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-   -   Avios bookings for LATAM flights within South America: has anyone ever succeeded? (https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/british-airways-executive-club/1959143-avios-bookings-latam-flights-within-south-america-has-anyone-ever-succeeded.html)

ringingup Mar 3, 2019 11:26 am

Avios bookings for LATAM flights within South America: has anyone ever succeeded?
 
I have tried to find these rewards online many times, but some airports don't even show up as an option on the website.

Are they bookable over the phone? Is there any way to search for inventory in advance?

just_starting Mar 3, 2019 12:47 pm

Which routes are you looking to book in particular? I've done quite a few Avios bookings on LATAM, both international (between Rio, Santiago and Lima) and domestic (within Argentina and within Chile). Looking to book another trip next year and the routes I'm looking at seem to yet again all be available on Avios...

You might even be in for a little surprise after flying on those bookings.....

[Just to be clear: I've made all those bookings through the BA website!]

ringingup Mar 3, 2019 1:01 pm

MDZ and IPC: they don't even appear as option on BA.com.

GK1981 Mar 3, 2019 1:07 pm


Originally Posted by ringingup (Post 30843087)
MDZ and IPC: they don't even appear as option on BA.com.

This happens with some airports in Colombia as well. As long as you know the airports 3 letter code the search should proceed even if it doesn’t autocomplete the search with the full airport details. I’ve searched tickets SCL-IPC previously.

ringingup Mar 3, 2019 1:09 pm


Originally Posted by GK1981 (Post 30843110)


This happens with some airports in Colombia as well. As long as you know the airports 3 letter code the search should proceed even if it doesn’t autocomplete the search with the full airport details. I’ve searched tickets SCL-IPC previously.

Amazing! Thank you! I wish I'd known before!

ringingup Mar 3, 2019 1:17 pm

OK - I can now see availability for most of the flights I'm interested in. I'm not sure if the Avios price is worth paying for though, I'll have to compare them with cash tickets. One of the itineraries is MDZ-SCL-CJC, which comes up at 12,000 Avios + £50.Another two are CJC-SCL-IPC + IPC-SCL, but I cannot seem to get any availability on IPC routes.

ringingup Mar 3, 2019 1:21 pm

https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...3ec71f1aec.png

Interesting error. It recognises the airport but still gives an error (and I cannot seem to find availability on any date).

armouredant Mar 3, 2019 4:09 pm

You'll struggle with the IPC routes; the BA site has trouble displaying the availability. Annoyingly, it's often easier to see availability for SCL-PPT (Tahiti), which includes SCL-IPC as the first left of a two-leg journey. I don't know if it's possible to call up to book that first leg on its own, or if it's something to do with the availability LATAM releases for the married segments SCL-IPC-PPT.

azepine00 Mar 3, 2019 4:10 pm

Must be smth recent - it was searchable a week ago.. i d wait a day or two i bet it will return

armouredant Mar 3, 2019 4:46 pm

Example, on 7/1/2020, there's BA award availability on:

PPT-(IPC)-SCL in economy and business (7 of each)
PPT-IPC in economy only (7 available)
IPC-SCL nothing available (!)

How does this make sense?

cgtechuk Mar 4, 2019 12:09 am


Originally Posted by armouredant (Post 30843817)
Example, on 7/1/2020, there's BA award availability on:

PPT-(IPC)-SCL in economy and business (7 of each)
PPT-IPC in economy only (7 available)
IPC-SCL nothing available (!)

How does this make sense?

Some of this is deliberate and is known as married segments. QR are also notorious for this . The reason being you can't sell tickets to PPT from SCL without IPC availability so if all 7 seats aren't married then they get swallowed up by people going to IPC then no one can get to PPT from SCL so they are locked. Another way of finding space is using Qantas reward finder in classic mode then you can see a calendar view of what dates are free it's not perfect either unfortunately.

Also check cash prices as they can be reasonable in advance. 250 y RT and 430 J RT or if you speak Spanish and have hand baggage only you can get them a lot cheaper 😂

I managed a 8 sector tour of South America booked purely on Latam Avois seats and it saved a small fortune. It also has sometimes another benefit when it comes to avois/TPS

noddie09 Mar 4, 2019 1:06 am

I have also tried and failed to find redemption's on the very routes you are looking at. In the end, I found the Lan Chile site to offer cash flights for nearly $250 less than the UK site. In the end I bite the bullet and actually turned the flights in to a tier point run.

Business class was only an extra $100 over economy so have a look at cash flights

armouredant Mar 4, 2019 1:30 am

I'm only seeing return fares SCL-IPC of ~£1100 in economy when I browse from https://www.latam.com/es_cl/ - what am I doing wrong?

ringingup Mar 4, 2019 1:57 am

Thank you all for your contribution. Things are a bit clearer now.

I have a feeling I might have to go for a cash booking for the sectors to and from ICP. Tickets are pricey, more than $600, but business is not much more expensive and, considering the TPs and extra Avios, it won’t be too bad.

I have also noticed that MDZ-SCL-CJC comes up much cheaper when priced as a return rather than one way. AEP-MDZ, instead, has ok prices as a one way.

todderz Mar 4, 2019 9:25 am

Last month I flew PPT-iPC and IPC-SCL with LATAM on Avios. Availability was hard to find but I was booking a long way in advance and had flexible dates.

From IPC to SCL I was unlucky and the 787 was swapped out at the last minute to the ancient Singapore airlines 777. My seat was broken, there was no IFE, only cold food. It was dreadful. my blog

My next flight from SCL to EZE also LATAM on Avios featured a meal so bad that the cutlery bent before it could make an impression on the rock hard dry old chicken.

LATAM from PPT to IPC was ok but nothing better than OK. In the end I was glad I'd been able to book them all for Avios instead of cash. I would have felt ripped off if I'd paid cash.


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