Budget Air Travel within South America

I am trying to get from Mendoza, AR, or Santiago de Chile to Salvador, Brazil, within the next week. Anyone know of good airfares and logistics for doing this?

E.g., there are some great fares on Sky Airlines within Chile, so that could get me to Arica. Then I could bus to Lima or wherever I can get a cheap hop over to Salvador. It seems that many airlines have good fares within their home country but get a little pricey when going international.

Alternately, I could get a flight to B. Aires or Iguazu from Mendoza, if there are good flights from there. It´s just time consuming trying to sort out which airlines have good deals from where. They all seem to have little niche fares.

Anyone able to supply info on cheap legs or airlines, please advise.

Thanks,
jy

There are no flights from Mendoza to Iguazu. There are no budget airlines in South America.

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.

Aerolineas has prices for residents and non-residents. It also has different fares for travellers arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas and for travellers arriving in Argentina via any other international airline. There is no way to get around it as they ask for your papers when you check in. Unless you live in Argentina and have the right ID you will have to pay the non-resident price. This is why the web site says something about country of origin. So you need to be careful when you get quotes that they are for non-residents and also be clear whether the quote is in dollars or pesos.

Round-trip flights from Buenos Aires for travellers arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas Argentinas taxes included:

Iguazu ----- 354.00 US$.
Salta ------- 422.00 US$.
Ushuaia --- 374.00 US$.
Calafate --- 357.00 US$.
Mendoza -- 374.00 US$.
Bariloche -- 482.00 US$.

One-way flights:
Ushuaia-Calafate ---- 133.00 US$.
Calafate-Bariloche ---- 264.00 US$.
Buenos Aires-Rio Gallegos -- 122.00 US$.

Round-trip fares from Buenos Aires for travellers not arriving in Argentina via Aerolineas:

Salta ----- 548.00 US$.
Iguazu ----- 458.00 US$.
Mendoza --- 486.00 US$.
Bariloche -- 625.00 US$.
Calafate --- 464.00 US$.
Ushuaia --- 486.00 US$.
Trelew ----- 422.00 US$.

One-way fares:

Ushuaia-Calafate ---- 192.00 US$.
Calafate-Bariloche -- 343.00 US$.
Buenos Aires-Rio Gallegos -- 284.00 US$.

When there is not high demand Aerolineas Argentinas uses the Natalia fare for foreigners independently of which carrier they arrive in Argentina.

Round-trip Natalia fare from Buenos Aires (The one-way fare is half the amount given here):

Iguazu ---- 240.00 US$.
Calafate --- 241.00 US$.
Ushuaia -- 253.00 US$.
Mendoza -- 253.00 US$.
Bariloche -- 325.00 US$.
Gallegos -- 243.00 US$.

One-way Bariloche-Calafate --- 277.00 US$.
One-way Calafate-Ushuaia --- 158.00 US$.

Aerolineas Argentinas´phone numbers around the world:

London: 0800-0969-747
Germany: 0800-1844-747
Australia: 9234-9000
Madrid: 900-955-747
USA: 1-800-333-0276
Argentina: 0810-222-8652

LAN Argentina return fares from Buenos Aires:

Iguazu --------- 238.00 US$.
Bariloche ------ 323.00 US$
Mendoza ------ 252.00 US$.
Cordoba ------- 184.00 US$.
Rio Gallegos -- 513.00 US$.
Calafate ------ 240.00 US$.
Ushuaia ------ 252.00 US$.
Comodoro Rivadavia - 474.00 US$.

One-way Calafate-Ushuaia ----- 90.00 US$.

Jorge Daniel Barchi.
Buenos Aires.