Lan Airline - different prices on different websites?
 

Yesterday during a phone conversation with a hotel staff person in Chile she suggested that I check Lan's Chilean website for lower fares. The fares for my flights are indeed much lower than the US website. If I'm not a Chilean national can I buy from that site and not have a problem when I try to use the tickets?

I've always wondered that too, but I'm guessing that if I (an American) tried to buy a ticket via the Chilean site, and I checked in using a U.S. passport as identification, that they'd charge me the difference in price right there on the spot.

I have walked into a LAN office in Chile and bought domestic tickets for the Chilean prices, but I had a lot of time to play around with and could meet whatever advance-purchase requirements were necessary to get lower prices.

A few years back my friend's travel agent bought our tickets within Peru at the Peruvian price. I checked in with my US passport and had no problems.

Here's a thread on the topic from Flyertalk:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=674973

Interesting thread at Flyer Talk. I agree with the post there that observes how orderly and adhering to the rules LAN is. But that's what makes it a good airline.

Thanks for the information. I find it interesting that Jeff could purchase the Chilean fare in person if it is only for citizens. I know I would be too worried to enjoy if there was a potential for a problem so I'll get the non-resident fare.
Thanks again for your thoughts and the thread from flyertalk. I did not think to look there.

I'm not sure it's a citizen vs. non-citizen matter. I think it's where the ticket is issued. In my case, they could see at check-in that the ticket was issued at a LAN office in Chile, so it was apparently okay that I got the lower fare.

I think LAN is a top-notch airline. I bet you will like them.

It's actually a resident thing. If you were a resident of Chile, you could get the fare.

I don't know why the fares show as different on the website. Unlike Argentina, there are no resident and non-resident fares in Chile as far as I know. Why not email LAN and ask?

Will be watching - my friends are traveling to BA twice a year now and I'll probably join them soon. An interesting question.

Of course, there is only ONE non-stop NYC-BA daily, and that's on American. Unfortunately, Lan connections are not so good from here. But worth a look.

What a practical answer Huentetu! I contacted LAN and was told that there is no residency requirement in Chile so I can buy a ticket from any of the websites. They also confirmed this is not the case in Argentina which might matter to some checking this post. Lan made it seem that the prices would be the same but I would get the 3% discount on the US website. While true, in my case the Chilean website price was still dramatically lower. I had to give my US Passport number when purchasing the ticket so I would assume if I was going to have an issue it would be there.

tomassocroccante - if you fly American to South America you can get a South America pass on Lan that is a good deal. In my case it offered a large discount over the US website price.

What is the website link for Lan Chile to get the better prices?

http://www.lan.com/country_selector.html
and click on Chile

We were in Chile this past year and booked all our flights on the LAN website, and we are Canadian.

I agree I guess there is no difference. But the simplest thing would be to give them a call.

I booked March 2008 flights on American Airline's web page because both LAN and American are "One World Partners" and I am a member of American's dividend miles program. (I had checked LAN for the same flights and the fare was a couple of dollars less on LAN.) However, I still think the fare was too good to be true: $115 Total for a flight from BA to Santiago and then, a week later, a flight from Santiago to Sao Paulo. American says it's ticketed. I still may call LAN...I don't want any fare surprises later!