17

Feb

The Points Guy blogged about a current business class deal from Dallas to Buenos Aires and from New York JFK to Guayaquil for a hair under $1000. Both excellent buys compared to usual pricing, both available on a combination of American Airlines and LAN.

While I should probably have a greater appreciation for the largest city in Ecuador, Guayaquil as such doesn’t hold much interest for me. But I started playing around and found that you can include an add-on to Baltra Island (the Galapagos) as part of the ticket. Those segments are all-economy, and it’s basically just buying the Guayaquil special fare plus a regular ticket to and from Baltra, but much more convenient for connecting straight through than separate tickets.

And that makes this deal really attractive, to me at least.

So after posting about the $1000 business class fares to Easter Island, here’s another bucket-lister.

Here’s my search at ITA Software to find available dates.

And a calendar of business class fares that generates.

And then one sample itinerary:

Note that this example overnights in Guayaquil on the way to the Galapagos.

Note that this is not a mistake fare but rather the result of a published LAN sale.

Key fare details:

  • Business class fare books into ‘I’ inventory.
  • Travel by December 15.
  • Purchase by February 25.
  • 3-day minimum stay.
  • 14 day advance purchase required.
  • $250 change fee/non-refundable
  • March 22-28, March 30-April 2 are blacked out for travel.

11 Comments

  1. dhammer53 said,

    We flew on those beautiful layflat seats JFK/LIM/JFK in November. Their hard product is aces! Cashed in Avios at the old rate of 80k per ticket.

  2. Tim said,

    Great fare, but this is not a location for a bargain hunter. Entry fee is $100+ and its a pretty mediocre experience unless you do a cruise. Cruises start at $1300 for a short very basic 4-day (basic as in don’t flush your toilet paper). Absolutely epic experience when done right though.

  3. Running with Miles | Travel Deals: GREAT Business Class Prices to South America - Running with Miles said,

    [...] View From The Wing about NYC-Galapagos [...]

  4. RakSiam said,

    too bad only NY gets all of these goodies. What about the rest of us?

  5. Kimmie A said,

    Business class out of MIA is coming in at $1003 but I’m not sure it’s worth it for a 4.5 hour flight. In economy the MIA fare is $605 and from TPA it’s $709, cheapest r/t. I’ve put a 24-hour hold on the tix thru AA to do more research but I think Tim is right, the location is pretty expensive and what initially I thought would be a week’s jaunt into nature is looking like a super pricey excursion, especially when tacking on the cost of the cruise. [And dang it, this is cutting into my African safari fund!] Nevertheless it is the chance to check one off the bucket list for a lower-than-average cost.

  6. Dan said,

    Gary,

    I’m going to chide you, all in good fun: I come to this blog to read about ways to get miles on the cheap and redeem them for experiences that have a street value of multiples of what I paid to acquire the miles. Isn’t it sacrilege to discuss actually paying for a ticket that isn’t a mistake fare?

  7. Philipp said,

    Dan

    No. If you can get these kind of fare prices, it does make sense to purchase them and bank the miles. Seriously, this is little above the price one usually would have to pay for economy…

  8. kyunbit said,

    This is one destination where you should do a good amount of research before booking your tickets. otherwise it runs really expensive as Tim suggested. But it possible to do a 7 day Galapagos trip under $1000 if you don’t expect Hyatt level comfort along the way.

  9. Tim said,

    @Kyunbit
    If you’re talking about land-based excursions, yes you can definitely do it for under a $1000. The variety of flora and fauna seen is not comparable to a cruise though. Guide quality is the difference.
    Given the “comfort” level required by Gary I figure his audience should be strongly
    cautioned.

  10. Julian said,

    How about going for three days? Is it worth doing it?

  11. The Miles Professor said,

    There are some really nice fares coming up lately to EZE, SCL, Galapagos. Too bad I already have all my travel planned for 2013 or I’d jump on it :)

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