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An email from Thrifty Traveler Premium just alerted me to an excellent business class fare sale from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile (first reported at Flyertalk) that is valid from February to May. While that is sooner than I’m planning international travel, I recognize that some readers may be vaccinated or confident that they will be by May. Note that Chile currently has a quarantine requirement. The Chilean embassy website says it is an obligatory 10-day quarantine, though Delta lists it as a 7-day quarantine (likely because you can leave that mandatory 10-day quarantine with a negative PCR result based on a test taken on or after the 7th day of quarantine). Be sure you know what you’re getting into if you book it, but this is a great deal for those who can take advantage.
The Deal
- Delta is offering business class fares from Los Angeles to Santiago, Chile (via Atlanta) for $695 round trip. This includes lie-flat Delta One business class on the long-haul flight. The Amex International Airline Program has these for $607. Note the quarantine restrictions if you’re considering travel.
- Link to search Google Flights
Quick Thoughts
I imagine this won’t appeal to everyone, but I also know that there are some who may consider this and I thought it was worth reporting for those who would be interested.
Part of the appeal here is that you’ll fly lie-flat from Atlanta to Santiago. That’s about a 9.5 hour flight in seats that closely resemble Delta One Suites. For $695 round trip, that’s terrific.
This is also likely to appeal to those looking to pick up cheap MQMs as it will come with nearly 20K MQMs round trip.
Stacked with rollover MQMs, that could certainly help someone get pretty close to status from a mileage standpoint (though you’ll still likely need to get spendy for an MQD waiver). Still, it’s not a bad deal if you’re interested in traveling during the window of availability.
Those with an Amex Platinum or Business Platinum may find this even more appealing. That’s because as noted by flyinhwn on Flyertalk, this fare is available via the Amex International Airline Program for just $607 round trip.
If you have the Business Platinum card, you’ll get a 35% rebate if you use points to cover the flight since this is in business class, so you would end up paying a net 39,445.25 points round trip. Given that you’ll also earn some Delta miles and MQMs, that’s a great deal. Note that you can only get up to 500,000 points rebated per year with that perk.
Keep in mind that Delta won’t charge change fees if you want to change your flight down the road, but you would likely be on the hook for a the fare difference, which would likely be significant since prices are typically much higher. The Delta site says this fare is nonrefundable, so keep that in mind.
Overall, this is certainly an interesting deal for those who are positioned to take advantage, though I’ll have to give it a miss. If you book it, I would strongly recommend holding off on making other nonrefundable plans around this for a couple of weeks to be sure that Delta honors it as advertised.
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That was fast–gone 🙁 Fares on United for $1300 and LATAM non-stop for $1700. Good, but not $600.
Hi friends,
I jumped on this fare for early May, but it looks like Chile’s numbers are up and the quarantine requirement is still in place. I looked at FlightAware and it seems that the leg from ATL-SCL is still flying (and not being cancelled by Delta so that I could instead get a refund). It pains me to have to cancel and get a huge amount of Delta credit (4 travelers). Any other options that I’m missing? Is there anyway to rebook my flights at a later date without a fare increase? In the alternative, are there any nearby destinations that are open to US travelers so that I could just transit through SCL?
Thanks!
If I book this with a delta gift card and later have to cancel due to ongoing COVID issues, would the credit go right back onto the gift card?
So using your May 4th to May 11th dates. I’d assume you will have to test on about May 2nd and then hope it’s accurately negative. Take the flight and then quarantine from the 4th to the 11th in time to fly back but manage to get another test for the arrival back in the US on about the 9th. Then quarantine when you get back into the US if your test is accurately negative again. Unless this is just for the mileage run I’m going to have to pass as much as I want to fly this deal.
Just an example. It’s available almost every day in May, so you could really go for a month if you have the time.
Since it’s business class, you should be able to get the AmEx Business platinum rebate no matter which airline you’ve selected.
You’re absolutely right. Fixing, thanks!