Compared to most other continents, getting from Australia to South America can be a bit tricky… and at times expensive. But there are direct flights available, and you can get some reasonably good deals during sales and off-peak periods. It’s also very possible to fly from Australia to South America using frequent flyer points.
This guide explores the best ways to get from Australia to South America in 2025…
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Available flights between Australia and South America
There are currently just two airlines offering direct flights between Australia and South America: LATAM Airlines and Qantas. All of these flights land in Santiago, Chile.
These two airlines are partners, which means they codeshare on each others’ services. Both Qantas and LATAM frequent flyers can also enjoy some reciprocal benefits when travelling on the other carrier.
As of 2025, these are the available routes between Australia and South America:
- Sydney-Santiago on Qantas (QF27/28) or LATAM Airlines (LA810/809)
- Melbourne-Santiago on LATAM Airlines (LA804/805)
- Sydney-Auckland-Santiago on LATAM Airlines (LA800/801)
All of these flights are operated by Boeing 787 Dreamliners with Economy and Business Class seating. Qantas also offers Premium Economy on its flights to Santiago.
As it happens, LATAM’s non-stop service from Santiago to Melbourne traverses some of the southernmost airspace of any commercial flight in the world. On some days, these flights even overfly Antarctica.
Connecting in Santiago
If you want to travel elsewhere in South America, both airlines offer lots of onward connections beyond Santiago on LATAM Airlines.
There are even Qantas codeshares (i.e. QF flight numbers) available on the following routes beyond Santiago which are operated by LATAM Airlines:
- Santiago-Antofagasta
- Santiago-Bogota
- Santiago-Brasilia
- Santiago-Concepcion
- Santiago-La Serena
- Santiago-Lima
- Santiago-Montevideo
- Santiago-Porto Alegre
- Santiago-Puerto Montt
- Santiago-Punta Arenas
- Santiago-Rio de Janeiro
- Santiago-Sao Paulo
In addition, there are Qantas codeshares available on the Brazilian domestic routes from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte, Curitiba, Florianopolis, Porto Alegre and Rio de Janeiro.
Connecting in Santiago to another destination outside of Chile is very easy if you’re booked through to your final destination on the same ticket, provided your connection time isn’t too long. However, if you have an Australian passport and wish to enter Chile during your layover, you’ll need a transit visa. Australian citizens also need a visa if the transit time is more than 8 hours. So, choose your flights carefully!
If you’re connecting in Santiago onto a Chilean domestic flight, you’ll need to clear immigration and customs before making your way to the domestic terminal.
In the past, Air New Zealand flew from Auckland to Buenos Aires. Unfortunately, this route is no longer served.
Pre-COVID, you could also hop your way across the South Pacific and get to Santiago via Auckland, Papeete and Easter Island. Sadly, LATAM no longer offers the Papeete-Easter Island connection.
Flying via North America
If you don’t want to take the southern route via Santiago, the second-fastest way to get to South America is via the USA or Canada. This could also work out to be a more efficient routing if you want to travel to a country in the northern part of South America, such as Colombia or Venezuela.
Qantas, American Airlines, United, Delta and Air Canada all fly direct from Australia to North America, with onward connections available to Central and South America. This is often one of the cheapest ways to do it.
If you’re transiting via the USA, beware that you’ll need a visa or visa waiver (most Australians are eligible for an ESTA visa waiver). You would also need to clear US immigration and customs, even when transiting to another international flight.
Flying via South Africa
Star Alliance member and Velocity partner South African Airways offers one-stop connections from Perth to Sao Paulo, Brazil via Johannesburg.
If you live in Perth, it could be just as quick to fly to South America via South Africa as it would be to fly with Qantas or LATAM Airlines to Santiago.
Flying via the Middle East or Europe
If none of the other options work for you, the major Middle Eastern airlines like Emirates and Qatar Airways can get you to the biggest cities in South America with one stop via the Middle East. The travel time is typically longer, but the airfares could be cheaper – and there’s often better award availability if you’re redeeming points.
Failing that, if you can get yourself to Madrid, there are lots of direct flights from there to cities all over South America on Spanish carriers Iberia and AirEuropa. TAP Air Portugal also flies to many smaller cities in Brazil from its hub in Lisbon.
Airfares between Australia and South America
With limited competition and high demand during peak periods, airfares between Australia and South America can be somewhat expensive.
Here are some tips to keep the price down as much as possible:
- Keep an eye out for airfare sales with Qantas and LATAM; if you haven’t already subscribe to emails so you’re alerted when their flights go on sale
- Try to avoid travelling during the summer holidays (i.e. around Christmas and January) as this is the busiest time – and therefore when flights are the most expensive
- Check the cost of the ticket if you start your trip in Auckland (New Zealand), rather than in Australia
- If you’re travelling to a smaller city in South America, the airfares can be very expensive. Consider booking a ticket to a nearby major city instead, and then booking an inexpensive separate flight from there to your final destination. (For example, if you want to go to Medellín in Colombia, look for flights to Bogotá instead.)
- Consider taking an alternative routing via North America, the Middle East, South Africa or (if you’re really desperate and don’t mind the longer travel time) Europe.
Flying from Australia to South America with frequent flyer points
Of course, if you have frequent flyer points, this can also drastically bring down the cost of flying from Australia to South America.
Both Qantas and LATAM Airlines flights are available to book using Qantas Frequent Flyer points. While Classic Reward availability on Qantas can be limited at times, you may be lucky enough to find seats in Economy or Business from Melbourne, Sydney or Auckland to Santiago on LATAM Airlines.
We’ve also found that Qantas often releases Premium Economy reward seats on its Sydney-Santiago route.
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As an alternative, you might be able to redeem Velocity Frequent Flyer points to fly South African Airways from Perth to Sao Paulo via Johannesburg. These seats don’t appear on the Virgin Australia website, but you can check for availability using the website of a Star Alliance member airline, then call Velocity to book.
Of course, even more options open up if you consider one of the alternative routings that we’ve already discussed.
Visiting South America as part of a Qantas Oneworld Classic Flight Reward
If you want to use Qantas points to get to South America, and you want to fly via North America or Europe in one or both directions, it can definitely make sense to book a Oneworld Classic Flight Reward. This is a multi-city redemption that lets you fly up to 35,000 miles on Oneworld airlines, with up to five stopovers along the way.
The Oneworld Classic Flight Reward is a superb use of Qantas Frequent Flyer points. The main catch is that there are no longer any Oneworld member airlines actually based in South America since LATAM left the alliance in 2020.
You can still fly into and out of South America on other Oneworld airlines including Qantas, American Airlines, Iberia, British Airways, Qatar Airways and even Royal Air Maroc. But at the time of writing, the only Oneworld flight within South America is British Airways’ fifth-freedom service between Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and Buenos Aires, Argentina.
