What are you paying for airfare?

[shortbuss45]

Hello all!! Long time member and lurker here and I am planning my debauchery tour to Peru soon. Me 27, fluent in spanish with trips completed to Dominican R. Costa Rica, and lived in Mexico for a year. What are you paying for airfare?? I'm flying out of SDF Louisville, KY, but not opposed to flying to chicago or other places for cheaper fare. Cheapest I have found is $850 for the beginning of Feb. That to me is ricockulous! I can fly almost anywhere in the world for that money. Any tips or suggestions? Thanks in advance!!

 

[RT Gooch]

RT here. Copa ( www.copaair.com ) usually has flights from Miami for under $600 round trip. The 0nly catch is that you have to change in Panama. It adds about two hours to the trip, but you get to stretch your legs.

Also, the return flight home leaves Lima at around 3 in the afternoon, so you don't have to do one of those early morning or late night flights, AND you have time for a last morning session if you want it!

For example, I just tried 9-17 February (at random), and came up with a total price of $568.20.

But yes, airfares are insane.

 

[TinTin]

RT:

Some people have good luck with this site:

http://www.farecompare.com/search/compareDestinations.html?departure=LIM

However, it is frequently best to "locate" the fare on the web site and then go direct to the airline.

The escalation in prices has been horrendous. I go down to Lima at least once a month and two years ago it was relatively cheap. Now, my ass is burning!!

TinTin

 

[CptAssHat]

Both of my visits to Peru, I flew LAN round trip. Purchased through Orbitz- I'm not necessarily a fan of Orbitz, but they do pretty well for airfare. I have a lot of consolidator links saved, but Orbitz provides one of the most comprehensive search tools I have ever seen.

I know the option I'm about to describe says: US/Canada 0nly. Ignore that. Because they're lying.

Instead of selecting specific dates, there is a small link below the area for entering your dates called 'flexible dates.' Clicking that option provides three different options for searching: 1. Weekend trips(pretty obvious) 2. Bonus days, you can search for up to three days before and after the begin/end of your dates. and 3. Flexible dates. I like this one, it allows me to search up to 30 days for the best time to leave/return from my trip. You choose the length of your stay, the span of days(up to 30) to search, and it provides the results.

Even if you don't use Orbitz to purchase, its an excellent reference tool for finding the best price within a range of dates. I wouldn't recommend using Orbitz for hotels, but for airfare, they provide a lot of good information. One caveat: there are numerous airlines that I believe are not used by Orbitz, however I do believe they do have all the major airlines, domestic and international.

My trips(all booked through Orbitz) include: Dec $850, Feb: $650 and June(yes!): $578.

All three flights use LAN to Lima, and 0nly my latest routes me with a layover on my return flight(in Miami). You may or may not prefer LAN, they fly my route, LAX-LIM, 0nly once a day; late morning/afternoon to LIM, and midnight to LAX. Well, for non-stop service, that is.

If I were willing to fly with TACA, I could get to Lima and back for less than $500. There's a layover in El Salvador, but its still less than $500, taxes and fees included. That's pretty tough to beat out of LAX.

The best thing to do is start planning 4-6 weeks out. That way, even if you miss a low fare once, its almost certain to re-appear later on.

Hope I've been of some assistance here.
The Cap'n