Before LATAM quits oneworld – an Avios flight redemption to Santiago, Chile with £44 tax

As we covered on Friday, LATAM – the South American airline – is resigning from the oneworld alliance following a major investment from SkyTeam member Delta.

This means, once LATAM leaves the alliance, it will no longer be possible to earn or redeem Avios with the airline.

With the clock now ticking, there is one excellent Avios redemption with LATAM from Europe which is worth knowing about.

Chile remains the heart of the LATAM business and is where the airline is headquartered and listed.  British Airways launched direct flights to Santiago in Chile a few years ago.  It remains the longest non-stop BA service.  Before that, the only direct flights from Europe were from Madrid on either LATAM or Iberia.

The 2nd best option is from Frankfurt.  The LATAM plane from Madrid carries on to Frankfurt after a short stop – you can even book Madrid to Frankfurt on LATAM as a stand-alone Avios redemption if you want a flat bed for that service.  Anika reviewed that flight in Business Class here – it often uses a new Boeing 787.

Why should you redeem on LATAM instead of British Airways?

Whilst it is great that you can redeem your Avios for flights to Chile on British Airways from London, economy redemptions come with the usual heavy taxes.

A British Airways World Traveller redemption requires £355 of taxes plus either 70,000 Avios (peak) or 45,500 Avios (off-peak) for a return flight. 

Booked at ba.com, Madrid to Santiago, flying on LATAM, prices out at 62,000 Avios plus £44 in economy class.  That £44 is not a typo – there are no fuel surcharges to pay on LATAM flights.

You save over £300 if you can make your way to Madrid, although the amount of Avios needed may be higher or lower than the BA alternative depending on whether you are on a BA peak or off-peak date.

Business Class is even better value but availability on LATAM between Madrid and Santiago is hard to find.  If a seat did come up, it would be 185,500 Avios plus £44, compared with 175,000 or 210,000 Avios plus £589 on BA from London.

There is also a competing daily Iberia service from Madrid to Santiago.  On a peak date, this costs 84,000 Avios + £150 return in Economy if booked via iberia.com.  On the few dates when cheaper ‘Blue Class’ economy redemptions are available, this drops to 51,000 + £150.  The LATAM option will be better value in most cases.

For reference, Business Class on Iberia between Madrid and Santiago is 150,000 Avios peak / 102,000 Avios off-peak return plus £168. (Do not book Iberia flights via ba.com as the taxes are at least double.)  Seats on this flight in Business Class are readily available, unlike the LATAM one.

Whether the LATAM flight is attractive or not depends to some extent on how cash rich you are versus how Avios rich you are.   If you can get to Madrid easily and cheaply from a local airport, however, an Economy redemption with just £44 of tax will be hard to beat.

LATAM has a one year notice period to leave oneworld so, even if notice has already been served, you still have time to sneak one of these in.

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (December 2021)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up, no annual fee and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending ….. Read our full review

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the UK’s most valuable credit card perk – the 2-4-1 companion voucher Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points, such as:

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & two airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

30,000 points and an unbeatable set of travel benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital On Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios:

Capital On Tap Business Rewards Visa

The most generous Avios Visa or Mastercard for a limited company Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus:

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

(Want to earn more Avios?  Click here to visit our home page for our latest articles on earning and spending your Avios points and click here to see how to earn more Avios this month from offers and promotions.)