South America - Risk of booking with Expedia, Travelocity, etc., versus directly with Airline

$2,800 vs. $1,700. Those are the two prices I received for the EXACT same itinerary. The $2,800 is with LAN, $1,700 with Expedia (and others as well including Travelocity and Orbitz). The Expedia itinerary is all LAN, with exact same flight numbers as the LAN itinerary.

I've always heard that it's best to book directly with the airline when travelling in SA due to frequent delays and cancellations. My flights have 3 legs, from Chile to Argentina, internal Argentina and then Argentina back to Chile.

Expedia says the tickets are non-refundable and do NOT allow any changes before or during the trip.

So, what are the risks of going with Expedia? What happens if a flight get cancelled....who rebooks me onto the next flight and will I have to pay any charges?

$2,800 vs. $1,700. Those are the two prices I received for the EXACT same itinerary. The $2,800 is with LAN, $1,700 with Expedia (and others as well including Travelocity and Orbitz). The Expedia itinerary is all LAN, with exact same flight numbers as the LAN itinerary.

I've always heard that it's best to book directly with the airline when travelling in SA due to frequent delays and cancellations. My flights have 3 legs, from Chile to Argentina, internal Argentina and then Argentina back to Chile.

Expedia says the tickets are non-refundable and do NOT allow any changes before or during the trip.

So, what are the risks of going with Expedia? What happens if a flight get cancelled....who rebooks me onto the next flight and will I have to pay any charges?
Search Expedia and other booking sites on FT. The good news is that you can save money if everything goes as planned. The bad news is that the t&c of the third-party site apply, over and above those of the carrier. This may mean that non-refundable means no refund and no credit for future use or that no changes means no changes as opposed to pay fee + fare difference.

Only you can determine whether the fare difference is worth it, but you should only do so after having read the t&c for both the specific ticket on Expedia and for the carrier word-for-word. Don't rely on what others tell you because t&c change.