Award options for intra-Peru?
 

I have tried googling all morning and countless FT searches. Also tried looking at a few partner award charts and still can't figure this out... Are there low miles award options for intra-Peru? LIM-CUZ-LIM I noted someone used BA points, but that is the one thing I DON'T have.... I have SPG, UA, AA, DL, and a few US. Before I pay cash for the ticket (which is about $150-175 RT), I'd like to know if I can get the tickets for a 'few' miles. Thanks for any help or pointing me to the correct thread ^

Best bet would be BA miles, 9,000 r/t you can always try to trade someone for them. SPG for BA, I'm sure you could find someone who would trade you at a better than 1:1 ratio in your favor.

Are you bookin an award ticket to LIM? You can book all the way to CUZ? I was able to book LAX-MIA-LIM-CUZ for one chunk of AA miles. This has to be done on the phone with AA however.

Also be careful with the LIM-CUZ pricing, I've heard there is one price if you're a US citizen and another (lower) if you're from SA. Not sure if this is still true. The $150-175 sounds suspiciously low to me. I remember people saying it was $275+

Will consider coupon connection, yes.
I bought the LAX-LIM cheap fare that happened yesterday.
Yes, I've read about the 'gringo tax' and will be careful :D

The main player in Peru is LAN, which is a OneWorld partner.

SPG transfers to BA, and it's 4500 Avios + $6-7 taxes for a short-haul intra Peru (my LIM-CUZ-LIM flight was 9000 Avios + $13 roundtrip).

SPG transfers to LAN at a decent rate: 1 SPG = 2 LAN kilometros. If you transfer 20K SPG, you get 50K LAN.

This is the LAN table for intra-Peru.

However, I prefer to use SPG for hotels ...

You can also use AA miles, but it's 6K miles one-way + $25 booking fee over the phone.

$175 sounds like a steal, make sure you're buying it via the U.S. site (LAN shows different prices for Peruvians than for other countries). It was hovering around $500 rt when I went, so 9000 Avios was a great deal.

You can use AA miles on LAN-Peru. It'll be 10,000 per flight. Add possibly AA phone ticketing charges? Can't book it on aa.com.

Considering that StarPeru is offering LIM-CUZ for a mere $35, it would be a waste of award miles unless you don't have any better use for them.

SPG transfer would be great, will see if dates are available. Thanks.

It is NOT $35 for my dates tho. One of the dates is $35, the other is not. So the total is at least $150 RT.

Is the 10K miles OW or RT?

Star peru and other local carriers do not charge a "Gringo" Tax. Sure when I was there, they seemed to be delayed more, they didn't have jetbridge, and they were at the far end of the airport, but I'm sure their 737 gets you there just fine.

Another option would be Chase UR points, which transfer to BA. Even if you have a UR card that doesn't allow transfers (Like a Freedom) you can find trades on CC for 1 UR to 1.5 BA miles. You can transfer UR points to someone who has a Sapphire Preferred/Ink Bold and ask them to then dump into your BA account as well.

I really would recommend using BA points for this. I agree SPG points would be wasteful... but a good trade might make me consider using my SPG points.

Within Peru is actually 6000 miles one-way on AA, 12K RT. But since you have to book over the phone, you have to pay a $25 booking fee + applicable taxes (~$13).

If you have AMEX or Chase UR points, I highly suggest using BA Avios; this route is quite possibly the best redemption you can make with the new program.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

As noted by amolkold in the post immediately above yours, LIM-CUZ on LAN Peru now costs only 6K AAdvantage miles each way. See the "Wholly Within" redemption rates in the upper right corner of the recently revised Partner award chart:

http://www.aa.com/i18n/disclaimers/a...rtnerChart.jsp

Why? Because the minimum transfer is too many points? Or because people use them more for hotel stays?

10K per OW. $150 RT is still much better than 20K miles. You're only getting a $0.0075 per mile redemption value! (even less if you consider the phone ticketing fee.) But of course you may have other considerations than mine. :)

Because 9K SPG points are more valuable when used for hotels than for airline transfers.

OP, when are you flying? If it's not for a while, you have time to build Avios through a ton of means. BA is transfer partners with everyone and their mother. Get the 50K BA card, or a Chase card (even a Freedom, and transfer them to a Sapphire Preferred or Ink Bold account to get to BA), or an AMEX MR card.

Or CC!

Because I value them most for C&P stays. There is no replacement for SPG points, whereas there are many ways to get points into BA, as discussed above.

Also because SPG points can top up so many programs in case you're just a little shy of that great redemption and want to book it right now before it disappears.

In my case, they can transfer or be used for more valuable commodities, compared to the (relative) glut of BA and AA points/miles, and the related promos to obtain those at a substantial discount through other transfer partners.

I was very happy that my SPG points got us business class tickets to Rome last fall ^ I don't personally use them for hotel stays, but I will consider coupon connection.

Our travel dates are the first week of Sept. I would need 18K Avios to get to RT tickets.

If you do choose to transfer SPG (which I do not recommend, but they're your points), I would suggest LAN over BA. LAN LIM-CUZ r/t is 16K LAN kilometros, which is 8K SPG transferred at the 1:2 rate. The same on BA would be 9K SPG -> 9K BA.

But that's only as a last resort. I'd still look for ways to get BA miles more cheaply.

Chase BA Visa signup is 50K Avios on first purchase.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

"It is NOT $35 for my dates tho. One of the dates is $35, the other is not. So the total is at least $150 RT."

So how about buying the $35 one-way, and just using 6K AA miles or 4.5K BA Avios for the other way on LAN Peru (assuming you can find award-seat availability in that direction)?

That WOULD be the ideal plan ^ Obviously BA will book a OW award, so that is an excellent idea. ;)

Avios really has some clout flying in South America.

For example, a one-way flight between Lima and Buenos Aires or Iguassu Falls would be just 10,000 Avios (with no fuel surcharges), and a triangle between all 3 cities would be 27,500 Avios.

Thank you both for correcting me, that's good to know. Sorry ALadyNCal that the low fare is not available for you. :(

can somebody point me towards the main avios thread, if there is one? having trouble figuring it out, avios.com, is it for UK residents only?

If I use the AA miles, I have to pay a $25 phone fee. If I TRADE or EARN the Avios points I don't. But since I HAVE 12K AA miles, it probably isn't worth all the hassle of working out a trade to save the $25...? First I have to check BA.com for availability or call AA for availability -- I don't know how easy the awards are to get and we have little flexibility now that we've purchased the LAX-LIM.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8530/5.0.0.1030 Profile/MIDP-2.1 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/417)

If you are interested in redeeming Avios held in a BA Executive Club (frequent-flyer-program) account, the FT BA Executive Club forum is the place to go.

I'll swap you 9,000 Avios for a week at your Maui condo. ;)

Are there low miles options for TACA?

They're supposed to be joining *A anyday ... haven't checked the redemption possibilities, but it'd be 10K each-way on UA and 25K rt on US + $50 phone booking fee.

I see fares available on StarPeru for my dates for $270 a/i (for 2 people).

I've got a similar booking made on LAN via Avios for 9,000 x 2.

If I've done the math right, I'm only getting 1.5 cents per Avios for LIM-CUZ. Isn't that mediocre? Worth canceling my LAN booking?

Not the greatest redemption, but I'd keep it. 1.5 is decent for BA unless you really need it for an international biz award somewhere.

1) It's saves $270. Cash in hand is cash saved.
2) You're flying LAN which is better than starperu IMHO

sorry to pile on, if one wanted to go Cuzco to GYE, would using AA miles only require 10k miles as opposed to BA miles which I assume would be 7,500 + 4,500 ?

More like 1.36cpm since you have to pay $13pp with Avios for airport taxes. Ends up being a $244 savings for 18K Avios.

I'd still say LAN is a much better airline than Star Peru. Airbus A319 on LAN vs. the smaller BAe 146 with Star Peru, though it's only 1h20m flight. But there are a lot more frequencies with LAN, and given the number of wx cancellations on this route, I'd prefer LAN over Star Peru.

Yes, AA uses regions in their award chart, so CUZ-GYE would be within South America Zone 1. BA charges by segment, and from CUZ you'd have to transit LIM to get to GYE (and find availability on CUZ-LIM and LIM-GYE).

I value 10K AA miles over 12K Avios (due to the ease of getting Avios), plus you save $25 booking via BA online than with AA over the phone.

By the way, LAN received a FT subforum late last year and it is greatly helpful for any questions regarding LAN.

Thanks for the GREAT info from everyone ^ I was getting SO frustrated trying to figure these options out this morning.

I just priced out flights for my parents and brothers for intra-peru just the other day. 4 people with 3 one way segments (12 total tickets) was 54k Avios and around $65 in taxes/fees. The flights themselves were over $3000 total when I priced them on Kayak.com. Also I found tons of award availability with Avios points on LAN.

Found a bonus transfer offer (valid till 6/20/12) -- http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/briti...-transfer.html

I could transfer 7200 SPG points to get 9K avios ^ Wonder how long till the points + bonus will post @ BA?

Then the two RT LIM-CUZ-LIM tix would be $35+3600 SPG each.

Here's a map of where LAN flies within Peru. Click on the map on the right side of the linked page "Domestic flights Argentina, Chile, Ecuador & Peru".

http://www.lan.com/en_us/sitio_perso...apa_rutas.html

Great redemption value ^

Just another reason I love avios even with all the crap some fling their way.

I have to ask about this because I've booked five separate flights intra-Peru for November (LIM>CUZ>JAL>CUZ>AQP>LIM). All on LAN. I paid for all of the flights through Expedia, except for the CUZ>JAL>CUZ legs, which I redeemed Avios for.

Will I be hit with that gringo tax on each leg? It would effectively double the cost of my trip.

Can I selfishly bump this thread to see if anyone knows about the so-called "gringo tax"?

Speaking of the 'gringo tax', does anyone know if this will apply to BA award bookings on LAN (LIM-CUZ-LIM)?