How to Use Points & Miles to Fly to Ushuaia, Argentina

Are you dreaming of exploring Patagonia or Antarctica? If you’re headed to one or both, you’ll need to get to Ushuaia, Argentina, or Punta Arenas, Chile, at some point in your journey. Here’s how to use points & miles to fly to Ushuaia, Argentina. (I’ll cover Punta Arenas, Chile, in a separate article.)

Ushuaia, Argentina, is the launching point for most Antarctic cruises and Tierra del Fuego National Park. It is remote and has limited flight options. I found plenty of options to fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina, using our airline miles and points, but availability to Ushuaia, Argentina, was far more limited. You’ll probably need to pay cash for your final flight to Ushuaia, though it is possible to redeem your transferrable credit card points through Flying Blue. I’ll review all your options and what I did for our November 2022 trip to Antarctica and Patagonia.

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Argentina

What Flight Routes Are Available to Ushuaia, Argentina?

Daily nonstop flights to Ushuaia are only available from two other cities in the world: Buenos Aires, Argentina, and El Calafate, Argentina. Nonstop flights from Cordoba, Argentina, are available three times per week, and there may be seasonal service to other locations in Argentina.

Which Airlines Fly to Ushuaia? (Who Flies to Ushuaia?)

Aerolineas Argentinas and JetSmart are the two airlines that fly to Ushuaia from Buenos Aires. They may use either of Buenos Aires’ two airports: Ezezia International Airport (EZE) or Jorge Newbery Airfield Aeroparque (AEP).

Aerolineas Argentinas is the sole operator of all other direct routes between Ushuaia and El Calafate, Cordoba, and any other less frequently served Argentine cities.

How to Use Points and Miles to Fly to Buenos Aires, Argentina

Using points and miles to fly from the United States to Buenos Aires, Argentina, has been well-documented by our friends at Upgraded Points and The Points Guy. Miles options exist with all three major alliances, including OneWorld (American Airlines), SkyTeam (Delta, Air France, KLM), and Star Alliance (United, Aeroplan, ANA, Asiana).

Round-trip economy flight redemptions start at around 50,000 points and business flights start at 70,000-90,000 points, depending on which airline you book with and peak/off-peak dates.

How to Use Points and Miles to Fly to Ushuaia, Argentina

Can You Redeem Airline Miles with SkyTeam Member Airlines to Fly to Ushuaia?

Since Aerolineas Argentinas is a SkyTeam member, I checked whether rewards flights could be booked via fellow SkyTeam members Delta Airlines and Flying Blue (Air France and KLM), both of which are transfer partners with several major credit card companies. Delta returned no results, but Flying Blue did.

Flying Blue offers one-way flights for as low as 18,000 miles (or round-trip for 36,000 miles). In my search, I looked for flights about two weeks out during the off-season (specifically, April 2023). When searching for the upcoming month of November – the start of the Antarctic season – no flights were available. The latest available flights I was able to find were in August 2023.

When I was booking our trip to Antarctica in November 2022, I was unable to find any open flight availability from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia while shopping during September and October 2022. If you’re looking to book an awards flight to Ushuaia, I recommend starting to shop about four months in advance of your trip, checking back often, and being prepared to pay cash.

Earning and Redeeming Flying Blue Miles to Fly to Ushuaia

Flying Blue miles can be earned by flying with Air France or KLM. Alternatively, you can transfer credit card points from all major credit card programs, including Chase Ultimate Rewards, American Express Membership Rewards, Capital One Rewards, and Citi ThankYou Points. The number of transfer partners makes Flying Blue redemptions very possible for just about anyone. It’s free to create a Flying Blue account and link it to your credit card using your credit card’s online account or app.

Redeeming Airline Miles with Aerolineas Argentinas

The only other way to book flights to Ushuaia using airline program miles is by redeeming points earned and held with Aerolineas Argentinas’ Aerolineas Plus reward program.

One-way flights from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia cost 7,000 miles one-way per person during the off-season or 13,000-14,000 miles one-way per person during the high season. Rates may be higher on days with heavier demand. For a trip to Patagonia or Antarctica during the spring and summer, plan to spend 26,000-28,000 miles round-trip from Buenos Aires per person.

The Aerolineas Argentinas website has limited flight search options from cities in the USA to Ushuaia. I was able to find daily routings from Miami, FL, USA to Ushuaia, Argentina for 35,000 miles one-way per person or 70,000 miles round trip. Routings from New York had very sparse availability for the same price. Searches for flights from Los Angeles and Houston returned no results.

Unfortunately, the only way to earn Aerolineas Argentinas miles is by flying their airline. Aerolineas Argentinas does not have any credit card transfer partners. Even though it is less expensive than booking through Flying Blue, redemptions through Aerolineas Argentinas are going to be out of reach for most North American and European customers.

Redeeming Fixed Value Points

Most Americans and Europeans probably do not have a stash of obscure Aerolineas Argentinas miles and may have trouble finding available award space, so your remaining option is to redeem fixed-value credit card points for your flights to Ushuaia after positioning yourself in Buenos Aires.

Most major travel cards allow you to use their rewards points for a fixed-value redemption. The specifics vary by card and rewards program. Here are a few examples:

Capital One Rewards

The Capital One Venture X Card allows you to “erase” travel purchases made on your card at a rate of 1 cent per point. Within 90 days of your purchase, head to the “Rewards and Benefits” section of your Capital One app or online account and select “Cover Travel Purchases.”

Alternatively, you can book your flight through the Capital One Travel portal and use your points immediately at the point of purchase for the same rate of 1 cent per point.

If you haven’t already used it for the year, booking travel through the portal also allows you to use the annual $300 travel credit that comes with the Venture X card. In this case, you’ll want to pay cash through the portal. A credit will be applied to your card account within a few days.

I only recommend using the Capital One Travel Portal if you’re redeeming your annual travel credit or if their price is significantly lower than if booking direct with the airline. Otherwise, you’ll be better protected by booking with the airline itself.

Chase Ultimate Rewards

Chase allows Chase Sapphire Preferred cardholders to redeem their points at 1.25 cents per point and Chase Sapphire Reserve cardholders to redeem their points at 1.5 cents per point when booking travel through the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal. Simply find your flight through the portal and redeem points instead of using cash at the point of checkout.

Booking through Chase’s travel portal is the only way to get this fixed value for your points.

American Express Membership Rewards

American Express allows you to use your points to pay for flights at amextravel.com, a method very similar to Chase’s. You can redeem your Membership Rewards points at a rate of 1 cent per point.

What I Recommend

Truthfully, I recommend paying cash out of pocket for your Ushuaia flights. Booked in advance, a round-trip cash flight is about $250 per person in the high season (or $121 per person for a one-way ticket). You can credit your Aerolineas Argentinas flights to a number of frequent flyer programs, including Delta SkyMiles.

I redeemed Chase Ultimate Rewards points during our round-the-world trip and regretted not having those points for longer flights later in our itinerary.

If you’re able to find the elusive Ushuaia flight inventory through Flying Blue, it may or may not be worth redeeming your transferrable credit card points. If cash fares are indeed around $250, you’ll only save 1.4 cents per point, which is low. I value my transferrable credit card points at 1.8-2.0 cents per point, indicating that they are better saved for a higher-value redemption.

Can you fly between Ushuaia, Argentina, and Punta Arenas, Chile?

Short answer: no.

While you can visit Antarctica, Chilean Patagonia, and Argentine Patagonia on the same trip, you cannot fly directly between Punta Arenas and Ushuaia. Flights between the two cities ended during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and have not been restored as of 2023.

Bus-Sur operates a Ushuaia-Punta Arenas bus with connections to Puerto Natales. We took this bus ride during our 2022 trip and although it was long, we found it to be quite comfortable with gorgeous scenery. The bus is well-outfitted with USB charging and reclining seats. Bus service is also available from Puerto Natales, Chile, to El Calafate, Argentina.

Alternatively, you can fly from Ushuaia to El Calafate, Argentina on Aerolineas Argentinas (1 hr 20 min flight, $72-$200+ one-way depending on dates), visit the El Perito Moreno glacier, and then take a 5.5-hour bus to Puerto Natales, Chile, to visit Torres del Paine National Park. Multiple bus options connect Puerto Natales and Punta Arenas, Chile (approx. 3 hours). This option reduces your bus time but costs a bit more.

You can redeem miles for the Ushuaia-El Calafate flight through Aerolineas Argentinas (12,000 miles one-way) or Flying Blue (34,500 miles one-way if available), but again, I think this redemption is a poor use of points.

Planning a trip to Patagonia and Antarctica?

Chilean Patagonia, Argentine Patagonia, and Antarctica was our favorite part of our round-the-world trip. The region belongs on everyone’s bucket list!

Check out our other articles about Patagonia and Antarctica for more inspiration:

April 10, 2023

Perry Skorcz

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Antarctica, Argentina