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LAN Launches a LGBT Travel Website, Just in Time for Carnivale

jetflyboy — 2012-01-19T15:05:01-05:00

Latin America's largest air carrier has expanded their horizons by tapping the lucrative LGBT travel market and launching a full travel website devoted to gay travel in South America. LAN Airlines' fresh site is an extension of the main page for the airline, but has features to celebrate the diversity that the continent offers to gay and lesbian travelers.

Believe it or not, LAN isn't the first airline to be as open online as they are open-minded; they join the ranks of Delta, Virgin America and Southwest in their commitment to inclusion. The carrier also will be a competitor for American Airlines, which consistently takes top honors as "Best Airline" to the gay community.

Inside LAN's Mistral VIP Lounge at Santiago Airport

EricRosen — 2011-07-08T15:10:01-05:00

While waiting for our flight back from Chile to the U.S., we spent our layover in LAN’s Mistral VIP Salon at the Santiago Airport. And, since we were there for several hours, we’re bringing you a detailed inside look as part of our Airport Lounges series.

· The Newer The Better
There are actually two LAN lounges at Arturo Merino Benitez International Airport, both named after Nobel Prize-winning Chilean poets. We chose the Mistral VIP Lounge over the Neruda Lounge because we’d heard it was more recently renovated (in 2009), and when we stopped in, it did look all-new.

Whats There To Do in Chile's Atacama Desert, Anyway?

EricRosen — 2011-07-07T09:05:09-05:00

After his tasting trip through the vineyards of Chile, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen jetted to the country’s far north to visit the adventureland of the Atacama Desert, and here’s his roundup of the area’s best activities.

Ever since I first learned as a schoolchild that the Atacama Desert was the driest place on earth (some parts of it have not seen rain in 400 years!), I’ve wanted to visit what I assumed was a mystical wasteland at the end of the world. But on a recent visit to the region in Chile’s north—about a two-hour flight from Santiago—I found out just how much there is to do in one of South America’s best-kept secret adventure destinations.

While staying at the deluxe Hotel Alto Atacama, I got to take advantage of the hotel’s full schedule of planned guest excursions to explore one of the world’s most extreme environments and find out what a truly rich setting it is, with sights ranging from high-altitude geysers to hidden hot springs to ancient mountain forts. Here’s a roundup of some of the best experiences from my stay.

Drinking from the Roots of the Andes in Chile's Cachapoal Valley

EricRosen — 2011-07-06T09:45:02-05:00

This week, Jaunted Special Contributor Eric Rosen continues his worldwide wine wanderings south of the equator in the Andean foothills of Chile, visiting some of the biggest names in its famous Colchagua and Rapel Valleys. So start looking for a bottle of Carmenere in your grocery store, and join us as we taste through the wines of Chile. Salud!

Yesterday we drank at a breakneck pace through the famous wineries of Chile’s Colchagua Valley. We spend today tasting at a more leisurely clip in one of Chile’s newest wine regions: the Cachapoal Valley.

· A Valley By Any Other Name…
To call Cachapoal (pronounced cah-chah-poh-all) Chile’s newest wine region, though, is a little misleading since it’s actually a part of one of the country’s other famous appellations, the Rapel Valley. However, the conditions here are distinct enough from the rest of the Rapel thanks to its proximity to the Andes and its lack of maritime influences from the Pacific that it was given its own denomination.

Thus, it’s well known for producing rich red wines, especially Cabernet Sauvignon and some of the country’s most prized Carmeneres. The nearest major town is Rancagua, notorious for a bloody 19th-century massacre during Chile’s war of independence.

Skipping Out on Santiago for Casa Silva in Chile's Colchagua Valley

EricRosen — 2011-07-05T12:30:01-05:00

Don’t get us wrong. We love Santiago cosmopolitan charms, but when we head down to Chile, we like to get out of the city as soon as possible and head to the hinterlands to taste one of the country’s most famous exports (no, not copper): wine.

That’s why, on a recent trip, we started tasting from LAN’s sommelier-assembled list as soon as we boarded our flight, then when we hit the ground, we headed an hour-and-a-half south from Santiago to the country’s famous Colchagua Valley, focusing on the area between the two major towns of San Fernando and Santa Cruz and stopping at some of the biggest names in Chilean winemaking along the way.

How To Get Tickets To Lollapolooza Chile 2011

cmb — 2011-03-29T11:55:08-05:00

This weekend The Killers, Kanye West, Jane's Addiction, Thirty Seconds To Mars and 30 other bands will come together for Lollapalooza Chile 2011.

The event will take place in its usual venue, O'Higgins Park, which is located in the center of Santiago. And, along with a full slate of music, the festival will feature workshops, kids activities, and even a hammock zone where you can chill out within earshot of the concert stages.

South America's TAM and LAN Airlines to Combine Letters, Planes and Pilots

kjb — 2010-08-16T08:31:24-05:00

There’s a little bit of alphabet soup going on south of the equator. LAN Airlines of Chile and TAM Airlines or Brazil are thinking about shacking up to serve as South America’s largest airline. We do need to get to Brazil for the summer Olympics, so maybe we’ll get to check out the combined airline sooner than later.

Together the combined airline will be known as LATAM Airlines Group, and will include the two airlines as well as some affiliates and cargo operations. Like all airline mergers and buddying up there’s all kind of rules and regulations to follow, so it’s far from a done deal just yet. Both airlines need to work out all the details, but they did pass notes and confirmed that they like each other by circling yes—so we think they’ll be good-to-go.