LAN and South America

[ausfox]

I travelled to Ushuaia (USH) from SYD via AKL, SCL, EZE and AEP in late December, and then returned direct SCL SYD on Qantas. I was ticketted QF to SCL but in the confusion didn't pick up the AKL diversion and hence LAN. The LAN metal to be polite is ordinary and made us appreciate the service provided by Qantas.
It is possible to fly direct EZE-USH without the travel across town to AEP we found out later.
There is no lounge available at AEP so you have to enjoy the crowd. The LAN bar at SCL is passable.
We used the Admirals Club at SCL on our way back and found this acceptable with polite staff and reasonable finger food/snacks at hand. A well stocked bar also. There is no lounge at USH.
Be aware of the need to pay your reciprocal fee on line and in advance for entry to Argentina.
Chile also requires you to pay a reciprocal fee as an Aussie when entering the country. No need when transitting at SCL. Last year, when travelling from Bolivia to Aus via SCL we had to transit via some Chilean outpost. Passengers were off loaded and had to go through entry procedures even though in transit. We had paid our fee earlier and this lasted one year.
The purpose of the trip was to sail (literally) to Antarctica. We did this on Oosterschelde, a Dutch 3 masted topsail schooner. Not an airconditioned, stabilised motor boat. What a hoot. Not always easy or pleasant but the trip of a lifetime. Over many years of excursions OS, this beat them all. Other sailing vessels do the Antarctic trip regularly as well.
Ushuaia is pretty laid back and relies on tourism to survive but this makes it easy for visitors. Remember the red kangaroo when going to South America.

 

[zig]

Remember the red kangaroo when going to South America.

I'm flying SYD - SCL later this year on LAN metal, although returning on the direct QF flight. Where you in J or Y with LAN? From your report I should try to keep my expectations set to low.

I'm planning on entering and departing on my British Passport to avoid the fees.

 

[ausfox]

I'm flying SYD - SCL later this year on LAN metal, although returning on the direct QF flight. Where you in J or Y with LAN? From your report I should try to keep my expectations set to low.

I'm planning on entering and departing on my British Passport to avoid the fees.

We were in about row 17 from memory due to the number of seats I paid for. At Xmas it costs almost the same as up the front at other times.

 

[casanovawa]

When i travelled to South America in 2011 i got the Brazilian visa before leaving but i think i got the Argie one when i flew into EZE (A$100 or so???)... Later we had planned to fly from EZE to La Paz in Bolivia but not pay the US$61 reciprocity fee or whatever the stupid this is called because just transiting SCL, but then didn't realise that there is a 30 minute stop or so in Iquique (IQQ) or however its spelt on the flight between SCL and LPB, which meant because there was a domestic leg on landing at SCL we had to go through customs to walk a few hundred metres to the domestic terminal and pay that friggin fee... To say I was annoyed was a bit of an understatement!!!

And so is there anything to do down in Ushaia apart from head to Antartica?? I see on quite a few people's Flightmemory maps that they go down the bottom of Chile or Argentina etc, but wonder if they all shell out for the usually very expensive cruises down to Antartica. Is there is anything to do/see in its own right down there??

 

[zig]

We were in about row 17 from memory due to the number of seats I paid for. At Xmas it costs almost the same as up the front at other times.

Thanks ausfox, I'm travelling J, but am still keeping my expectations low.

 

[ausfox]

There is a bit of skiing and hiking to be had a bit North but a week in Ushuaia itself would be too long. If you are looking to cruise into Antarctica there were a lot of walk up specials to be had via the many travel/tour agents. Summer weather is cool, snowed the day we arrived Dec 28, and then overnight Jan 23.

 

[tgh]

I have just returned from Chile. Was supposed to be bne>akl(ek380) then akl>scl lan a340 and ret scl> syd qf744 and a local bus home to brisvegas.
To my great disappointment EK bumped me to QF at Check in as they were running late.. missed my inaugural ride in a 380.. bummer.
A domestic and a bit quality roo ride to akl saw me board LAN with hopes that were not fulfilled.
It was ok just .. sat in 1c...service was minimised , food was just ok.. first red (malbec) was right off the cheap lane at Dan's.. although a second choice was quite ok.

I also had a few local link flights on lan , clean , organised, on time , but minimal service.
SCL hopelessly overcrowded airport .. domestic security line on a saturday was at least 150m but it did move quickly.
Chileans polite and civilised.

Coming back , first checked out the SCL LAN lounge.. champers and almost nothing else.. amazing
Went to the AA lounge with nil expectations and only after lining up a reasonable looking burger for when I came back outside.
Surprise surprise the lounge was busy , filthy and falling apart..( nothing new here.. ).. BUT but there WAS a good selection of snacks/ small meals , a good selection of plonk, no barista and no drinkable bubbly .
I was pretty relieved to eventually plonk my butt in 5J, skol my mouthful of bubbly , and grab a weekend Australian
I did also ask the steward for a beer.. but that was being too hopeful.. they have routines that cannot be usurped and my beer eventually( and apologetically ) came with the first drinks round.
( Next time I board dry I will grab a few glasses of bubbly to get me through to pre dinner drinks..
Otherwise a clean polite and pleasant flight.. ok food , ok wine, roomy perch .. whats not to like ??


Summary.. we should cut the roo a bit more slack..

 

[ausfox]

Interestingly, upon landing on each of the domestic sectors the FA annouced we had landed at-- and "on schedule". Is this unusual?

 

[AussieTim]

Thanks ausfox, I'm travelling J, but am still keeping my expectations low.

The domestic/shorthaul intl premium economy is pretty bad on LAN.

Long-haul the business class product is very good, but the service can feel a bit cold on the SCL-AKL-SYD sectors where the majority of passengers are Australians/NZers compared to medium-haul Americas flights. Generally, the friendlier you are with them the more attentive they are - almost as though they're trained not to be too chatty.

 

[JohnM]

When i travelled to South America in 2011 i got the Brazilian visa before leaving but i think i got the Argie one when i flew into EZE (A$100 or so???)... Later we had planned to fly from EZE to La Paz in Bolivia but not pay the US$61 reciprocity fee or whatever the stupid this is called because just transiting SCL, but then didn't realise that there is a 30 minute stop or so in Iquique (IQQ) or however its spelt on the flight between SCL and LPB, which meant because there was a domestic leg on landing at SCL we had to go through customs to walk a few hundred metres to the domestic terminal and pay that friggin fee... To say I was annoyed was a bit of an understatement!!!

And so is there anything to do down in Ushaia apart from head to Antartica?? I see on quite a few people's Flightmemory maps that they go down the bottom of Chile or Argentina etc, but wonder if they all shell out for the usually very expensive cruises down to Antartica. Is there is anything to do/see in its own right down there??

The reciprocity fee can be a pain. I once landed in SCL to visit Chile again and my previous reciprocity visa had expired the day before (I did know this in advance). Seems like a silly revenue-raising exercise that probably costs about as much to administer as it raises.

I'd say just about everyone going to Ushuaia is there only to stage to Antarctica. There's not a lot to do. Further north in Patagonia around El Calafate and El Chalten in Argentina and across to nearby Torres del Paine in Chile are the places for some spectacular scenery and pretty serious hiking.

 

[casanovawa]

I think the Argies and the Chileans charge us Aussies and quite a few others only because we charge there citizens that amount (perhaps with more reason), so whether it raises money or not its just a tit for tat exercise.. I was travelling with an NZ friend and he didn't have to pay any of it....

 

[JohnM]

I'm sure that's it - the question is who started the nonsense? And more to the point, who'll make a first move to stop it?

 

[tgh]

I'd say just about everyone going to Ushuaia is there only to stage to Antarctica. There's not a lot to do. Further north in Patagonia around El Calafate and El Chalten in Argentina and across to nearby Torres del Paine in Chile are the places for some spectacular scenery and pretty serious hiking.


I guess it's strokes 4 folks .
We we enjoyed our few days at Helsingfors ( 160k out of El Calafate), but we also found El_C a pretty ordinary little tourist trap and didn't even bother with the trip to the Glacier.
Ushuaia , otoh , was quite interesting.
All the guide books send folks north to the National park which is pretty ordinary.
Otoh .. the drive south to Estancia Harberton was really really good AND the Marine Museum in the middle of nowhere was world class and worth the drive on it's own

 

[kpc]

As you can see from my Flight Memory in my signature, I have flown a fair bit on Lan around South America, and I have flown Syd-Akl-Scl-Gru-Gig on Lan in J return as well. Their new lie flat J bed across the Pacific is pretty good but the onboard service is average and very clinical without much warmth...this might be due partly to the language barrier as English is not their mother tongue. You don't have a lot of good choices flying within Sth America apart from Lan eg I was warned off Aerolineas in Argentina and flew Lan to Iguazu and El Calafarte (I thought the visit to Perito Merino glacier and a subsequent glacier walk well worth it! ...and a visit to El Chalaten for a spectacular hike to Mt fitzroy was very worthwhile). I have landed in Ush on transit back to Aep but did not get off the plane. Lan domestic is pretty basc but fine. No lounge in Aep of course. If you want to go to Ipc, it is Lan only unless you are planning to go by ship! The Lan lounge in Scl is OK with showers, WiFi and alcoholic drinks; hot food is lacking...


Anyway, FWIW, these are my rambling thoughts about Lan. Whilst annoying, the reciprocal entry fees charged by Chile, Argentina and the visa for Brazil are minor irritants to visit this most fantastic continent!

 

[JohnM]

It's unfortunate that Argentina is once again turning into an economic mess. I actually prefer Argentina to Chile in many ways but it's going to hell. It's not inexpensive any more and labour unrest is rising (I was a victim of an ATC strike at Xmas that saw me missing Xmas day at home). Glad I've already covered a lot of it. Damn - I'm going to miss those top-end Malbecs and the superb steaks .

I've always been quite happy with LAN but I've almost exclusively been in J or PE - only in whY where that's all on offer.

I never eat much in the lounge although I have noticed the flow of food fluctuates - but I do enjoy the Louis Roederer Champagne in the lounges and on board. It's my favourite NV.

 

[Ken1]

I'm currently travelling in South America as part of my One World 280K J Award ticket. We travelled SYD-LAX with QF, then LAX-LIM-CUZ with LAN as part of our award ticket. On Thursday we will be flying IGU-LIM-JFK. For other flights in South America I booked some Y LAN flights using the LAN South America Air Pass for CUZ-LIM-SCL, SCL-GIG and AEP-IGR, which we flew today.

One of the features of the air pass is that you get the same luggage allowance as the international flights if you fly into South America on LAN. Actually when I booked these flights last April the terms and conditions stated that you had to fly in or out of South America on any One World airline but that has changed more recently.

FAQ | Latam South America Airpass
Q: What is the Baggage Allowance permitted for the SAP?
A: If the passenger arrives in South America with LAN or TAM the baggage allowance is the same as for the international segment.
If the passengers arrives in South America with another Airline the baggage allowance is the most restrictive of the international segment and the domestic and the regional.

LAN's international allowance for J is 3 x 23kg bags and for Y flights is 2 x 23kg bags. Their allowance for South American flights is "Maximum 2 pieces, both weighing 23 kg in total".

We had 2 bags each, three just under 23kg and one around 6 kg, and for each of the three check-ins none of the staff knew about the Air Pass baggage allowance and they tried to charge me excess baggage fees. I had the relevant sections from their faq and terms and conditions pages on their website on my iPad, which I showed them.

After I booked the flights the ticket showed allowance as 23kg so I phoned to enquire a few times over many months, up until a week before we left Sydney in January, to confirm that I would definitely get the international allowance and was assured each time that I would and that the staff would know the correct allowance. I had also asked if the correct information could be put on the booking but I ws told that was not necessary.

For the check in at Cusco I showed them the iPad when they tried to charge me excess fees and they called a supervisor over and he phoned the Lima office, who confirmed that I was correct. For the Santiago check in the same thing happened and after the check in agent called someone else over she looked at something on her computer which verified the correct allowance. For today's check in at the Buenos Aires AEP airport a supervisor was called over and after some discussion and looking up information it was allowed through, but each time they had tried to charge me excess fees.

This was very embarassing and frustrating having to go through this each time and I'm glad I had the information on the iPad to show them. The international allowance was something pushed by their sales staff when I initially enquiring about it so I booked with LAN for our South American flights, except for an Emirates GIG-EZE flight I booked as a Classic QFF Award.

 

[fersea]

Hi Ken1, glad you are having a good time. We sent a few messages to each other about 12 months ago when we were booking flights.

I leave on Saturday flying QF CBR - SYD, then QF JetConnect to Auckland. Then fly on the QF321 from Auckland to Santiago on Sunday. These are the first part of my RTW trip, but all in Y. I am also doing three flights on the LAN South America pass SCL - GIG, EZE - LIM and LPB - LIM. My tour also includes included flights from Lima to the Amazon and back from the Amazon to Cusco. No idea what airline these will be on.

I won't have the baggage issues, as I am backpacking around the world so want to keep my luggage light - a backpack that will weigh about 15kg and one carry on bag.

 

[burnt]

Interesting comments from Ken1, re the baggage limits, I also are going SYD- SCL in 10 days or so on the QF direct and then with a LAN to George Newberry after a short transit in SCL, overnight BA and then on a LAN charter to USH before boarding Silver Explorer for 11 nights ( I think) for Valpariso (SCL) via Chilean fjiords pategonia etc.

I originally booked my OW 35,000miles ticket in May last year, so was wondering if the "old " baggage allowances were in effect then.
Have paid my reprocicity fee for Argentina already, but interestingly enough, when arriving by boat into Chile, it does not have to be paid, as I have been told it is only levied on arriving air PAX.
After getting of boat will be heading up to La Serena for a couple of days and then back to SCL for direct SYD.

 

[QF2220]

This looks to be a thread to discuss my question, what has been experience with LAN accepting excess baggage? Im moving back to Aus and will likely use LAN to get back. Ill book a classic J class ticket and get the 3x23kg, and im QFF Gold so get an extra 1x23kg allowance. How much extra do you think I can take without fearing refusal of acceptance of the excess baggage? Id only need one or maybe 2 extra pieces.