Cheapest Route To South America

[girlx]

would love to go to south america and am wondering what is the best way from here- via london? via australia? via US? so far the ticket prices i have found were astronomical... any suggestions?

[Florin]

Malaysian Airlines goes from KL to Buenos Aires (with a refueling stop in S. Africa, I think), I reckon it's the most direct route...also, Aeroflot Russian Airlines is one of the cheapest airlines out there, going via Moscow. All of them would be quite pricy, though...what I'd do is collect frequent flyer miles and use them from Europe, paying just to get there...this way, 60-70.000 miles would cover a very expensive Europe to S. America trip and you'd pay just 25-30000 for the roundtrip BKK-Europe.

[nonthaburial]

When based in HK and having to visit Brazil there were a number of options via LA or Via Narita but the VARIG started to fly to HK from Rio so that was the obvious choice. But as for prices - sorry cannot help you

[spacebass]

Looking through the paper today I noticed the 55,000bht (excl taxes) fare to Rio, with stopover in Europe but was only for 30 days stay, something I had not thought of before. So when considering 'cheap' don't forget how long you want to stay.

[lambous]

I believe the cheapest way would be to buy a BKK - LA return ticket then once in LA you can buy a ticket to South America. You can get a 6 month ticket via Taipei to LA with EVA or China airways for around 30,000 Baht including tax. Costs around the same with Philippine Air through Manila. Once in LA you would be able to buy a ticket to south america from much cheaper than in europe. It's so much closer too. Maybe a member based in America could help you with finding the cheapest option for the LA - South America leg.

[khall64au]

I want to go too Girlx but the prices are through the roof from BKK. Will be interesting to see what comes out of this thread. So far, the cheapest I found was US$1600 to central America.

[terdsak_12]

It's a bloody long flight!!!!

[Carmine6]

I believe the cheapest way would be to buy a BKK - LA return ticket then once in LA you can buy a ticket to South America. You can get a 6 month ticket via Taipei to LA with EVA or China airways for around 30,000 Baht including tax. Costs around the same with Philippine Air through Manila. Once in LA you would be able to buy a ticket to south america from much cheaper than in europe. It's so much closer too. Maybe a member based in America could help you with finding the cheapest option for the LA - South America leg.

Once in a while, flights from LA to Central or South America will be on sale for about US$300. But I don't know that there's any pattern to time of year or anything like that. Some travel site or airline will just send an e-mail. There were some deals in early December for example, and 2 years ago there were some in February, but not yet this February.

Figure $500 to Central America and $700 to South America. Prices vary greatly by country and city and I believe it's possible to do better if you look hard and time it right.

But, terdsak_12 is right, factor in the time too. A fairly direct flight from Asia to South America may be expensive and long, but flying from LA is a long flight in itself. LA direct to Costa Rica (Central America) is close to 6 hours. Places in South America are more like 12 hour flights on the short end. Almost all the flights connect at least once out of LA and the cheaper ones are even more likely to have multiple connections.

[spacebass]

Yep, I remember when I flew from Madrid to Rio, and the Captain announced 'We have just crossed into the South American landmass', Oh great! nearly there one thinks, then he says ' we will be landing in approximately six hours!!'

Big journey, big money.

Edited January 11, 2006 by spacebass

[kayo]

The barman from Guatemala.

[khall64au]

The barman from Guatemala.

Yeah yeah Kayo, I'll be in for a drink when I work out how to GET THERE!

[Boon Mee]

I want to go too Girlx but the prices are through the roof from BKK. Will be interesting to see what comes out of this thread. So far, the cheapest I found was US$1600 to central America.

They don't get any less expensive than that figure.

Quickest (not cheapest) is BKK - Cape Town - Sao Paulo on TG

Still around 24 hours...give or take.

[dannishgung]

I am going to make a booking to Brasil for Feb. Bangkok-Tokyo-Sao Paulo and back to BKK on Japan Airline. My agent said Japan Airline has promotion again this season into Sao Paulo or Rio. Roundtrip around 50000 bahts depends on the date.

[Boon Mee]

I am going to make a booking to Brasil for Feb. Bangkok-Tokyo-Sao Paulo and back to BKK on Japan Airline. My agent said Japan Airline has promotion again this season into Sao Paulo or Rio. Roundtrip around 50000 bahts depends on the date.

That's an excellent fare - I'd jump on it.

[khall64au]

I am going to make a booking to Brasil for Feb. Bangkok-Tokyo-Sao Paulo and back to BKK on Japan Airline. My agent said Japan Airline has promotion again this season into Sao Paulo or Rio. Roundtrip around 50000 bahts depends on the date.

That's an excellent fare - I'd jump on it.

Only Feb?..... any other time of year? Who is your travel agent?