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Latin American Airfares - Facts you Should Know!

Before you grab the phone and call your favorite airline to book a flight, here are a few facts you should keep in mind:

There is more than one ticket to get you to your destination!

Depending upon the duration of your stay and how many locations you wish to visit, you may save by buying a 120-day-bulk-ticket, student ticket, airpass or other kind of airline ticket. Find out about the various kinds of airline tickets before you spend your money. Buy the one that suits your unique travel plans as well as your wallet.

Each airline/site you visite will quote you a different airfare!

Within the United States, airfares on American, United, Delta, Continental, etc. do not vary dramatically for the same flights. For example, if you want to fly between New York and Los Angeles, the price you pay on United will differ only slighty from the price on American because the airlines make an effort to match each other's discounts and published fares. NOT SO WITH FLIGHTS TO LATIN AMERICA!! Published fares to Latin America may vary as much as 30-40% from airline to airline! That means that you can save money if you compare prices, or that you could pay more if you insist on a particular carrier.

No advance purchase necessary!

Another difference between Latin American and domestic tickets: flights to Latin America do not get cheaper if you book them ahead of time. Except for the issue of finding space available for your travel dates, regardless of whether you purchase your airline ticket 3 months or two days prior to departure, the price will probably be the same. Great news if you tend to make last-minute travel plans! BUT BE WARNED: during peak season (which usually includes December, January and the summer months) flights can be full for months in advance.

Smart routes get you around more -- for less!

The secret to this is called "open jaw flight" - named after the open-mouthed expression on travelers' faces when they hear about this good deal. Well, that's not quite where the name came from. It means that you fly into one city in Latin America but return from another city. For example, a popular open jaw option in Central America is to fly into San Jose, Costa Rica and fly home from Guatemala City, Guatemala. You can explore the terrain between the two countries using buses, trains or short domestic flights. You pay just half the round trip fare to each city.

Airpasses save you time and stress!

We like this tip so much that we have created a special airpasses link! Check it out if you're a city-hopper type with a maximum of 60 days on your hands. If you don't want to spend your whole budget on tickets and want to keep your travel plans flexible, airpasses are for you!

Visting various cities on your trip? Try our new multi-stop airfare request form!

Don't even think about a one-way ticket!

We really mean this. Unless you stay in Latin America for longer than a year, one-way tickets are always a bad deal. You'll regret your purchase twice: first, when you find out that the one-way ticket costs just as much as (or only slightly less than) a round-trip ticket. And second, when you try to get a return ticket from Latin America. Even if you speak some Spanish and manage to get quoted an airfare, you'll be shocked about how steep ticket prices are in Latin America! Folks who want to keep their return trip open are better advised to make an arbitrary reservation and change the date from Latin America -- a much easier and cheaper option.

Best deals for travel under 120 days

Take this as a rule of thumb. A ticket that is valid for 120 days -- called a bulk-ticket -- is always the cheapest. If you are planning a longer stay, your ticket will probably cost more, but make sure you check out our section about various kinds of tickets before you buy!

Latin American carriers have Pros and Cons

Latin American airlines tend to overbook flights more than their US competitors. This means, you might get kicked off a very full flight, even if you bought your ticket weeks ago! Make sure you do reconfirm your flight (72 hours before departure) and try to get to the airport at least three hours before departure. The earlier you check in, the better your chances to get on! Sometimes a little "latino behavior" helps, too: don't hesitate to make yourself heard and point out to the staff that you have complied with all their requirements. Somewhat proving the cliche, service does tend to be lower on Latin American carriers - less customer oriented and less organized. If you're the adventurous type, that means your Latin American experience starts right at the airport, but it might also bother you... Also, be aware that Latin American airlines do not have many direct flights. You are more likely to get at least one stopover on the way to your destination. Then again, this might be exactly what you want: see another city and stay there for a few days almost for free! However, in spite of these drawbacks there are some definite advantages when "flying latino": Latin American airlines have offices in most cities, especially those frequented by tourists, thus making it easy for you to change your return flight (usually for free or a small fee). US airlines generally hold offices only in the capitals and tend to charge substantially more for changing your flight.

It pays to think in terms of "hubs"

Every airline has one or more cities from where the fleet is operated. These "airline headquaters" are called hubs. (We have listed all major airlines serving Latin America with their hubs in our airline information.) Logically, any flight booked on a certain airline will be routed through their hub - a fact to consider when chosing an airline. For example, American Airlines' hub is Miami. When traveling to Latin America from the East coast this is a good choice, as Miami is on the way south. From the West coast, however, Miami looks like kind of a detour on the way to, let's say, Peru. That's why folks traveling from Los Angeles might want to look for an airline with a more convenient hub. Got it? Never mind - if you don't want to deal with all that travel business lingo, just contact eXito and we'll be glad to do it for you.