Flying to Cusco from Quito via Lima

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a new one arrives flight report, and this time I tell you how to fly to Cusco from Quito via Lima with LATAM Ecuador and Peru in both Airbus A319 and A320.

Taking advantage of one of the many regular promotions that LATAM launches between Quito and Guayaquil to Cusco, We decided to travel to one of the most well-known and coveted destinations in the world., which is much more incredible than expected or advertised.

This trip also served to understand the differences in Peruvian tourism that have made the neighboring country one of the fastest growing in tourism in the region., all thanks to good marketing and taking advantage of what they have. You can read my opinion on this here: www.nlarenas.com/2018/06/aprendi-de-ecuador-visitando-peru.

Our flight from Quito to Lima was at 4 am, so that part of the flight I will talk very little and I will focus more on the Lima to Cusco section, where by day there is much more to tell ?.

ticket purchase

The purchase process with LATAM is not new and I have reported it on several other occasions as it was flown from Galapagos the a Santiago de Chile. On this occasion and as usual, the purchase was made without problems with an Ecuadorian credit card with the normal steps of your GDS system:

1. First the destination or destinations are selected, date and number of passengers. In my case 2 people.
2. Selection of fare or flight required. Being promotional price, each ticket cost $350 Dollars, which is very good considering that only Lima can cost that value.
3. Personal data of the passenger(s), more contact information in case of emergency.
4. book or pay.

It is good to remember that the airline allows you to make only one reservation without paying, in the event that there is no security to buy or you want to make a change of itinerary. This reservation lasts until 24 hours and can be paid through the web or sales office.

LATAM allows the payment of all Ecuadorian credit cards as well as international ones. Debit cards are not accepted.

Additional services

As now in almost all airlines, additional services offered, which are paid obviously. Some are normal in the industry, others, each airline has implemented them to increase their income and make certain or all routes profitable:

• Second or third suitcase in the hold.
• Cabin upgrade.
• seat with more space (Emergency exit).
• seats further forward (from the fourth row, starts behind Premium Economy, up to the eighth row).
• preferential approach.
• LATAM Pass Customers Black Signature Category, Black and Platinum access the above points free of charge.
• Special needs.

Luggage

This point is very particular and is worth explaining.. As you may have noticed from the title, the flight to Cusco was not direct, but it had a stopover in Lima, what happens to be international in the section from Quito to Lima, to national from Lima to Cusco and the luggage is an interesting point.

as you well know, since the new form of fly on domestic routes in LATAM subsidiaries, baggage in the hold has a cost, since the lowest rate or promo does not include this benefit in its value.

For this reason, I initially thought that I should pay for the suitcase in the hold on the section from Lima to Cusco., but the positive thing was that if you buy an international flight with LATAM, you connect with them and manage everything under the same reservation, they include the suitcase in the hold at no additional cost. A very positive point, since it allows tourists to fly more comfortable, with less worry and save a few bucks.

If I would have bought the Quito to Lima section and then in another reservation the flight to Cusco, Yes, I would have had to pay for that suitcase in the hold, that despite having the option to 2, we only use one.

It is always good to remember that passengers are entitled to a carry-on bag up to 8 kilos of weight in Economy up to 16 kilos en Premium Economy, plus one personal item such as a backpack, Photo camera, purse, laptop o similar.

If the items that the passenger takes into the cabin of the plane exceed the sizes determined by the airline, these will be sent to the warehouse, there may be additional costs. Now, in the departure lounges there are personnel hired by LATAM checking the sizes of each passenger's belongings to determine if they comply with the sizes and also offering to send these items free of charge to the hold on flights where the space in the overhead compartments is limited or full quickly.

On all flights, both on the way and on the return, they carried out this verification, sending at least 10 carry-on bags to the hold free of charge, it is a good option if you don't want to carry it, but you must wait at your arrival airport for the delivery.

From Quito, the suitcase was checked until Cusco, but being an international port of entry in Lima, It had to pass customs control, pick it up and check it again at the Lima airport counter in the fast line for baggage delivery that takes no more than 20 minutes.

Check-In

As I have already told you, you can check your flight between 48 a 2 hours before flight departure time. Check-in options are the website, mobile app and airport (counter and kiosks).

To board you can present your cell phone with the QR code of the application or web page (I recommend taking a screenshot in case you run out of Internet abroad), pass printed by you or the pass that the airline gives you.

Airport and Boarding

As it came on an international flight with a national connection, I had to remove the suitcase after passing immigration to continue to customs. Once with suitcase in hand, you leave the arrivals area and Lima airport has improved that area, making it larger and offering a more orderly official airport transport service.

Despite these improvements, at the exit as always hundreds of taxi drivers will offer you the service, recommendation, use the ones inside or hire the buses to get to Miraflores, such as the Lima Airport Express that I used on the way back to spend a few hours in Lima.

As has been stated several times, Lima airport is collapsed and lacks room to grow, For this reason, the airlines share their check-in counter for both national and international flights.. That stands out, that despite this collapse and little space, the processes throughout the airport are fast and give you extra time to eat something typical or do something to buy, this is very positive, despite the thousands of passengers per hour.

The shipment once passed the filters that were very surprisingly fast since at that moment they left 8 domestic flights, it was done with a new way that LATAM is testing and that was announced by the loudspeakers.

This new method consists of giving boarding priority, apart from the traditional Priority or Business, a aquellos pasajeros que estén viajando «light», that is, they only travel with a backpack or bag and not a carry-on bag. For this purpose, a special row, where at least the 70% of the plane formed to board, so it wasn't any faster than the other option by number of rows.

Despite this new system, the approach was with normal speed and I did not find a noticeable improvement, especially because the largest number of passengers did not carry hand luggage, so I assume that in other destinations this method will be more effective, a detail, It doesn't matter what line you're in, if you don't have luggage, you use this row no difference.

The flight took off with 20 minutes of delay due to air traffic control as indicated by airline traffic agents.

Itinerary

The Lima route – Cusco – Lima is the most flown, busy and requested from the entire Peruvian market. Between these two important cities, daily more than 50 flights, not counting other frequencies that link Cusco with Arequipa, Juliaca, Puerto Maldonado and the international ones of Bogotá and La Paz.

For LATAM Peru, this is also the destination with the most daily frequencies, reaching more than 23 flights and may increase according to the season and demand from Lima.

From Quito on the flight of the 4 in the morning of LATAM Ecuador connects with a wait for 3 hours with the third flight to Cusco from LATAM Peru, which is very favorable for the Ecuadorian market, that also allows connecting with all the destinations of the Lima HUB.

On board

On the first leg from Quito on flight XL1449 operated by LATAM Ecuador, which was completed on time, it was operated by the Airbus A319 HC-CPJ with serial number MSN 3671 With almost 10 years.

This is painted with Oneworld colors and LATAM image with a capacity to 144 passengers, but with special Business Economy configuration that adjusts it to 138 seating.

This flight lasts for 2 hours and there were no blankets or pillows.

The occupancy of this flight was 60%, which was a bit surprising and as it was known the flight will change to a new schedule, possibly to improve occupancy, since this flight continues after Lima to Buenos Aires.

On the flight from Quito to Lima, the service consisted only of a muffin plus a drink of the choice of each passenger., this in economy class. There was no Duty Free service, but on the return to Quito where the flight was operated by LATAM Peru, Yes.

From the Lima to Cusco section, the plane was an Airbus A320, registration CC-BFK, serial number MSN. 5548 with solo 5 years old and fitted with the beautiful sharklets and CFM 56-5B4 engines and boasts a capacity for 174 passengers in a single class.

On this flight the occupancy was 100%, Fully loaded, that as they commented the average of this route always borders the 85% upwards. Passengers on this route are generally a 90% foreign, Cusco is the main Peruvian tourist destination.

As you may have anticipated, Being this a domestic flight, the service is paid with Mercado Latam, given the time if there was an interesting sale of the products, but we had already had a traditional Peruvian sandwich for breakfast.

The Market in Peru is different from the Ecuadorian as it was known, but it was noteworthy that the local regulation does allow the free sale of various types of alcohol on domestic flights. In the photos above you can see the options that fit the traditional flavors of each country.

In flight

From Lima to Cusco the duration of the flight is 1 hour, but I recommend that instead of watching a movie on LATAM Play, ask for a window and enjoy the incredible view of the landscapes of the Peruvian mountain range, really beautiful full of snow, valles, lagos, spikes and more.

Cusco is a tall airport, complicated and special for all airlines. For this reason, there are several approaches of the VOR and RNAV instrumental type as well as visual, what was the one we did on this flight, which made it even more exciting and special to pass so close to the mountains safely.

Tip, always ask for the left window on the section from Lima, where the landscape is even more incredible and right back.

Conclution

Both from Quito to Lima and from there to Cusco, they are short flights, so one does not expect great service, but at least the attention of the airline staff is good and makes it pleasant despite the early hours in which the flights take place.

The great difference in the LATAM service between Ecuador and Peru is striking. In the Ecuadorian one, the service was only a muffin and a drink from Quito to Lima and without duty free, while on the way back the flight was operated by the Peruvian subsidiary, where the service was a sandwich and 2 beverage services, plus the duty free service that was offered.

The service to Cusco is the LATAM standard, that aims to keep the LATAM Market, in Argentina it was already closed, as a kind of low cost, but it seems that it does not have much future, especially for the service that the other airlines offer, which is slightly higher by offering free drinks on domestic flights for very similar prices.

Connecting to Cusco via Lima from Quito is a good alternative and the most direct from Ecuador, since it can also be done from Bogotá. From Lima there are, as we have seen, many daily frequencies to the capital of the Inca empire and not only from LATAM, so doing it with this airline in a single reservation is one of the best options for luggage issues and waiting time in Lima.

Additional data

• It is recommended to travel with a passport to Peru as an Ecuadorian, since you can get discounts on some income to tourist places for being from the Andean Community. The card will not work for it.
• Additional to discounts, in Machu Picchu for free they put a stamp that those ruins were visited, something very original and worth having.
• Between Peru and Ecuador the same time zone is handled.
• Arriving in Cuzco, I recommend taking a taxi at the exit of the Airport in the street, it is cheaper and you can negotiate like almost everything in Peru. From there to the Plaza de Armas they charged S. 12 soles, some $4 Dollars.

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