(this is a long report)

What my girlfriend and I did for a million miles…

LP Latin America Flying Day One:
Aviateca 961 GUA-SAL
Copa 411 SAL-MGA
Taca 514/523 MGA-SAL-SJO (5 nites)
Flying Day Two:
Lacsa 710 SJO-MGA
Taca 515 MGA-MIA
Aeropostal 503 MIA-CCS (overnite)
Flying Day Three:
Avianca 75 CCS-BOG
Aces 521 BOG-UIO (overnite)
Flying Day Four:
Aces 521 UIO-LIM (overnite airport)
Taca 7 LIM-CUZ (two nights in Cuzco)

Flew AA to Guatemala (with a non-LP sidetrip to Roatan Honduras for some excellent scubadiving/snorkeling and the best calamari we ever ate). Guatemala Marriott special of $90 for two people included welcome drinks, full breakfast, airport shuttle. We did a day-trip to Antigua Guatemala to see the end of the colorful Holy Week (Easter) celebration. Travelers who like Quito and Cuzco will also like Antigua.

Started LP Latin American airlines run with same day flights Aviateca 961 Y GUA-SAL, Copa 411 C SAL-MGA. Taca 514/523 C MGA-SAL-SJO. No problems at airports, no need to go thru customs for connections, no departure taxes (except GUA where we'd spent more than 24hrs). Best Western San Jose was $50 including breakfast and shuttle to airport. We enjoyed the $5 homestyle chicken, mashed potatoes and mixed peppers dish of Pilar, the hotel restaurant's big grandmotherly cook. Spent several days in Costa Rica to see Arenal volcano spew forth, wade in volcanic hot springs amidst lush tropical foliage at Tabacon resort, trek through jungle and swing across ropes during a rainforest canopy tour, and sip good coffee at one of the Parisienne cafés outside tables in downtown San Jose's bustling main square.

Things were going great until…our early Lacsa flight SJO-MGA was cancelled creating a small domino effect with our connecting Taca MGA-MIA and next day Aeropostal MIA-CCS. The Lacsa agent offered us a direct flight same day to MIA. For a brief un-caffeinated moment, we considered returning to Latin America for the Nica flight. Then I remembered Aeropostal had two flights to CCS and that if we flew Lacsa and Taca the next day we might catch the later Aeropostal flight. But the later Aeropostal flight was full so we got seats MIA to Maracaibo. We'd figure out how to get to CCS later (we did: $80 ow flight reservations). After our flights were changed I asked about the free hotel stay that the Lacsa agent had offered at one point. She said she could no longer offer it since we declined the offer to fly direct to MIA, and we'd need to wait at least two hours to speak to her supervisor. At this point, we went to a wonderful Grupo Taca Executive Class counter agent named Victor and explained our situation and that we flew in on business class. After several moments, he returned with 3-min international phone call, hotel, taxi, and breakfast, lunch, dinner vouchers for us. Excellent service. Instead of our planned night in Miami, we had an extra free day/night in San Jose. Part of our bonus day was spent at the Butterfly Farm where the luminous Blue Morpho was my favorite.

Next day Lacsa 710 SJO-MGA and Taca 515 MGA-MIA flights were on-time and we had all boarding passes issued at SJO (btw, $17 SJO dep tax each). Aeropostal in Miami was a mess with lots of agent confusion. Our MIA-Maracaibo flight was cancelled. We got waitlisted on the CCS flight that was supposedly oversold by 7. We offered to pay for business class but were told it was a one class flight. We really needed to fly into CCS that night to catch Avianca and Aces flights the next day. Five minutes before the flight and after repeated inquiries, we got seats and found the plane half-empty and with business class! It departed 1.5 hrs late.

We arrived in Caracas after 1am and were too tired to bicker over the $40 fare (inc tip) to go to the Intercontinental in a fast, loud, big Oldsmobile "taxi" that ripped through the near-empty highways and tunnels. The hotel upgraded us to the club floor (we liked the room and nice view) because our first room had twin beds. We didn't like the taste or offerings of the full breakfast bar included in our $150 rate. Due to some confusion at the desk about qualifying room rates, we ended up paying more to reach the $209 mileage accrual rate for Latin Pass.

Avianca 75 CCS-BOG and Aces 521 BOG-UIO were fine. At BOG, the Diners Club was closed but we actually enjoyed hanging out in the 2nd floor main waiting area for 5 hours reading, watching streams of people, snacking in food shops, and watching Spanish music videos on television. I did not find security heavy or remarkable. Few food or shop options in gate areas. In Quito we liked our room and service at Radisson ($80). The hotel restaurant's grill chef had slow night so he dished up a tasty mixed grill of filet mignon, steak, pork, chicken, and five types of Spanish sausages for $9 including ceviche, salad and dessert!
We walked around old city, shopped in the crowded Indian market, and visited the Basilica del Voto Nacional where we climbed a very steep ladder (!) to the church tower, then relaxed at the Café Basilica where we sipped local passion fruit/cinnamon tea with terrific views of Quito. We paid no departure tax because we stayed in Quito less than 24hrs.

Aces 521 UIO-LIM was our favorite airline/flight with good dinner, service, and movie. There were also five LP runners (some w/ different itin) from Japan on this flight who had no problems to report! We hung out at the LIM "domestic" Diners Club lounge accessed from main waiting/ticketing area (note that "international" DC lounge is a separate room only accessable thru the international transit area). We flew Taca 7 LIM-CUZ and stayed at Best Western $99 inc full bkfst (that we never had time for) excellently-located two blocks from the main square, Plaza de Armas. Hotel had lots of free coca tea for altitude comfort. We got a nice surprise of a free welcome dinner where we could each order anything off the hotel restaurant menu except drinks- and dined (tasty local stew, trout, fruit crepes) among five other tables in their interior courtyard while a 3-person band played lite Andean music. Our next day Machu Picchu trip cost $75 each and included taxi, train, bus, entrance, and guide fees. The morning train ride was picturesque, the night return was not except for a hilltop view of fireworks over Cuzco's festively lit main plaza for the annual Incan/Catholic "southern cross" festival. At magnificent Machu Picchu, our guide Cosmo provided excellent explanations in English. Btw, Cuzco's Bagdad Café had delicious llama steak and excellent views of the main square and surrounding Andes. Cuzco is great.

Next day we flew to LIM and had a 12hr wait for our AA flight to the US. At the airport, we negotiated a 4hr taxi city tour for $30 for both of us. Roberto took us to Lima's main plazas, the Museo de Oro (where we lingered for over an hour amidst a veritable warehouse of exquisite Incan gold and Peruvian textiles), a seaside restaurant with great ceviche, and a ride along the coast and several barrios (including his own to pay his property tax before the deadline). At the airport domestic Diner's Club we drank coca tea and read and later at the international lounge we brought in some dinner and had free beers and surfed TV.

All in all, a wonderful trip full of adventures and misadventures. Thanks to all the FT'ers who shared their advice and experiences. Our LP Latin American flights cost $2,169. So far, all flights have posted except Copa, Aviateca, Aeropostal. Looking forward to the miles so we can go swimming with penguins and tortoises in the Galapagos.