Did you see the good news yesterday? American signed a codeshare agreement with TAM and LAN Columbia. Along with oneworld member LAN, both airlines are part of LATAM Airlines Group. American also announced plans to add a new routes between Dallas/Fort Worth and Bogota and Miami and Curitiba and Porto Alegre, Brazil, in late 2013.

In case you missed it, Gary had an update yesterday about the technical difficulties reservations agents have had when booking codeshare flights on LAN. The problem has been “resolved and agents can book codeshare flights on LAN as usual”.

Speaking of South America….

oneoworld Member LAN is sponsoring a “12 days of Christmas Giveaway” with a chance to win 1 of 12 daily prizes or a grand prize trip to Peru.

Through December 25, 2012, we’ll be giving you the chance to win daily prizes + one grand prize with the LAN 12 Days of Christmas sweepstakes!

Remember each time you enter, you increase your chances of winning the grand prize!
Play. Test your South America Trivia Skills. Win Amazing Prizes Courtesy of LAN, including a Vacation to Peru!

Here’s a list of some of the day prizes:

DAY 1 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) LAN Leisure Kit which includes: one (1) umbrella, one (1) travel adapter, and one (1) travel kit

DAY 2 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, one (1) LAN Airlines leather journal, one (1) LAN Airlines executive pen

DAY 3 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) model LAN Boeing 787 aircraft

DAY 4 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) model LAN Boeing 787 aircraft

DAY 5 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) LAN Solar charger for mobile phones

DAY 6 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, one (1) LAN Airlines hot beverage glass, and one (1) LAN Airlines water bottle

DAY 7 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, one (1) LAN Airlines leather journal, one (1) LAN Airlines executive pen

DAY 8 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, one (1) LAN Airlines hot beverage mug with LAN branding, and one (1) LAN water bottle

DAY 9 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) model LAN Boeing 787 aircraft

DAY 10 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) model LAN Boeing 787 aircraft

DAY 11 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) SD card holder

DAY 12 $25 LANPASS Visa Gift Card, and one (1) LAN Leisure Kit which includes: one (1) umbrella, one (1) travel adapter, and one (1) travel kit

Here’s the description of the grand prize:

Grand Prize

A 6 day 5 night vacation package to Lima, Peru.

- two (2) round trip Economy class tickets on LAN Airlines and its affiliates to Lima, Peru.
- 5 night stay at the Hotel San Augustin Colonia in Lima, Peru, with breakfast included.
- Private transportation to/from Airport and from Hotel.
- Lima Colony City Tour.
- Half Day Tour of Gold Museum .
- Package has the option to add-on a full-day in Machu Pichu with Hotel and excursions in Cusco.

To play or read the rules, visit the LAN USA Facebook page for the 12 Days of Christmas Giveway. Good luck!

Photo: Picarones cart in Lima
Credit: Naota on Flickr

Now this is interesting….over the weekend JonNYC posted some info from an American Airlines travel agency advisory in a thread over at the Traveling Better Forums:

Codeshare AA*/LA (Lan Airlines)- No New Bookings
Issued: 09Nov12

Effective immediately, no new codeshare bookings may be created for AA*/LA (LAN Airlines) flights. This includes newly created bookings as well as making changes to previously created/ticketed PNRs. Please advise customers that the booking restriction will continue to remain closed for sale until further notice. Thank you.

Hmmmmm…..

LAN and TAM completed a merger earlier this year and formed LANTAM Holdings. LAN is a member of oneworld and TAM is a member of Star Alliance.

Regulators insisted that the newly formed company choose a single alliance, and they also excluded LANTAM from joining the same alliance AviancaTaca.

AviancaTaca joined Star Alliance this summer and TAM announced that they would be leaving, but they didn’t say that they were joining oneworld.

LANTAM has said very little about their plans:

We’re carefully evaluating this issue and we will decide make a decision within an established deadline, taking into account the alternative that offers the best benefits to our clients. For the moment, LAN continues with oneworld and TAM in Star Alliance. We will inform you of any coming up changes.

If LANTAM is excluded from Star Alliance and they’re leaving oneworld, does this mean they’re joining Sky Team? Or maybe, just like Emirates, they’re going independent?

Well since we’re just speculating, I read an interesting post by Mark Mercer, of The Fuzzy Wanderer blog, where he suggests that LAN’s endgame is to find a way to exit oneworld and join TAM over at Star Alliance.

To fully see his point, you should first read his thoughts here (the post was written before AviancaTaca joined Star) and then read his comments at the end of this Air Transport World article “LANTAM looks to late 2013 decision on alliance”.

Such intrigue, it’s like following a telenovela. What do you think?

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Photo: Ato do Projeto Latam – Santiago
Credit: Sindicato Nacional dos Aeronautas on Flickr