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All about our South American trip to Chile and Argentina: Santiago, Mendoza and Buenos Aires
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All about our South American trip to Chile and Argentina: Santiago, Mendoza and Buenos Aires

by mccownAugust 21, 2014
This entry is part [part not set] of 13 in the series Santiago de Chile & Argentina

My sister was studying abroad in Argentina this past semester, so McCown and I planned a trip to go and visit her. We both had a decent stockpile of Delta SkyMiles and, with the impending changes to the 2015 SkyMiles program, I really wanted to burn all of the miles that we had in the event that Delta renders them all but worthless next year.

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By using Delta Skymiles, we were able to take advantage of their routing rules to have 1 free stopover and 1 free open-jaw.  It looked like this:

  1. Depart Charleston-CHS, fly to Atlanta-ATL to connect to Delta 147 from ATL to Santiago, Chile-SCL. This was the beginning of our open-jaw.
  2. After 2 nights in Santiago, we purchased bus tickets from Santiago, Chile to Mendoza, Argentina, where we explored the South American wine country for 3 nights.
  3. From Mendoza-MDZ, we took a direct fight to Buenos Aires-AEP. The flight out of Mendoza concluded our open-jaw segment.
  4. With Buenos Aires counting as our stopover, we stayed for about 5 days then began the trek home flying from Buenos Aires-EZE –> Atlanta-ATL –> Charleston-CHS.

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We booked this ticket a few months ago for appx 60,000 Delta SkyMiles + $86 in taxes. Here’s the overview of our trip and an outline of future posts:

Delta SkyMiles to Argentina:  How to book Aerolineas Argentinas Award Space

– Booking an Awesome Argentina Itinerary with Delta SkyMiles + Other SkyTeam Partners

– Award Booking with Delta SkyMiles

– Delta Flight 147 – Atlanta-ATL to Santiago-SCL – B767-300ER

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Back of the plane for us on this trip

– Getting from SCL Airport to Santiago

– W Santiago Review

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Not a bad view from the balcony of the hotel

Not a bad view from the balcony of the hotel

– Santiago, Chile Walking Tour

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...some crazed street vendor told us to man his food cart

…some street vendor told us to man his food cart so he could take our picture

– Photo Gallery: Around Santiago

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– Bus Ride Through the Andes: Santiago to Mendoza

Andesmar: Our double-decker chariot that would (hopefully) carry us over the mountains safely

Andesmar: Our double-decker chariot that would (hopefully) carry us over the mountains safely

The views were breathtaking

The views were breathtaking

Saying the roads were "windy" would be a bit of an understatement

Saying the roads were “windy” would be a bit of an understatement

– Park Hyatt Mendoza Review

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– Photo Gallery: Around Mendoza

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– Using Xoom to Change Money

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– Cycling Wine Tour

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– Ocho Cepas Steakhouse and Wine Cellar

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– Mendoza, Argentina Walking Tour

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– Aerolineas Argentinas Flight # 1413 – Mendoza-MDZ to Buenos Aires-AEP

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– Park Hyatt Buenos Aires Review

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– Buenos Aires, Argentina Walking Tour

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– Casa Felix: Closed Door Restaurants in Buenos Aires

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– Photo Gallery: Buenos Aires

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– Buenos Aires-EZE Departure Lounges: AMEX Centurion and Aerolineas Argentinas

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– Delta Flight # 110 – Buenos Aires-EZE to Atlanta-ATL

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