u/SavoryPrime

We spent 10 days in Patagonia this past March and I thought I would share our itinerary in case anyone else finds it useful while planning their trip.

Wednesday, March 11

- United Airlines DEN-IAH, IAH-SCL

Thursday, March 12

- Arrive in Santiago around 8am. The connection to the LATAM flight to PNT would have been too tight so we spent the day in Santiago

- Took an uber from the airport to the Hyatt Centric Las Condes. It was too early to checkin so we changed clothes and headed out to explore

- Took the metro (red line el golf station) to baquedano station. walked over to Cerro San christobal and took the funicular to the top to get some views of the city and hike around a bit. We came back down and grabbed something to eat in the Bella vista neighborhood

- we then took the metro to the central market and walked around and then down to the area around plaza de armas

- we grabbed some drinks at the Euforia rooftop bar

- we headed back to our hotel and checked in

- we then went to Les Dix Vin wine bar for some drinks and ended the day at The Steak Bar in Las Condes. One of the best steaks I’ve ever had

Friday, March 13 (a long day)

- Took an uber back to the airport to catch the 5:30 am LATAM flight to PNT

- We arrived at PNT around 9am

- We rented a car from VHM Natales who were waiting for us at the airport. We had booked the car in December 2025. Everything was handled over WhatsApp and they took care of the paperwork to allow us to drive between Chile and Argentina They were very easy to work with

- car details: we rented a Chinese brand Chang-An. it was a compact suv with automatic transmission that had good clearance. I found that on a full tank it had a range of about 600km. vhm also provided an emergency gas tank that, when full, provided about 200km of range (these last details will be important later)

- after about 30 minutes going over the paper work with the help of Google Translate we were off to El Chalten

- we drove from the airport down to puerto Natales on hwy 9. Once in town there is a roundabout to take hwy 9 east. we stayed on hwy 9 for a bit and took a left on the road RP20 to Cerro dorotea where the border crossing is

- we stopped at the Chile crossing where they checked our passports and paperwork for the car

- we stopped at the Argentina crossing where they did the same thing

- once in Argentina we stayed on the same road thru the town of Rio Turbio until it intersected with route 40

- we headed north on 40 to Esperanza which was about 2.5 hours

- we filled up the car in Esperanza at the YPF and were able to pay with credit card. we probably could have made it all the way to el Chalten without filling up but we didn’t want to take any chances in case they were out of fuel in el Chalten

- there is a short cut that bypasses Esperanza but the rental car agency requested we not take it as it is a long dirt road. The roads we were on were all paved and in good condition

- it took us another 3.5 hours or so to reach el Chalten. Parts of the drive are desolate but you get to see guanacos and rheas. As you get closer to lake Argentina and lake viedma the scenery gets more dramatic you will stay on route 40 just past lake viedma where you turn left onto route 41. this is the money shot road that has great views of Fitzroy on the way to el chalten

- when we reached el Chalten we filled up the car again at YPF. The fuel station is run out of a shipping container at the entrance to the town

- we stayed at El Puma Lodge. It was a very nice hotel with one of the nicer rooms we’ve ever stayed in. It was in a good location with easy access to bars and restaurants as well as the trailheads

- we had dinner at La cerveceria Chalten which had tasty beers and eats

Saturday, March 14

- hiked Laguna de los Tres (mt Fitzroy )

- the weather wasn’t great but it was a good hike nonetheless the last km is tough. hiking poles, rain gear and warm clothes are definitely recommended

- we purchased the 7 day flexipass from the Argentina government web site before we left home. this let us access the trails in el Chalten as well as perito Moreno glacier in el calafate

- there is a guard shack at the trail heads on the north end of town where they will check your pass (if anyone is there). if you don’t have a pass you need to try to purchase it online at the trailhead which may or may not work depending on the mobile network. we saw many people trying to do this

- we bought sandwiches and snacks at the local markets in town to take on our hikes

- we filled our hydration bladders in the hotel sink and never had any issues

Sunday, March 15

- hiked Laguna de Los tres again as the weather was much better than the day before

- on the way back into town we found B Fitz Resto Bar which had a great apreś hike happy hour. 2 beers and 2 empanadas for like 15000

- we had a fantastic dinner at La Viñeria. it was our first time having provaleta. where has that been all my life!

Monday, March 16

- hiked Laguna Torre. This was an easier hike than Fitzroy but still had amazing scenery. it’s worth hanging around the lake for a while to watch the icebergs and wait for the weather to change for optimal picture taking. you can access the trail head at the north end of town but there is also one in the center of town which is nicer

- we had dinner at cerveceria patagonia

Tuesday, March 17

- drove to perito moreno glacier. it was about a 3 hour drive to the glacier from el chalten

- drove back to el Calafate and checked into Mabra Suites. This was a great little hotel located above a coffee shop in the central part of town within walking distance to shops and restaurants

- we had dinner at Casimiro Bigua which was great. Try the lamb from the asador

Wednesday, March 18 (long day)

- departed el calafate. We filled up at the YPF on the outskirts of town and headed back to Puerto Natales via Esperanza. it was about a four hour drive

- our entire time in Argentina we were able to use credit cards so we never had to exchange currency. the only currency exchange I did see was in el calafate

- the Chilean border crossing on the way back did check our bags. The car rental agency also told us not to have any fuel in the emergency tank so customs wouldn’t think we were smuggling fuel

- we stopped at the Shell fuel station on the east side of Puerto Natales to fill up the car and the reserve tank

- drove to TDP. (route 9 to Y290) it is about two hours to the villa Serrano entrance of the park. About half the drive is on paved roads and the rest are dirt roads of varying quality. Some of the paved roads were in bad shape as well. This is where the vehicle clearance is beneficial because all the roads in the park are dirt roads. because the car didn’t have a separate trunk, the reserve fuel can could have an overwhelming smell at times and it helped to have the car‘s air conditioning pulling fresh air into the car at all times

- checked in to Rio Serrano hotel which is just before the park entrance in the villa Serrano area

- unlike el Chalten where all the trails are accessible from town, TDP requires a car or bus to get to the various trails

- we purchased our park passes online from the official government site before leaving home. when driving into the park you have to stop at the entrance and let them scan the ticket on your phone

- Rio Serrano was great. The views were amazing. You could also order lunch boxes every night that you could pick up the next morning before your hikes. the pool and sauna were great after a day of hiking

Thursday, March 19

- drove to Salto Grande and hiked out to mirador cuernos. then drove over to the lago grey area and hiked around there

Friday, March 20 (the big one)

- got up early and drove to the Las Torres trail head. the drive from Rio Serrano is 1.5 hours on bone shaking roads. The sunrise reflecting off the Torres massif was incredible

- started the hike around 8:30. It is definitely a challenging hike at 14 miles round trip. It seems like it’s uphill both ways. The last few kilometers are rough but the view is totally worth the pain and destroyed knees. We had incredible weather

- after the 1.5 hour drive back the beers never tasted better

Saturday, March 21

- we took it easy today and drove up to the mirador condor trailhead. we hiked to the top and hung out for a while waiting for the weather to change to try to get the best pictures

Sunday, March 22

- checked out and drove back to PNT

- we filled up the car with the fuel in the emergency tank and then drove back to the Shell to top off the fuel before returning it at the airport where VHM Natales met us

- as mentioned previously, the car had a range of 600 km on a full tank. all the driving we did to and from and within TDP used about 3/4 tank so we didn’t need the emergency fuel. if we had needed it, it would have given us about 200km range which would have been enough to get from TDP back to PNT to fill up. we were glad we had it, as we did see some folks at the Las Torres trailhead who did not seem to have enough fuel to get to their next destination

- we took the 1pm LATAM flight to Santiago. The weather was amazing so those of us on the right hand side of the plane had incredible views of TDP, perito Moreno icefield and mt Fitzroy

- we arrived in SCL with plenty of time to catch our 9:45pm flight on United to IAH

Monday, March 23

- United IAH-DEN

What an incredible trip. I love it when a plan comes together!

I recently booked DEN-PUJ for my wife and I using miles from my account. My status is gold and my wife has silver. In looking at the accruals for the trip it shows me accruing 240 PQPs and my wife accruing 340 PQPs. Is anyone versed in the dark arts of PQP accruals that could explain why there is a 100 PQP difference? The only thing I can think of is I applied a 10k mile award discount received for card spend.

I was recently awarded global economy plus upgrades. However, I’m not entirely sure what they are or when I would use them. My current status lets me upgrade to economy plus at booking so I’m not sure the purpose of them. Does anyone have any insight?