Silversea seems to have regular cruises from Ushuaia and they seem to be very luxurious. Maybe other people with better knowledge can tell us whether they can be booked with miles or, more likely, how to earn miles when booking them.

http://www.silversea.com/expeditions...ca/?region=010

Didn't know that. However i was talking about this:

http://www.antarcticaflights.com.au/

Wow...I'm in awe. I would love to do a trip like that!

Well those pictures aren't all mine, but I'll say thank you on behalf of the group . It was pretty amazing.

There's a lbook and TV series that's come out recently:

How To Travel The World For Free (by Michael Wigge)

http://www.howtotraveltheworldforfree.com/

and in fact his final destination was Antarctica. But I don't know for sure whether or how he made it there "free". (And "free" is not in the FTer sense; for example, I know from the one TV episode I did catch so far that he made it across the Atlantic by signing up for work on a commercial container ship. He didn't start out with having points, he started with having no money.)

from his website: My problem with working a job like that, is you really wouldn't get any opportunity to just relax and enjoy the place you're visiting.

Doubt it. I know one could (theoretically, at least) redeem United miles for the flight to space, but I don't think there is a similar option for Antarctica.

My problem would be working on vacation, period. I would make an exception for working on my own computer, though.

I�ve traveled to Antarctica, for only the cost of airfare to/from Ushuaia, 3 different times on Quark Expeditions expeditions. I did it as the Expedition Physician and I�d do it again as almost any staff member, including the boot cleaner. It is an amazing experience and any of the staff jobs allow ample time to enjoy the experience. It�s more than mountains and snow although you could certainly see it that way, just as you could see ANY place as just trees and/or buildings and/or waterfalls or whatever.

BTW, if you choose to go, and can spend an extra week and few $$$$, the Falklands and particularly South Georgia Island (SGI) are absolutely amazing. Prior to my visit, I had never even heard of SGI. After my first trip, which was the usual 21-22 day Falklands/SGI/Antarctica trip, if I could choose just one place to re-visit, it would be SGI. Not many places where you land on a beach in a Zodiac, walk for 15 minutes past hundreds of seals, over a small rise and are confronted by several hundred thousand pairs of penguins. Incredible.

Now that Aerolineas Argentinas (AA) will be joining Skyteam, getting to Ushuaia using miles should be much easier as AA is the major airline in and out of Ushuaia.

Been that route in the '80's as a guest lecturer cruising. Not a bad way to tag a dozen countries.

So I was just checking out the website for Quark, and they have a deal right now: "Special Offer: Save 20%* on all Antarctic cruises, plus earn 3X MileagePlus award miles on all bookings. Promo Code: MK12" at http://www.quarkexpeditions.com/united-airlines. Not perfect, but better than nothing!

I also get 10k bonus miles with Quark last year when I booked. I was able to get around 40% off though.

You can negotiate these prices?

Thanks very much for your link ^

Three of us will be in Ushuaia one month from now for this event.

Would love to make an excursion across the passage to the other side and will try and find out about one with Quark - if possible during the timeframe we'll be there.

Trip to USH itself is highly expensive - especially for tight budgets like mine - but I managed to get all of us on DL/AR award tickets - despite being so despised, their Skypesos made it possible

Not sure they are negotiable but Quark does offer discounts sometimes (between occasionally and frequently). Suggest subscribing to their email newsletters/updates/PR stuff.

Unsure exactly what you are referring to, sounds like you might be thinking about a quick (day or 2) trip across the Drake and back. Very unlikely. The Antarctica tourist season is during Southern hemisphere summer, approximately November through March. The Drake is about 600 miles across, my 3 trips averaged about 14 knots, which means the trip is a full 2 days EACH way. I�m not sure any other ships do it very much more quickly. Even in season I�m not aware of any company which offers quick trips across and back just so someone could say they visited Antarctica. Minimum trip duration on Quark is 8 or 9 days. I believe Quark offers the most cruises to the area.