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Using your Avios points to fly to Chile with LAN

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I have never given LAN much coverage on Head for Points, even though I have written articles covering redemption opportunities with most of the other oneworld partners.

I recently helped a friend with some research into Avios redemption options to Chile and I thought it would be useful to share some of the things I discovered.

LATAM 787

LAN is a long-time member of the oneworld alliance.  In 2012 it merged with Brazilian-based airline TAM and the two airlines are now owned by a new holding company, LATAM.  The combined group flies to 150 destinations in 22 countries.  As well as Chile and Brazil, there are subsidiaries based in Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay.

Chile remains the heart of the LAN business and is where the airline is headquartered and listed.

There are no direct flights from the United Kingdom to Santiago in Chile, either with LAN Chile or British Airways.  The only direct flights from Europe are from Madrid.

The 2nd best option is from Frankfurt.  The LAN plane from Madrid carries on to Frankfurt after a short stop – you can even book Madrid to Frankfurt on LAN as a stand-alone Avios redemption if you want a flat bed for that service.  I am keen to try this ‘fifth freedom’ flight out one day.

The Frankfurt – Madrid – Santiago services uses a brand new Boeing 787 which features the latest LAN seating in business class.  Take a look at this:

LAN 787 business class

and this:

LAN 787 business class

What does it cost?

Due to the ludicrously over-complicated Avios restructuring recently, it will now take me seven paragraphs to explain how much an Avios redemption from Madrid to Santiago will cost.

Using the Avios pricing chart at ba.com, Madrid to Santiago prices out at 180,000 Avios plus £39 in business class.  That £39 is not a typo – there are no fuel surcharges to pay on LAN flights.

There are 10 flights per week on LAN.  Availability seems to be very random – on March 1st, for example, there are six first class seats available on the 20.45 from Santiago to Madrid but none on the 20.20 departure half an hour earlier!

There is also a competing daily Iberia service.  On an off-peak date, this costs 102,000 Avios + £532 return in business class if booked via ba.com.  On a peak date, the cost is 150,000 Avios + £532 via ba.com.

(If you are wondering why the flight is 150,000 Avios via Iberia and 180,000 Avios via LAN, it is because Iberia has a separate reward chart with different pricing bands.  All other redemptions booked via ba.com are priced using the standard BA price chart.)

If you book at iberia.com, the pricing changes.

The LAN flight reprices to 175,000 Avios + US$60 (ie the same £39).  However, it is not cancellable if booked via iberia.com so you should use ba.com instead.

The Iberia flights become substantially cheaper because the Iberia website does not add fuel surcharges.  The cost to Santiago drops to 102,000 Avios + US$214 off-peak and 150,000 Avios + US$214 peak.

The LAN flights are still attractive on peak dates.  You need 30,000 more Avios but you are saving over £100 in tax.  You are also flying on a new Boeing 787 service with the latest LAN business class product.  The seating is far more spacious than the Iberia business class cabin.

In a future article I will take a look at using LAN for flights to Easter Island and the Galapagos, two of the outstanding but hard to reach tourist destinations they cover.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

Iberia and Iberia Plus, oneworld alliance partners

Comments (39)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • elGuiri says:
    9 Jun9 June 08:17

    I used to use LAN to fly Frankfurt -Madrid about twice a year when I lived in Germany (about 10 years ago now). Flew in economy.
    Downside was the luggage compartments were full with all the people taking their presents for the extended families back to Chile, so was best to just take a bag to put under the seat in front.
    Positive was the fact that they had back-of-seat tv screens for that short journey, and the prices were always below other carriers. I attribute this mostly to do with the fact the prices were in dollars, and would translate to euros when booking from Europe, so each time the prices changed slightly, and were odd values (like 85.76 euros). However the tickets consistently cost under 90 euros whilst other carriers were charging around 150.
    Not sure the current euro-dollar exchange rate would make this method worthwile though…

  • r says:
    9 Jun9 June 08:18

    Is the bottom line that Iberia has a comparable product but would be (depending on the peak/off peak rates) 30,000/78,000 Avios cheaper with taxes being GBP 100 higher? I don’t think anyone here would think that this is a good deal – I value 30,000 Avios far more than GBP 100! (Not to mention 78k).

    The LAN lounge in SCL is truly amazing indeed. While there is not much in terms of the food offering, it has the “wow!” factor that most other lounges don’t.

  • MattChaps says:
    9 Jun9 June 09:00

    Quick question. BA 2 4 1 vouchers; are they only valid on return journeys from UK? Or can they be redeemed on any booking made via the BA website?

    • DONE4 says:
      9 Jun9 June 09:34

      The BA Amex issued 241’s are only valid ex-UK for a one way or return.

    • r says:
      9 Jun9 June 09:38

      Has to be on a BA flight (not a codeshare) originating from the UK. GRU is probably the easiest choice availability-wise and also easy of connection onwards (on a separate ticket).

  • David says:
    9 Jun9 June 09:08

    I also plan to book a 2-4-1 to GRU next year then fly onward to Easter Island. Costs about £1100 in Business & 150k avios plus the costs to get to SCL/Easter Island, worthwhile use fo 2-4-1? Anyone been down to Patagonia in June/July?

    • Calchas says:
      9 Jun9 June 10:58

      You should book your SCL-IPC flight in Chile (or from the LAN Chile website). The price will be much cheaper. It is actually a good tier point run in business class, under £2 / TP.

    • VP says:
      9 Jun9 June 11:25

      David,
      If your main destination is Easter Island, it seems a bit of detour going to GRU. If you are avios rich, you can also use 2-4-1 in 1 direction to go to GRU..see whatever you want to see in Brazil then go to SCL, Easter Island and return via Iberia SCL- MAD (75K + £71 per person).
      Paying £1100 cash (even if J) for an award ticket to land up 14 hrs away from your main destination (incl. transit) doesn’t seem to be the optimal way to do it. If you are not avios rich, I would personally use the 2 for 1 for some other destination unless of course you do plan to spend substantial time in Brazil in which case it might make sense.
      FYI if you book any award flight originating in Brazil, no fuel surcharge is charged due to local regulations and BA flight to LHR would cost 75K + £25 odd however you can’t use your 2-4-1 just for inbound to UK and if booking a round trip from UK, BA cheekily adds fuel surcharge even for the GRU-LHR segment as your ticket is originating in UK.

      • David says:
        9 Jun9 June 22:52

        Where do you see SCL-MAD for 75K + £71. I can only see 51K + £334. We need to return to GLA and best I can see from GRU is 90K + £46 ?

  • Adam says:
    9 Jun9 June 09:18

    I’ve only flown LAN in economy, but can definitely recommend them. Proper cutlery, and dishes and proper glasses. Plus you get the eye patch, ear plugs and tooth brush that you don’t get with BA in economy. If i go to South America again, i’ll look there before BA.

  • LondonFoodie says:
    9 Jun9 June 09:25

    IPC segments have notoriously poor redemption availability. Maybe SCL-IPC is ok, but IPC-PPT is one of those redemption unicorn flights… I spent months once checking everyday for on an entire year trying to secure a seat.

    • raikje says:
      9 Jun9 June 10:40

      A few years ago now, but I found SCL-IPC was fairly good for availability in J. Had no real trouble getting 2 seats around the dates I wanted. This may be because SCL-IPC is daily, but IPC-PPT is one flight a week.

    • Calchas says:
      9 Jun9 June 10:59

      SLC-IPC is also dirt cheap in J, if you buy the tickets in Chile (or from a Chilean website).

  • RT says:
    9 Jun9 June 12:08

    Out of interest how do you use your Avios points with other OneWorld Alliance partners?

    • David says:
      9 Jun9 June 14:09

      You can see availability and book for OW partners through BA.com when searching for flights with Avios.

  • SimonB says:
    9 Jun9 June 14:05

    I recently booked 241 LHR/GRU/LHR as I want to go to Peru and visit Machu Picchu in September. I had tied other destinations (Cape Town for example as I go there often) but availability is terrible almost all of the time. So, the options for LIM using 241 most of the way were to fly via MIA connecting with LAN or via Brazil (via GRU – flight durations similar). Availability in anything but Y class were awful via MIA so GRU it is – Premium Economy (744) outbound and Club World (777) inbound. I will then buy a GRU/LIM/CUS/LIM/GRU on LAN but as I need 45 more tier points to get a Bronze card this year, I will pay cash.

    FYI: from what I could see, availability on 241 to GIG is also quite good generally speaking in all classes. EZE terrible with only a few Y class here and there.

    • VP says:
      9 Jun9 June 15:30

      Usually Lima – Cusco is easy to get on avios and does save you substantially compared to buying with cash (in my case the saving was about $100 one way and we were 5 !!) Also as per the fine print on BA.com
      “Avios and Tier Points are not available on flights operating wholly within Peru, Chile or Argentina”
      so better confirm that you would be getting tier points for Lima – Cusco – Lima flight.

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