Questions about USA-Mexico ticketing and routing
 

Hi. I have a question about travel in Mexico. I'd like to go to Puerto Vallarta. I live in souther California. I looked at San Diego to Puerto Vallarta. A friend told me that it would be cheaper to cross the border and fly from Tijuana. Does anyone have any experience with this? Also, would there be a difference if the ticket was bought in the U.S., like price line or kayak, or actually bought in Mexico?

Have you compared prices on Kayak for flights from SAN vs. TIJ?
It depends on the day, what sales may be going on, and what routes/how many stops you're willing to make.
Volaris flies nonstop from TIJ to PVR, but has a limited schedule. Alaska flies nonstop from SAN.
To see whether there's a difference in buying from Mexico or US, you can do use ITA Matrix, and play with the sales city. https://matrix.itasoftware.com/

Mexico
 

Thank you for the link. I did try the two airports on kayak and it is cheaper from Tijuana. I was just curious to know if actually purchasing the ticket in Mexico or from a 'Mexican' travel site would be even cheaper.

What's the cost to get to the Tijuana airport from San Diego?

Good question. Positioning cost should always be included in determining which airport is best for departure

skyscanner.com is probably best for finding fares where point of sale makes the difference

$5 or $15



USD 4.75 to take the 992 bus and the blue line trolley to the border. Or 60-80(?) to taxi to the border.


Then a short walk into town, USD 2 for a couple of tacos.


Another USD 1 to ride the collectivo to the airport. If I remember correctly, you can catch them on 2nd between Revolution and Constitution. Or $10-15 to take a taxi from the border to the airport. This is an estimate based on various forum posts elsewhere.

I can't see this trip taking significantly less than two hours. I doubt you can save enough on a trip to PVR to make up for the time, or the taxi costs if you don't take bus/trolley.