South America Round-Trip Airfares, From $298

The Real Deal Round-trip nonstop airfare to Lima, Peru, and other South American destinations, and fuel surcharges, from $298 per person—plus about $75 in taxes.

When Through June 15, 2009.

Plaza de Mayo, Buenos Aires (Javier Pierini/Getty) [enlarge photo]

Gateways Miami; add $40 from New York City; $201 from L.A.; additional gateways available.

The Fine Print Does not include taxes of about $75 per person; fuel surcharges are included. Minimum stay is two days; maximum is 90 days. Flight changes after booking will cost $100. Add stopovers to an itinerary from $75 per person. Read these guidelines before you book any Real Deal.

Book By Feb. 28, 2009.

Contact LAN Airlines, 866/435-9526, lan.com.

Why It's a Deal When you book airfare through LAN directly, you automatically get a 3 percent discount off the entire booking. LAN's sale fares will show up on other booking sites such as Kayak or Expedia—depending on the agreement between LAN and the particular booking site, the fare might be 2 percent to 3 percent higher or lower than the sale fare that LAN displays. So the airline (naturally) suggests you book through its site to ensure you get the full 3 percent off; you'd do best to price out the itinerary on multiple sites to see where the best deal lies for your particular dates and itinerary. For instance, in a recent Kayak search, we found a round-trip flight between Miami and Lima—with a layover—for $381 (LAN/LAN Ecuador), about $8 more than the nonstop sale fare (including taxes) available directly through LAN. LAN, which is based in Santiago, Chile, appears to have cornered the regional market; on other major airlines, tickets to Lima were going for as much as $1,360 (Delta). LAN's sale fares are even more favorable when compared with fares found on Kayak for destinations other than Lima. We priced out round-trip flights from L.A. to Santiago and found the lowest to be $836 (Taca). LAN is quoting a sale rate of $776 with all taxes—a savings of $60.

Details From Miami, here are some other sample fares: $336 to Quito, Ecuador; $562 to Buenos Aires, Argentina; and $599 to Santiago, Chile. All prices are before taxes.

Plus: Kids Fly Free As part of the sale promotion, kids 12 and under fly free and only pay taxes between Miami and Lima; they will be charged $70 plus taxes for the flights to from Miami to Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina. To qualify, each child must be accompanied by an adult paying the promotional fare.

Before You Go U.S. citizens will need a valid passport for travel; a visa is not required.

More on South America:

• Trip Coach: Adventure Travel in Peru

• Buenos Aires Hotels at a Price That's Right

• Mendoza: The Toast of Argentina

• What $100 Buys in... Quito, Ecuador