kuwaito

just your credit card company first and tell them that they need to autorize the transaction. It's probably your credit card company that it is not going through the purchase of the ticket. I had a similar issue when I bought a ticket through LAN.com from EZE to LIM using an american credit card. I had to go back and forth many times until my credit card company accepted this foreign charge(as it gets processes in chile).

SK

Facing similar issues:
Trying to book (from the US) a one-way Santiago-Buenos Aires ticket, and the only LAN fares I get are fully flexible, costing around $500.
Gol Linhas Aéreas, on the other hand, gives me tickets for $187.
I'd rather fly LAN, but with such outrageous differences, it's a big no-no...

andreadbc

I see the same one-way fare in the Chile site ($529 inc taxes), so it's just a high one-way fare class, not a point of sale issue...
Maybe look into a round trip ticket (I see some flights for $270 inc taxes next month, same prices in US and Chile) or just fly Gol...

DukieDrew

YMMV, but LAN tends to adopt the full fare ticket for one way policy. I ran into that when trying to book PUQ-SCL one way.

Anyway, I flew Gol this past month in Brasil and it was fairly pleasant.

SK

Thank you DukieDrew and andreadbc. I'll keep checking out the market, as my trip is a few months away, but it seems I'll end up choosing Gol.

leonb313

Glad I found this thread because I'm running into the same thing. I'm trying to book a Santiago to Easter Island roundtrip so LAN is my only option. Funny thing is, if I price out the trip on LAN's USA, German, UK, or EU sites, the cheapest fare is their "Flexible" economy fare (about $400 each way). If I price out the same flights on LAN's sites for Spain, Australia, or Canada, then the lowest fare is their "Base" fare (less than $300 each way). My understanding is that the roundtrip to Easter Island typically runs about $600, so I'm fine with paying that. I just don't want to be ripped off into paying $800.

I haven't tried to purchase yet, so I don't know if it'll reject my credit card on one of these other sites because the card is issued in the US. But does anyone know if LAN checks anything at the point of departure? Like, if I use the Canadian site, would they check to be sure I'm a Canadian citizen when I'm at the airport in Santiago? Thanks for any advice.

Eastbay1K

They are point of sale fares, not residency fares. If you were in Chile, they'd gladly sell you the Chile fare. If it goes through on the Canadi>n site, then you have purchased your ticket in Canada.

leonb313

Thanks for the reassurance, Eastbay. I was able to book on the Spain site (the exchange rate for the Euro offered a lower total price than some of the other currencies - plus it had a 3% discount for booking online that wasn't on some other the other country sites). Looks like my ticket is issued, seats are selected, and I'm all set. Cheers!

iahphx

This post was extremely useful to me: I just used the link to buy the local (aka normal) priced tickets from the USA. Used a USA AMEX card, no problemas!

As some flyertalkers may remember, it seems I always have a problem with LAN regarding their domestic pricing. In Peru, because of the residency (as opposed to purchase location) rules, I redeeemed LANPass miles (only a few thousand, on a sale no less). In Argentina, I just gave up and flew Aerolineas at the non-gringo rates.

But I'm happy to buy this one, because I'm connecting from an int'l LAN flight (ff miles) so if something happens, I'm a lot safer than if I'm holding a ticket on Sky Airlines. And the prices are "muy barato" -- I wish WN in the USA was this cheap (600 mile flights for US$50). I'm actually surprised it's so cheap, given that Chile's currency is a bit strong now.

BTW, Sky has the same prices as LAN, and they're seemingly now available to purchase online out-of-country at the same prices as locally. But since LAN has so many more flights than Sky, it seems silly to fly Sky. Indeed, for my dates, LAN was cheaper because more flights equalled more availability in the low fare bucket.

On the LAN website, it says my flights are operated as "LAN Express," and advance seat assignments are unavailable. Can anyone brief me on the policy, and anything else I should know about LAN Express (like does it mean limited inflight service?).

Thanks again for the help.

Eastbay1K

LAN Express is just the domestic LAN service. All A320-family aircraft, fairly to very new, and your inflight service will consist of a snack box and a limited beverage service from a cart (almost all poured out of full sized bottles). This is whether you are flying an hour, or three. The lowest fare buckets don't get advance seat assignments, nor generally earn full mileage.

iahphx

Thanks -- that's what I was expecting. I just flew LanPeru, and they have what seems like the same inflight service. A pretty bad snack (all sweets), and drinks poured from big bottles -- although when I asked for a beer the f/a went to the galley and got one for me (gratis, of course).

On the ff front, I was kind of expecting that. I'm guessing there's little to no accumulation of, say, AA miles as well (not that it really matters, since flying Sky would of course earn zero).

As far as seat assignments go, my recollection is they allow 48 hour online check-in? So that's when you get seats (and your boarding pass)?

And I'm assuming the ticketing rules are still the same: no residency requirement to buy Chilean-marketed LAN fares, so if you get a confirmation and ticket number, no matter where in the world you actually are, you're good to go, right? FWIW, I liked buying directly from LAN, since I assume there would have likely been at least some credit card hassle (and possibly a fee) buying from a Chilean travel agency (which I presume is also completely "legal").

Viajero Perpetuo

Correct.

Correct.

Do enjoy your trip!

iahphx

Thanks.

I wonder if it's smart for LAN to offer only the highest fares for internal SA flights on its overseas websites. Unless you had somebody paying your way, you inevitably feel "sticker shock" and try to figure out an alternative. Seems counterproductive to their profitability. Maybe they should offer their "second lowest" fares to gringos. More folks might be inclined to accept 2x the going rate; you notice (and protest) 4x the going rate!

Eastbay1K

Many are already filling seats as part of longer international journeys, and others are buying airpasses. Perhaps it is to encourage inbound to South America travel on LAN to qualify for the lowest price airpass.

mad_atta

Has anyone been able to get this to work more recently? I'm buying flights in Feb for Santiago - Punta Arenas - Puerto Montt, and the US site forces me to M class for US$500 while the Chile site quotes S class for exactly half that.

I tried using the link above but I keep getting the "No fue posible completar la transacción." message before I even get to the chance to enter my credit card.

Alternatively, can anyone recommend a good, honest, reliable Chilean-based travel agent?