metoo

Used my British Airways award to book travel from LAX to LIMA, Lima to Cuzco. I booked for the 7:50 A.M flight from Lima , arriving Cuzco at 9:05 A.M on August 30, 2012. Then I did some research on Lan and flight cancelation due to poor weather conditions.

What is the likely hood my flight may be canceled or delayed? Should I cough up the $40 to change to 1st flight leaving at 5:05 A.M? BA won't budge and say I must pay the $20 per person for change even though I cannot do it online.

Pedro M

One of the main problems with weather conditions will be due to fog in Lima. LAN has plenty of flights from Lima to Cuzco, and chances are the earlier flights will be more likely to be affected by foggy conditions than the flight you are currently on. Unless you have to be in Cuzco at a certain time, I'd just leave the trip as is.

metoo

Pedro- I didn't even think of the weather in LIma affecting flights. I was thinking about the poor weather condition in cuzco.

SJOGuy

Flight conditions at Cusco deteriorate later in the afternoon when the wind starts to pick up, so that shouldn't be a worry for your scheduled itinerary. I agree: I'd keep your flights just as they are.

SometimesFlyer

I'll keep your flights as they are. There are many other LIM - CUZ flights right after yours so you should be fine, give or take a few hours.

The real challenge is when you are coming back CUZ-LIM-LAX (I assume). Give yourself lots of room to make that connection in LIM. Flights out of CUZ, especially around noon/afternoons can get hung up by fog and weather.

Have fun in Cusco. Going to MP?

painintheuk

So how bad are the delays from CUZ-LIM and when in the day do they start? We are looking to fly CUZ-LIM on TACA in mid-June and have 2 options - 7.35 or 12.25. Our flight back to Canada doesn't leave until 0140 the next morning. I would prefer the 12.25 since we won't get back to CUZ until late the night before and don't need THAT much time in Lima . These are separate bookings so we wouldn't have any protection if we didn't get to LIM on time.

I did look on flightstats and the average delays don't look too bad (well - 0 stars but no cancellations ), but I figure it must be seasonal and June might be different from April.

Thanks,

Dr. PITUK

Villavic

Bad weather in Cusco (and in general peruvian mountains) happen mostly during rainy season. That is Nov-Apr. August is the best time to visit Cusco. And yes the best weather for flights is during the morning. It gets windy at late evening so that's why there are no flights after 4pm, 5pm..

Bad weather in Lima happens only because of the fog factor. There are no storms in Lima. Now, they just announced there are new radar systems to avoid fog problems, so that shouldn't be an excuse. Besides, the fog affects mostly arrivals, no departures. So again that shouldn't be a problem (unless your plane has not arrived the day before).

SometimesFlyer

Sounds like you have a reasonably large window to work with in Lima and the 12:25pm should be fine.

Here's my experience with what happens in Cusco when the weather acts up ... there must be something like a total of 10-20 flights a day CUZ - LIM, starting early in the morning and departing every 30-60 mins. It is a mix of all the airlines. When the weather acts up, the flights get delayed and everything starts to pile up quickly. The order and sequence of flights can get all jumbled. The counter staff is pretty used to it and they handle it well. Just take things with a big dose of patience and you'll end up ok. Expect up to 1, 2, 3 hours delay at times.

Have fun.

Villavic

The more early flight, the less chance of delay.

Afternoon flights are done by planes who have been flying to other cities. I got a delay of 90 minutes 3 years ago when I was traveling from Lima to Iquitos at 3pm. I learned the plane had a delay because it was traveling to Puno in the morning where there was bad weather.

Wozza2404

The bus takes 20 hours and travels through some absolutely stunning scenery.

If time isn't an issue, take a VIP bus.

painintheuk

Thanks all,

I am going to book on Taca.com now for 12.25 flight.

We thought about the bus on the way out, but are time-constrained over all. We will bus from Arequipa to Puno and train from Puno to Cuzco, so hopefully we will get all the variety.

Dr. PITUK

CO FF

For flights PEM-CUZ-LIM, what happens if CUZ is closed by WX? Will they operate the flight PEM-LIM nonstop, or not depart PEM?

thx.

Villavic

That's a good question. I've tried to find out but didn't get any answer. I presume there wouldn't be a direct flight with the PEM-LIM passengers only, but I don't know actually

akp

Hi,

Am about to finalize my inter-Peru flights on LAN. My LIM-CUZ portion is no problem; my question is about the CUZ-LIM.

This will be in mid-June.

Fri am: drive from Tambo del Inka to Cusco airport.
Fri late am/early pm: CUZ-LIM (options: 11:45am, 1:45pm, 1:50pm)
Fri 11:50pm LIM-MCI

There are earlier morning flights from CUZ but I'd rather leave as late as safely possible since we're driving from Urubamba that morning, and because once we get to Lima we are most likely just killing time in airport.

All other things equal, I'd pick the 1:45 flight. But am I pushing my luck with possible cancellation, or is it pretty safe in early afternoon in June? A couple hours of delay wouldn't be a big deal since our flight isn't until 11:50 pm.

Thanks for any advice.

Anita

SometimesFlyer

In general, the later in the day, the greater the chance of delays and other events affecting your flight. I would say that given your late LIM departure, you will probably be okay.

Separately, instead of just killing time at the airport, consider leaving your bags at left luggage and then taking a cab to Miraflores or someplace else in the city to grab a nice dinner. There is a foodcourt in the airport but nothing compared to what you can get in the city.