pushmyredbutton

This is great. I just booked one for 2 nights in October.

I plan to status match to Alaska MVP Gold 75K in October too, so this should net roughly 44,000(!) RDM on AS.

Thanks to all for your contributions ^

RustyC

Interesting that this deal is back in a different form. I did a trip in March 2014 on a MEX-IPC RT on LA found here in economy at $545.65 total with 5 nights in IPC and four nights in SCL...the SCL stop had added $75 to the airfare. The thing earned 9,300 or so AA RDMs under rules at the time (probably more hostile now, at least for economy). Also needed an ATL-MEX-ATL positioner, which I booked on DL with miles (only a so-so deal), but I did get upgraded both ways on that and had lounge access in MEX. IIRC there were some people trying to get SAT to work as a departure point on that earlier deal for about $100 more.

Easter Island is really great and I'd give it at least 3 full days, and 4 wouldn't be bad, either. There are the moai, of course, and I did the moai tour on the first day (the moai groups are all over the island). You've also got Anakena Beach (in the national park) that should be a global top 20 if not a top 10, plus the hiking trails in the national park and some good places to eat (think Hawaii prices plus maybe a bit on top of that) and 3-4 "Island nights" (costumed dance shows) around the town.

FWIW I stayed at the Tupa Hotel (walking distance to downtown, between downtown and airport) at $60/nt. all-in after a 20% discount on Cheaptickets. Pretty good midrange place with moderate tiki-ness...one saving grace of the island is how it has resisted large-scale development and global chains (not the great place to use hotel-program points. There also were no McDonaldses or Starbucks). But there are a few places with decks facing westward, and watching the sunset with a pisco sour in hand from one is a must-do at least once.

Be forewarned that rental vehicles can be a disconnect. They go for $60/day and up (most $80-100) and there are relatively few automatic transmissions and those are very often all rented out. For me the next logical thing would be motorbikes like the kind I've taken out a number of times in Thailand and the Cook Islands, but incredibly they're sticklers about checking drivers licenses and whether they're endorsed for that.

Which leaves (of all things) Yamaha Grizzlies or the like, i.e. the 4-wheelers you often see running sandy riverbeds in Alaska. You don't think of those as vehicles to take on paved roads, but it worked surprisingly well (given the light traffic) with the main downside being that rain would be a bummer, though it was usually brief. One of the best experiences was driving around in that at the national park at times when tours weren't out, i.e. the morning and especially late afternoon and early evening, where you might get a site to yourself. It's also a beautiful area aside from the moai and history.

BTW there was only one gas station (near the airport) and ATMs are both scarce and super-expensive with the surcharges. There's also some chance a cruise ship might stop there (there was one during my stay that had lots of Koreans) and if THAT happens it can be a pain, as the town is flooded and the moai tours are all full. You really don't want to be too time-limited and have that happen on a day you were counting on. Thankfully the frequency is nothing like St. Thomas or Key West.

Wish I could do this deal, though it's a little rich for my blood even though the business class is an undeniable plus and the EQMs/RDMs are also a big factor in its favor if you're still in the game there. Would be a great candidate for a hang-the-moon trip with an S.O. as long as you're not addicted to 5* hotels on points (though those are do-able in SCL).

island82

3 nights is about right for IPC, you can also save by renting bikes instead of car, although more work to cycle around the island, but doable.

I was caught by surprised with the USD80 park fee, good thing had an extra USD20 ready.

Most guest house/hotel usually is half board, so eat up during breakfast, go hike around the island. Nonetheless, at this price I would go back again.

expert7700

I was able to see stays as short as 3hrs using ita matrix.

Ended up booking around Thanksgiving with a 17hr stay in IPC. We had even less time there when we had a long ATC delay (common from SCL, since only ONE plane can be inbound, or outbound from IPC towards SCL at one time)

sfsouthbay

wow this is an amazing fare - but how were folks able to do a stopover in LIM/SCL and still get the fare?

wcalvert

Seeing sub $1000 for MEX-SAO lie-flat all of the way as well.

Example dates Oct 7 - Oct 11.

FLYDCA

Yes. I booked a 3 night stay at IPC. Use google flights to help find dates where this fare is open.

ck_cologne

Is the fare gone?
I dont see any google flights availability any more

Calchas

Still here in my view of the fare tariff. "CREATED 24JUL17/1524 EXPIRES INFINITY".

gil123

EXPIRES INFINITY?? Wow that is classic. Wish I could say the same of myself.

Calchas

That's just how the system displays the fare when the airline has not set an expiry date. They may still delete it with about 1 hour's notice.

RufussCkingston

Was playing around and got a fare of about $1200 with a LIM layover. So after more tinkering I was able to to get AMEX to price MEX-LIM-[CUZ]-LIM-SLC-[IPC]-SLC-MEX for $1558.
So that's about $350 for the Cusco add-on, which really couldn't be bought any cheaper as a separate ticket. Even with points there would still be taxes and such, so it made sense to just ad it, plus don't have to make any cushions or overnights so we don't mis-connect and get IRROP protection. Only downside is Lim-SCL is only 33inch pitch premium economy red-eye on a A320, but it's only 3+ hours.

Since I've had the Biz AMEX Plat for less than a year, I still get 50% points back till the end of they year, so I'm paying just under 78k points per person. Need to figure out my LAX-MEX flights.

Have to decide where to credit the miles as I have no status except for Marriott provided United Silver and I think I'm still VS Silver as I needed to fly LAX-LAS in delta biz 4x back2back so I could make a Necker booking!

Now just need to figure out where to stay for 3 nights on Easter Island.

RCK

worldtraveller73

This deal is still alive.

I couldn't make any weekend dates work for two so I booked a Wednesday to Tuesday trip allowing 5 nights and 4 days on Easter Island.

MEX-SCL-IPC
IPC-SCL-MEX

I booked directly on the LATAM site (with the region default set to Canada) and it ticketed without issue with a fare quoted in Canadian dollars (likely converted). Email with ticket number received right away.

The LATAM site only accepts Visa and Mastercard so I lost out on some AMEX points there!!

So excited and a big thank you to the original poster!!

RufussCkingston

Umm, why didn't you just book on Amex Travel so that you could get the Amex points?

keitherson

(6)MN.MIN STAY
FOR ZLEEVH6P TYPE FARES TRAVEL FROM LAST INTERNATIONAL SECTOR MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN 5 DAYS AFTER DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SECTOR OR - TRAVEL FROM LAST INTERNATIONAL SECTOR MUST COMMENCE NO EARLIER THAN THE FIRST SUN AFTER DEPARTURE OF THE FIRST INTERNATIONAL SECTOR.

Also,

(15)SR.SALES RESTRICT
TICKETS MUST BE ISSUED ON/BEFORE 30JUL 17.

last call, folks