Holiday Season Vacations
Tips for planning a trip
to Chile during the Christmas, Hanukkah and the New Year Holidays.
The
Christmas Holidays are a favorite time for
visiting Patagonia, Chile and Argentina. While
it’s the peak of winter in most countries
of the Northern Hemisphere, the Christmas
holidays mark the beginning of the summer
season in Patagonia, Chile.
While we can’t promise a white Christmas,
we can promise an epic, action-packed adventure
vacation for you and your family that will
be remembered for years to come. There will
be plenty of whitewater and other adventures
to partake in by day and a warm fire in our
weatherproof native-wood lodge to look forward
to at night. A Patagonia adventure vacation
is the perfect way for any family to spend
the Christmas holidays.
Now for the bad news:
Because
the Christmas holidays are such an attractive
period for vacation travel the time period
tends to appeal to everyone. This can cause
difficulty in the following areas:
Sold Out Trip Dates: Every
year we encounter last minute vacationers
looking to book a Christmas adventure vacation
in Chile or Argentina. In some instances we
can help them, but many times we have to direct
them to other destinations or activities than
the ones they prefer. If you are positive
you want to vacation over the Christmas holidays
it is imperative that you reserve your trip
well in advance, especially if your family
or group is large. It is typical for us to start taking Christmas holiday reservations as early as April.
Escalating Airline Prices:
The airlines understand the demand for travel
over the Christmas holiday season. They recognize
that it will be one of their busiest times
of year and therefore have little reason to
advertise or discount their prices. Getting
a great deal from the airlines over the Christmas
holidays is akin to searching for the elusive
Holy Grail; don’t count on it.
The best prices for flights over this time
period go to groups and individuals who book
their trips very early. After the early, initial
booking period, ticket prices tend to increase
almost weekly until they become almost unaffordable.
A week before Christmas it is not unheard
of for seats in coach class to go for first
class prices.
An airline will look to first cover the cost
of its flight from the early bookers. Once
this point is reached they will attempt to
extract a high a price as possible from people
traveling over the holidays. The secret to
get around this is to be one of the early
bookers. If you are sure you want to spend Christmas
in Patagonia don’t delay in getting
your airline tickets. Delaying will only cost you money.
Early Bird Discounts: Take
advantage of our early bird discount program.
For a period of time, over the Spring and
early Summer, we offer a 10% discount on most
of our trips during the holiday season. We
do this to encourage our guests to book early
enough to avoid the holiday rush which puts
as much stress on our office personnel as
it does our visitors. There is nothing more
discouraging for us than to have guests that
want to come to Chile but can not find a reasonably
priced flight.
Peak Travel Dates: Because
everyone is traveling during the time period
of your vacation, be prepared for the unexpected.
While most Christmas holidays go off without a hitch, it is not uncommon for flights to be delayed,
overbooked and luggage to be lost or misrouted
– not to mention flight interruptions
caused by seasonal snowy weather. Keep this
in mind when making reserves that require
tight travel connections and pack all essential
items in your carry-on luggage. To give you
the best odds of overcoming these obstacles
we recommend that all of our guests purchase
Travel Insurance during this period. This allows Expediciones Chile or the airline to intervene on your behalf without the worry of additional expense.
Quality of Experience: Keep
in mind the overall popularity of the destination
you want to visit. Our trips in Torres del
Paine and Cerro Fitzroy are almost always
sold-out over Christmas. If you are looking
for wildlife and/or an escape from the crowds
on your holiday you won’t likely encounter
solitude in Torres del Paine. In such cases
it is better to visit the more remote regions
of Patagonia, like the Futaleufu River Valley,
and save Torres del Paine for the shoulder
season.
Flexible or Custom Trip Dates: In most cases,
our trips run from Saturday-to-Saturday.
However, our lodge and camp based operations
allow us to cater to individuals and groups
who require more flexible holiday scheduling.
If you want to book an adventure vacation
over the holidays that differs from our published
schedule we ask that you do this as early
as possible.
Chilean
Culture Immersion
Experience genuine Chilean Cultural
Immersion on our adventure travel
horseback riding and trekking
vacations.
Kayak
Chile Whitewater
Kayak in the spectacular Patagonia
Andes. Kayak Chile whitewater
from our spectacular kayak eco
camp.
Patagonia
Mountain Biking
Experience a genuine Chile Mountain
Biking tour through Chilean
Patagonia and Argentina.
Rafting
en el Río Futaleufú con las mejores
aguas blancas de clase mundial
(5,4,3,). Kayak de mar, mountain
biking, cabalgatas, sit-on-top
kayaking cayoning, caminatas,
pesca con mosca y mucho más
aventuras podrás encontrar
en el corazón de la patagonia
Chilena, y desde el comfort
de nuestro nativo y caluroso
Hotel. Rafting en lel Río
Futaleufú en
Español.