Which airlines are gouging now, and which is offering the lowest fares from many U.S. cities?
You know that guy?
The guy who can beat you, no matter what you spent. “You bought a 3D-printed carbon fiber bike for 6 grand!?,” he asks. “Man, you got ripped off! I got mine for twelve hundred!”
Doncha hate that?
Well, believe it or not, that’s the kind of price difference we’re seeing on flights to South America right now. Imagine paying four or five times the airfare that the person next to you paid to get to Iguazu Falls on the Argentina-Brazil border, the beaches in Rio, in culture in Buenos Aires, or the Andes in Chile? You’d be kind of cranky, right? Especially if it’s that guy telling you about it.
The Highs and Lows of Heading South
As our research shows, you can fly to South America as cheaply as $1,232 or as expensively as $8,000+, and both options are for roughly the same flight time.
If you’re thinking about a big trip in 2021, you’re certainly not alone. We’ll show you how you can go long and far for just $20 per flight hour more in Business Class than economy on major US carriers.
And this is NOT a story about a deal on Copa Airlines or Aeromexico. That’s what you typically find on the Internet when you Google “cheap deals to South America.” That’s where you have to fly through Bogotá or Panama on a so-called “Business Class” seat. This report is about comfy lie-flat seats on your favorite elite status airline, at rates you won’t find anywhere near this low anytime soon.
South American Takeaways: What We Found
- It’s amazing how much fares vary from the U.S. to South America. Business Class fares for 26 hours of flying on the major airlines range from $1,232 to $8,000+.
- Those $1,232 fares shrink to ~$900 effectively when you factor in the miles you earn.
- The lowest fares for departure to Rio de Janeiro are under $2,000 on LATAM from Miami, United from Salt Lake City, American from New York, and Delta from New York, while fares on United from New York are over $5,000.
- The lowest fares for departure to Sao Paulo are from Raleigh on LATAM for under $2,000, and in the $2,000-$2,500 range on Delta from Boston, Pittsburgh, Seattle, Raleigh, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, Miami, and New York, on United from Seattle, Detroit, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, and Atlanta, on American from Pittsburgh, Los Angeles, Raleigh, and Minneapolis, and on LATAM from Atlanta.
- The lowest fares for departure to Buenos Aires are under $2,000 from Miami on LATAM and in the $2,000-$2,500 range on Delta, United, and American from Miami.
- The lowest fares for departure to Santiago are in the $2,700-$2,800 range on Delta from Boston, Pittsburgh, Raleigh, Los Angeles, New York, Orlando, and Atlanta, on United from Pittsburg, Seattle, Raleigh, Minneapolis, Detroit, and New York.
- If you are looking for low fares, forget about departing from these nine cities for less than $3,700: Charlotte, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Houston, Phoenix, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, DC, with very few exceptions. Here are those exceptions: Delta is offering flights from Philadelphia to Rio de Janeiro from April to June and August for $2,200. Delta is also offering flights from Washington, DC, to Rio de Janeiro for $2,390 for travel March through June and August. And United is also offering flights from Washington, DC, to Rio de Janeiro for $2,390 for travel in March, April, and June.
- Overall lowest fares are offered by Delta followed by American, United, and LATAM, which doesn’t have as many routes.
Keep in Mind: By the time you read this, some fares will have changed. That said, we’ve found the trend to be fairly consistent over the last 30 days.
Low Price, Low Risk
Remember that there’s no problem if you change your minds airlines are lockdown friendly, with relaxed change and cancelation policies.
Survey of New York Deal Landscape
Remember that there’s no problem if you change your minds airlines are lockdown friendly, with relaxed change and cancelation policies.
[table_opt id="6156" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thleft" heading="thleft" rows="tdleft" responsive="no" /]
Survey of Miami Deal Landscape
[table_opt id="6155" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thleft" heading="thleft" rows="tdleft" responsive="no" /]
Survey of Chicago Deal Landscape
[table_opt id="6154" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thleft" heading="thleft" rows="tdleft" responsive="no" /]
Survey of Atlanta Deal Landscape
[table_opt id="6153" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thleft" heading="thleft" rows="tdleft" responsive="no" /]
Survey of Los Angeles Deal Landscape
[table_opt id="6150" style="gray-header" header_rows="1" width="default" alignment="thleft" heading="thleft" rows="tdleft" responsive="no" /]