LATAM to fly MEL-SCL

[whatmeworry]

Do they still charge a reciprocal fee for aussies when they arrive at SCL?

Not if you use an EU passport.

 

[soorox]

Noting the new flight times for the MEL-SCL route, for me the return is perfect, but the outward, not so good. But not awful either. Depends on which days. Do we know yet which days of the week is proposed?

Tuesday, Friday and Sundays exMEL
Monday, Thursday, Saturdays exSCL

Sounds like "it's on" in that case.

Three times weekly it appears ?

It's fantastic MEL will host an exciting route like this, although as others have said, the capacity on the route appears quite heavy when factoring in the SYD & AKL options too. Will be interesting to see if any changes occur to capacity at SYD & AKL.

Yes, it is definitely 'on'! The flights are bookable as of today!

Well I think it's time for MEL to be less reliant on AKL and SYD when it comes to Sth America, if this route proves successful, it will open alot of doors for MEL. MEL can become an Australian and SE Asian hub for Sth American pax.

 

[Boca68]

Tuesday, Friday and Sundays exMEL
Monday, Thursday, Saturdays exSCL

Actually, those days are great. especially Saturday exSCL.

Sunday from MEL, return Saturday from SCL. Further investigating needed, me thinks.

 

[DC3]

.... hopefully ready enough for work the next day. On the return flight, no time to finish work in the morning ....

Work! Is this a big business destination/hub? I had though that the trips would be mostly for leisure.

Edit: However, as you say, the times may fit well for business travel.

 

[JohnM]

Not if you use an EU passport.

I think it was implicit that the question was about an Australian - ie. someone with an Australian passport.

 

[hummel]

Tuesday, Friday and Sundays exMEL
Monday, Thursday, Saturdays exSCL



Yes, it is definitely 'on'! The flights are bookable as of today!

Well I think it's time for MEL to be less reliant on AKL and SYD when it comes to Sth America, if this route proves successful, it will open alot of doors for MEL. MEL can become an Australian and SE Asian hub for Sth American pax.

I am more concerned about when award bookings will open ðŸ

 

[whatmeworry]

I think it was implicit that the question was about an Australian - ie. someone with an Australian passport.

Well some Australian Citizens have dual citizenships with other countries which you can use to bypass visa entry fees with some countries.

 

[dajop]

Work! Is this a big business destination/hub?

Well, I can think of one company I assume (with zero inside knowledge), has a global hq in Melbourne and hq of one its groups in Santiago. So it would provide some business traffic. It's probably the only one though with such a presence in both cities. But I am sure there is other business traffic between Vic/SA/WA and South America.

 

[Tortuga]

Well, I can think of one company I assume (with zero inside knowledge), has a global hq in Melbourne and hq of one its groups in Santiago. So it would provide some business traffic. It's probably the only one though with such a presence in both cities. But I am sure there is other business traffic between Vic/SA/WA and South America.

BHP? Happy to read this - hopefully provides better competitive pricing getting to/from South America.

 

[RooFlyer]

Lots of Australian mining company related traffic into Sth America (not just chile, but also Brazil, Peru, etc) goes via SCL, not just BHP.

Think juniors, contractors, service companies ...

My last trip to SCL on QF was with a mining junior with bankers etc in tow and we had 8 in the J cabin!

 

[juddles]

I guess I will be waiting a while yet for direct QF BNE-BOG flights

 

[juddles]

Just looked closely and it will actually shave a few hours off the BNE-BOG trip each way if I go via MEL due to better connections in SCL - so may have to bite two bullets and fly in those awful 787s and breathe Melbourne air.

 

[Mattg]

The MEL-SCL route is increasing to 5x weekly from January 2019. Must be doing alright!

 

[Boca68]

The MEL-SCL route is increasing to 5x weekly from January 2019. Must be doing alright!

The couple of times I've flown it, it's been barely half full. But it has been a few months since I did. But, I've done it the Monday evening, so not peak time. Only done the return once on a Sunday.
Great positive is the F lounge is usually pretty darn quiet pre-departure in MEL.

 

[juddles]

The MEL-SCL route is increasing to 5x weekly from January 2019. Must be doing alright!

Excellent news. I have noticed the QF SCL-SYD flights are these days very very full. More competition = great.

 

[docjames]

Excellent news. I have noticed the QF SCL-SYD flights are these days very very full. More competition = great.

/cynicism on/

Don't QF and LA collaborate on the Aus-SthAm routings? So is this really competition or just increased capacity to meet demand?

Or does QF not codeshare on MEL-SCL?

 

[wandering_fred]

MEL-SCL LA 804 QF 5027
SCL-MEL LA 805 QF 5028

The dates I looked at apparently LA had a sale and QF did not (for the same airplane each way)

Just wandering
Fred

 

[Mattg]

Yes, QF and LA codeshare on these flights. I think @juddles may have been referring to an increase in supply (rather than competition per-se) bringing prices down.

 

[Quickstatus]

And the lack of curfew at MEL enables flexible operations especially if flights are delayed in either direction

 

[Mattg]

This flight is being retimed from the beginning of April. New schedule:

LA805 SCL 00:55 - MEL 05:40 +1
LA804 MEL 13:45 - SCL 13:00