Been shopping around for good fares on OW flight from YYZ to NYC for September. I came across LAN Airlines ( is this Chile's flag carrier?) with what looks like a good fare at $ 79 + 64 tax - ouch on the tax! Will appreciate your feedback if any of you have flown this airline. My concern is since the trip is still far out, in September, will this airline be around when the time comes? Are the planes not too old or another airlines' retired fleet? On another thought, not sure if I should wait closer to the date and buy the 3 OW tickets at that time. We are flying 9/8 so this is post labor day weekend.

Thanks in advance for your feedback.

Lan's a first-rate airline. Yes, it's Chile's flag carrier, but there are Lan operations based in Peru, Ecuador and Argentina as well - big corporate entity. Rock solid; modern fleet and comfortable cabins, good service. Heck of a deal.

Thanks for your feedback Gardyloo.

LAN IS AN A++ AIRLINE. WE HAVE BEEN IN CHILE AND ARGENTINA 2 YEARS AGO AND HAD A VERY PLEASANT EXPERIENCE. ALL OUR FLIGHTS (INTERNATIONAL FROM MIAMI AND DOMESTICS,THRU ARGENTINA) WERE ON TIME. EXCELLENT SERVICE...

I've only flown Lan within ARgentina and Peru and every flight was excellent. Nice planes and nice little snacks too.

I hope I´m not late with my reply, but please check who the actual carrier is because LAN, which is an excellent airline, member of the One World Alliance, does not fly with its own planes in the US or Canada. I am sure the flight you are interested in is flown by American. Lan is a much better airline than American and in my opinion, it is the airline of choice when flying to South America. Regards.

<i>I hope I´m not late with my reply, but please check who the actual carrier is because LAN, which is an excellent airline, member of the One World Alliance, does not fly with its own planes in the US or Canada. I am sure the flight you are interested in is flown by American.</i>

No, Lan uses its own equipment on YYZ-JFK; the flight continues on to South America from JFK.

This is a so-called "fifth freedom" flight, wherein foreign operators can serve US-Canada traffic provided the flight continues on to (or from) a third country as its ultimate origin/destination. Similar service is provided by Cathay Pacific between JFK and Vancouver en route to/from Hong Kong, and on Philippine Airlines between Las Vegas/Vancouver/Manila.

USA Today's Ben Mutzabaugh wrote a pretty detailed account of his trip from Toronto - JFK on LAN:

http://www.usatoday.com/travel/fligh...&ak=12298.blog