Fixing a Mess of My Own Making (LATAM Schedule Change)

Just a few weeks from now, my family is supposed to leave for what (hopefully) will be an adventure of a lifetime. We are planning to visit Peru and Easter island on the same trip. The problem? I only had a total of 11 days for both places and that included an overnight in Miami and two overnight layovers in Santiago. If that plan sounds overly optimistic to you, that’s because it was.

But foolishly I figured things would somehow work out. Sure, the schedule was very tight, but my husband only had so many days off left for the year and we used most of them. We were set to land in Lima in the evening, spend the night  at Wyndham Del Sol Lima Airport (connected to terminal) and fly the next morning to Cusco. Then the following day we would tour Machu Picchu and leave Peru shortly after, and on to Easter Island via Santiago.

There was one problem, however. Our morning flight to Cusco got pushed into late evening. Turns out, they are opening a new terminal in Lima airport and all domestic flights had to be rescheduled. I’ve also read that due to windy conditions near Cusco airport, many afternoon flights end up being canceled. And of course, that would mean missing out on Machu Picchu. Our train tickets and timed entry to the site are already booked and can not be rescheduled for the following day.

It would be a major bummer if we spent all of these miles and money and didn’t get to see Machu Picchu. Of course, something may still come up, but at least here I had a chance to fix it by changing our flights. I talked to my husband and he agreed to take his very last day off so we could have a buffer.

Last year I wrote a post on rebooking our flight from Miami to Lima via Qatar program. In it I’ve mentioned that award change fees are $25 per person, which isn’t too bad. Of course, there would need to be last-minute award availability to begin with. I’ve discovered that I had two options if I wanted to book tickets for the day earlier:

1) Transferring 103k Chase Ultimate Rewards and booking business-class on LATAM

We would still fly during the day, which is my preference, and then overnight in Lima. Basically, the same exact flight, just a day earlier and in business class. Paying close to 39k Avios per person is actually not a bad deal,  and  award availability  appears  to be much better compared to Alaska program. It’s an even better option when there a transfer bonus, like the one Citi Thank You program offers at the moment.

What’s not to love, right? Well, my Chase UR stash is my “precious” and I only have 120k points at the moment. I’m almost out of Amex Membership Rewards  and Capital One points, so Chase is basically it.

2) Taking an overnight flight in LATAM economy for 13k Avios per person (no extra points required)

The flight is set to leave at 1:20 AM, which is awful. We would also have a 10-hour layover in Lima after landing at 6 AM, since that’s the only flight to Cusco I could get by rebooking our Alaska Air award. On the bright side, I would only be on the hook for Qatar award change fees. We would also potentially gain an extra day in Peru compared to the first option. As far as what we would do during the 10 hours in Lima airport, well, that’s a problem!

There is no way I could convince my husband to go into Lima to do some sightseeing, not after flying on a red-eye. We could hang out in a domestic lounge and even take a shower, but they have a 4-hour maximum stay. I could also book two rooms at Wyndham Del Sol Lima Airport for the night before and use it to nap, plus take advantage of free breakfast and spa area. But we are talking 30k Wyndham points, not a trivial amount.

What I ended up doing

I talked to my husband and he said that he won’t complain if we end up flying economy during the night. Narrator’s voice: he did end up complaining, but Leana should have known that.

Anyway, we are flying in economy and saving my “precious.” I simply can’t get past the fact that I would at a minimum have to give up a little over $1k in cash and $1,250 I could potentially use towards a cruise. Not to mention all the other uses via transfers to partners. That’s a huge opportunity cost, and my husband agreed. Btw, last call on 100k offer on Chase Sapphire Preferred, see details here.

And honestly, I would probably feel the same way about Amex MR points, though it would be an easier sell. I really hope that someday I can just drop that many points to be more comfortable for a few hours and have a better schedule. But that day is not today. This isn’t a “points” problem, it’s a “net worth” problem. Not that I’m complaining. I’m going to frigging Peru, y’all! Hopefully.

As to our layover options, I was originally thinking we would tough it out in the terminal. And then it occurred to me that I’m being a serious jerk. My husband already agreed to this horrible flight schedule, the least I could do was make things relatively comfortable for him and kids. So, I booked two rooms for one night and reached out to the hotel manager to make sure they would let us check in early in the morning. She told me it wouldn’t be a problem and that we could take advantage of breakfast and spa area. I only paid $138 total for 30k Wyndham points via renewal fees on our Wyndham credit cards, so we are not talking about a huge sum of money. Sure, I could put them to good use elsewhere, but these points can make a real difference to us now and potentially prevent  a huge fight. I think that’s a no-brainer, especially since it’s a sunk cost.

Of course, if I can find award availability on an earlier flight to Cusco, I will probably rebook. Alaska program doesn’t charge any change fees, so it’s an option. But if we are stuck with an afternoon flight, so be it. I will enjoy the heck out of that spa.

Rebooking via Qatar program is a pain in the behind and I hope to never do that again. It took several phone calls because they were not sure how to do it and had to ask supervisor who wasn’t in the office at the time. I recommend using Chat option via Qatar app, which is what I should have done to begin with. I had to get some information after rebooking and the agent seemed very competent.

Also, for whatever reason, they charged me $158 total instead of $100. I pushed back, but it was of no use. I could have tried canceling and then rebooking on my own, but I’ve read reports that sometimes Qatar doesn’t re-deposit miles for several days or even weeks. We simply can’t afford to wait that long. so I opted for rebooking over the phone. I did get an updated confirmation that contained our LATAM booking code and checked to make sure the tickets were actually issued. They were.

Final thoughts 

Obviously, I wish I booked an afternoon flight in economy the day earlier to begin with. But at the time I was concerned it would mean sacrificing other trips this year. And for a good reason, as my husband  is completely out of vacation days right now. We can’t add another thing in 2025, not that I would even consider it. I do have some getaways booked that are completely refundable and may end up canceling if it becomes necessary.

I have to remind myself that some waste is inevitable when dealing with miles and points. It’s a cost of doing business, so to speak. Things will go wrong, and mistakes will be made. I can only do so much to prepare for potential issues, and even that may not be enough. Will I regret not splurging on business class? Quite possibly, but that’s a chance I’m willing to take.

I certainly don’t regret rearranging the trip, so we could have a buffer in case things go wrong. And having two extra days to explore Peru is a cherry on top. The lodge I booked in the Sacred Valley costs only $120 per night, so an extra $240 is a drop in a bucket compared to the money I’ve spent on this trip so far.