We’ve been doing a bit of flight research for our own visit to Patagonia in January – when we’ll be meeting up with a number of our partners and visiting some of the spots we don’t know as well.
We thought it would be worth sharing a few lessons and insights, especially given that this has been such a crucial part of the trip planning for a number of our clients.
This is based on travel on/around 4th January, for a 3 week trip, so 2 1/2 months from now.
1. Book the complete journey – saving up to £400
i.e. From UK to Patagonia, normally via Santiago or Buenos Aires, unless of course you want to stop in either Santiago or Buenos Aires
If you compare the costs of the full journey to buying two separate return tickets:
To Chile/Argentina:
- Return London to Santiago / Buenos Aires: £730 to £930
- Internal from Santiago / Buenos Aires to variety of destinations within Patagonia (see below): £300 to £500
vs.
- Combined: London to Variety of destinations within Patagonia: £910 to £1030.
- So £120 to £400 cheaper.
2. Choose the best airport for your itinerary – saving lots of precious holiday time
Most of our clients seem to talk about the same 2 or 3 options for airports within Patagonia. But there are at least 11 different airports within Patagonia to choose from, and the surprising thing is that costs and travel times don’t vary all that dramatically. (See below). So you can save a lot of time and money on bus journeys and transfers by choosing your destination airport carefully.
3. Travel outside peak season and book ahead – saving up to £260
We’ve found that despite the cooler temperatures and shorter days actually the weather in March/April isn’t all that different in most parts of Patagonia.
The price of a return flight from London to Calafate drops by as much as £260 as you look further out.
beginning of January, as table above: £991
5th Feb: £851
5th Mar: £755
5th Apr: £733