New York JFK to Buenos Aires in Economy

No sweet spot is tagged specifically to South America economy on this route in our database, which means the math starts with alliance coverage and published award charts rather than a curated shortcut. That is not a reason to avoid the route; it is a reason to search carefully before committing any transferable currency.

American Airlines AAdvantage, a transfer partner, and Flying Blue are the programs to search first for JFK to EZE availability. LATAM Airlines operates nonstop service between the two cities and participates in oneworld, making AAdvantage a logical starting point for saver-rate economy searches. transfer partners with both LATAM and other Star Alliance and non-alliance carriers that serve South America, giving it broader search utility. Flying Blue covers Air France and KLM connections through European hubs, which adds a one-stop option if nonstop space is unavailable. Check all three before deciding where to park a transfer.

Economy award space on this corridor is genuinely variable. Nonstop LATAM flights between JFK and EZE do release saver seats, but inventory tightens sharply around the Northern Hemisphere summer (December through February is peak Southern Hemisphere summer, a major travel period for Argentines and inbound tourists alike), around the Argentine winter school holidays in July, and around major holidays at either end. Off-peak windows in the Northern Hemisphere spring and fall tend to show more availability, but "more available" is relative. Plan to search a range of dates across several programs simultaneously rather than assuming a single date will yield space.

On transfer paths, Chase Ultimate Rewards transfers to both a transfer partner and Flying Blue at a 1:1 ratio. American Express Membership Rewards also transfers to Flying Blue at 1:1 and to a transfer partner at 1:1, giving you two bank currencies that can feed the same programs. Citi ThankYou Points transfer to Flying Blue and to Avianca LifeMiles, the latter of which prices LATAM flights on its own award chart and is worth a lookup as a backup option. Capital One miles transfer to Flying Blue and to Avianca as well. Because transfer ratios here are all 1:1 across the relevant programs, there is no mechanical advantage to choosing one bank currency over another on ratio grounds alone; the decision lives entirely in which program shows space on your dates.

The conservative CPP framing matters when you are evaluating whether an economy redemption actually beats paying cash. Our valuation tables put Chase Ultimate Rewards at 2.0 cents per point (CPP) and Amex Membership Rewards at 2.0 CPP as well. A round-trip economy cash fare between JFK and EZE in the $600 to $900 range (off-peak) implies you need to extract at least that value from your points to come out ahead of simply paying. At 2.0 CPP, a $700 fare requires 35,000 points to match in value. If the saver award price in a given program is below that threshold, the redemption earns its keep; if the program prices the route higher, cash or a cheaper fare class may outperform the transfer. Run the comparison against the actual cash price on your specific dates before initiating any transfer.

Find space first, then transfer.