Getting to Ecuador via San Fran., L.A., Rio or B.A.?

Hola,

I am a former Flight Attendant, and know something about the best times to get airfares, and the best cities from which to fly.

I used to live in So. California. I hate flying out of LAX (Los Angeles) It is always crowded, you have to stand in line outside of the terminal for hours, even if you have a ticket. I found San Franciso (SFO) to be so much easier and less stressful.
As far as getting airline tiks.  I don't really think that Ecuador has a high or low season as to that.  We flew down there from Jacksonville last April and when we got our round-trip tiks to move there in October of this year, we found that there was only a slight difference in the cost.  In April, we paid $745 per person, round trip from Jacksonville to Quito. First to Miami, then a four hour wait there til we catch our flight on LAN/Ecuador to Quito.  Then, since the planes to Cuenca don't connect all that well with flights coming in from anywhere else, you have to stay overnight and get the flight out of Quito to CUE the next morning. That is $41.58 round trip, per person.

The best time to search for flights to Ecuador is either around midnight or 2-3AM. The airlines are eager to get rid of their seats, so they usually drop the price that time of the day. Our cost to fly there in April was as I mentioned above; the cost in October was $690. p/p. r/t.

Sometimes it is good to deal directly with the airline without going to places like Expedia or Orbitz, Kayak or Cheapo-Air. And many others that are similar. We called American Airlines to fly to Miami and although they do fly to Quito, we much prefer LAN/Ecuador.  Nicer planes, great full course meals, all leather seats, free wine and champagne. In other words, you get the higher class service on LAN instead of American. We called Lan because we have two small dogs to go with us. They assured us that they would be well taken care of and that their services were well known in that matter.

I think that is all the info you might need at this point in time.  If you need something which I have forgotten to mention, .  (just like WIllie Nelson, I am always on the "road again").

Carole Walter in Jacksonville, FL