Ecuador Living

A reader just sent an Ecuador air ticket warning.

First see an economic warning on why you may want to travel to Ecuador

Then see the Ecuador air ticket warning below.

From Ecuador’s…

Photo Copyright © 2010 K. Butitta

Amazon to…

Ecuador’ Pacific  at Vistazul to…

Photo Copyright © 2010 K. Butitta

the Andes.  The country is filled with beauty and the people of Ecuador are diverse and wonderful.

Photo Copyright © 2010 K. Butitta

Indigenous woman walking past Inn Land of the Sun (formerly Meson de las Flores).

Yet Ecuador is not perfect.   Like everywhere in the world… Ecuador has its fair share of flaws scars and hiccups.  Life in, as well as travel to and from, Ecuador requires work and attention as the note from  a reader below shows.

Gary, We just returned home last week from our trip to Ecuador and traveling up and down the Andes, and our stay for a few days at Meson de las Flores in Cotacachi. The trip was fun, enlightening, and thrilling. We’re so glad we did it, but my poor husband never did adapt to the altitude, and, living in the coastal Northwest, we don’t do too well in heat, either, so I think the coast of Ecuador is also out for us.

My reason for writing is to warn your readers about something that happened to us. I made reservations during the air fare war on LAN, with the round trip at about $350 each from Miami to Quito. I received what I thought was a confirmation, but when we arrived at Miami, ready to take off for Quito, we were told our reservation had been canceled.

As directed, and in a state of shock, we trundled downstairs to the office where we could still buy tickets – at about $1,000 each! Once there, the woman checked again and couldn’t tell us why our reservation had been canceled 12 days after we made it. There were plenty of open seats on the flight.

She did us a “favor” though, by dating the new tickets two weeks in advance, then charging another $50 each for changing the date to the current one, thus selling us tickets at about $550 each instead of $1,000 – or the $350 we had originally booked. How’s that for bait and switch?

So, everybody needs to confirm their tickets after buying them, then again a couple of weeks later, and probably again just before leaving. We couldn’t print our own boarding passes because we had been flying from Seattle to Miami the day before this fiasco.

Even though I would be very skeptical of flying LAN again, you may want to tell your readers that they will be initiating service directly from San Francisco to Quito in June.

Thanks for all the help you and Merri gave in answering questions in advance. We would likely have signed up for your Super Thinking and Spanish had the class been held in Ecuador. We stayed at Mansion del Angel in Quito and found it delightful. Judy at Latin American Reservation Center (LARC), who set that reservation up for us also arranged a four day tour from Quito to Cuenca, with side trips to many interesting places. The guides and drivers were excellent, and we learned so much more than we would have if we had not taken that tour.

These are three an important warnings.

#1: The altitude in art of the Andes will bother some people.

#2: Others will not like the heat on the winter coast nor the coolness on the beach in the summer.

#3: Airlines will screw up.

This LAN Ecuador travel concern is also an important warning that goes well beyond LAN and Ecuador.

Merri and I fly tens and sometimes hundreds of thousands of miles a year. We never assume that any airline… anywhere has everything right.

Most airlines are big companies dependent on systems to process millions of travelers.

Systems always have flaws.  Entropy always grows in all systems.

This is especially important in slower economic times as Airlines seem to cancel and combine flights more often.

But it sounds as if they didn’t have a ticket, but only a reservation….the ticket must be purchased in advance…and after we do that…we always check and reconfirm all flights! Go online and type in your confirmation number and make sure that ticket (not a reservation is there!)

This year we are flying at least to Quito, London, Portland, Los Angeles and Copenhagen. We will reconfirm all our flights well in advance in every instance.

First time travelers might also want someone on the spot to make sure this does not happen or if so to have someone in a position to trouble shoot.  This is why we refer many readers who need overall travel planning in Ecuador to La Selva Travel in Quito.

I am not in any way connected or paid by La Selva but refer them because they are American owned ,with 25 years worth of experience  in the travel business in Ecuador. This means they have faced virtually every predicament a traveler.

For a reasonable servicing and confirmation fee La Selva Travel will reserve, confirm and reconfirm all of your flights within Ecuador.

La Selva  will have one of their safe drivers pick up readers at the airport and take them to their hotel in Quito which they can also reserve.
They can help reserve hotels through out Ecuador as well as Galapagos tours plus can arrange for trips back to the airport when it is time to leave Ecuador.

La Selva also operates La Selva Jungle Lodge in the Amazon and offers Ecuador Living premium subscribers a 20% discount at its Amazon jungle Lodge.

To select a service or have an unpleasant need met (for which a small fee is charged depending on the complexity)  La Selva Travel can be reached at info@laselvajunglelodge.com   Their telephone is 011 593 2 2550995.

Gary

Join Merri, me  in North Carolina this June and learn more about quantum wealth and health. June 24-27  Quantum Wealth & International Investing and Business North Carolina

Learn how to gain earning freedom with Ecuador exports at our Ecuador Export Expedition Tour ($499 or couple $749)

Apr. 17-18   Imbabura Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 20-21  Coastal Mid Coast Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)
Apr. 23-24  Quito & Mindo Real Estate Tour ($499 or couple $749)

April 26-27 Cuenca Real Estate Tour

May 9-12       Super Thinking + Spanish Course, Cotacachi Ecuador

May  13-14    Ecuador Shamanic Minga

May  16-17    Imbabura Real Estate Tour

May  19-20    Coastal Real Estate Tour

May  22-23    Quito Real Estate Tour

May  25-26    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

You enjoy discounts by attending multiple seminars and tours.

June 30-Jul 1 Imbabura Real Estate Tour

2010 Summer Schedule

July 3-4      Coastal Real Estate Tour
July 6-7      Quito Real Estate Tour
July 9-10     Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Sept.   3-6   Ecuador Export Tour
Sept.   8-9   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Sept. 11-12   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Sept. 14-15   Cuenca Real Estate Tour
Sept. 17-18   Ecuador Shamanic Mingo

Oct.    7     Quantum Wealth North Carolina
Oct.   8-10   International Investing & Business North Carolina
Oct.   11-12  Travel to Quito and Andean Tour
Oct.  13-14   Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Oct.  16-17   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Oct.  19-20   Quito Real Estate Tour
Oct. 22-23    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Nov.    4-7   Super Thinking + Spanish Course Florida
Nov.    8-9   Travel to Quito and Andean Tour
Nov. 10-11    Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Nov. 13-14    Coastal Real Estate Tour
Nov. 16-17    Quito Real Estate
Nov. 19-20    Cuenca Real Estate Tour

Dec.   3-5    Ecuador Shamanic Mingo
Dec.   7-8    Imbabura Real Estate Tour
Dec.  10-11   Coastal Real Estate Tour
Dec. 13-14    Quito Real Estate Tour
Dec. 16-17    Cuenca Real Estate Tour