General Info

[Jaimito Cartero]

Sounds like Continental is the way to go. Kinda sucks, I booked a last minute trip thru them last March. Things I didn't care for, their planes are cramped and the hubs in Houston which adds a couple of hours to the flight. I think I've flown Copa. Don't they usually fly to Panama, then to destinations in S.A.?

LAX/LIM for $300us? Where do I signup? I'm happy when I get this fare for $450 excluding taxes.

Judd

Well, if you keep your eyes open you can find the good fares. One thing to do is sign up for a Travelocity account and set up a profile. You can set LAX-LIM, LAX-EZE, or whatever city you normally fly out of. You can set a trigger so that if a price goes below a certain point, it will email you. Often the fares only last a few days.

If you still have the boarding passes from the March trip, you can still get credit for it. Even if you don't, it's *possible* to get credit for them, but it's harder.

I got a CO ticket that was $389, plus tax. I had gotten a $100 coupon for Continental last summer, and used that to bring the price down to $289, plus tax ($361 total, I think). I had to pay to fly to LAX ($100 or so) from PHX. I then decided to go the long way to Lima the for extra miles, and flew through Newark instead of Houston. Not totally smart, but it was the same price, and I got another 8000 miles or so from doing it.

Yes, Copa stops in Panama City. It uses Continentals frequent flyer program. If you haven't signed up for Onepass, I'd find the confirmation number of the flight you took in March. Call up their customer service at a non busy time, and ask nicely if they can sign you up and credit you. Might work, might not.

It takes just 2 trips to get elite, and just the chance of getting a First Class seat to Lima will make you happy.

Those $400-450 fares they have right now aren't bad. Usually when I see a super sale, I'll post a little note here, like I do in the Argentina forum as well.

[Judd]

Sounds like Continental is the way to go. Kinda sucks, I booked a last minute trip thru them last March. Things I didn't care for, their planes are cramped and the hubs in Houston which adds a couple of hours to the flight. I think I've flown Copa. Don't they usually fly to Panama, then to destinations in S.A.?

LAX/LIM for $300us? Where do I signup? I'm happy when I get this fare for $450 excluding taxes.

Judd

[Jaimito Cartero]

Must be some sorta monger acronym I was unaware of. Thanks Chicago Boy. That's a great article. It might behoove me to wait a couple of months before I take my next trip I guess competition in a free market has it's advantages, and can spill over into other parts of the world.

Judd

just kidding on the WSJ thing!!!

Fares might drop a bit in August, but I wouldn't bet on it. Small hops (Rio-Gig/Gig-Eze) might go down, but LAX-LIM won't go below $300 plus tax.

Continental is starting to fly into BA in November, so with luck we'll see the prices going down there. It sucks, since my pricing from PHX is usally $900-$1200!

[Jaimito Cartero]

Appreciate the info. Yeah, I need to do a better job getting credit for the miles I travel so I have the option to upgrade. I usually book thru Yahoo/Travelocity. I never seem to get credit for miles when I book thru this site. This really is ridiculous of me. I've taken at least 20 trips to BA/Lima/Cali and have a grand total of 12,000 miles from AA.

There's quite a few airline options when travelling out of LAX. What airline has the best frequent flyer mileage program for someone like myself who travels to Lima/BA 4 to 6 times a year?

Thanks!

Judd

I would have to give the nod to either Northwest or Continental. Although Northwest doesn't fly there, they are partners of Continental and often give you more credited miles on cheap fares than Continental does. Weird, but true.

You have a couple of different options. One is to ask them to comp you to a certain frequent flyer level. If you can show a couple of long trips in the near future (ticketed), they may give you the lowest status. (This is silver). This would work for CO, not NW.

I'd say that Continental might edge out NW a little bit if you fly Copa any. Copa is owned 49% by Continental, and uses their same frequent flyer system (Onepass).

Why do you book on Travelocity? I use it occassionally myself, but only if the fare has been pulled off of other sites. Until June 15th (I think), you can buy a Continental gift card online that will give you $5 off every $100 you buy. So if your ticket is $500, you will save $475. Not a great discount, but not bad.

When you buy on most of the other sites, you pay a $5-$10 booking fee.

The one thing about getting elite on CO or NW, is that they give free domestic USA upgrades. Now as a Silver member you aren't likely to get a lot of these since there are two levels above you. However, if you keep flying CO's partners (NW, Delta, Copa, KLM and a few other international ones), the miles will build up quickly. As a Platinum member I get 125% on most of my tickets as a bonus. So if I fly 10,000 miles, I get a total of 22,500 miles credited to my account. This helps get free tickets REAL quick.

By the end of next month, I'll have earned enough free miles to go on an around the world Business class ticket, all from miles that I've gotten this year. Considering that I've only spent $4000 on tickets this year, I'm getting at least double the value out of this RTW ticket.

One important thing to note on CO flights, if the plane is a narrow body plane (757, 727, 737, etc), as an elite you are eligible for first class upgrades for free. It was great flying to Lima and getting upgraded to FC for free on a $363 ticket on the international portions, plus one of the domestic legs.

This same thing applies to Copa as well, since they usually fly only 737-700 or 737-800 planes.

While their first class cabins aren't as nice as some of the widebodies (767, 777, 747), it's still much nicer being in a wide seat, and getting some decent food.

If you have some dates you're looking for, I don't mind looking for some flights for you. It's my other hobby.

Two roundtrips from LAX-LIM and LAX-EZE will get you to the silver level.

If you only want to fly on American, you can ask them for a challenge, and get up to their lower or medium level with just 2 or 3 flights. I can give you more details on this, if you'd like.

Almost all info I have on travel I've gotten at flyertalk.com. It's a very good resource for trick and tips on flights, frequent flyer programs and much more.

And one note, always keep your boarding passes. You can usually get credit up to 6 months after you fly. Even if you didn't have your frequent flyer number in there, you can do it. Remember that some airlines allow credit to other programs. (I think most LAN programs can go into AA)

[Judd]

Must be some sorta monger acronym I was unaware of. Thanks Chicago Boy. That's a great article. It might behoove me to wait a couple of months before I take my next trip I guess competition in a free market has it's advantages, and can spill over into other parts of the world.

Judd

just kidding on the WSJ thing!!!

[Judd]

Appreciate the info. Yeah, I need to do a better job getting credit for the miles I travel so I have the option to upgrade. I usually book thru Yahoo/Travelocity. I never seem to get credit for miles when I book thru this site. This really is ridiculous of me. I've taken at least 20 trips to BA/Lima/Cali and have a grand total of 12,000 miles from AA.

There's quite a few airline options when travelling out of LAX. What airline has the best frequent flyer mileage program for someone like myself who travels to Lima/BA 4 to 6 times a year?

Thanks!

Judd

[Jaimito Cartero]

Anyone know where I can get a low fare from "Kaulifornia" to Lima? I'm thinking about heading there for a couple of days during the upcoming 4th de Julio weekend.

Thanks,

Judd

AeroMexico has $399 plus tax flights from LAX-LIM. (Probably $460 total). Monday-Thursday departures/arrivals.

Delta and AA have flights for July in the $489 or so range (plus tax).

Copa and Continental also have the same price. These are all pretty good deals. If you're elite on NW or CO, you may get Business Class upgrades for free too. (As I did on my last trip) That's nice on a long trip.

[ChicagoBoy23]

Discount Airlines
Hit Latin America

As Travelers Flock to Region,
Cheap Options Proliferate;
Rio to São Paulo: $20
By AMY CHOZICK
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 8, 2005; Page D1

The discount-airline craze that has transformed travel in the U.S., Europe and Asia, is starting to take off in Latin America.

Until recently, travelers covering long distances in countries like Brazil, Mexico, and Peru had either to take expensive full-fare flights -- often offered only by small charter carriers -- or else hop aboard a bone-jarring long-distance bus. However, a fast-growing class of discount airlines is starting to establish itself as an alternative. In the past year or so, at least four budget airlines have started offering service or have added cross-border flights serving not only major cities but tourist spots as well. Modeled on discounters like Ireland's Ryanair and U.S.-based Southwest Airlines, the upstart Latin carriers are offering fares as low as $20 between São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro. In some cases, promotional one-way teaser fares have been less than a dollar.

PESO AIR




See a sampling of routes and fares from some of the airlines that are offering discount flights in Latin America



Several new carriers are about to join the fray. In July, Mexicana, Mexico's leading international carrier, plans to launch Click, a budget airline that will offer domestic routes from Mexico City to popular but tough-to-reach beach towns like Ixtapa on the West coast and Puerto Escondido, a onetime surfing hot spot now popular among nonsurfers drawn by its pristine beaches. Click also will take over Mexicana's routes to popular Caribbean spots such as Cancún and Playa del Carmen, and is expected to apply discount-airline pricing formulas to them.

In December, Brazilian startup GOL Linhas Aéreas Inteligentes SA launched service to Buenos Aires from São Paulo with promotional fares starting around $167 (the lowest fare the Brazilian government would permit at the time) each way, compared with $300 or so on the country's major carriers. This month, the no-frills airline -- expect cold snacks and economy seats -- will begin flights to Santa Cruz, Bolivia, and also says it plans to add service to the capitals of Uruguay and Paraguay in the next few months.

The new airline competition corresponds with a surge in tourism to the region. With the the euro still strong against the dollar, U.S. citizens are flocking south. While the U.S. dollar has decreased by about 10% against the euro over the past two years, it has gained 7% against the Mexican peso. In Nicaragua, the dollar has been so strong against the Córdoba that a night in a luxury hotel currently goes for about $15 to $25.

The relative bargains are driving up travel. International arrivals to Central America are growing by nearly 11% a year, according to a study last year by the World Trade Organization. Tourism to Belize has increased by 50% over the past five years, primarily due to new interest among cruise lines. Peru expects more than a million tourists this year and two million annually by 2010.


Flights to Salvador, Brazil, on Gol's nighttime service -- nicknamed corujoes, or 'owls' -- are as low as $65 one way.


The carriers can offer substantial savings and convenience for travelers who know what to look for. Nature Air in Costa Rica is serving new destinations like Drake Bay, a wilderness resort town on the beach that used to require a six-hour drive and two-hour boat ride to reach from San José. (Flight time: 40 minutes.) Tikal Jets has made it easier to reach Guatemala's famed Tikal ruins for $99 each way.

Air travel in the region has a reputation for being rough around the edges: Lengthy delays are commonplace, and government oversight in the past tended to keep prices sky-high, until a recent wave of deregulation. While traveling on the discounters may be cost-effective, it can cause headaches for vacationers unfamiliar with the region. Some carriers use major airports, but others fly into out-of-the-way landing strips with little or no infrastructure. Costa Rica's Nature Air, for instance, uses an old Sandinista airstrip on its route between San José and Granada, Nicaragua. Some little airports may make announcements only in Spanish or Portuguese. And on Gol, the most affordable flights are offered as part of its night service. Nicknamed corujões (or "owls" in Portuguese), these flights operate between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.

The budget-airline movement in Latin America comes at a time when discount carriers are dramatically reshaping the airline industry around the world. In the U.S., discounter Southwest Airlines has become one of the fastest-growing domestic carriers, expanding in recent years into nonstop transcontinental routes.

In Europe, traditional airlines have lost market share to budget carriers such as Ryanair and easyJet. Last month, Iberia, Spain's largest airline, announced that it would consider buying or creating a low-cost carrier of its own. In Asia, competition among discounters is so heated that flights on popular routes such as Hong Kong to Singapore have sunk as low as $25 each way.

The expansion of discounters in South America is happening as aviation officials are making it easier for carriers to add flights across borders. In May, regulators in Peru and Brazil signed an agreement to allow 28 flights a week between the two countries, more than triple the current quota of eight flights a week. A new Peruvian airline, Wayra Peru, is expected to enter the market as early as this month, serving 12 Peruvian cities including Cuzco, the town closest to the Machu Picchu ruins.

The new airlines are primarily targeting the millions of middle- and lower-middle class Latin Americans fed up with shelling out for bumpy, cramped 10-hour-plus bus rides between cities -- trips that can cost as much as $75 to $100 on some routes.

However, the new airlines are aimed at foreign tourists as well. U.S.-based travelers can buy tickets on these carriers' own Web sites, which typically have English options and allow bookings with major credit cards. Some of the airlines offer hotel and car-rental packages aimed at tourists. Tikal Jets offers discounts at the Radisson and Grand Tikal Futura hotels in Guatemala City when tickets are bought through the carrier's Web site.

Almost none of these carriers is listed on the big online travel agencies like Travelocity or Orbitz.

Mexicana's Click plans to offer code-share agreements with several carriers from abroad that will allow international travelers to transfer to Click flights. Click says its site, clickmexicana.com, will have an English option when it is launched in July.

Airlines remain a relative luxury in South America. According to AvGroup Inc., a Miami-based aviation consultant, fewer than 10% of the 500 million people in Latin America and the Caribbean travel by air.

Brazil's Gol airline -- named after the Portuguese word for "goal" in soccer -- was founded by the family that controls the country's biggest bus-travel company. It was launched in 2001 with just six planes traveling to seven destinations within Brazil. It now has 32 planes and flies to 40 airports.

Some carriers use smaller planes in their fleets. Nature Air's aircraft are mostly 19-seat twin-engine planes. Tikal Jets operates DC-9s, and Gol uses Boeing 737-700s. Civil-aviation authorities in South America require the budget airlines to meet the same aviation standards as established carriers.

Like many of the new discounters, Nature Air offers online booking and special Web-only discounts on its Web site, www.natureair.com. Tikal Jets, Guatemala's national carrier, doesn't consider itself a low-cost carrier, but nevertheless it's targeting the low-fare end of the market as it expands. The airline, which also serves destinations in Belize and Cuba, offers special hotel/airfare package deals on its Web site, tikaljets.com.

Gol's Web site, www.voegol.com, has listed low-cost teaser fares in an effort to build buzz. For instance, some special fares between Rio and São Paulo have been listed as low as $20 each way, not including taxes or fees, compared with $160 or so, round trip, on major carriers. The airline currently accepts only American Express for online international purchases, and U.S. travelers can't print electronic tickets.

Gol's night-owl fares sometimes even undercut the price of bus tickets. For instance, a four-hour night flight from Rio to the popular tourist city of Salvador starts at $65 each way. By comparison, a first-class bus trip (which takes about 24 hours) would cost about $70 each wa

[Judd]

Anyone know where I can get a low fare from "Kaulifornia" to Lima? I'm thinking about heading there for a couple of days during the upcoming 4th de Julio weekend.

Thanks,

Judd

[Jaimito Cartero]

For those of you lucky enough to live in Lima, it seems Taca is running some low fares to LAX. Just about $300 including taxes! This fare seems available only out of Lima, however. The fare class will not earn miles on American (I think), but may earn Taca or other program miles.

This is the fare code basis:LEZ00THS

Good until the end of May.

[FlyingAce]

Just to keep you all up to date:

El Comercio today reports 3 more bus accidents:

1 in Cusco (17 dead)
1 in La Libertad (13 dead)
1 in Ucayali (3 dead)

33 deaths in one day. Seems that the checking their doing on buses isn't working, only getting worse.

FlyingAce.

[Long Stroker]

Thanks for the link Maltrufio. Interesting website. It actully did have a reference to Peru:

"Eighteen Peruvian farmers were killed when the bus in which they were taking their produce to Huancayo skidded on a twisting, rain-soaked mountain road and plunged 820ft down a cliff."

It didn't say when this happened.

I'm just about ready to say fuck it to the idea of visiting Huancayo. I would really like to see the mountains, but goddamn it, with all this shit news, it just doesn't seem worth the risk. It doesn't look like the train will be running any more this year, either.

Maybe I'll take a plane to Huaraz and visit the hot springs instead.

[Maltrufio]

hey long stroker,

looks like another bus took the plunge in peru this last friday, falling about 650 feet. one quote from the article was interesting - “bus crashes are common in peru, where drivers frequently speed and pass vehicles along blind mountain curves.”

i also found this site for your bus crash reading entertainment - http://users.lmi.net/tcs55/. although not about peru, still interesting.

[Maltrufio]

LS,

Once you crest the Andes coming from the west, there is a huge upland plateau, several miles wide, then a very gradual descent down through cloud forest, then highland jungle, to the lowland jungle.

Also, I’ve never had pachamanca with alpaca. It usually has beef, pork, chicken, lamb, potatoes, yucca, yams, and corn. I’ve also had it with guinea pig. I have had alpaca before though. It was pretty good, but I don’t know about the cholesterol content. The plate was basically lomo saltado but they replaced the beef with alpaca. I also had armardillo saltado before, that was interesting.

[Don River]

Long Stroker,

If I had to make a choice, I would suggest that you try a tour through the sacred valley when you are in Cusco. Also I believe there is a train that runs to Puno from Cusco.

Puno is a very different place. Take time to go see the floating indian village on the lake and go to the market in Juliaca.

Also I would suggest that you take a tour of the selva. There is absolutely nothing like it in our world.

Don