Reply to: Barsteward Airline Rip offs

[AlfredJPruffock]

I got yanked off a bus in the Andes by an 'Army' at gunpoint when we were there, which apparently happens more than you'd think as they are alledgedly only after money. They didn't get any off of me. The Viet police have managed to get cash out of me on several occasions, twice at gunpoint, and one of those was in an airport.

Ahh the joys of world travel.

Yes the same happened to me crossing the border from Colombia to Ecuador - was held for about 2 whilst the Colombian border guards hoped to get a wee bit of backsheesh from me - I wasnt going to give them a red cent - anyway was very low on funds- so they got bored and let me go onwards to Ibarra.

[NickNick]

I was there after the crash as well. It was an interesting time to be there as everything was just so darned cheap.

[rootsnall]

Whilst this may be true on paper, I got the reduced rates on Lan Chile and LAN Argentina.

It's a few years back and I didn't fly anywhere in Peru but in Argentina I remember being told I couldn't get cheap flights but when I went into local travel agents and waved a few dollars around it was no problemo.

It was just after the Argie economy collapsed and everything was dirt cheap and we lived like kings. Those were the days

A mate once went on a rugby tour there in different economic times and they couldn't afford the price of a pint in Buenos Aries.

[NickNick]

Whilst this may be true on paper, I got the reduced rates on Lan Chile and LAN Argentina.

[Fishface]

Thought I'd share this in case it helps someone else.

Upcoming holiday with Mrs PL involves 3 internal flights with an international airline.

Price on Expedia $1300 for both of us
Price on UK and USA website $1250 (due to a promo)
Price on local country website $600 (ie main site but with local country selected)
Price if you phone local number $400!!!

That's a heck of a discount for speaking spanish! Airline is Lan if anyone's interested.

The 'cheaper' price is for residents of Mercosur countries - their subsibidy is supported by their taxes - not to cheat the gringos (the Balearic Islands do the same).

You may have booked them with your UK passport - south american sales people dont give a toss, sale made, commision got. - but when you get to the desk at the airport they will ask you for your 'documento' and when you cant produce - you either dont get on the plane or pay the price on that day - which can be what ever it will be. And there will be 'tramites' = bureacracies. - pay the ticket price for foreigners and save yourself a whole bunch of trouble.

LAN is the name of their international airline AND local - but they are not the same.

[NickNick]

Oh, and hold on tight if you're arriving by plane, I think its the world's highest and most dangerous airport.

Nah, there are airports in Tibet at 15000 feet, La Paz comes in at around 13,000 feet. Which is still pretty high.

[NickNick]

To escape the La Paz bloodbath mentioned previously we took the bus over the Andes to Chile as a 'safe' option. Only to find out 5 mins into the journey that the same bus the day before had been involved in a gun battle on the Bolivia/Chile border.

I got yanked off a bus in the Andes by an 'Army' at gunpoint when we were there, which apparently happens more than you'd think as they are alledgedly only after money. They didn't get any off of me. The Viet police have managed to get cash out of me on several occasions, twice at gunpoint, and one of those was in an airport.

Ahh the joys of world travel.

[Sysman]

IMHO t'internet isn't very good pricewise for booking flights, hotels or holidays. I've gone back to using a travel agent after an initial web search.

I've found that true as well. A decent travel or insurance agent can often find better deals for you, especially when you are a repeat customer.

I also had that with PC World on a laptop which had a decent discount because it was a discontinued line; their website still had it marked up at the full price.

[SantaClaus]

I stayed in the poshest hotel in La Paz on the main square, I think it was £40 a night.

There was a farmers rebellion at the time and there were soldiers on every street corner, but we were left alone.

Dont forget, you will get out of breath climbing a flight of stairs in La Paz because the altitude is so high. Try Mate de Coca for your altitude sickness. It doesnt make you high unfortunately!

As someone else said I think, its freezing cold at night and hot during the day.

Oh, and hold on tight if you're arriving by plane, I think its the world's highest and most dangerous airport.

KLM is a great way to fly to South America because you can stop of at Aruba on the way back.

[rootsnall]

didn't the fact that the bus was "bullet riddled" get the alarm bells ringing before you got on the bus?
Or was it parked like an over priced second hand car?

It was dark when we got on it !

As things turned out the roadblock from the previous night that caused the gun battle wasn't there and we cruised over the border

I still wasn't happy with the other backpackers who'd been on the bus the night before and hadn't thought to mention it before we set off.

[Spacecadet]

To escape the La Paz bloodbath mentioned previously we took the bus over the Andes to Chile as a 'safe' option. Only to find out 5 mins into the journey that the same bus the day before had been involved in a gun battle on the Bolivia/Chile border.

didn't the fact that the bus was "bullet riddled" get the alarm bells ringing before you got on the bus?
Or was it parked like an over priced second hand car?

[expat]

Nah not that trip (I went overland to there from Chile, which is a rough ride) but I was talking about overland from Lima to Arequipa. As I recall the roads wer tortuous.

As for La Paz, only place in the world I've ever been and felt scared for my personal safety so we headed out of there sharpish to Santa Cruz, which was a world away. I saw recently though that Santa Cruz is filling with Russian Casinos.

Santa Cruz? Holy tulip! When I was there (80s) it was the centre of the cocaine trade. The market sold veg for pesos and electronics for dollars. Porsches with tinted windows on the dirt streets, dead cop found every couple of days, DEA guys snooping around everywhere.

La Paz was happily relatively peaceful at that time. They just had a new government (how can you tell?), formed by newly-elected President Paz by the practical expedient of locking MPs inside parliament with no food, and telling them they got out when they chose a government.

We must do a "most dangerous place visited" some time.

[Svalbaard]

Scorchio!!!!!

[rootsnall]

Nah not that trip (I went overland to there from Chile, which is a rough ride) but I was talking about overland from Lima to Arequipa. As I recall the roads wer tortuous.

As for La Paz, only place in the world I've ever been and felt scared for my personal safety so we headed out of there sharpish to Santa Cruz, which was a world away. I saw recently though that Santa Cruz is filling with Russian Casinos.

To escape the La Paz bloodbath mentioned previously we took the bus over the Andes to Chile as a 'safe' option. Only to find out 5 mins into the journey that the same bus the day before had been involved in a gun battle on the Bolivia/Chile border.

[NickNick]

Hence the post about flight costs

Good call that man.
;o)