South America - Why the $2400 difference between EZE and SCL fares?

I'm travel-savvy when it comes to earning miles, hard and soft products, airport transfers and amenities, but fares are still a bit out of my reach...

Last night I was on ExpertFlyer checking fares for SCL-DEN-SCL for Thanksgiving (depart 23NOV return 26NOV) and the difference between the lowest available econ fare was over $2,400:

SCL-DEN at $2987 on DL
EZE-DEN at $550 on DL, AA and LA

Both fares apply to 763 service, so the AC isn't a factor.

I live down here, I can think of a few reasons that might be right, but can somebody clue me in? I know Buenos Aires is more popular than Santiago, it's a much older facility, and Argentina is a cheaper country than Chile overall, but really, over $2400 more for a difference of 700 miles?

(Yes, I know that some airports are cheaper than others when they're only 16 miles apart, like ORD and MDW, but this difference really surprises me.)

Anyone care to educate me?

The $550 is ridiculously low and I wonder if it started as a mistake fare that the others automatically matched.

Also, note that there's a difference between the lowest available fare you can find at the time of searching, and the actual lowest fares offered on the flight/route. It could be that the capacity to/from SCL is less, and the planes are filling up faster (especially around a holiday time) and there aren't that many seats remaining, and they are trying to sell them at higher fares - if no one bites, they will shift some of the inventory into the lower fare buckets. The fares have absolutely nothing to do with what a dump EZE is, or that SCL is a nicer airport.

The $550 is ridiculously low and I wonder if it started as a mistake fare that the others automatically matched.

Also, note that there's a difference between the lowest available fare you can find at the time of searching, and the actual lowest fares offered on the flight/route. It could be that the capacity to/from SCL is less, and the planes are filling up faster (especially around a holiday time) and there aren't that many seats remaining, and they are trying to sell them at higher fares - if no one bites, they will shift some of the inventory into the lower fare buckets. The fares have absolutely nothing to do with what a dump EZE is, or that SCL is a nicer airport.

Thanks once again, Eastbay1K. I thought that the airport fees/taxes in SCL might be higher (but not by $2000!) based on newness/operations/earthquakes, is all.

I jumped on that $550 out of EZE, got the last upgradeable seats in J for the cash+miles option, bought a cheapo connecting flight from/to SCL and am still saving money over the fares currently published out of Santiago. $1250 plus 50,000 miles works for me.

Wow... EZE to DEN for under $600...... sounds like a mistake fare to me.

On the airport fees and taxes, actually EZE is an expensive place to issue tickets from... I know a Brazil based flyer that looks into these things and apparently EZE is much more expensive than any Brazilian airport for long haul travel. Cant comment on how this compares to departing out of SCL though...

I jumped on that $550 out of EZE, got the last upgradeable seats in J for the cash+miles option, bought a cheapo connecting flight from/to SCL and am still saving money over the fares currently published out of Santiago. $1250 plus 50,000 miles works for me.

Wow.... is this still available...? Which website did you use to book...??

Wow.... is this still available...? Which website did you use to book...??

I found the fare on ExpertFlyer and then booked directly at www.aa.com. Looks like similar fares are still available, though I understand I got one of the last upgrades available each way. Worth checking out, though!

I don't understand why you are surprised. Why would the prices be the same or even similar? Did you find the same difference on various dates? And to different locations in the U.S.? As you know, air fares aren't based on distance. You'd have to look at a LOT of factors, including local fees, competition, load factors, etc., etc., etc. Most importantly, don't expect fares to be based on an obvious logic. I reside in Brazil and am used to air fare surprises. I would doubt that EZE is more expensive than "any Brazilian airport" for long haul travel, but will leave it to others who may have done an exhaustive study. We are in FOR, where fares are high (only one non-Brazilian carrier-- TAP-- will fly here after Iberia departs for good). For us to get to the U.S., we typically first have to fly 3- 3 1/2 hours south to Rio or Sao Paulo, then reverse direction for the States. I'd love to be able to get a $550 fare to the States. Or even to EZE.

I found the fare on ExpertFlyer and then booked directly at www.aa.com. Looks like similar fares are still available, though I understand I got one of the last upgrades available each way. Worth checking out, though!

Thanks !!

I don't understand why you are surprised. Why would the prices be the same or even similar? Did you find the same difference on various dates? And to different locations in the U.S.? As you know, air fares aren't based on distance. You'd have to look at a LOT of factors, including local fees, competition, load factors, etc., etc., etc. Most importantly, don't expect fares to be based on an obvious logic.

I understand that I don't understand how fares are decided (long since gave up trying!), but having lived in SCL for three years and been traveling to both here and EZE for 6+ trips a year since 2002, I've done a lot of research into fares. Most of the time availability is better out of EZE, so the prices tend to be higher out of SCL, but I have never seen such a large difference between the two cities; it's usually not enough to cover the value of the trans-Andean flights (US$250 ish). A difference of $2400 really stands out.