Airlines

Just noticed this on FT. Supposed to work for Biz fares too.

[I]American is offering 20% off on all flights from the US and Canada to select destinations in Central and South America including Barranqilla, Colombia (BQN) Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) Panama City, Panama (PTY) and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO)

To take advantage of this offer, book your reservations on AA.com by December 19, 2007, and travel between December 13, 2007 and May 14, 2008. Use the promotion code DFNNWLAT to receive the 20% discount.

Note that the following blackout dates apply: 12/20/07-12/23/07, 12/26/07-12/30/07, 1/1/08-1/6/08.[/I]

[url]http://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/viewDiscountCodeRules.do?discountCode=DFNNWLAT[/url]

[QUOTE=Jaimito Cartero]Just noticed this on FT. Supposed to work for Biz fares too.

[I]American is offering 20% off on all flights from the US and Canada to select destinations in Central and South America including Barranqilla, Colombia (BQN) Buenos Aires, Argentina (EZE) Panama City, Panama (PTY) and San Jose, Costa Rica (SJO)

To take advantage of this offer, book your reservations on AA. Com by December 19, 2007, and travel between December 13, 2007 and May 14, 2008. Use the promotion code DFNNWLAT to receive the 20% discount.

Note that the following blackout dates apply: 12/20/07-12/23/07, 12/26/07-12/30/07, 1/1/08-1/6/08.[/I]

[url]http://www.aa.com/aa/reservation/viewDiscountCodeRules.do?discountCode=DFNNWLAT[/url][/QUOTE]Thanks JC that looks like a pretty good deal, they‘re also offering 5,000 bonus miles for round-trip travel between Chicago O'Hare and Buenos Aires.

Book your trip between October 11, 2007 and March 15, 2008.
Travel between December 13, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Register online,
[url]https://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=16063729&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent[/url]

[QUOTE=Punter 127]Thanks JC that looks like a pretty good deal, they're also offering 5,000 bonus miles for round-trip travel between Chicago O'Hare and Buenos Aires.

Book your trip between October 11, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Travel between December 13, 2007 and March 15, 2008.

Register online,

[url]https://www.aa.com/apps/netSAAver/ViewPromotionsDetail.jhtml?repositoryId=16063729&repositoryName=PromotionContentRepository&itemDescriptor=PromotionContent[/url][/QUOTE]Sounds good. Remember that on some fares, you can also take the American Airlines challenge, and become a Gold or Platinum member depending on what fare class you book, just from one trip. Flyertalk has all the info.

Thanks for the tip Jaimito. You just saved me a couple of hundred bucks on the cost of my relative's ticket to BA which I am partially paying for as a christmas present.

Glad to be of service. Half the fun for me is to see how inexpensive you can get prices down to! I do wish more $500 Biz class tickets would come around (and this time FROM the US)

[QUOTE=Sidney]They are allowing different baggage weight restrictions to different destinations! Normal, I think is 44 kilos for 2 bags. The surprise was a total of 20 kilos+8 kilos for a carry-on. Then after only mentioning this in the ''fine print'', having the ruthless audacity to charge $12 per kilo, over these limits. I suspect they may do this on other routes. Other airlines may be participating in this same scheme to ''nail'' thu unsuspecting customer![/QUOTE]I have heard of others expressing dissatisfaction with LAN and their byzantine baggage regulations. That said, I have flown with them many times, and outside the baggage situation, generally the service has been good. Much less a crapshoot than say Aerolineas.

This is where being an elite in an airline's frequent flyer program may help. I know that they often allow you extra luggage allowance. LAN is a part of Oneworld, so if you're an American Airlines elite that might help you. I believe that 10 or 20 kilos additional apply depending on your elite level. I'd call to verify, of course.

I've flown some Asian airlines, intra-Asia, and only been allowed 15K of checked luggage.

Here is the LAN luggage allowance page:

[url]http://plane.lan.com/info_viajes/equipajes/equipajes_chequeado-en-us.html[/url]

I'd guess you're being bit by the 1% of highest tourist class fare. Flying EZE-Brazil, perhaps? I'm doing the same route in a couple of months, so thanks for the heads up.

That is an outrageous amount per kilo.

The is a travel "special" right now. Leave ORD or NYC and go to EZE, for less than $700 one way in Biz class. You must "jump off" before the next flight, so it's a tad tricky. This is a routing fare, so make sure you book it in the right order.

Here are some examples:

EWR-YYZ-EZE-MEX. Even though you're not going to Mexico City, you have to have it in there, or it will price at $6000.

ORD-YVR-YYZ-EZE-MEX will also work, and is only $481! Ride in the front, and in comfort. Come back when they drag your cold lifeless body out of Argentina!:)

Book as multisegment on [url]www.expedia.com[/url], no layovers allowed, so book 3/25/06 departing, and then one day later departing EZE to MEX, but ditch the last segment, or not, as you need.

Most of the flights are Air Canada, but the EZE-MEX segments are Mexicana.

Also works for Sao Paulo, and you can add SCL into the mix too.

If anyone needs help booking one of these, I'll be online for another hour. Just PM me.

Also works starting from MSP and IND, with coach connections to Air Canada. This deal is almost "dead", so it may be gone by the time you see this message.

Well, the deal was live for quite some time (12-16 hours, I think) People routed through Anchorage and Hawaii too, for extra miles. For those really interested, you need to check out the Mileage Run forum on [url]www.flyertalk.com[/url] regularly.

[QUOTE=Sidney]EZE to SDQ at $1427 is an outrageous price. They made passengers wait 2 hours (no shit) in the check-in line. Another 1 hour at Emigration. Several travel delays. The 737 seats were specifically engineered to give passengers lower back pain! The trip with one stop, ended up taking 17 hours. Their baggage people ripped open my bag, stole minor items. No compensation! Use AA, Lan or Taca.[/QUOTE]The people that operate Copa also operate the BsAs Taxi Company! :rolleyes:

Just joking Sid, I hope you enjoy the RD. :cool:

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Who would be stupid enough to pay CM 14 bills to fly anywhere? Did you not know the layover when you booked the trip?

Depending on what the damage to the bag is, they may not cover it, and it's fairly standard among most airlines. I'd send a letter or use their online contact us feature, and complain about it.

This is one reason why it pays to stock up on miles, and use frequent flyer awards. It only costs 40k miles for a free trip EZE-SDQ. A decent value. Also elites are often upgraded for free, and often have elite lines for check-in and sometimes for security as well. I flew CM JFK-UIO this summer, and got free upgrades on 3 out of the 4 legs. I am reluctant to check bags on any airline, so nothing to lose or damage there either.

It's also wise not to wait until the last minute to book a trip or use a reward. It usually costs you a lot more. I find lots of awards on CO flights for 50k miles when you book a bit in advance. I think it should be 40k if you can book the Copa rewards, but I can't see availability using the online CO checker.

Sydney, is there ANY airline you like?

And where are you crediting your Copa miles? They'll go into many different mileage plans. CO, DL, NW, AF, etc.

One thing you have to understand about airlines, is that they all screw up, sooner or later. Rarely would I write off an entire airline because of one mistake. You learn the pros and cons of an airline and try to avoid the cons, and take advantage of the good stuff.

During last summer, I had some really crappy problems with Northwest while going on a family vacation. I missed a day of vacation, but nothing too critical. By knowing how the system works, I ended up getting 100,000 miles in compensation, along with the missing hotel night paid for. That's enough miles to get two free trips to EZE in coach, or one in FC and a bit of change left over.

I travel 200,000 miles a year and earn 500,000 miles on a couple of different airlines, most years. I spend $5k-10k per year on tickets, and get about the equivalent value back in frequent flyer miles. Once you're an elite member the bonuses add up quickly. If I flew all these miles on different airlines, I'd only have 200k miles per year. By concentrating mostly on one alliance (Skyteam) I get lots of bonus offers, am able to change award tickets for free, and if something does go wrong, I'm taken care of.

For the amount you spent on your CM ticket, I'm flying to New Zealand in biz class tomorrow. For a few hundred more, I'm doing a tour of major Asian cities later this year. I can change the dates for free, and stop in Singapore, Bangkok, Tokyo and Hawaii. And not in the back, but in the front of the plane.

If you were a NW or CO elite, you'd even get free upgrades on your CM flight, even if you buy the cheapest ticket.

I meet guys in BA all the time who fly down 6 or 7 times a year, but don't even credit their frequent flier miles to an account. Reminds me of guys who pay $300US for an Exedra chica.

Enough of my travel rant. Happy New Year!