Excellent value & award availability: Redeem your points to fly Business Class to South America!
Redeeming frequent flyer points to South America has traditionally been very difficult. But thanks to some new direct flights between Australia and South America, award availability to South America is actually very good at the moment.
LATAM Airlines will begin direct flights between Melbourne and Santiago, Chile from 5 October this year. The 3x weekly flights will be serviced by new Boeing 787-9 Dreamliners. There is both Economy and Business Class on the LATAM Airlines Boeing 787.
The schedule is as follows:
- LA804 Melbourne 19:40 – Santiago 18:55
- LA805 Santiago 12:30 – Melbourne 17:40 (+1 day)
If you’ve been hoping to use your points to fly Business class to South America, here’s some great news: there is tons of Business class award space on the new route! Many flights have seven Business class reward seats available for booking. This is a rare find on most routes, let alone to South America.
As LATAM Airlines is one of Qantas’ oneworld partners, you can redeem Qantas points on these new flights. A one-way Business class seat will set you back 104,000 Qantas points and a princely sum of just $79.95 in taxes.
If you happen to hold a balance of Cathay Pacific Asia Miles – or have credit card points that can be transferred to Asia Miles – it’s an even better deal. Cathay Pacific charges only 70,000 miles one-way, or 120,000 miles return, for a Business class seat on the Melbourne-Santiago flight.
The facts
- Currency: Qantas points or Cathay Pacific Asia Miles
- Airline: LATAM Airlines
- Route: Melbourne-Santiago (LATAM Airlines also flies daily from Sydney to Santiago via Auckland)
- Class of travel: Business class
- Cost: 104,000 Qantas points + $79.95 taxes. (Using Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, the cost is just 70,000 Asia Miles one-way or 120,000 Asia Miles for a round-trip.)
- Availability: Up to 7 award seats are available on many dates if you book well in advance. Be aware that the Melbourne-Santiago flight only operates 3x weekly.
- How to book: A limited number of LATAM Airlines flights can be booked on the Qantas website, but in most cases you’ll need to call Qantas on 13 13 13 to book. (To book with Asia Miles, call Cathay Pacific on 1800 129 264.)
Would you like help using your frequent flyer points?
Frequent Flyer Solutions offers a personalised service that’s designed to take the hard work out of redeeming your frequent flyer points!
Award Flight Assist can help you to find the perfect flights using your points. Just let the team know how many points you have and where you would like to go, and they’ll prepare an itinerary for you.
