wrote in message
news:1185039266.467710.43030@w3g2000hsg.googlegroups.com...
Hi all,
I'm planning a 4 moth trip in latina america. After that on Feb 2008 I
would like to fly to Austalia. I'm looking for a cheap flight but so
far I found only 2:
1) On http://www.statravel.co.uk for about 850£ from Buenos Aires to
Melbourne
2) On http://www.aerolineas.com for 1,363 $
Do you know about any cheaper flight?
Or do you have any suggestion on how to reach Australia from Latin
America?
Thanks,
a.
As others have said the number of flights is very limited.
Lan Chile operate Santiago/Auckland/Sydney on Mon/Wed/Thur/Fri/Sat/Sun.
These flights also carry a Qantas flight number so its' worth looking at
both fares.
Aerolineas Argentinas operate Buenos Aires/Auckland/Sydney on Tues/Fri/Sun -
no sharing there.
Other alternatives are long winded but might be worth considering if the
price is competitive. Lan Chile operate Santiago Easter Island 4/5 times a
week with 2 of those flights continuing to Tahiti from where there are
flights on to both Sydney and Auckland operated by other airlines. The
connections in Tahiti are not good (usually) but, in my view, the ability to
stop in Easter Island is worth the hassle and the price.
Otherwise go the "other way". South African operate Sao Paulo to
Johannesburg daily and then Johannesburg to both Sydney and Perth (the
Joburg to Australia flights carry a Qantas flight number too). The often
overlooked option is a Malaysian Airlines flight that operates Buenos
Aires/Cape Town/Kuala Lumpur twice a week on Wednesday and Sunday. You
could possibly get off in Johannesburg and then pick up an SAA to Australia.
Alternatively, investigate just using Malaysian making a connection in Kuala
Lumpur. It almost certainly requires a night in KL but Malaysian operate
from there to Perth, Sydney and Brisbane so a choice of destinations.
The chances are that you will find a better price if you look at agency
websites based in South America (I'm afraid I don't know any). One trick
is to call the sales office of the airline and ask them who their
consolidator is for a given route - trouble is you'd need to contact (for
example) Lan Chile in Santiago, Buenos Aires, Lima, La Paz or Sao Paulo (to
name a few kicking off points); their London office probably doesn't have a
consolidator for the routes you want. Another thing to consider is that
each airline is usually strong in their home market (e.g. Lan in Santiago)
so you *may* get a better price if you ask Lan for a Buenos Aires/Sydney
fare in Buenos Aires than if you ask Lan in Santiago for a Santiago/Sydney
fare. People prefer a non stop flight so changing en route can bring the
cost down even to the extent of costing less from a further point. BA used
to sell flights from Continental Europe to London and then on Concorde
across to New York much more cheaply than London/New York!
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