malcolmnc

It is ridiculously early to book any flight so far in advance. However, R/T Avianca (JFK-BOG-GYE) for late May is tempting. I am seeing a business class fare of $1,542 for two of us, and that is only a few hundred dollars more than economy. I would be purchasing the tickets well before I commit to business from PNH to JFK, though I believe I'll have decent options in several months for that haul. I've read many, many threads, and I have the impression that I should gamble now rather than wait. Whaddya think, flight gurus?

Redwood839

Gamble now, AV if anything goes higher as you get closer. Rarely seen it go down.

malcolmnc

Thanks so much, Redwood839. I think I'll follow your advice. I haven't imagined that the fare would go down but have had no idea how long it would stay the same. It seems doubtful that it will stay the same for likely the months before I find good fares to JFK (except on China Southern, which I'm reluctant to fly).

Redwood839

I don't know the exact logic but the price will stay for the % of allocated seats to it. If anything it goes up/down a buck or two.

By the way, China Southern is fine. Flown them a couple of times. Just don't expect much

malcolmnc

Ah, thanks again. I'm ready to book the Ecuador-Peru portion of my trip. Although I have been concerned about a 70-minute connection in LIM from CUZ to GYE, I've read here that it shouldn't be a problem. I sure hope not since I'll have to connect to my flight to JFK in GYE within maybe a 2.5-hour window. That's generous but unhelpful should I miss the connection in LIM. I guess I'll see what happens.

Redwood839

70 mins is more than fine at LIM, it's actually a pretty fast airport to move around in.

Do note, when I flew in Peru the Peruvian captains flying for Transamerican Airlines (Taca/Avianca Peru) were very notorious for not waiting even a minute, multiple times the captain would tell the purser to close it up even if the passengers were about to get there. On one of my final flights the Captain knew that we had passengers coming from a plane two gates down which had just pulled up to the gate delayed and wouldn't care what I or the lead attendant had to say and told us to close it up and push.

YMMV

Harmoncove

I booked the same flights in Business class 1 month ago for $740pp R/T leaving in March. I booked AV21>BOG & AV8383 to GYE . On return I booked AV8384>BOG and AV20 to JFK. I priced it out of EWR and it was around $1100pp each way. I say go for it. I also bought trip insurance with cancel for any reason for around $120.

malcolmnc

Great info. Will do. Thanks!

Harmoncove

My friend, check your itinerary. Avianca made some significant changes to this route for my trip in March.

malcolmnc

Wow, wouldda thought they'd volunteer the info by email. I now have a much closer (65-minute) connection in BOG and I have to assume that will be enough time since it's all AV. I'll look in the forum a little later to see what others say, but I seem to recall that it's enough time. Actually, my earlier arrival at JFK may well mean a much, much earlier connection back home to PNH. Thanks so much for the heads up, Harmoncove.

Harmoncove

I got lucky. I live in NJ just 20 minutes from Newark airport and the agent let me change my itinerary for all legs leaving from and arriving back to EWR with more desirable flight times.

malcolmnc

You did get lucky, indeed. Congratulations! I checked both GF and AV, thanks to you, but the other options are a combination of less convenient or more expensive or both.

Interesting that AV does not permit a search for all NYC airports--I didn't even know it flew from EWR since it didn't occur to me check beyond JFK.

And strangely, even the AV site does not show the updated times for the bookings it changed, though the original and the new ones kind of suck.

I am arriving in GYE much too early in the day and will not get all that much sleep because of late departures and early arrivals in both directions. But I'll be jet lagged anyway going south. I did pick what is now a flight right after midnight to GYE because there's a later flight from BOG that will get me there in time for the rest of my SA itinerary. I worry about cancellations, of course, and GF notes that the flight from JFK often is delayed 30 minutes or more. That means my 65-minute connection in BOG could turn out to be way too short, even with carryons, though I see in the forum that it will be fine if we arrive on time. At least there is another flight much later in the day, giving me plenty of time to check out the lounges if necessary.