need help with creative routing (Lima, Cuzco, Buenos Aires, Rio de Janeiro)
 

Hi everyone,

I did a search for this, but didn't see any relevant threads. Looking to use AA miles to South America - can anyone provide some insight on interesting routings that I could do? I was also thinking about buying the "oneworld Visit South America Pass" which would let me connect the dots...

my routing is as follows:

USA -> Lima (stopover in Lima)
Lima -> Cuzco (continue on to Cuzco)
...
...
Rio or Buenos Aires -> USA
all for the 40k off peak award (thinking about taking the trip in April)

I also wanted to connect the dots:
Cuzco-> Buenos Aires (or Rio) (stopover)
Rio or Buenos Aires -> Rio or Buenos Aires (open jaw on the destination end)
Wanted to do the 25k award in S. America (but told by AA that I'm not allowed a stopover using this award)

The current dilemna I have is routing on LAN to Rio or Buenos Aires (in particular, pretty difficult - have to connect in Santiago or Lima, so backtracking..)

The "visit South America pass" would require 3 legs, so I could add a Santiago stop so I could buy the 3 legs:
Using 40k AA miles:
USA->Lima (stopover)
Santiago->USA (open jaw home)

Then buy the pass to use it to do the following:
Cuzco->Buenos Aires (or Rio)
Buenos Aires (or Rio) -> Rio (or Buenos Aires)
Rio (or Buenos Aires) -> Santiago (then home..)
(problem is routing - I checked it out on LAN's site, but they limit the connection points, have to be a "direct routing").

I also thought about oneworld awards - does anyone know off the top of your head if BA, JL, etc. have any fifth freedom rights that would help me in this situation? Another problem is the routing (due to hubs at Lima or Santiago)..

Would appreciate any input that you might have. Thanks in advance -

your post has just too many variables/questions to deal with and maybe others will chime in but i suggest you read the allpartner award sticky at the top of this page as well as oneworld award sticky on the oneworld forum, then come back with just few specific questions. good luck!

to answer the question above, i suggest you read the following thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=782490

thanks nacirema,

I took your suggestion and looked at the stickies - I think I have a creative solution (and the only question I did have was answered in the All Partner Award sticky on the AA forum):

so:
USA-> Rio de Janeiro (stopover in Rio)
Rio de Janeiro -> Santiago (final destination)
.....
Cuzco-> USA (open jaw home)
40k AA miles for off peak award (assuming availability on LAN and AA, of course..)

then:
buy the Visit South America Pass:
Santiago-> Buenos Aires $150 + taxes
Buenos Aires-> Lima $224 + taxes
Lima -> Cuzco $138 + taxes
(this satisfies the 3 minimum legs requirement for the Pass)

I found a list of routings that are available on the LAN site at:
http://plane.lan.com/promociones/dat...n-ue.html#lima
(this was extremely helpful in finding the most "direct/nonstop" routing possible).. and it adds Santiago to the mix, so the mixture of two hubs (Lima and Santiago) make the itinerary possible, although I will be crisscrossing the continent slightly for Buenos Aires and Rio (backtrack across, and back to the other city)

I was going to ask if anyone had luck asking AA for a stopover on an intra-zone 2 South America award for 25k AA miles (do Santiago->Buenos Aires->Lima and stopover in Buenos Aires, then pay for Lima->Cuzco out of pocket which is $70 a la carte..) Ideally, using 25k and paying $70 would be the best option.. :)

But after reading the sticky, the policy explicitly states that no stopover is allowed when the travel is wholly within South America.. (thanks again for pointing me to the sticky, I had read it before but not noticed the level of details).

Sorry about the long post - just trying to evaluate my options. Any chimes in with opinions/thoughts would be appreciated.