TACA vs. LAN Peru

I'm researching flights from Lima to Cuzco in April, and TACA have fares
around 50% of what LAN are offering. (Expedia in UK is hiking up LAN's
own prices extortionately but that's another story.) Any opinions on
TACA's reliability? I'm figuring the early morning flights will be best
on both outward and return to increase chances of escaping inclement
weather.

TIA

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
I'm researching flights from Lima to Cuzco in April, and TACA have fares
around 50% of what LAN are offering. (Expedia in UK is hiking up LAN's
own prices extortionately but that's another story.) Any opinions on
TACA's reliability? I'm figuring the early morning flights will be best
on both outward and return to increase chances of escaping inclement
weather.

TIA
\
\\TACA Group and LAN are both more reliable than most of the previous
Peruvian carriers, and either one will be flying modern equipment, so I
don't think there is going to be one reason to choose one over the other on
that basis. And my experience in Peru is not the weather out of Cuzco - it
is not usually bad; the problem is equipment issues, and to/from Cuzco,
you're pretty much stuck flying up and back in the morning (unfortunately,
sometimes the early morning - 5am ish).

Enjoy Cuzco and Macchu Piccu. It really is all they say it is.

Jeff


--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

Jeff Hacker wrote:

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
I'm researching flights from Lima to Cuzco in April, and TACA have fares
around 50% of what LAN are offering. (Expedia in UK is hiking up LAN's
own prices extortionately but that's another story.) Any opinions on
TACA's reliability? I'm figuring the early morning flights will be best
on both outward and return to increase chances of escaping inclement
weather.

TIA
\
\\TACA Group and LAN are both more reliable than most of the previous
Peruvian carriers, and either one will be flying modern equipment, so I
don't think there is going to be one reason to choose one over the other on
that basis. And my experience in Peru is not the weather out of Cuzco - it
is not usually bad; the problem is equipment issues, and to/from Cuzco,
you're pretty much stuck flying up and back in the morning (unfortunately,
sometimes the early morning - 5am ish).

Enjoy Cuzco and Macchu Piccu. It really is all they say it is.

Many thanks Jeff- very helpful. It seems that in April LAN has a very
busy schedule, with hourly flights throughout the day, but TACA have
only a couple. We're not too bothered by the early start. It was a bit
alarming to have expedia.co.uk initially quote £300 for a return flight,
given our flights from MAN to LIM (via AMS) were around £600...

TACA looks closer to £100... which isn't that much more than the
("backpacker" class!) train ticket from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes!

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
Jeff Hacker wrote:

"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
I'm researching flights from Lima to Cuzco in April, and TACA have
fares
around 50% of what LAN are offering. (Expedia in UK is hiking up LAN's
own prices extortionately but that's another story.) Any opinions on
TACA's reliability? I'm figuring the early morning flights will be best
on both outward and return to increase chances of escaping inclement
weather.

TIA
\
\\TACA Group and LAN are both more reliable than most of the previous
Peruvian carriers, and either one will be flying modern equipment, so I
don't think there is going to be one reason to choose one over the other
on
that basis. And my experience in Peru is not the weather out of Cuzco -
it
is not usually bad; the problem is equipment issues, and to/from Cuzco,
you're pretty much stuck flying up and back in the morning
(unfortunately,
sometimes the early morning - 5am ish).

Enjoy Cuzco and Macchu Piccu. It really is all they say it is.

Many thanks Jeff- very helpful. It seems that in April LAN has a very
busy schedule, with hourly flights throughout the day, but TACA have
only a couple. We're not too bothered by the early start. It was a bit
alarming to have expedia.co.uk initially quote £300 for a return flight,
given our flights from MAN to LIM (via AMS) were around £600...

TACA looks closer to £100... which isn't that much more than the
("backpacker" class!) train ticket from Cuzco to Aguas Calientes!

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

Fun approach to Cuzco. I did it back in 1979 in an Aeroperu 727 (or at
least that's what it said on the outside; the inside was pure Lufthansa down
to the emergency card in the seat pocket). Anyway, the city (and airport)
are in a valley so you come over the edge and descend; not only that but
because of altitude you're moving a bit quicker than normal. A bit like
certain approaches to Geneva but at higher altitude. And that, of course,
is part of the reason why many flights operate early - so they can back out
before the heat raises the density altitude to a point where it
significantly affects performance - not so much of a problem these days as
in 79.

As Jeff says, Macchu Picu is everything it's cracked up to be. I don't
know how it works these days but we were advised to make sure we were first
off the train so that we were on the first bus up the mountainside. It was
good advice - the site was pretty quiet when we arrived and remained so for
quite a while because we managed to keep ahead of the crowds.

We then went on across the Altiplano to Lake Titicaca, took the overnight
boat (built in Hull in 1920 something) ran into a shooting revolution in La
Paz, got a bus back out of La Paz to Peru and finally took the train down to
Arequipa. Great fun!

Graham Harrison wrote:

[]
Fun approach to Cuzco. I did it back in 1979 in an Aeroperu 727 (or at
least that's what it said on the outside; the inside was pure Lufthansa down
to the emergency card in the seat pocket). Anyway, the city (and airport)
are in a valley so you come over the edge and descend; not only that but
because of altitude you're moving a bit quicker than normal. A bit like
certain approaches to Geneva but at higher altitude. And that, of course,
is part of the reason why many flights operate early - so they can back out
before the heat raises the density altitude to a point where it
significantly affects performance - not so much of a problem these days as
in 79.

As Jeff says, Macchu Picu is everything it's cracked up to be. I don't
know how it works these days but we were advised to make sure we were first
off the train so that we were on the first bus up the mountainside. It was
good advice - the site was pretty quiet when we arrived and remained so for
quite a while because we managed to keep ahead of the crowds.

Thanks for that- interesting!

The train from Cuzco (Poroy) wouldn't get in until 10.51, so our plan is
to spend the night in Aguas Calientes and go up first thing in the
morning. We may visit on the day of arrival too...

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)

LAN are more expensive as they reserve their cheapest prices for residents
(and you will be asked to produce proof of residency at check-in so don't be
tempted to try it anyway). You could look at Star Peru
http://www.starperu.com/ if price is your main criteria. I can't comment on
them personally but have heard others say they provide a good service.
They're nowhere near as big as LAN or TACA though.


"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message
...
I'm researching flights from Lima to Cuzco in April, and TACA have fares
around 50% of what LAN are offering. (Expedia in UK is hiking up LAN's
own prices extortionately but that's another story.) Any opinions on
TACA's reliability? I'm figuring the early morning flights will be best
on both outward and return to increase chances of escaping inclement
weather.

TIA

--
(*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
www.davidhorne.net (email address on website)
"[Do you think the world learned anything from the first
world war?] No. They never learn." -Harry Patch (1898-2009)