Qantas is having a amazing sale to Santiago, Chile. Travel in Sep - Nov/18. Flights are direct from Melbourne and Sydney
Melbourne to Santiago Flights from $880
Brisbane to Santiago Flights from $897
Sydney to Santiago Flights from $924
Flights to Santiago, Chile Return from Melbourne $880, Brisbane $897, Sydney $924 on Qantas @ IWTF
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Fart away then. As long as you do in your own room, no one is going to stop you from farting.
Mum says it makes you blind and gives you hairy palms.
Is she lying to me
Just keep in mind that Australians entering Chile through Santiago international airport on an Australian passport will be required to pay the reciprocity fee/tax which is not insignificant. The last I heard it was USD $117 (AUD $158).
This doesn't help anyone using this OzBargain deal, but this fee is avoided if you arrive through the domestic gates of Santiago airport, or visit any other part of Chile from an overseas flight (e.g.: Easter Island or Iquique). But this deal is 'muy barato' :)
Also doesn't apply if entering through a land border from Argentina/Bolivia/Peru.
So strange that governments would want to punitively tax their own tourism industry. It literally has no other effect.
I mean, it's a reciprocity fee. Not sure why we do the same to them.
Yes, basically is a fee that is charged to countries that don’t have an agreement with Chile. Chileans have to pay to get a tourist visa to enter Australia. On the other hand, Chileans have a no-fee visa on arrival in New Zealand and vice-versa.
They also binned all liquids on my flight before entering the plane, all the waters purchased at the duty free shops as well as not letting people on that purchased duty free alcohol from there.
You'll find the exact same thing on all inward flights to Australia.
Some duty-free stores will deliver security sealed liquids for you to pick-up on the plane or at the plane door, this is what I did departing chile.
I've never been checked before though, weird.
Thanks for the heads up! However, this is still an insane price, especially because some dates from Jan-Feb 2019 are available. Prices before the sale were at least double the price, so this is well and truly 2 for 1 kinda stuff.
How baby-friendly is Santiago?
I need to plan a holiday later during the year for the missus and a 8 month old.
Any other suggestions are really appreciated.I've heard that there are babies in Santiago. But whether they are friendly is another story.
Lol…thanks for the tip altomic.
Missed the hyphen, did we?
Lol @ altomic… not sure about baby friendly but to me Santiago was quite safe.
There was a lot of nice food and touristy stuff, but was a little bland and felt like any of the major Australian cities. You may want to head out to Valparaiso (2.5 hour bus ride) or other places in Chile. Mendoza (Argentina) is a 6 hour bus ride as well over the Andes.Thanks, will do some research.
Food in Chile in general is quite poor compared to countries to the north. Chile is also generally more expensive than many European countries such as Spain. But it's an incredible country. You could definitely head to San Pedro de Atacama with a child and hire a car. Highly recommended if you want to see a high altitude desert. Patagonia is also incredible, but not sure if hiking with an 8 month old would be fun.
This is the most honest answer, considering particulates in air pollution can damage brain tissue and impair cognitive development. I was there in smog season myself (around April to October) and the hazy glow leaves a lasting impression (I don't know why but I always find haze is memorable??).
I was also exposed to tear gas because I didn't know student demonstrations were on that day. But no bird-poop-pickpocketing-scam was tried on me.
I wouldn't bother travelling all that way just for Santiago though.
Thank you.
April to October is the very worst, but the rest of the year is not much better either (as the chart on the Plume site shows).
How baby-friendly is Santiago?
Easy to buy, plenty of stock.
Do it man, it is really a progressive country with so much to see and do!
I am flying over with my wife in December for a month (Peru, Bolivia, Chile)
If any one needs any help, i just spent 6 weeks in Chile solo traveling the country. amazing experience and i would totally recommend it.
Would love to hear your highlights and tips for Chile and surrounding countries- what was your itinerary?
We bought flights MEL - Santiago on the LATAM deal for 3 weeks in April 2019.
I did Stgo for a week, Santiago is nice, but is much like any other city, most you will need is 4/5 days to see everything. I would recommend going to the Maipo valley, its about an hour outside of the city and the views are stunning. Valparaiso is super interesting to visit, I would recommend going on a tour, the city is like a maze and is very confusing with all the narrow streets.
I caught a bus after that to the lake region. I visited Pucon, a beautiful (touristy) town underneath a massive volcano, there is also a lovely lake that is a nice walk.
I did after that:Puerto Montt
- Amazing seafood, good night life
- Mt Osorno Volcano
- Chiloe island
Puerto Varas
-German town, prettyThen i caught a domestic flight to Punta Arenas. Punta arenas is very cold and has high radiation levels, you need to wear sunnies and sunscreen all the time, otherwise its a nice Naval town with nice parks and restaurants. Punta arenas is the Gateway to Patagonia, you can catch tours to Tierra del fuego, Antarctica, ect.
The buses are very easy to catch in Chile, you can just book online and just show your receipt to the clerk at the bus terminal and they will print you off a ticket.
I then traveled up north again to Patagonia, Torres del Paine is Amazing and is AN ABSOLUTE MUST when visiting Chile. I wish I could have stayed longer. I stayed with a Family in an Air Bnb and they were fantastic, the people are very friendly, most do not speak English, but if you know some basic Spanish and Chilean Slang it will go a long way.
I went to Argentina after Puerto Natales, there is no entree fee when coming into Argentina and crossing the border was painless.
Argentina is a bit more rough than Chile, less roads, no 4g/3g. I stayed in Calafate, while a nice town, I would definitely shorten my time there, after visiting the glaciers, I felt a bit bored.For me, the Lake region and Patagonia was my highlight, I'm looking forward to going back someday. I really enjoyed it.
After looking up Torres del Paine you've got me very interested and I'm starting to re-think my plan to sell my amex travel credit, and use it myself!
How much all up?
I personally spent 7,6K, flights, tours, food, accommodation.
@ilyushin
Awesome!
I am doing the W trek in Torres Del Paine and cannot wait to see it!
It looks like we will have to do a mammoth day trip up to see Perito Moreno glacier, as friends of ours said that is unmissable!
We are doing San pedro de atacama and looking at going to the Santa Cruz wine region and finishing a few days in Santiago.
Can't wait to go there!
Thanks Cassie
If anyone is unsure, this is an amazing deal on these flights, you're unlikely to see a better price!
Source- I work in travelYes 100%
I have paid around 2.5k return to fly in December…
Hi, the dates that I'm hoping to fly has now bumped up to $1356 — is this still a good price?
Amazing price, I tell friends that if they find anything below $1500 to South America to just book it. Extortionately expensive when not on sale. LATAM Dreamliner is a great product also.
Spent 3 months backpacking South America last year, cannot recommend highly enough. Truly a magical place.
For some amazing views of the Andes (and possibly Antartica depending on the flight route of the day due to weather) choose a window seat on the right hand side of the aircraft in the direction of travel. SYD-SCL that is.
Yes i chose windows seats on the right hand side!
Just a heads up that these flights are on some very very old 747s. QF is replacing all their old 747s eventually and this is one of the last remaining routes they still fly, probably because it's mostly leisure travelers.
I was delayed 24hours due to mechanical issues & admin balls ups with the plane in Santiago. Qantas take very little care of you in terms of accom and meals because they have few ground staff there.
Book with Amex platinum.
Backpacked South America for 5 months, 5 years ago and have been wanting to go back ever since. These flights make it oh so tempting.
How long will tickets stay this price before it goes up again? A little hesitant to make a spontaneous booking just like that…
Chile is nice, Brazil is better.
Flight to Santiago?
"If Earth was a ball, and Antarctica was too cold to fly over, the only logical way to fly from Sydney to Santiago would be a straight shot over the Pacific staying in the Southern hemisphere the entire way. Re-fueling could be done in New Zealand or other Southern hemisphere destinations along the way if absolutely necessary. In actual fact, however, Santiago-Sydney flights go into the Northern hemisphere making stop-overs at LAX and other North American airports before continuing back down to the Southern hemisphere. Such ridiculously wayward detours make no sense on the globe but make perfect sense and form nearly straight lines when shown on a flat Earth map.”— Eric Dubay 200 proofs Earth not a Spinning Ball
Deal has expired… What can I do? How much worse can the timing be :/ … Wanted to book it today and it's all gone!
Metoo.