My Mid-Trip Deliberation & How I Saved It
Intro
I ran into a serious issue on the final day of my trip to Peru. Someone mentioned in my tour group that there was a census in Bolivia during my time there. Firstly, I had no idea what a census was, so I had to Google it! Turned out it was a stay-at-home order and if you left you would go to jail! From what I had heard, it was the first in many years.
My Issue
The plan was to head down to the Salt Flats for the day and take an overnight bus back to La Paz to catch a flight to Santiago. However, on the 23rd, there was a stay-at-home order, meaning there were no buses or domestic flights.
Now, a LATAM notice went out two days before arriving with ample time at the airport. However, I still didn't have a way back from the Salt Flat in Uyuni to La Paz so I had to change my flight.
What did I do?
Let's Go To Rio!
After extensive thought, I finally came to the decision of where to go. I canceled my Salt Flats tour and my flight to Chile, getting a full refund and a trip credit, respectively.
With few seats left on the flight to Rio De Janeiro, I quickly called Expedia (for another post), and used my trip credit to get to Rio. Why Rio? Well, it's another world wonder on my quest to visit them all!
Well, it's slightly more complicated than that as it took 4 flights to reach Rio, not the scheduled 2. The original plan was to fly from La Paz- Lima (16-hour layover) and then red-eye to Rio. Spend the morning seeing Christ The Redeemer and then head to Sao Paulo. Until my flight was delayed... This meant switching (for free) on a routing that consisted of La Paz- VVI- Santiago- Sao Paulo-Rio.
Now, the next problem arose. How would I get from Rio to Santiago to catch my flight back to Los Angeles? I found the award availability for Sao Paolo to Santiago in LATAM's new 787 business class through the BA executive club, but how would I get to Sao Paulo?
With last-minute flight prices going for over 400$ one-way, I found wide open award space from SDU-CGH on GOL with American Airlines Miles. The cost came out to 7.5K miles. These miles saved my life!
All in all, it somehow worked out, and it also means I get to share a lot more reviews than originally planned!!!!
Final Thoughts
Due to a census in Bolivia, my plans out of La Paz had to change. I re-routed down to Rio to visit another world wonder and to review even more products for everyone! Traveling comes with split-second decision, and ended up being extraordinary. Find out more soon as to why!
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