Air
Print
Email
Save to Favorites
Because Peru lies in the same time zone as the East Coast of the United States and Canada, North American travelers feel no jet lag after arriving in Peru. Depending on where you are flying from in North America, the flight can be anywhere from 6 to 10 hours, and many people fly in the evening in order to catch early-morning flights on to Cusco. The cheapest tickets to Lima in high season start around US$590 from Fort Lauderdale through Spirit, and around US$500 from Miami through American.
Most Europeans find it cheaper to travel to Peru via flights with stopovers in the United States or the Caribbean, though there are direct flights from Madrid and Amsterdam. The cheapest flights from major European cities start around US$1,000. Travelers from Asia, Africa, New Zealand, and Australia will also need to make at least one layover en route to Lima.
The most expensive times to fly to Peru are the Christmas vacations and the high tourist months from June to August. Prices begin to drop around May and September and are at their lowest during the shoulder seasons from October to December and January to April.
Lima Airport
All overseas flights from Europe and North America arrive in Lima at Jorge Chávez International Airport (tel. 01/511-6055 24-hour flight info, www.lap.com.pe). From here flights continue on to Cusco and other cities. Most planes from overseas arrive in the middle of the night, and flights to Cusco begin from about 5 a.m. onward. Some travelers wait in the airport for connecting flights, while the majority head to Miraflores, San Isidro, Barranco, or even Lima’s historic center, where there is a good selection of hotels.
If you’d rather stay in the airport area overnight, the Costa del Sol–Ramada (Av. Elmer Faucett s/n, Aeropuerto Internacional Jorge Chávez, tel. 01/711-2000, www.costadelsolperu.com, US$250 s, US$265 d with buffet breakfast included) has a good restaurant, sushi bar, and all imaginable amenities. The hotel is literally right across the taxi lanes in the airport.
On the return, most flights from Cusco arrive here midday and leave for the U.S. at night—so many visitors have at least a half day in Lima.
Jorge Chávez has come a long way and is actually a pretty modern airport. It has a range of services, including banks, money exchange booths, ATMs, a post office, stores, café, two food courts, duty-free shops, a rent-a-cell service, and a recommended Quattro D ice cream shop with playground, among other services. There is even the Sumaq VIP Lounge, voted as the Lounge of the Year 2009 by Priority Pass. If you want to store your luggage, go to Left Luggage (tel. 01/517-3217, at the side of Domestic Arrivals, US$1.25 per piece of luggage per hour, US$7.5 per piece of luggage per 24 hours).
Pushy taxi drivers will be waiting for you outside the airport. The best thing to do is contract a taxi through Taxi Green (tel. 01/9826-7148), a private company that has stands just outside luggage claim. Have your destination address written down. Taxi prices from the airport to the center should be around US$12, to Miraflores about US$15. You may be able to get a cheaper taxi if you negotiate with a driver in the airport parking lot, but be sure to know where you are going. Hard-core budget travelers will walk outside the gate of the airport and save a few dollars by taking a taxi, combi, or colectivo on the street. Be very careful with your luggage if you do this!
There is a US$6.82 tax on all domestic flights leaving Lima and a US$31 tax on all departing international flights. Both taxes can be paid in either U.S. or Peruvian currency, according to the exchange rate of the day, which is normally posted outside the cashier’s window. On your way home, arrive at the airport 2–3 hours in advance for international flights and 1–2 hours for domestic flights.
Velasco Astete International Airport in Cusco has flights arriving from Santa Cruz and La Paz, Bolivia, with Aerosur (www.aerosur.com), and Benigno Ballón Farfán International Airport in Arequipa has flights from Arica, Chile, with Sky Airline (www.skyairline.cl).
Cheap Fares
The best way to get a cheap fare to Peru is to travel outside the high season months of June through August. Within Peru’s three-month high season, it will be difficult to find a discount fare to Peru and onward to Cusco and other main destinations.
The easiest way to start a search for airfare is to use an airfare price comparison website like Kayak (www.kayak.com), which compiles the best prices from hundreds of sources, including online travel engines like Travelocity, Expedia, CheapTickets, and Orbitz. Other options include FareChase (www.farechase.com), SideStep (www.sidestep.com), Mobissimo (www.mobissimo.com), and Bookingbuddy (www.bookingbuddy.com).
A slightly more difficult option is to find an agency with consolidator fares. Consolidators commit to selling huge blocks of tickets for airlines in exchange for preferred bulk rates. Most consolidators do not deal with the public, so the best way to get your hands on consolidated tickets is to call an agency that works with a consolidator. You can find one of these agencies by typing “Peru consolidator” or similar keywords into Google.
Consolidators sell out their cheap tickets early, especially during Peru’s high season, so purchase well in advance. Be careful of fraud with online airline consolidator agencies. Before you purchase, call and make sure the company is legitimate. Always use a credit card so that you can protest a charge, if necessary.
Students and teachers can buy discounted airfare from STA Travel (www.sta.com). This web page links to STA representatives in nearly 75 countries and has a search engine for cheap fares. Students under 26 can purchase a US$22 student ISIC card that entitles them to trip insurance, student airfares, and a range of discounts for everything from bus fare to museum admission. Student discounts are very common in Peru—get this card if at all possible.
From North America
Direct flights from Miami are available, on a daily basis, through LAN (www.lan.com) and American (www.aa.com). Airlines with flights from Miami with one layover to Lima include Avianca (www.avianca.com), with a stop in Bogotá, Colombia; Copa (www.copaair.com), with a stop in Panama City, Panama; and Taca (www.taca.com), with a stop in San José, Costa Rica.
From Fort Lauderdale direct flights are available on Spirit Airlines (www.spiritair.com), from Los Angeles and New York on LAN, from Dallas–Fort Worth on American, from Houston and Newark on Continental (www.continental.com), and from Atlanta through Delta (www.delta.com).
From Toronto, Air Canada (www.aircanada.com) offers direct flights to Lima.
Recommended U.S. agencies that deal with a number of consolidators include World Class Travel (U.S. tel. 800/771-3100, www.peruperu.com), eXito Latin American Travel Specialists (U.S. tel. 800/665-4053, www.exitotravel.com), and Big Sky Travel (tel. 800/284-9809, info [at] bigskytvl [dot] com).
There are also several courier companies from the United States from which travelers may be able to find even cheaper fares in exchange for carrying packages to and from Peru. These fares come with heavy restrictions on flying times and luggage limits. The bigger companies are Air Courier.org (U.S. tel. 877/303-4258) and International Association of Air Travel Couriers (U.S. tel. 515/292-2458, www.courier.org).
From Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean
Direct flights from Mexico City are available through Aeromexico (www.aeromexico.com). Taca, Copa, Avianca, and other airlines operate a range of direct and layover Lima flights from Cancún, Mexico; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; La Havana, Cuba; Panama City, Panama; San José, Costa Rica; and San Salvador, El Salvador.
From Europe
The only direct flights to Lima from Europe are from Amsterdam and from Madrid Madrid though LAN, Iberia (www.iberia.com), and Air Europa (www.aireuropa.com). Carriers that make one stopover en route to Lima also include LAN, American, Delta, and Continental.
In the United Kingdom, good consolidators include North-South Travel (U.K. tel. 01245/608291, www.northsouthtravel.co.uk), which gives part of its proceeds to an international development trust it has set up. Others include Travel Bag (U.K. tel. 0800/804-8911, www.travelbag.co.uk) and Quest Travel (U.K. tel. 0871/423-0135, www.questtravel.com). Flight Centre International (U.K. tel. 0870/499-0040, www.flightcentre.co.uk) is good for tickets between the United Kingdom and the United States only.
From France, good consolidators include Last Minute (France tel. 0899/78-5000, www.fr.lastminute.com), Nouvelles Frontiéres (France tel. 0825/00-0747, www.nouvelles-frontieres.fr), and Voyageurs de Monde (France tel. 0892/23-5656, www.vdm.com).
From Germany, a good option is Last Minute (Germany tel. 01805/77-7257, www.de.lastminute.com) or Just Travel (Germany tel. 089/747-3330, www.justtravel.de). In the Netherlands, try Airfair (Netherlands tel. 0900/771-7717, www.airfair.nl), and in Spain, there is Barcelo Viajes (Spain tel. 902/116-226, www.barceloviajes.com).
From Asia, Africa, and the Pacific
From Asia there are no direct flights at this time to Lima. All flights from Hong Kong, Tokyo, and other Asian cities first stop in the United States. Good Asian consolidators include Japan’s No 1 Travel (Japan tel. 03/3200-8977, www.no1-travel.com), Hong Kong’s Four Seas Tours (Hong Kong tel. 2200-7777, www.fourseastravel.com), and India’s STIC Travels (India tel. 79/2642-3518, www.stictravel.com).
From New Zealand and Australia, flights usually have stopovers in Los Angeles or Miami, or in Santiago or Buenos Aires before heading to Lima. A good agency for flights to the United States is Flight Centre International (tel. 0870/499-0040, www.flightcentre.co.uk).
From Africa, travelers to Lima head to Europe first, though South African Airways (South Africa tel. 0861/359-722, www.flysaa.com) has a flight from Johannesburg to São Paolo, Brazil. A good African agency is Rennies Travel (South Africa tel. 0861/100-155, www.renniestravel.com).
Within South America
More than a dozen South American cities have daily flights through LAN and Taca, to and from lima, the regional hub for both airlines. Taca flies from/to Quayaquil and Quito in Ecuador; Bogotá, Cali, and Medellín in Colombia; Caracas in Venezuela; La Paz and Santa Cruz in Bolivia; Montevideo in Uruguay; Santiago in Chile; Buenos Aires in Argentina; and São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. LAN also flies to/from Lima to all cities mentioned for TACA. Aerolineas Argentinas (www.aerolineas.com) flies from Buenos Aires. Avianca (www.avianca.com) flies from Bogotá, and TAM (www.tam.com.br) from Rio de Janeiro.
© Ross Wehner and Renée del Gaudio from Moon Peru, 3rd Edition
Buy Moon Travel Guides
Search
Moon Travel Guides make independent travel and outdoor exploration fun and accessible. With expert and adventurous travel writers delivering a mix of honest insight, first-rate strategic travel advice, insider travel tips and an essential dose of humor, Moon Travel Guides ensure that travelers have an uncommon and entirely satisfying experience. Each travel book is filled with unique trip ideas, easy-to-use maps, and detailed information on sights, restaurants, and accommodations. Moon Travel Guides not only point you in the right direction, they inspire new ideas and adventure. Whether you are seeking a relaxing beach trip to Hawaii, or an adventure travel trip to the rainforests of Costa Rica, Moon guidebooks—and Moon.com—are with you every step of the way. Founded in 1973, the Moon Travel Guides series includes Moon Handbooks, Moon Outdoors, Moon Metro, Moon Living Abroad and Moon Spotlight travel books. Moon is based in Berkeley, California and is a proud member of the Perseus Books Group.