| Award Destination: Torres Del Paine NP, Chile | Flight: Latam Business Class Duration ~10hr. | Roundtrip Flight Cost: ~$4000 USD for 2 passengers | Points Used: 180K Alaska Miles (for 2 passengers) | Award Taxes: ~$150USD |
Torres Del Paine (TDP) national park is in the Chilean Patagonia and contains breathtaking scenery of glaciers, multi-colored lakes, and peaked granite mountains. Puerto Natales is the nearest town to TDP national park (2 hours away) and serves as the base for most travelers. The town has its own airport (PNT) with nonstop flights from Santiago which cuts down the travel time by half compared to arriving at Punta Arenas airport (4 hours away). I recommend renting a car to explore the national park for day hikes unless you are arranging a multi-day guided trek tour with a local company.
Best Time to Visit Torres Del Paine National Park
The Patagonian summer months of December, January, and February are the most popular time to visit the national park. It is also quite windy in the summer months and a busy tourist season due to warm temperatures. If you don’t mind cooler nighttime temperatures and mostly plan on doing day hikes, I recommend traveling in the shoulder months of spring and fall.
How I Booked the Trip to Santiago
I used Alaska miles to fly Latam business class from JFK to Santiago (SCL). This is not the best use for Alaska miles, but I have not been able to use them for a typical Asia redemption due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Latam’s business class experience was adequate but not on par with several other international airlines. I am not going to post any pictures of the flight experience since this post is about the destination.
I had to call the Alaska mileage program to book Latam flights, but now they are available to book on Alaska webpage (see the sample flights below).
How to get to Torres Del Paine NP from Santiago?
TDP national park is towards the south end of Chile and takes a ~3-hour flight to reach the nearest towns (Punta Arenas and Puerto Natales) with airports. The park is 2 hours away from Puerto Natales and 4 hours away from Punta Arenas.
Option 1: Fly from Santiago to Puerto Natales (PNT)
The biggest issue with flying to PNT airport is finding a car rental from well-known agencies (Europcar is the only name I recognize but it has bad reviews). I recommend readers to reach out to “Magallanes Rent A Car” (who seem to have good Google reviews) for a quote. Once you arrive at the PNT airport, you can reach your accommodation in a few minutes and there are plenty of restaurants in the town.
Option 2: Fly from Santiago to Punta Arenas
Choosing this option will add an additional 2 hours of driving to Puerto Natales but gives you a lot of car rental options with reputable agencies. I recommend comparing the flight + rental car costs for both options before planning. We traveled to PUQ airport because of relatively few available flights to PNT airport and the extra drive was not difficult.
The flight prices (checked in Nov 2022) from the screenshots above are for January 2023 and your savings can be significant if you book 6-9 months ahead of your travel dates.
Accommodation
Most people will stay in Puerto Natales for easy-to-find accommodations and dining options. We stayed in Hotel Altiplanico Puerto Natales which was very good and provided excellent breakfast and customer service. Staying inside the Torres Del Paine national park is very convenient for exploring, but the accommodations are limited and expensive. I was able to find only one reasonably priced option on booking.com (Lake Tyndall Cabins) for a price of $150-200 per night with a kitchen and private bathroom.
Driving from Puerto Natales to Torres Del Paine
Driving the rental car and finding the park is easy since it is a single road with well-marked signs. Most of the road is paved with a few areas of dirt road and an SUV rental is not needed in the summer months.
At the national park entrance, the charge for the 3-day entry ticket with a car is ~$60. I recommend visitors be inside the park before 10 am to catch the optional catamaran ride (the last ride leaves around 11 am and returns in the evening). You should be prepared to drive 2 hours each way from Puerto Natales but 2 full-day trips are enough to cover the park for day hikes due to the 18-hour day light in the summer months. You should leave for one day to explore the Grey glacier inside the park.
Some of the best day Treks in TDP NP
Fauna trail (~3 hours), Laguna Azul (1-2 hours), Mirador Las Torres (6-8 hours), Mirador Ferrier (4-5 hours), Mirador Lago Skottsberg (2-3 hours), Mirador Cuernos (2-3 hours), Cascada Pingo (5-6 hours) and Glacier Grey viewpoint (4-6 hours).
Grey Glacier Navigation
Navigation takes 2-3 hours and costs around $150-200 USD per person. It is a must-do activity in the TDP national park and the tickets frequently sell out in summer. I recommend booking the tickets in advance by emailing them on the official website (https://torresdelpaine.com/en/agencia/navegacion-al-glaciar-grey/). Tickets can also be purchased in advance with a credit card from other websites for an extra fee. (https://www.denomades.com/en/torres-del-paine/grey-glacier-navigation-id391).
Bernardo O’Higgins National Park
(http://www.rutadelosparques.org/en/parque-nacional-bernardo-ohiggins/)
Some tour companies arrange travel by boat from Puerto Natales to Bernardo O’Higgins National Park (https://www.gochile.cl/en/tours/navegacion-por-los-glaciares-balmaceda-y-serrano.htm) to explore Balmaceda and Serrano Glaciers.
Torres Del Paine Scenery
See some of the pictures we took during our day hikes in the national park below.
Summary
If you are a nature lover, Torres Del Paine national park should be on the top of your bucket list as pictures do not do any justice to the jaw-dropping beauty of this place. We explored the park with day hikes only and several other travelers come here to do the famous multi-day W & O treks.
Tickets from the US to South America can be expensive and using points to book either economy or business class tickets can save a lot of money. I recommend saving on the flight tickets with the points and using the money to pay for the accommodation inside the national park for the best experience. I used Alaska miles to book this trip but also used ANA miles (Copa airlines) and Flying Blue miles (Delta) to book my other tips to Chile (https://awardcracker.com/award-destination-marble-caves/).