need help... please :[

kat1 (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:20:

Air france but you have to stop in Paris
Iberia but you have to stop in Madrid
Intercontinental but you have to go all the way to houston which is a pain in the ................
Have a great time in COLOMBIA DON'T FORGET TO TAKE PICTURES

engage brain before opening mouth

nanis says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:26:

thanks kat! And no hard feeling about the "poor" post hey! Sorry if I offended you on anybody in any kind of way that was not my intention at all! I’ve got a big mouth that's all and sometimes I cannot express myself as well as most of you here in the forum do! I’m gonna miss you guys! You can probably tell how excited I am anyway thanks for the tips and I sure will post pics once I get there! And be prepared for my long threads after I have arrived there I will let you guys know how I got on! Won’t see the back of me just yet!

Anyway if you guys know any other tips or can make any suggestions they will be much appreciated! I need all the help I can get!

Desideria (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:29:

Mrs. Gomez there's plenty of cybercafés in Cali; stay in touch. I'd recommend Air France, the fastest and the transfer in Charles De Gaulle easiest (my personal opinion).
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

ARMacleod says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:33:

Airfrance is very good, but you have to change planes in paris Perhaps someone will enlighten us but, I think Iberia stopping in Madrid is a stop without a change of planes?

For info? I tried various and found Thomas Cook in the high street to be the most helpful and not so expensive as some others, they are a veritable mine of information.

Anyway best of luck again.

Being of unsound mind and dubious disposition, I cannot be held legally liable for any indiscretions."¡El diablo me hizo hacerlo!" But don't worry, be happy.

The brain is like a parachute, it only functions correctly when it is open. Pax vobiscum.

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:49:

Iberia When I used Iberia to travel to Col from London, I did have to change planes...

YEP says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:57:

And how is the prices in that regard ......
Using "european" hubs in stead of doing the Miami route ??



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Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 12:59:

Budget airlines to Colombia Air Madrid (www.airmadrid.com), apparently they fly from Madrid to Bogota (stopping in Cartagena en-route) from 489EUR return. That's 337 GBP!! Very cheap!!

The Argentinian based Air Comet (www.aircomet.com) will start flying to Bogota from Madrid from 1 May 2005. They are supposed to give very good on-flight service.

So Easyjet from UK-Spain, and it should be quite cheap.

I've never tried them, and would be pleased to hear of anyone's experiences with them.

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:01:

Iberia Just to clarify my previous posting about Iberia, I flew London-Madrid-Bogota, and I did have to change planes. I do not know if this is the case via Miami.

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:02:

Domestic flights within Colombia Aires gives a nice student discount if you can produce an ISIC card, and book a few days in advance.

Desideria (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:04:

you're still there yep....I thought you had already gone
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

Desideria (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:06:

Air Madrid???? is that new?

Does anybody know best rates for a three-month ticket from Europe?
Open-end ticket?

Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:19:

Desi With Air Madrid you can get a 6-month ticket for 589 EUR. You can change the return date for 100 EUR, so it can effectively act as an open return. Look at www.airmadrid.com and the choose "Tarifas".

Desideria (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:25:

thank you! This is exactly what I've been looking for. I'm planning to fly to Colombia in June or July at the latest and stay for anything between three to six months there. The price is right and the flexibility to change the return date is enourmosly valuable for me since I don't have any idea how long I'll stay.
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

ixent says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:30:

Desi Sorry - I got it wrong. That price is only for over 65s. I imagine you are not eligible ;)

The alternative is a 60 day ticket for 899 EUR. :(

Desideria (Moderator) says on Feb 11, 2005, 13:37:

:) no, I'm not eligible, yet the price quoted by you is ok too. That's only around 8000 Swedish crowns, and less what I paid last time for a three-month ticket.
Cheers,
Desi

"I have opinions of my own, strong opinions, but I don't always agree with them."-President George W. Bush

sandramoreno80 says on Feb 12, 2005, 02:49:

The best deals that we have had flying over to Colombia from England have always been bought at Colombian ex-pat travel agencies. Would recommend using Soliman Travel which is in Earls Court and Condor Travel which is in Kennington (sorry I am assuming that you live in London, we live in Surrey and my dad always sends money through Condor and we have been using both of them for our tickets for years).

They will get you the latest deals, forget about looking on the internet because the prices quoted are way over the price these travel agencies can give you. They will also sell you the flight to Cali, for about £50. If you want to make a saving on this though if you have relatives in Colombia that can do this favour for you, get them to go to Aviatur, a national travel agency and buy the domestic flights for you, stating that they are to be picked up at either Puente Aereo or El Dorado, as they have offices at both terminals. You can either send a giro to the family who pays the ticket or send a fax over confirming credit card details for that booking.

This december we phoned directly the Aviatur office in Armenia (check out their website www.aviatur.com.co it has phone numbers of all their sucursales)and booked our domestic flights, gave the credit card details, sent the fax to confirm and they phoned our familys home in Amrneia to confirm everything. We arrived form London and the tickets were at Puente Aereo, the terminal where we were flying out of.

Expect to pay around COL $300,000.OO for a return ticket if not more, the thing with Avianca is that you have to book well in advance to get good prices, you should really book now. Other airlines to look at is Aerorepublica, West Carribean, but I do not know if you can book here, better to get family to do it.

Going through America is usually cheaper than going through Europe, and they give 64 kilos in luggage allowance, whereas European flights only let you take 23 kilos, if you do connect on a cheap flight to Madrid from London they may only allow 15 kilos. But I do not know if you have a US visa, or a British passport, so that may not be an option. If it is, they usually arrive quite late at night, so it would depend on when the flight to Cali is because we always miss our Armenia flight as it is a 6pm.

This time is a good time to fly and you can expect to pay around £400-500 for a return ticket, instead of the usual £700-800 paid in the summer.

Tell me if you want the numbers of the travel agencies. Chao y que te vaya super rico en Colombia.

YEP says on Feb 12, 2005, 06:03:

Dear Des .... didn't you read my last post to your
enquirery ???

I made you aware that I was waiting for two contracts that needed my "fingerprint" and a little work (approx 2 weeks).

(First contract has arrived so I'm getting closer ;-)


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Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

------------------------------------------------------------------- Just another scandinavian getting ready to explore South America

nanis says on Feb 14, 2005, 08:58:

thanks guys I'm really gratefull for all your help...I've just booked my tickets and I’m flying out late in march and I’m staying there for a 3 months I’ve booked them through a Colombian travel agency called "condor services" for around £600 each from London via Madrid to Bogotá and then Cali it was the best and the cheapest because the ones via Miami were £710 anyway I’ve booked them and I’m leaving!! Can’t wait!!! all i need to do now is plan were i'm going to go while i'm there any suggestions? i want to visit some nice places!

Next step buying “maletas� ! I don't have any :[