Airlines in Chile are:

Lan airlines: with several daily northbound as well as southbound. They also fly two or three times weekly to Easter Island. Lan Chile is a frequent-flyer partner of American Airlines.

Sky Airlines: with several flight to north and south.

Aerolíneas del Sur: with several itineraries to the south of Chile only.

DAP: Airlines that serves the southern Chilean Patagonia (Punta Arenas and Tierra del Fuego), including Antarctica and Ushuaia in Argentina.-

Minor regional airlines include Lassa, which flies to the Juan Fernandez Archipelago; and several air taxi companies that connect isolated settlements in the Aisen region, south of Puerto Montt.

AIRLINE FREQUENCIES TO CHILE

From the USA, the principal gateways to South America are Miami, New York and Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas. American Airlines Airlines, LAN and United Airlines all fly daily from Miami direct. Lan Peru flies from Miami via Lima. LAN also has daily flights from New York and Los Angeles (via Mexico City and Lima) with onward connections to Boston, Chicago, Dallas, San Francisco and Washington. Delta flies from Dallas to Santiago three times a week. From Canada, LAN offers connections from Vancouver to Los Angeles and thence to Santiago, or from Toronto to New York and on to Santiago. Also from Canada, Air Canada flies weekly to Chile.

OTHER MEANS OF TRANSPORTATION

TRAVELING BY BUS

Bus is by far the most popular form of long-distance transport in Chile, with several companies competing with each other for domestic as well as marathon transcontinental routes to cities as far away as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

There are dozens of companies with domestic services, but among the best known are Tur Bus (tel: (2) 270 7500; website: www.turbus.cl), Pullman Bus (tel: (2) 779 4134; website: www.pullman.cl), Buses Evans (tel: (2) 778 7361) and Expreso Norte (tel: (2) 778 7570). There are four main bus terminals in Santiago, all on or around Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins (Alameda), with several companies competing out of each one. Perhaps the most useful is Alameda, Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins (Alameda) 3750 (tel: (2) 270 7500), near Metro Los Héroes, where Tur Bus, Pullman Bus and a few smaller companies share a modern terminal serving many internal and international destinations. San Borja, Calle San Borja 184 (tel: (2) 776 0645), near Metro Estacion Central, is for some international and northern destinations, as well as the coast and mountains near Santiago. Santiago, Avenida Bernardo O’Higgins (Alameda) 3848 (tel: (2) 376 1750/1755), near Metro Universidad de Santiago, serves international destinations, as well as towns in the south and along the coast. Los Héroes, Calle Tucapel Jimenez 21 (tel: (2) 420 0099), near Metro Los Héroes, serves the north and south of the country. For buses from Chile to Argentina, go to: http://www.pluma.com.br/english/indexeng.html

TRAVELING BY TRAIN
Santiago is serviced by two train lines from the south (from Temuco and Chillán), both of which leave from the giant Estación Central at Alameda 3170. Trains to Chillán leave five times a day; the fare is $11 and the trip is about 4 1/2 hours. For Temuco, there is one train, which leaves nightly at 9:30pm and arrives at 9:30am. Fares are $11 for tourist class, or $14 for salon class, with reclining seats. For schedules and train information, check out www.efe.cl

RENT A CAR
Major international rental agencies like Hertz, Avis and Budget have offices in Santiago as well as in major cities and other tourist areas. The Automóvil Club also rents cars at some of its offices. To avoid confusion and ensure a rental, you’d better have a valid driver’s international license (though not required if you present a US driver’s license), be at least 25 years of age and present either a major credit card or a large cash deposit.

CHILEAN CRUISES
Puerto Montt is both the gateway to Chile's lake district and the departure point for cruises to the Chilean Fjords Cruise/Tour. Check:

www.skorpios.cl
www.australis.com
WWW.navimag.cl

Lago Todos los Santos is one of South America's most popular water crossings. Visitors and residents make the crossing to and from Argentina via boats and catamarans and by bus portaging through the spectacular scenery of the Chilean/Argentine border.
Check: www.crucedelagos.cl