Getting from Santiago to Lima?
 

I have 6 days or so to get from Santiago to Lima. I was hoping to stop in Arequipa, but now that I am looking at a map, I don't know if I've given myself enough time. Then I thought maybe I could fly, but the flights I am finding are outrageously expensive.

So if I have to do 50 hours on a bus, any suggestions for more pleasant ways to break it up?

See if there are any air specials from SCL to ARI (or even IQQ) and bus from there. You might find a decent price on Sky Airline. If you get to ARI, you can just take a taxi into Peru and get a bus from Tacna if it saves money / has better schedules than from Arica.

Thanks, that is great advice. Looks like I can do that pretty quickly and inexpensively.

Good luck on your trip! If you have the time, stop in Arequipa! It's an interesting city :)

As stated by Eastbay1K, Skyairlines is the best option, especially as they fly SCL AQP (with stops in IQQ and ARI).
You can have a look to my TR http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/trip-...via-h2-5p.html
Don't miss Arequipa and even Canyon de Colca.

I don't see SCL-AQP on the Sky Airlines site. Any way to verify that this route exists? Or am I just missing it? I'd love to avoid another land border crossing.

That's strange, I don't see the option to buy the tickets on Sky's website but it's still listed as a destination and the route definitely existed (3 times a week) a few months ago when I visited Arequipa...

You should try and use Amadeus.net for displaying flights.
There is still a flight schedulet for sunday 27th june SCL AQP with H2

I don't know what I am doing wrong. I am searching Amadeus.net for SCL-AQP on June 27th and only get results for LAN/AA at £604.

The other problem is that the pass to Santiago is closed so I am stuck here in Mendoza!

If anyone has any alternate suggestions on inexpensive ways to get to Lima by July 3rd, I'd appreciate it.

Well, i was able to display this H2 flight by selecting "Availability" and not "Best Fares" from the "Flight" section.
i think i have read somewhere on FT that there is a restriction of Point Of Sale for H2 ticket that might be the reason you are not retrieving this flight.

Maybe you could give H2 a call...
Sales Locations in Santiago
CALL CENTER: 600 600 2828
From abroad (56-2) 352 56 00

Why not going north in Argentina and then cross the border?
Even if you skip Santiago, you could still catch this H2 flight from another city in Chile since there are 2 stops from SCL to AQP (i think the first stop is in Iquique, second stop is Arica)

Score. The pass was open this afternoon.

Thanks for the phone number. I just called them and they confirmed that there is a flight on the 27th and it's just $70. If I make it to Santiago tomorrow I will go in to their offices and try and buy it, but it seems a little risky. Might just go straight from SCL to LIM.

Speaking of which, are there any cheap airlines that fly SCL to LIM? Everything I am seeing is in the $600 range.

United seems to fly that route but there are no award tickets in any class available. Or are there any cheapo airlines that fly from Buenos Aires? I'm only seeing the usual suspects on Amadeus but I might be messing it up again.

UA doesn't fly to SCL or LIM, and hasn't for nearly a decade. The RTs might be cheaper than the OWs but you don't have a lot of advance purchase at this point.

Ah, that flight is listed on Amadeus so I just went to United and looked at award tickets without actually bothering to check if the flight existed.

RTs are a lot cheaper, less than half. Thanks for reminding me to look. All of the other airlines I've flown here in South America have not been like that (and in fact have been reasonably priced for same-day walkups!) so I didn't even think to check.