If you’d like to use your Qantas Frequent Flyer points to fly to South America, there’s some good news. Qantas Frequent Flyer currently has fairly good Classic Flight Reward availability to Santiago, Chile in Economy, Premium Economy and Business Class.

Qantas flies 4x weekly from Sydney to Santiago using a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner. Its partner LATAM Airlines flies daily from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland and is about to resume 3x weekly Melbourne-Santiago services, also using Dreamliners.

Fly Qantas Premium Economy to Santiago with points

Currently, Qantas has Classic Flight Reward seats available on many of its non-stop Sydney-Santiago services in Premium Economy. This includes various travel dates over the coming weeks and months, as well as for next year.

You can book a Qantas Premium Economy seat from Sydney to Santiago for 81,300 Qantas Points + $258 in taxes & carrier charges. And it doesn’t cost any extra points (just a small increase in taxes) to add a connecting Qantas Economy flight to Sydney from Brisbane, Melbourne, Adelaide, Hobart or even Cairns.

Fly LATAM Airlines Economy or Business Class to Santiago with Qantas points

If you’re looking for Classic Flight Reward availability to South America in Economy or Business Class, you probably won’t find it on QF27 (or the return Qantas flight QF28). But LATAM Airlines, which does not offer Premium Economy, has plenty of award availability in Economy and Business.

We’re currently seeing lots of LATAM availability from Australia to South America on many travel dates over the next year. This includes seats in Business Class from Melbourne, Sydney and Auckland to Santiago.

Although LATAM left the Oneworld alliance in 2020, the Chilean airline remains a Qantas partner. So you can book LATAM Airlines award seats using Qantas Frequent Flyer points.

The largest amount of availability seems to be from Auckland to Santiago. So if you’re having trouble finding a reward seat out of Australia, have a look at options from New Zealand. You can always tag on a positioning Qantas flight to Auckland onto the same award booking.

It costs 50,300 Qantas Points + $128 in taxes to fly LATAM Economy one-way from Sydney to Santiago (via Auckland). A one-way LATAM Airlines Business ticket from Sydney to Santiago costs 119,200 Qantas Points + $128. There are no carrier charges when redeeming Qantas points for LATAM Airlines flights.

With LATAM’s Melbourne-Santiago route resuming this weekend, it’s great to see more capacity into South America leading to more Classic Flight Reward availability. This is a far cry from the situation just 1-2 years ago, when the only way to reach South America using frequent flyer points was via North America, the Middle East or Europe!

Connect onwards to other South American destinations on LATAM Airlines

If you’d like to connect onwards to another destination in South America using Qantas points, connections are available on LATAM Airlines. However, note that LATAM does not offer Business Class on many of its routes within South America, so any connecting flights are likely to be in Economy.

If you’re flying LATAM Airlines across the Southern Ocean, it may not even cost any extra points to add on a connecting flight to another destination in South America.

If you’re just travelling as far as Chile – or you would like to stop over in Santiago – note that Australians now require a visa to enter Chile. There is a fee for this if you’re staying in Chile for more than 72 hours and you need to apply in advance and it’s not just a simple online visa application process.

Australians do not require a visa to transit via Chile for less than 8 hours to a third country, without leaving the airport.

Matt Graham

The editor of Australian Frequent Flyer, Matt's passion for travel has taken him to over 90 countries… with the help of frequent flyer points, of course!
Matt's favourite destinations (so far) are Germany, Brazil & Kazakhstan. His interests include aviation, economics & foreign languages, and he has a soft spot for good food and red wine.

You can connect with Matt by posting on the Australian Frequent Flyer community forum and tagging @AFF Editor.