Best Cards For Airfare Within South America

ThankYou Points are a lot like Capital One Miles. You can search and book tickets on Sky Airline, Amazonas or Interjet with your card -- and then use the points to pay off your bill. Something uniquely great about the ThankYou Points are the transfer partners available. Citi transfers to some awesome international partners, like Avianca, Cathay, Etihad, Air France, Singapore KrisFlyer and Virgin Atlantic. And your points retain their value in most cases when transferring. So even though we normally spotlight a Chase card front and center when we’re talking about any kind of travel partners, we love this particular Citi card for all of your traveling needs to, from and throughout South America.

This particular card is great for travel within South America. Delta Airlines is part of SkyTeam Alliance, meaning you can use Delta SkyMiles to book on 20 different world-class airlines. But which ones can you use while getting around South America? Options like Aerolineas, Aeromexico and even Delta have a ton of different flights daily going from city to city and country to country. Something else to keep in mind is the acquisition of Latam Airlines, which happens to be a top player when it comes to South American flights. This is also a great card because it’s not just an American Express card -- it’s a business card, too, so you won’t be taking a Chase rules hit. But if you’ve maxed out your Chase cards -- and you’re not comfortable going the business card route -- you have another option with the personal version of this same card, the Platinum Delta SkyMiles Amex.

Chase Sapphire should be on everyone's list of cards for pretty much everything -- and the main reason is the flexibility. Flying throughout South America is no exception. Chase has so many transfer partners available with a nice high retained value. For example, United is one of the top transfer partners. And since United Miles are a big part of Star Alliance, you can book Copa Airlines, which is of the most popular South American brands. Or transfer points directly to Avianca LifeMiles, another big player in South America. One more great option is to book flights directly through the Chase portal, where each point is worth 50% more. If you have a tight itinerary, and you know your dates and destinations, it’s a great time to check availability in the portal and see what kind of routes they’re offering.