How I Booked Lie-Flat Business Class Seats for Free to Peru on LATAM
The best way to book international business class seats without spending a fortune is by using transfer partners from American Express Membership Rewards (MR) or Chase Ultimate Rewards points. Recently, I booked two one-way business class tickets from New York (JFK) to Lima (LIM) and back on LATAM using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points—taking advantage of a 40% transfer bonus deal from American Express Membership Rewards. Here’s exactly how I did it—and how you can too.
Why Book LATAM Business Class with Points?
LATAM offers a solid business class product on this route, featuring lie-flat seats, priority boarding, lounge access, and great South American hospitality. However, cash fares for business class can be steep, often exceeding $2,000 one-way. Using points allows you to fly to book business for as little as 50,000 MR points (approximately $500 in value).
Step 1: Finding Award Availability
LATAM doesn’t partner with many major U.S. frequent flyer programs, making it tricky to book with points. While LATAM is not a member of the SkyTeam alliance, it does have partnerships with Delta and Virgin Atlantic. Delta tends to charge high mileage rates for partner redemptions, but Virgin Atlantic Flying Club is one of the best programs for booking partner flights at low rates.
To check award availability, I used the following tools:
Seats.aero – to set up alerts when LATAM award seats opened up on my preferred dates.
Virgin Atlantic's award search tool – to confirm availability using Virgin Atlantic Flying Club points.
Once I found availability for my desired date, I moved to the next step: transferring points.
Step 2: Transferring Amex MR Points to Virgin Atlantic
Amex MR points transfer to Virgin Atlantic Flying Club at a 1:1 rate, but occasionally, there are transfer bonuses. At the time of my booking, Amex was offering a 40% transfer bonus, meaning for every 1,000 Amex points transferred, I received 1,400 Virgin points.
The standard Virgin Atlantic award rate for a one-way JFK to Lima business class ticket on LATAM is 50,000 points. With the 40% bonus, I only needed to transfer 36,000 Amex points to get the 50,000 Virgin points required for the booking.
Transfers from Amex to Virgin Atlantic are usually instant, so within minutes, my points were ready to use. Rarely, there may be a delay in points transfer, so you have to be ready for that possibility.
Step 3: Booking the Flight
Unlike some Virgin Atlantic partners like ANA, LATAM award availability can be booked directly on Virgin Atlantic's website. Once my points were in my Flying Club account, I I selected the flight and completed the booking in just a few clicks. Within minutes, I received my confirmation email with my business class ticket secured.
Step 4: Paying Taxes & Fees
The total taxes and fees for each ticket came to $56.50—a small price to pay for a premium business class experience. Compared to the $2,000+ cash fare, this was an incredible redemption. For full transparency, I used 36,000 points x 4 or 144,000 points for 4 business class seats (approximately $1,440 in value), which is less than the cost of 1 business class seat in cash.
Final Thoughts: Was It Worth It?
Absolutely! For just 36,000 Amex Membership Rewards points and a small cash fee each, I secured a business class seat on a long-haul flight. The 40% transfer bonus made this deal even sweeter, reducing the points required significantly. If you’re planning a trip to South America, keep an eye out for transfer bonuses and take advantage of Virgin Atlantic’s partnership with LATAM.
Would you like help finding award space for your next trip? Let me know in the comments!