Southwest to caribbean, then ultimately Peru

lancemahn

Level 2 Member
Wife is insistent we attend a wedding in Scottsdale 2/20. I says fine if we can tack on Peru... ;-) Specifically getting to Machu Picchu. I'd like to use the CP w/SW and the closest it looks like they fly is Costa Rica or Aruba. Then I'd redeem some flexperks from either destination forward to Cusco (maybe Easter Island). SW has a neat interactive map to see where they fly from a given city, but, they don't necessarily fly back to that city from the destination indicated. I"m not particular on which SW destination to depart to Cusco as long as it's reasonably efficient to get there from Scottsdale. Anybody played with the routing using SW in the Caribbean, or, different options getting to Cusco, Peru? Also interested in any experiences/suggestions in and around Cusco re: lodging redemptions.
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
Getting close doesn't necessarily save points or dollars. From anywhere in Mexico/Central America/Caribbean to CUZ is only 10K United miles each way, 20K in Copa/Avianca domestic F. So the most efficient routing using your CP to save miles would be something like PHX-SNA-MEX 2/23 for 9450 miles, fees are $28.57. After a 25 hour layover, you could continue on Copa business class to CUZ for 20K United miles and $93.45, and so on. Best case scenario, you are looking at 24+ hours of travel time and $120 in additional airport taxes - not worth it unless you actually want to stop over for a couple days at the WN destination.

The one way you can avoid those taxes by going via SJU. 2/22 PHX-FLL-SJU 10:10 AM-9:50 PM. 13,020 points. Spend 2 nights in SJU, and have a free day.
2/24 SJU-PTY-LIM-CUZ 6:12 AM-4:35 PM. 10K UA miles and $32.49 per person.

Return via a similar routing or with Avios, AA or United miles directly to your home airport. AA is off-peak and only 15K CUZ-U.S. but you have to search for LAN segments on BA or QF site.

Yeah, we've come full circle. The WN points don't really accomplish anything for you.
 

smittytabb

Moderator
Staff member
Wife is insistent we attend a wedding in Scottsdale 2/20. I says fine if we can tack on Peru... ;-) Specifically getting to Machu Picchu. I'd like to use the CP w/SW and the closest it looks like they fly is Costa Rica or Aruba. Then I'd redeem some flexperks from either destination forward to Cusco (maybe Easter Island). SW has a neat interactive map to see where they fly from a given city, but, they don't necessarily fly back to that city from the destination indicated. I"m not particular on which SW destination to depart to Cusco as long as it's reasonably efficient to get there from Scottsdale. Anybody played with the routing using SW in the Caribbean, or, different options getting to Cusco, Peru? Also interested in any experiences/suggestions in and around Cusco re: lodging redemptions.
If you are going to Peru, I would not use WN to get "close". You don't say which miles you might have, but the only way to get to Easter Island is on LAN through either Tahiti or Santiago de Chile. There used to be a flight from Lima, but not any more. It's not something to tack on. I finally went there after going to Chile many times. In terms of Peru, it is a great destination. I have been to Machu Picchu twice now and it and so many other parts of Peru are worth the time. Cusco is also a LAN destination. You can get there on Avios if you decide to spend time in Lima first. In terms of lodging redemptions, I have never stayed in a chain hotel in Peru, but there is a nice JW Marriott in Lima and there is a nice Starwood hotel in Cusco. I am sure there are others, but fewer in general than many other destinations.
 

lancemahn

Level 2 Member
We have a store of United miles(176K-me 150K-wife) not committed to anything right now, but, were earmarked for something to Australia later in the year, depending on the routing and layover/stopover options. Having enough for biz fare.
My thought with the flex perks was also driven by them about to expire, at the end of every quarter, 25-30K a qtr. (360K total)
Does this make sense?
We have friends family in McAllen, San Antonio as options to depart to pts south via SW, enjoy one of the SW island destinations, THEN, find a flight to Cusco with flexperks that are expiring.
I see where Easter Island is not an easy add on, thanks.
 

KennyBSAT

Moderator
Staff member
As I understand Flexperks, the sweet spot is $400 tickets, right? I plugged into ita matrix departure airports SAT, MEX, CUN, SJD, PHX, GCM, SJO, AUA, SJU, PUJ with CUZ as the destination, and there are lots of days with $432 tickets MEX-CUZ on LAN. The LAN flight leaves MEX at 3:30 PM - I'm not sure what you can find to connect to that or if you'd like a day or more in Mexico City. Southwest SAT-MEX arrives at 1:45 PM so that's probably too tight.

The best price for any airport other than MEX is $735.
 

lancemahn

Level 2 Member
You are right re: flexperks if we can come in under 400, then it's 20Kpts, 401-600 is 30K, 601-800 is 40K
We did check cancun as an option as we had read about using the Hyatt free nites (we have 4 expiring in April) at the Zilara All Inclusive. There is availability, so that might be a nice add on, only 20 minutes from the airport. However, any routing via my searches yield incredible layovers with many hours to get to Cusco from Cancun. I see what you mean by SW CP not being a great facilitator...;-) I do appreciate your insights, thanks!
 
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