I'm getting ready to commit to Brad's Aconcagua trip, but it seems every flights from NYC to Mendoza is in the range of $1,700. Is this price somewhat normal? Are there any cheaper ways getting to Mendoza without involving five stops and ten transfers?

Thats sounds pretty high.... Then again, gas prices are going up like crazy! I paid about 1000$ for my ticket to Mendoza from Washington DC (Jan, 2008). I flew on American Airlines.

A connection is necessary to reach Mendoza- the airport is tiny. Many connections go through Santiago or Buenos Aires before arriving in Mendoza (I switched planes in Miami and Santiago). You might want to try Aerolinas Argentinas as well as LAN Chile. Both are good South American Airlines that could offer some options.

Good luck both on both the flights and on the mountain!

Maybe check out http://www.despegar.com

If you have any flexibility on dates try watching this forum http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=372. Deals come and go quickly- I just got tickets from LAX to Lima next month for $233.
I've used Orbitz 3 times for the Mendoza trip and it was always less than $900 from Denver, but I haven't seen anything that low recently.

You may be too early. In my experience, plane tickets are at their cheapest 3~4 months before the flight. I paid $1000 for LAX-Mendoza.

Try contacting Scott Patterson. I think he found good prices on a flight through Orbitz. The flight I'm watching out of Toronto is about $1638 CDN.

If you want to get the most out of the day you arrive and you're connecting through Santiago, Chile pick a departure flight that arrives in Mendoza in the morning. They arrive around 11:20 AM so you still have most of the day to enjoy all they have to offer. The later flights get in around 6:30 PM.

Howdy.

I would check vayama.com on a regular basis. We just found pretty reasonable tickets into Beijing and out of Moscow, and they have a little search button for deals.

For our trip to Mendoza we flew into Buenos Aires and then took a 13 hour bus ride from BA to Mendoza. It was, by far, one of the best bus trips we've ever been on. You can "upgrade" and get seats that fold into a bed (complete with blanket and pillow--very comfy), so we both got our usual 8 hours of sleep, too. After hopping on the bus, eating dinner (it comes with the upgrade), sharing a bottle of wine, we both fell asleep and --presto-- woke up in Mendoza. For the return trip we flew, and we really wished we'd taken the bus on the return trip, too, as it was much more relaxing. I think we paid about US 50 for the one way bus ticket. Totally worth it. You can easily book tickets at the big bus station in Buenos Aires a day before your trip to Mendoza. PM me for more specifics if you are interested.

Have fun!