gabrielz

Trying to end a OW RTW in CCS, and in a bizarre twist, I can't seem to find any LA availability into CCS for an entire year. Had agents look for it at AA, and they found the same thing.

Does anyone have any insight on this? If flights are really this full, shouldn't they be throwing a bunch more capacity at Caracas?

The AA agent made some mention of a note about internal audits in CCS revealing some discrepancy, but wouldn't comment further. Curious if anyone knows anything.

-G

david_33

Maybe the currency scams being perpetrated by Venezuelans which involve flying to Ecuador or Peru.

DarrenChannel

There's a simple explanation for this. Venezuelans are booking up all the tickets out of CCS, in order to take advantage of the ability to buy US dollars at the highly restricted official exchange rate.

With a ticket in hand, the Venezuelan government allows them to buy up to $3,000 dollars. (Street rate in Caracas is some 7x higher than the official rate.) Some aren't flying at all - they're just using the ticket to get permission to buy dollars. Those who do fly are using the opportunity to buy even more dollars while abroad.

From Mexico City, I've found no availability at all with Copa or LAN to Caracas in the coming months. AA and Avianca have very limited dates available, at any price. And Aeromexico's best price MEX-CCS is $2,759 RT!

DarrenChannel

Here's a recent story on the issue:

http://articles.washingtonpost.com/2...ds-venezuelans

Viajero Millero

Were you able to book your RTW open ended?

Or no dice?

Viajero Millero

For those interested, LIM-CCS and SCL-CCS is now wide open in L and D for the next 6+ months.