Flyng back to NY

twoboys

we are very interested in this itinerary. But it looks like there is no way to get back to NY from La Paz without taking 3 planes and/or having a 7 hour layover in the Bogota airport. Anyone have advice or suggestions??? Might be a dealbreaker

AlanS

Have you looked online or talked to a travel agent? Just a quick look on travelocity reveals a hand full of itineraries with only one stop (typically in Miami) and layover times of 2:15 to 3:00. You may have to be flexible about your final destination - JFK, LGA, or EWR.

twoboys

Yes we have been looking at several sites for a couple of weeks and so has our travel agent. Lima is easy but La Paz is not. We can go from La Paz to Bogota with a 7 hour layover or got LA Paz to Lima, Lima to Miami and Maimi to NY. Might be one with a stop in San Salvador. We cant check the real dates yet so we are waiting. But the flights on a Sunday are very limited. If the tour began and ended in Lima, we woudl have booked it already. but we might consider Insight Gold Luxury instead. Not sure

AlanS

twoboys wrote:

Yes we have been looking at several sites for a couple of weeks and so has our travel agent. Lima is easy but La Paz is not. We can go from La Paz to Bogota with a 7 hour layover or got LA Paz to Lima, Lima to Miami and Miami to NY. Might be one with a stop in San Salvador. We cant check the real dates yet so we are waiting. But the flights on a Sunday are very limited. If the tour began and ended in Lima, we would have booked it already. but we might consider Insight Gold Luxury instead. Not sure

Have you called Tauck, what do they offer? There aren't a lot of convenient (direct, short, short layover) flights to/from SA, especially Bolivia. If there are more/better options on Monday, you could book an extra night in La Paz through Tauck at the end of the tour. If you are a previous Tauck traveler you might be eligible for a free "Gift of Time" post-tour stay. A quick look at the flights on a typical Monday look only slightly better, however. In any case, whatever day/time you go, Tauck will provide transport from the hotel to the airport in La Paz.

Are you trying to fly all legs with the same airlines or code shares? Another option is to book a round-trip NY-Lima with a major carrier. Fly another, non-code share airline (Avianca, COPA, Peruvian, LATAM, etc.) from La Paz to Lima.

You could also spend an extra night in Lima and turn lemons into lemonade- turn a long layover into an extra day and/or another opportunity to explore.

I can't imagine you can't find at least a few flight schedules that would not result in a "deal breaker" for you when a Tauck trip is concerned! For us, the tour is the main thing, then we find the flights or make the arrangements to 'make it work.'

British

You know, we travel a lot and do not consider a 7 hour layover a particularly big deal. Our last tour just had to include an 11 hour layover in Heathrow, there was just no way around it. These days, with long security lines and plane delays, we were just glad that it meant we were very unlikely to miss our next flight. We have had to sprint for several flights these past few years, mostly because of flight delays and long security lines when we arrive at an airport late mid journey. Have you asked Tauck about flights, who do they use? We use their flights about half the time and make our own arrangements on other occasions. I have to say, when it comes to knowing about flights, you can't beat Alan S for knowing his way around flying. We like Tauck, we would not do a tour of this nature with any other company.

twoboys

Our travel agent did ask Tauk and they did not have any suggestions. We prefer to do extra time in Lima prior to the trip because usually after a trip is over we do want to get home and we do have to go back to work. We did look at the RT JFK to Lima and then flight from La Paz to Lima. the flight leaves La Paz at 4 AM then its 7 hours in Bogota. I think that woudl kill the "glow" of the trip for me. Talking to my TA again today. If we can make it work, we will, if not we will move on.

British

You say Tauck had no suggestions, that is very strange! Tauck ALWAYS have flights that match their tours, you got this second hand from your TA, maybe YOU should call Tauck

twoboys

The flights for the exact dates are not posted yet because we are too far out. Tauck suggested the 7 hour layover. I am going to wait until I can see the real dates and then decide between Tauck and Insight

British

Ok. We just booked our flights for A tour with Tauck next September. We researched them ourselves and found we had a six hour layover in Heathrow, but when we called Tauck, they had a flight that only had a four hour layover that we had not found. The prices were exactly the same, but we do not pay for the flights until six weeks before we go, so that's a great advantage using Tauck. Good luck!

twoboys

thank you for all the comments and suggestions. We have decided to go with another trip this time. But I am sure we will use Tauck again in the future