RJames

I am just starting to plan a possible trip to South America. I intend to use FF miles for my interenational flights, I have checked availability and there are flights to/from South American but the flights give me exactly 33 days in South America. I have open jaw flights on hold flying into Santiago and leaving from Buenos Aires. I had orginailly wanted to spend about 25 days in South America. Unfortunately, I will not have my itinerary worked out to a T before the hold for my free tickets will expire. I am a solo female traveller and I do not speak English. I was thinking of travelling independently and not joining a tour, I plan on visit the region in fall (their spring) . My rough itinerary is:- Santiago - Easter Island - Santiago - Buenos Aires - Igaszu Falls (both Argentinian and Brazilian sides and a possible day trip to Paraguay) - Buenos Aires - Montevideo - Buenos Aires. I have been to Rio in Brazil and had thought of going back, but there are no FF tickets available, will not a essential part of my itieneary I thought that Buenos Aires - Igaszu - Rio - home would cut down on my overall flying time. Is a month too long for this itinerary? I am not interested in the lake crossing and planned on flying between Santiago and Buenos Aires. Off course, if this doesn't work out, I can always buy an airline ticket. - I have not ruled out that option. I would like to use FF miles if possible and I need to commit to the flights I have on hold by next week. Any advice will be appreciated. Thank you.

Huentetu

Note that if you carry a US passport you will pay a reciprocity fee if flying into either SCL (Santiago, Chile) or EZE (Ezeiza) and AEP (Aeroparque,) Jorge Newbury) on international flights. So you might want to fly into Santiago but fly to another airport in Argentina to avoid two reciprocity fees. There are flights to other destinations in Argentina where you do not pay the fee. On a related subject, US passport holders need a visa obtained in advance for Brazil, so you may want to stick to the Argentine side of the falls. You also, I believe, need a visa for Paraguay but I do not know the details.

Now that is out of the way! Santiago 2 days, Valparaiso 1-2 days, Easter Island 3 full days minimum. Even if you are not interested in the lake crossing, you may be interested in the lake district in either/or Chile and Argentina. Or did you mean the bus over the Andes to Mendoza?

Other than those suggested days, it is really up to you how long you wish to spend in each place and that very much depends on your interests and budget.

Amy

I had two weeks in Chile (including Easter Island) and would have loved to have had a month just there. The Atacama region is very special in my estimation. Here's my trip report just to give you a bit of an idea; I traveled independently and solo with very, very little knowledge of Spanish: http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...rip-report.cfm

yestravel

Have not been to Uruguay, but a month in Chile and ARG is definitely not too long. We spent 9 weeks last winter in Arg & Chile. U can read my TR here
http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-chile-arg.cfm
Onn other trips to ARG I have visited IF and the falls are fabulous. The NW Arg is also another beautiful location. U can fly from IF to Salta direct without going thru BA.

I would grab a FF fix as u described into Santiago and out of BA. But heed the advice above by Huentetu about the reciprocity & visa fees. U could consider a land crossing by bus into ARG. from Chile. Buses are quite nice. And u may not want to skip seeing the Brazilian side of the Falls to avoid the visa fee. Not sure what internal flights to Monetvideo are available , but perhaps u could go fly from Santiago to Montevideo & take a ferry to BA. The Buquebus runs a daily ferry service between Buenos Aires and Montevideo. The trip takes 2.5 to 3 hours.

RJames

Thanks for the helpful replies. I have read both trip reports, found both to be informative and well written.

I am not American, I am Canadian, I do know I need to apply for a visa in advance for Brazil, in Chile unless I fly to the country there is no reciprocity fee and I didn't know the Argentinian reciprocity fee could be avoided if I flew into an airport other than the two in Buenos Aires or entered the country by land.

The more I think about the trip, I know I'd like to visit both sides of the falls and I would like ot go back to Rio (had been there many years ago), so maybe the FF tickets I have on hold won't work well. Still have a few days before I need to commit to the tickets, so still trying to gather information and fine tune my rough itinerary. I have no interest in the lake crossing, or travelling by bus to Mendoza (not interested in winerys). Still working on my itinerary at present.

crellston

"Is a month too long for Chile, Argentina and Uruguay?" Definitely not! We spent 5 monthsin thosecountries plus Peru and still didn't see it all.

I can't comment on Easter island as we didn't make it there but met others who had who were somewhat divided in their opinions.

Like Yestravel I loved NW Argentina and would recommed spending at least 5 days there. You are correct re Iguazu - it is best viewed from both countries (but I am English and don't have to pay the exhorbitant visa fees charged to some!)

We got buses down from Iguazu via Salto (Uruguay) to Montivdeo and from there to Colonia and on the ferry to BA.maybe that would avoid the reciprocity fee? It is however a long journey but can be done in comfort overnight. Monte & Colonia are very nice but Uruguay did not inspire as much as parts of Argentina and Chile.

We crossed from Chile to Argentina from Pucon to San Martin de Los Andes and loved both of these places. I was not terrbly taken with Mendoza.

For more detail and some photos have alook at our blog:

http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blo...ai/1/tpod.html

Chile starts at #65.

www.saexplorers.org is worth joining for the discounts, info and clubhouses around the continent.

It is easy enough to DIY without the need for an expensive tour - just needs a bit of planning. The buses services are an excellent way of travelling and can save accomodation costs if travelling overnight on the loger journeys.