December 28, Day 9 of 9

It's a bit annoying that Lindblad counts this departure day as a "day" of the expedition when you're just having breakfast and departing to the airport, but whatever.

We had booked PNT-SCL in Y, and then SCL-AEP in Premium Economy on separate tickets. This was done before we knew we had to fly PNT-SCL, and at the time of booking that, we weren't sure of our onward plans so we figured we would book the onward connection later, which is what we did.

A tip - LATAM has generally less sophisticated revenue management than its US counterparts (though maybe this will change with Delta's involvement). A year out, full fare economy (fully refundable, with a checked bag, etc.) on this route cost us only about $80. For whatever reason, LATAM also let us select exit row seating (no-recline row 11 was complimentary, through regular recline row 12 was normal price...). Not sure if it was due to the fare or because my parents are regal Delta Silvers. Across all fare families, it seems LATAM's fares will slowly steadily rise as departure gets closer or until sold out, so it's worth buying early in advance right when the schedule opens and then switching or buying something else later if you need to.

We arrived at the PNT airport around 8:20am. Remember that PNT is absolutely tiny, has basically one check-in desks, and one gate. There are really very few amenities here, so don't expect to come early to do anything special.

Bag drop took about 10 minutes, security another 5 minutes, and we were airside by around 8:40am. Boarding was scheduled for 8:52am (absurdly early as always).

Flight: LA 250
Routing: PNT-SCL
Aircraft: CC-BAV (A320)
Scheduled: 9:37am - 12:44pm
Actual: 9:37am - 12:35pm
Seats: 11D, 11E, 11F



We did see two of DAP's BAE 146s on the ground, and orange-clad Lindblad travelers waddle out onto the tarmac from a separate part of the terminal.

I wish they knew how lucky they were to not be delayed and to be flying in the morning!



The PNT-SCL flight was nothing to write home about. Same flight as the way down.

A smooth landing in SCL, and then we parked at a remote stand (come on!!!). For whatever reason, I always get irked when I fly the hometown / hub airline and have to park at a remote stand. Even in SEA a few times flying Alaska I've had to get bused over to the terminal which I find incredibly annoying.

Luckily today we had a 5 hour layover so we had all the time in the world, so it didn't really matter.

We had to do the reverse of what we did coming here - grab bags, bring them over to Terminal 2 (International Terminal), recheck the bags, and clear immigration and security. It doesn't seem like there are any plans to change this process in the future though. It's highly inconvenient and a bad showing for a global hub.

Originally we had booked SCL-AEP with Aerolineas Argentinas (it gave the best amount of connection time in SCL, and also figured we would try a new airline), but AR canceled our original 3:35pm departure out of SCL and threw us on the 6:30pm. AR didn't even inform us, I only caught it when I was reservation gardening. It was also insanely difficult to get a refund (even though we had booked a fully refundable fare with AR).

I had to submit a refund request through the website (the refund button was grayed out on my AR Manage Booking page), and then followed up every week - through WhatsApp, Twitter, Facebook Messenger, email with AR... Their customer service is absolutely useless. After a month, I ultimately just submitted chargebacks through American Express and got the credit back. AR did eventually refund the three tickets (and I assume the chargebacks were reversed but I didn't check because it's annoying to check with the way AMEX dates these types of things...). What a terrible experience with the airline and we never even flew them.

I'm glad we ended up on LATAM. LATAM's customer service and website are leagues beyond AR. It's a real shame that AR is in Skyteam and LATAM is alliance-less.

We had booked Premium Economy for our SCL-AEP leg. This was done because at the time when AR rebooked us, it was pretty late (1 month to departure) - LATAM was charging something like $184 / person for Premium Economy and like $170 for regular economy, so the price difference wasn't that great. Premium Economy on an international LATAM flight (even Chile <> Argentina) gets you access to the LATAM lounge (at least one of them), which was useful - I really enjoyed the LATAM lounge last year when I flew United Polaris from SCL-IAH (United contracts with LATAM to use their lounges for Polaris passengers).

Premium Economy also gets you access to LATAM's premium check-in area, though we ended up waiting a while anyways since there was a large family in front of us attempting to check what seemed like 18 bags and 2 pets in the hold.

According to our timestamps:

• 12:35pm - arrival at SCL
• Claim bags, drag over to Terminal
• 1:10pm - boarding passes issued in Terminal 2
• Clear immigration and security
• 1:50pm - Airside

So overall the process took 1 hour and 15 minutes to go domestic > international at SCL. Bear in mind that there also seemed to very few people during this time as it's not a period of heavily-banked traffic.

LATAM Premium Lounge Santiago

LATAM has a single lounge in Santiago, split up into three sections. You can see those here. Generally:

• Signature Lounge: Black Signature and Black LATAM Pass members, business class passengers
• Premium Lounge: Platinum LATAM Pass members, Premium Economy passengers
• WorldMember Lounge: WorldMember or WorldMember Limited Santander

Our premium economy tickets got us into the Premium section. There is a single check-in desk and the agents will direct you where to go.

We asked for showers immediately just to get that out of the way. The agent mentioned that the WorldMember lounge had two showers available, and we could use those. She walked us back (through the WorldMember lounge) to the shower rooms which were nicely appointed (though terribly ventilated). Don't forget to ask for a toothbrush if you need one (only available at the front desk).

In general, the food and beverage at the WorldMember lounge seems to be about the same as the Premium lounge. The WorldMember lounge does have windows into the concourse and beyond, so it seemed a bit brighter than the Premium lounge (which is in the middle of the Signature and WorldMember lounges so it has no windows).









After a quick shower, I went back to the Premium Lounge.

I think LATAM has done a great job with these lounges, even if the Premium Lounge doesn't have any windows (like mentioned, it's sandwiched in between the Signature and WorldMember lounges in the middle).

The design is nice and the food options are plentiful, with a full bar. If I recall, there is a full salad bar, some soup, a hot chicken dish, some other hot items (pasta. veggies, I think a vegetarian curry), cheese board, some grab-and-go snacks, a few types of desserts. The truffle ravioli was superb.

Much better than your standard US network carrier lounge in my opinion. Charging ports are also plentiful and basically around every seat.

Due to access restrictions (i.e., this isn't a Priority Pass lounge), it never seems to get too crowded, which is my main quibble with lounges these days.

I was absolutely famished, having really not eaten anything since the half-frozen cold chicken wrap on the DAP Airlines flight the night before (!!). It was a bad day to be a buffet.











My humble plate


Artisan ice cream - not great, stick to the Haagen Dazs

We sat for about an hour and a half, and mom got restless so we decided to walk the terminals to get some light exercise before heading to our gate for our flight to AEP.

Flight: LA 425
Routing: SCL-AEP
Aircraft: CC-COD (A320)
Scheduled: 5:35pm - 7:40pm
Actual: 5:35pm - 7:40pm
Seats: 2D, 2F, 3F

We honestly didn't really know what to expect booking Premium Economy. Upon boarding, it seems like LATAM's Premium Economy is really more akin to Euro-business (a la British Airways). However, noticeably, Premium Economy has more legroom (I think ~34 inches of pitch) compared to the rest of the plane (around ~28 inches of pitch), with a blocked middle seat.

I guess if Premium Economy is not selling well, theoretically with a regular economy ticket you can select a PE seat (assuming with a small upcharge) and they just move the divider a la Euro-business.

That being said, LATAM definitely prices this more as a PE product vs. business class (i.e., more affordable).

I wasn't even sure if we would get a meal given the short duration of the flight, but the FA in PE was efficient. There was one option: a warm focaccia sandwich with mozzarella, serrano ham, and pesto aioli, with a side of chips. The dessert was some sort of (far too sweet) passionfruit mousse.

Full drink service was also offered. Surprisingly, it hit the spot and I ate the whole thing (being very short on calories for the day).



Landing in AEP was smooth.

There wasn't really a large line at immigration at all, which was a welcome change from SCL. However, even though we were traveling as a family, the agents split up the three of us into three different immigration booths. They did ask for a local address, which I was afraid my mom didn't have. After I was cleared, I asked my agent if I could go assist my mom, and he waved me over, and there was a little commotion that I was going backwards in line, but it ultimately was fine.

At AEP baggage claim, LATAM actually pulls priority-tagged bags (which you get with PE) off the belt into a separate area. Unnecessary, but a really nice touch.



After claiming your baggage, it's time for customs before the landside exit.

There are a number of agents manning xray machines, who were seemingly pulling random groups of travelers to be screened.

My dad and I got pulled, though my mom didn't get pulled as she was a few steps behind. The brusque agent asked us to open our bags after the xray, which was a bit annoying, and asked us a few questions about the purpose of our trip and where we had been. He saw our bright orange Lindblad parkas and asked if we went on a "tour." Yes.

Later research courtesy of ChatGPT indicates that apparently AEP conducts random customs inspections since there are a lot of people who are trafficking goods for resale into Argentina, with particular attention to flights from Santiago since apparently prices of goods are cheaper there.

The more you know... Overall the process was a bit stressful but ended up fine. My mom panic a little as she cleared into landside before me and my dad, and employed an agent to come back to the customs area to find us (who ended up shouting our names, which in turn made us think we were in trouble again). Yikes!

Uber works well in Argentina and there is a dedicated pickup area at AEP. Off to our Airbnb.