Hey thanx Britski for your advice. I wanted to take the 2nd LH flt to ORD as that would have given me an entire day to clear up a couple things here before heading out. But I'll probably go for the morning flt. That gives me a tremendous amount of time to kill at the airport. As for alternatives, yes the cost is tad more (actually not so much more than a direct flt) but its all but impossible as a nonrev to get a seat out of Europe to any South American destination at the moment. At least not without lots of tension and anxiety at the gate. Return north bound legs look good on the other hand, so I'll probably try a drect flt on the way back. Plus the LH-UA combination should give me a good priority status. Thanx again for your "two cents".