I have done some searches, but haven't found anything recent....

I am looking for how/when to find deals for these routes. It seems prices are very stable....I have been checking for the last couple months. It seems LAN is much cheaper than AA or TAM. Is priceline's name your own price a resonable option or should I just wait for LAN sales to occur? If so, When do these sales occur?


Thank you for your time^

Welcome to FT. LAN cheaper than American.... wow, that would be a first. Perhaps Ive not been looking at the right places...?

Welcome to Flyertalk and the Argentina forum.
Fares to/from Europe are usually cheapest around May/June and Sept/Oct not sure about N America though.

There are a few regular N America - EZE fliers on here so they'll advise you better.

I find LAN NYC to MDZ through SCL almost always cheaper than AA. I compared and flew just recently. LAN is slightly more modern and comfortable, and much better service in coach. The only time I use AA is when I use my miles for free flights. From NYC the SCL airport is an easy connection compared to the EZE-AEP transfer.

I do not know about using Priceline for an international flight. There was a LAN sale just last month in April. I signed up for LANPASS Visa to get an additional 20% immediate rebate using that CC. Minus a 2% foreign u$d surcharge that caught me by surprise since my regular CC does not do that for dollar priced purchases... but that is a discussion for another thread.

You might want to fiddle with a couple of options flying to MDZ - ie, seeing if it's cheaper to include in your overall international itinerary or if it's cheaper to buy a domestic roundtrip + international roundtrip. If you can get one of the LAN south american airpass deals, it can be decent. Those usually require 3 legs so you'd have to route funny or add on a cheapie throw-away leg at the end (i think quito-guayaquil is really cheap).

One of the things I noticed is that many internal south american flights seem to be close to full-price economy for us foreigners. We aren't eligible for the local pricing and over the last few years, I seem to pay the same for booking early as a close-in fare. The only saving grace is the security of knowing you secured a seat early on. This happened to me last year when I booked Iguazu flights - they never changed prices for months on end.

Lastly, I believe there are buses that do the Buenos Aires route to MDZ as are the ones over the Andes to/from Santiago. I've really wanted to try this option as an adventure!

Please note that the long distance buses are experiencing a strike that has disrupted almost 100% of all services. So the Bus is currently NOT an option.

When do you want to go? check with a local travel agency, most of the time you will get the same fare but sometimes they still have access to the cheaper fare, even when the sale (from the airline) is over. Another option is to subscribe to LAN offers, you will get an email every 2 weeks, LAN will be cheaper than AA on some routes and they always have more sales than AA.

PM me, I will send you the info of a local travel agency from NYC, I always get email from them, at this moment, they have NYC-EZE for 748 with taxes included.

That's a great price.... which airline and is that an upgradable fare...?

LAN
JFK-EZE with a connection at LIM or SCL, return between 90 days.
Blackout dates for JFK-EZE: 7/1 to 7/17, 7/31 to 8/10 or 9/10 to 9/18

Yes that is a great price

^

If I were to visit Argentina, then i decided i wanted to return with a date set in mind...Do you think I could buy the next trips plane tickets there and use the "blue rate" to game the system for a cheaper ticket then if I had bought it here? I ask because flights are cheaper if you check the argentina country of origin on LAN's website....I know this can be an ethical grey area...

Ethics aside, you need to understand that the Economy in Argentina can move fast... very fast. As in overnight. Also, you need to make sure you understand what risks you are running... you have the ForEx risk, the purchased fare risk, and then the implementation risk (ie. using the fare you purcased gaming). Please note, Im not telling you not to do this, just want to make sure you understand what you are getting yourself into.

In theory, if you time things right and get lucky, you could save money. If the savings are worth the risks is something that only you can judge in your particular situation. It all depends on what you want to do, how tolerant you are to risk, and what backup plan you have, both in the logistical and financial side of things as if your "game" goes bad in one of the various open positions you have, you could end up with a very costly trip.

Happy planning and safe travels !!

Make a reservation on LAN USA (non-resident fare), they will give you 3 to 5 days (or 24hs before your departure), then pay your reservation with your pesos at any Pago Facil, Banelco ATM or Carrefour Supermarket, that way you will pay at the official rate with your blue rate pesos

If the above reservation yields you a Peso equivalent total purchase price then this should work. Unless these payment locations have a maximum per transaction amount... Im not saying they do, just thinking out loud.

If you go ahead and do this, please do come back and report how it all goes.

Thanks,
Gaucho100K

there's an extra 20% off to EZE and MDZ on LAN until May 23rd
http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_perso...nyc/index.html