On 1 May 2020, LATAM Airlines will leave the Oneworld alliance. As the only current Oneworld airline based in South America, this will leave a huge hole in the Oneworld alliance network.
Although you’ll still be able to redeem Qantas Frequent Flyer points for LATAM flights, it won’t be possible to include LATAM Airlines as part of any Oneworld Explorer fare or Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward booking after 1 May 2020. The Asia Miles Oneworld multi-carrier award and British Airways Oneworld multi-carrier reward are also affected. This is problematic if you wish to book a round-the-world trip that includes stopovers in South America.
You’ll still be able to fly to South America from Australia, North America, Europe, northern Africa and the Middle East with the remaining Oneworld airlines. But the number of route options will be substantially reduced without LATAM Airlines.
In addition, travelling within South America on Oneworld airlines will be near-impossible after 1 May 2020. Qatar Airways has a fifth-freedom route from Buenos Aires (EZE) to São Paulo (GRU), but that will soon be the only Oneworld flight within the South American continent.
If you’re planning to book a round-the-world trip using Qantas points after 1 May, and you wish to visit South America, you’ll realistically only be able to get to and from the continent on your Oneworld Classic Flight Reward ticket. If you want to visit more than one place in South America, you can then use a “surface sector” and book your internal flights separately.
In addition to LATAM’s flights, you can use your Qantas points to fly with Emirates from Santiago to Rio de Janeiro, or with KLM from Santiago to Buenos Aires. You just won’t be able to include these flights in any Oneworld booking.
Which Oneworld airlines will fly to South America after 1 May 2020?
After LATAM departs from the Oneworld alliance, the following airlines will continue to offer flights to/from the South American continent:
- Qantas
- American Airlines
- Iberia
- British Airways
- Qatar Airways
- Royal Air Maroc (joining Oneworld on 1 April 2020)
Below is a map of all remaining Oneworld airline routes to, from and within South America as of May 2020. Note that flights to/from the Caribbean and Central America are not included in this map.
Qantas (shown in red) flies from Sydney-Santiago, and Qatar Airways (shown in pink) operates Doha-Sao Paulo-Buenos Aires. British Airways routes are shown in blue; Iberia in yellow; American Airlines in white; and Royal Air Maroc in orange.
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