentina. All bookable online.

Buy the Airpass to take care of the Santiago to Lima to Cusco to Lima flights. The Santiago to Lima one way flight alone is about $500.00 if booked separately. Using the Lan Airpass, the total flight price from SCL to LIM to CUZ to LIM is $489. About $300 savings. Then fly home from Lima.

I don't understand the reference to Carnival. If you are on the standard Buenos Aires to Valparaiso trip, you will be a long way from Rio.

1. Not sure what is meant by open-jaw flights.

I'm thinking it means flying into one city and out of another?

2. What is a gateway airport?

Open jaw: Flying from A-B, then C-A. The B-C leg is by land, sea, or on a totally separate airline ticket. Note that the B-C distance must be shorter than A-B or C-A. For example, LAX-IAD (Washington Dulles)// JFK-LAX is a legal open-jaw but BOS-IAD// JFK-BOS is not.

Many cruisers use open-jaw itineraries for obvious reasons.

Gateway airport: The airports at either end of an inter-continental flight. For example flight from ELP (El Paso)-LAX-LHR(London)-NCE(Nice, France) the gateways are LAX and LHR.

Even with an all-flight itinerary, sometimes the total price will be better if you purchase an open-jaw ticket to the region of travel and a separate ticket for flight(s) that "close" the open-jaw. What Gardyloo suggested was investigating an airpass on LAN to get around South America and an open-jaw to get to/from there. A situation I ran into was domestic tickets in Australia were much cheaper purchasing through the airline's Aussie web page and paying with Aussie $$ instead of booking the same flight through the US part of their website. It was due to fare sales being available on the Aussie site and the really good exchange rates at the time.

Gateway airports sometimes let you really get the most of award travel. For example on the Oz trip, we wanted to visit Sydney, Melbourne, Cairns, and Uluru. The AAdvantage award allowed one stopover (break in the trip at an intermediate city) at either the North American or overseas gateway city in either direction. It also allowed open-jaw. SYD and MEL were the two gateway cities, and after a lot of investigation of possible city pairs it turned out Uluru (AYQ)-SYD was the most expensive domestic leg. So the award ticket was an open-jaw LAX-MEL//AYQ-SYD-LAX with a 4-day stopover in SYD. Then I purchased MEL-CNS and CNS-AYQ separately to complete the itinerary.

Just an actual example of how understanding the detailed frequent flyer award rules can maximize their value.

Lan and Tam have announced merger plans which may shake up travel within South America.

If you are using a TA for the cruise it may be worth while to pay them to plan the internal air and save yourself some additional headaches.

I was trying just one side trip for next year's cruise and I feel your frustration. Good luck!

Really you can do it and it is not that difficult. Go to ITA software matrix and put in the flights you will need. Use multiple destinations of you can do each segement by itself as a single journey. You can not buy from ITA but it does show all the flights. Decide on your flights and go to the airline website to order and pay for them.

TA do not get paid for doing the flights now and have not for many years. ITA software is what they would also use to give the customer the flights. Now you have same access as TA and with a little learning of the process you can do better for yourself than the TA can (because you will take the time to work out the best flights cost and timewise). Sometimes changing the schedule etc also works out for your advantage. Good Luck.

When planning to go to Iguazu Falls, take note that there are two airports serving the falls area, one on the Argentinian side (IGR) and the other on the Brazilian side (IGU). Also there are two airports serving Buenos Aires - Ezezia (EZE) and Jorge Newbury (AEP). Specifying the "wrong" pairs, e.g. EZE-IGU can result in horrendous roundabout and expensive routings.

First, again, let me thank you all!

greatam-was nice to hear from you - I've really devoured your posts on the Machu Picchu thread - I'm sure I'll eventually end up there with questions, once our flights are booked. And thank you for your detailed explanation on the flights.

kenish- you explained "open jaw" - now I have another question as to whether I do comprehend this. I went onto the LAN website. I did find a flight leaving Santiago (where the cruise ends) to NY with a stop (not a connecting flight if that makes a difference) in Lima. Would we be able to do a stopover (get off the flight and do our Machu Picchu side trip) and pick up another flight for the rest of the journey to NY for the cost of $75 added to tix? If so, how does that work? I didn't see anything on the booking to include this option, other than the the mention of the $75 in opening the window of "fare restrictions".

Once again - Thank you all!!

For the heads up on the Iguazu portion of our trip - yes, that would be a horrendous, expensive mistake!

First, again, let me thank you all!

 

greatam-was nice to hear from you - I've really devoured your posts on the Machu Picchu thread - I'm sure I'll eventually end up there with questions, once our flights are booked. And thank you for your detailed explanation on the flights.

 

kenish- you explained "open jaw" - now I have another question as to whether I do comprehend this. I went onto the LAN website. I did find a flight leaving Santiago (where the cruise ends) to NY with a stop (not a connecting flight if that makes a difference) in Lima. Would we be able to do a stopover (get off the flight and do our Machu Picchu side trip) and pick up another flight for the rest of the journey to NY for the cost of $75 added to tix? If so, how does that work? I didn't see anything on the booking to include this option, other than the the mention of the $75 in opening the window of "fare restrictions".

 

Once again - Thank you all!!

I'm not Kenish but I am in Kuwait, bored out of my mind, waiting for the Military to get the flights into Afghanistan arranged.

You cannot get a stopover without booking it that way. I don't know what you are referring to about $75.00. Please explain.

This is what you need to book if you are planning to use LAN. I just pulled this off the ITA website but you can duplicate the flights on LAN (use the schedule and fare class to get the same price). Use the multi city option and put in each leg and each date. I just picked arbitrary dates that will kind of coincide with what you want to do. This is a pretty good price with a Lima stopover. Another $300-400 for tickets from LIM to CUZ and return. Total about $1650-1700.

You will have to spend the night in Santiago and Lima to make this schedule work. The night flight out of Santiago to Lima continuing on to JFK is much more expensive as a general rule.

You DO NOT want to fly to Cusco after 9AM. Very often, because the Cusco airport sits in a bowl, the clouds move in and you can't land. Pilots fly around and around looking for an opening in the cloud bank. When they can't find it, back to Lima you go to try again the next day. Take a look at this, see if you can duplicate it on LAN. Then let us know.

New York (JFK) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Wed, Jan 16

LAN Airlines New York (JFK) to Santiago (SCL) - Wed, Jan 16

LAN Airlines 533 Dep: 8:00PM Arr: 9:00AM 11h 0m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

Layover in SCL Thu, Jan 17 1h 0m

LAN Airlines Santiago (SCL) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Thu, Jan 17

LAN Airlines 455 Dep: 10:00AM Arr: 12:05PM 2h 5m Airbus A320 Economy (N)

Santiago (SCL) to Lima (LIM) - Thu, Jan 31

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 636 Dep: 9:35AM Arr: 11:20AM 3h 45m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

Lima (LIM) to New York (JFK) - Tue, Feb 5

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 530 Dep: 12:15AM Arr: 7:55AM 7h 40m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $1,215.64

Total cost for 1 passenger $1,215.64

I'm not Kenish but I am in Kuwait, bored out of my mind, waiting for the Military to get the flights into Afghanistan arranged.

 

You cannot get a stopover without booking it that way. I don't know what you are referring to about $75.00. Please explain.

 

This is what you need to book if you are planning to use LAN. I just pulled this off the ITA website but you can duplicate the flights on LAN (use the schedule and fare class to get the same price). Use the multi city option and put in each leg and each date. I just picked arbitrary dates that will kind of coincide with what you want to do. This is a pretty good price with a Lima stopover. Another $300-400 for tickets from LIM to CUZ and return. Total about $1650-1700.

 

You will have to spend the night in Santiago and Lima to make this schedule work. The night flight out of Santiago to Lima continuing on to JFK is much more expensive as a general rule.

 

You DO NOT want to fly to Cusco after 9AM. Very often, because the Cusco airport sits in a bowl, the clouds move in and you can't land. Pilots fly around and around looking for an opening in the cloud bank. When they can't find it, back to Lima you go to try again the next day. Take a look at this, see if you can duplicate it on LAN. Then let us know.

 

New York (JFK) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Wed, Jan 16

LAN Airlines New York (JFK) to Santiago (SCL) - Wed, Jan 16

LAN Airlines 533 Dep: 8:00PM Arr: 9:00AM 11h 0m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

 

Layover in SCL Thu, Jan 17 1h 0m

 

LAN Airlines Santiago (SCL) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Thu, Jan 17

LAN Airlines 455 Dep: 10:00AM Arr: 12:05PM 2h 5m Airbus A320 Economy (N)

 

 

 

Santiago (SCL) to Lima (LIM) - Thu, Jan 31

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 636 Dep: 9:35AM Arr: 11:20AM 3h 45m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

 

 

 

Lima (LIM) to New York (JFK) - Tue, Feb 5

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 530 Dep: 12:15AM Arr: 7:55AM 7h 40m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

 

 

Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $1,215.64

Total cost for 1 passenger $1,215.64

Thanks greatam - you are TOO GOOD!

How bored are you? This is somewhat our itinerary:

Princess cruise: Buenos Aires to Valparisio Jan. 30th to Feb. 12th.

We would like to arrive in BA on/about Jan. 24/25, allowing for a 2-night trip to Iguazu Falls, + being able to spend some time in BA.

Arriving Valparisio/Santiago on the Feb 12 - would like to do a quick tour of Val/Vina del Mar/Santiago and then get to Machu Picchu - planning on catching a flight back to NY on/about Feb. 18, giving us 5-6 days in cusco, mp, etc (on that note - is that enough time to do it right?)

Thanking you in advance and besides: what the heck and hey are you doing in Afghanistan?

Thanks, swedie.

Nothing much to add to greatam's post except to say that if you find yourselves reconsidering Cusco/Machu Picchu because of altitude, you might think about substituting Easter Island instead. Lan fly from both Santiago and Lima to Easter Island several days a week, and most travelers who've been there (I haven't yet - near the rim of the bucket) have raved about it. Remote, exotic, beautiful, fascinating, relatively inexpensive, and you can only get there on Lan from SCL or LIM.

Thanks greatam - you are TOO GOOD!

 

How bored are you? This is somewhat our itinerary:

 

Princess cruise: Buenos Aires to Valparisio Jan. 30th to Feb. 12th.

 

We would like to arrive in BA on/about Jan. 24/25, allowing for a 2-night trip to Iguazu Falls, + being able to spend some time in BA.

 

Arriving Valparisio/Santiago on the Feb 12 - would like to do a quick tour of Val/Vina del Mar/Santiago and then get to Machu Picchu - planning on catching a flight back to NY on/about Feb. 18, giving us 5-6 days in cusco, mp, etc (on that note - is that enough time to do it right?)

 

Thanking you in advance and besides: what the heck and hey are you doing in Afghanistan?

 

Thanks, swedie.

Here you go-you can play around with the dates. To get this cheap price, which includes the Lima/Cuz/Lima flight, you are probably going to either have to go to a TA who does airline business or pay for phone booking with LAN. The last segment-LIM to JFK is a LAN codeshare through Miami on AA. I cannot force the codeshare into online LAN booking. I only get a LAN nonstop or a LANPeru (same company) nonstop. And the price is $486.00 more.

I am very, very bored. We have been sitting in the auditorium since about 5PM. It is now almost 1:30AM, Kuwait City time. They are taking military out first (which is to be expected). BUT they didn't have a lot of people's names on the list correctly. Mine said I was flying into Iraq. I NEED to go to Afghanistan BEFORE I go to back to Iraq.

And since we pulled out of Iraq, Gryphon Air (which flew Kuwait City/Camp Arifjan to Iraq, Bagram and Kandahar) only allows US government employees (NOT contractors) to book their own flights. So I am stuck on Military transport if and when they get it arranged.

I do international logistics planning for the Defense Dept under contract. My entire job is to make sure we have the PROPER food at the PROPER place and the food has been purchased under DFAR rules (Defense Federal Acquisition Rules).

Some of these contractors CHEAT-Agility (out of Kuwait although they try to make it look like they are a US company) is under federal indictment. They scammed the government out of billions and continue to do so. http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/04/12/us-usa-agility-charge-idUSTRE63B5GS20100412

http://www.cepr.net/index.php/op-eds-&-columns/op-eds-&-columns/blacklisted-contractor-continues-receiving-government-money-through-haiti-contracts

AND I found fresh produce at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait 3 years ago that they had literally purchased in the souk in Kuwait City. I about had a heart attack. The boxes were marked Syria, Lebanon, Yemen and IRAN. Talk about buying from your enemies. The people who prepare the food are TCN's (third country nationals-most from India, the Phillipines, Bangladesh, etc. etc.). They have NO IDEA food is supposed to be purchased either in the USA or from APPROVED sources. They never look at the boxes-just prepare the food.

Agility doesn't care-that's the way business is done in the Middle East and they figure they can pull the wool over the US government's eyes. It wouldn't take much to taint those produce boxes and wipe out 10,000+ US military.

Your US tax dollars at work.

Sooner or later MAYBE they will have transport arranged. Otherwise, I give them 2 more hours and I am going to find a ride back into Kuwait City (I already turned in my rental) and go back to the hotel.

I will still have wifi for at least another couple of hours.

New York (JFK) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Wed, Jan 23

LAN Airlines New York (JFK) to Santiago (SCL) - Wed, Jan 23

LAN Airlines 533 Dep: 8:00PM Arr: 9:00AM 11h 0m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

Layover in SCL Thu, Jan 24 1h 0m

LAN Airlines Santiago (SCL) to Buenos Aires (EZE) - Thu, Jan 24

LAN Airlines 455 Dep: 10:00AM Arr: 12:05PM 2h 5m Airbus A320 Economy (N)

Santiago (SCL) to Lima (LIM) - Wed, Feb 13

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 636 Dep: 9:35AM Arr: 11:20AM 3h 45m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

Lima (LIM) to Cuzco (CUZ) - Thu, Feb 14

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 2029 Dep: 7:00AM Arr: 8:20AM 1h 20m Airbus A319 Economy (V)

OPERATED BY LANPERU

Cuzco (CUZ) to Lima (LIM) - Tue, Feb 19

LAN Airlines LAN Airlines 2030 Dep: 1:35PM Arr: 3:00PM 1h 25m Airbus A319 Economy (V)

OPERATED BY LANPERU

Lima (LIM) to New York (JFK) - Tue, Feb 19

LAN Airlines Lima (LIM) to Miami (MIA) - Tue, Feb 19

LAN Airlines 6712 Dep: 11:50PM Arr: 5:30AM 5h 40m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

OPERATED BY AMERICAN AIRLINES FOR LANPERU Layover in MIA Wed, Feb 20 5h 55m

LAN Airlines Miami (MIA) to New York (JFK) - Wed, Feb 20

LAN Airlines 6850 Dep: 11:25AM Arr: 2:25PM 3h 0m Boeing 767 Economy (N)

OPERATED BY AMERICAN AIRLINES FOR LANPERU

Cost per passenger (including taxes & fees) $1,523.61

Total cost for 1 passenger $1,523.61

How to buy this ticket

Tickets cannot be purchased directly from ITA Software.

Provide this information to a travel agent to help them match the fares found.

Make sure to provide the exact booking and fare codes shown.

Fare 1: Carrier LA NLXSP718 NYC to BUE (rules)

Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code N

Covers JFK-SCL (Economy), SCL-EZE (Economy)

$509.00

Fare 2: Carrier LA NLXSP106 SCL to NYC (rules)

Passenger type ADT, round trip fare, booking code N

Covers SCL-LIM (Economy), LIM-MIA (Economy), MIA-JFK (Economy)

$573.00

Fare 3: Carrier LA VLEFX139 LIM to CUZ (rules)

Passenger type ADT, one-way fare, booking code V

Covers LIM-CUZ (Economy)

$144.00

Fare 4: Carrier LA VLEFX139 CUZ to LIM (rules)

Passenger type ADT, one-way fare, booking code V

Covers CUZ-LIM (Economy)

$144.00

US International Departure Tax (US) $16.70

US September 11th Security Fee (AY) $5.00

US Passenger Facility Charge (XF) $9.00

Chile International Airport Facility Charge (ZQ) $30.00

Peru Int'l Arrival Tax (DY) $15.00

Peru Airport Departure Tax (HW) $43.71

USDA APHIS Fee (XA) $5.00

US Immigration Fee (XY) $7.00

US Customs Fee (YC) $5.50

US International Arrival Tax (US) $16.70

Subtotal per passenger $1,523.61

Number of passengers x1

Total airfare & taxes $1,523.61

Fare construction (can be useful to travel agents)

NYC LA X/SCL LA BUE Q280.00 M 229.00NLXSP718 /-SCL LA LIM (LA CUZ Q33.00 Q5.00 106.00VLEFX139 LA X/LIM Q33.00 Q5.00 106.00VLEFX139) LA X/MIA LA NYC Q280.00 M 293.00NLXSP106 NUC 1370.00 END ROE 1.00 XT 5.50YC 7.00XY 5.00XA 33.40US 5.00AY 30.00ZQ 15.00DY 43.71HW 9.00XF JFK4.50 MIA4.50

Remote, exotic, beautiful, fascinating, relatively inexpensive, and you can only get there on Lan from SCL or LIM.

Or, for a bit more money, you could be on this Crystal cruise:

http://www.crystalcruises.com/VoyageDetail.aspx?CID=4201

Of course, then the question becomes coming home from PPT.

greatam-Thank you ever so much!! If we ever meet, I owe you a really tall beverage, a meal, my first born.

My sister-in-law is coming over Tuesday night to plan some more of our journey and I'm sure you have cut the planning of our flights - over and done - check! Now we can get into the fun stuff - planning what to see! I have copious amounts of cutting and pasting from the machu picchu sites and you seem to be the winner hands down on that thread! I'm sure I'll be back there asking questions also (just a heads up)

From the other thread, if I recall correctly, I thought you traveled for business (I'm thinking wool items, pottery, etc. - oh, so colorful - I do need some of those), so now it also seems you travel taking care of our troops? Daunting - no wonder you could pull up all that info so easily! I got dizzy just reading it!

Hope you made it onto a flight, and if not, hope you get a good nights sleep.

Again -thank you, thank you, thank you!

swedie.

flyertalker:: searching for answers on these boards is a big problem - there are always new places on the ever-growing bucket list and the $$ can only go so far. I might have to get another job, never mind retiring! Trouble with that would be - how do I get all that time off to go exploring? Ahhhhh, dreaming......maybe I better play some sort of big money lottery.

Bowie, kendric and more names than I can remember from the posts (sorry)....a genuine thank you for taking the time to answer this inept air traveler.

swedie.

From the other thread, if I recall correctly, I thought you traveled for business (I'm thinking wool items, pottery, etc. - oh, so colorful - I do need some of those), so now it also seems you travel taking care of our troops? Daunting - no wonder you could pull up all that info so easily! I got dizzy just reading it!

 

Back in the auditorium waiting for a flight out.

The powers that be did let the contractors use "guest housing" to get a nap. But with only one sheet and only some of the "bed packs" with pillows, it sure wasn't a very comfortable sleep. They did let us purchase lunch at the DFAC (chow hall) instead of having to eat Starbucks, pizza, hamburgers or chicken at the fast food places on base. Our credentials had been cut off for free meals when we signed out of base commissary in Camp Arifjan.

To answer your question-I own an international logistics company. We move people and freight (primarily food) all over the world via ship, plane and trucks. These government contracts are my way to give back and besides, I have learned a lot and made a few dollars. I spend 2 weeks-2 months at a time in the Middle East depending on what is needed as far as inventory, planning and oversight on some of the HUGE Defense and State Dept. contracts.

The rest of the time I am in my offices in Arizona/Missouri/NYC or in South America moving fresh fruit to the USA. The South America part is only about 5 months a year. And I fly down about once every 4-6 weeks. Buying alpaca sweaters and other novelties in Peru for export to the USA is strictly my little side enterprise and has nothing to do with my primary job. Again, it is kind of altruism meets money.

The Cusco/Juliaca area is very poor. My orders of sweaters and other items provide a little bit of extra income for the area and me with spending money to travel in luxury style. DH wouldn't put up with spending our salaries for luxury travel. He is content with Motel 6 or the Super 8. I am not. Staying at the Burj Al Arab or even the Hay Adams in a White House view room is way, way off the charts for him. So the small amount I make reselling Peruvian products in the USA provides the money to stay in the world's best hotels and have some experiences that few get to take.

Nothing much to add to greatam's post except to say that if you find yourselves reconsidering Cusco/Machu Picchu because of altitude, you might think about substituting Easter Island instead. Lan fly from both Santiago and Lima to Easter Island several days a week, and most travelers who've been there (I haven't yet - near the rim of the bucket) have raved about it. Remote, exotic, beautiful, fascinating, relatively inexpensive, and you can only get there on Lan from SCL or LIM.

I tried so hard to make Easter Island work for us last year and it just didn't because of the time you have to allow in case the planes can't land. Well that is why you have lots on a bucket list!!:D If you don't make it to Easter Island and you do go to Valpo visit the Chile Museum of Archeology. Great exhibits and an actual head. Most of the tours do a photo shoot of the head and then head on out but the little museum with an English speaking guide was a real gem of an experience. Well worth an hour.

Nothing much to add to greatam's post except to say that if you find yourselves reconsidering Cusco/Machu Picchu because of altitude, you might think about substituting Easter Island instead. Lan fly from both Santiago and Lima to Easter Island several days a week, and most travelers who've been there (I haven't yet - near the rim of the bucket) have raved about it. Remote, exotic, beautiful, fascinating, relatively inexpensive, and you can only get there on Lan from SCL or LIM.

I agree. We spent 4 nights on Easter Island this past May. I was very reluctant about the trip but it was something hubby wanted to do. Turned out to be one of our best trips. So much fun exploring the island looking for the moai's (statues). Probably won't be everyone's cup of tea, but it was a great adventure for us. We flew Miami-Santiago-Easter Island-Lima-Miami using ff miles. Stayed in Lima 4 nights on the way back. If you ever get the chance, do it.:)

greatam,

I'm so sorry that you didn't get a good night! Sounds horrible.

But your travels do sound amazing, and I'm sure everyone on cc is so appreciative of your generosity in answering oh so many questions. I know I am. thanks again.

swedie