Galapagos - Question re travel arrangements

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CWK

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It's time for me to book flights for my upcoming Galapagos trip. I will probably be fly KUL/LHR/MAD/UIO.

On the way in, should I look to stay a night in Quito or Guayaquil prior to LOB departure?

I will be joining the Galapagos Aggressor and the cruise starts from and ends at Baatra airport. Should I let Aggressor book the domestic UIO(GYE)/GPS flight?
 
Hi, my wife and I are booked onto the Aggressor 16/05. which trip are you on? We are flying KLM into Guayaquil as a lot of the flights leaving Quito take longer and some stop at Guayaquil anyway. We booked our flights to Galapagos ourselves - my wife booked them- so I'm not sure who through- but either Trivago or Skyscanner etc as was much cheaper than getting the Aggressor to book them for us. Good luck
 
Hi, my wife and I are booked onto the Aggressor 16/05. which trip are you on? We are flying KLM into Guayaquil as a lot of the flights leaving Quito take longer and some stop at Guayaquil anyway. We booked our flights to Galapagos ourselves - my wife booked them- so I'm not sure who through- but either Trivago or Skyscanner etc as was much cheaper than getting the Aggressor to book them for us. Good luck
I’m on the 15/8 cruise.

Aggressor departure appears timed for AV1684 and I believe that is the flight that they will use if the domestic flight is booked through them. AV1684 flies UIO/GYE/GPS so I should be able to take it from either Quito or Guayaquil. Aggressor recommends taking the flight from Guayaquil instead of Quito. I think it makes more sense for me to take the flight from Quito.

Does anyone have experience of taking the flight from Quito?

Is your KLM flight direct from Amsterdam to Guayaquil? Or is it via Quito?
 
Hi, flight is direct from Amsterdam. We looked at pricing the flights, the best deal we got was landing a few days early and leaving a few days post trip. Will give us a few extra days in Galapagos to explore and fit in a few more dives.
 
Hi, flight is direct from Amsterdam. We looked at pricing the flights, the best deal we got was landing a few days early and leaving a few days post trip. Will give us a few extra days in Galapagos to explore and fit in a few more dives.
Thanks. I’ll have a look at KLM.
 
Hi, flight is direct from Amsterdam. We looked at pricing the flights, the best deal we got was landing a few days early and leaving a few days post trip. Will give us a few extra days in Galapagos to explore and fit in a few more dives.
Found KLM KUL/AMS/GYE. Much cleaner than any other route. All thanks to you.

Have fun in Galapagos!
 
No bother at all. We have booked 3 days of diving 1 day before the trip and 2 days post with nautidiving- if you are interested I can give some feedback. Its just fingers crossed now as I had to pay the balance to confirm .
 
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Some input on flights to Galapagos. All flights to the islands start from Quito (UIO) and fly via Guayaquil (GYE), before continuing to Baltra (GPS) where Aggressor starts from, or San Cristobal (SCY) where most other dive boats operate from. Just be sure that you book your flights to the right island as the only way to get from one to the other is by ferry and you probably cannot do that in one day as ferry is twice a day and does not coincide with flight times. Most boats hold an allocation of seats up until a month prior to their trips and rates may vary as much as $100 depending on season, city pair, what baggage allowance is included, and who you buy them thru. They can sometimes be bought online but they are not always available during peak periods and one takes the risk that if one needs to change them for any reason, that they may end up non-refundable and non-changeable. Its also sometimes hard to tell online who you are booking thru - one client of ours booked their flights online at lowest rates but found the agent they booked online were based in Spain. When they found they had booked to wrong airport, they were told that tickets could not be changed and were non-refundable so they were forced to buy brand new tickets at total loss of what they had already paid.
One maybe able to buy a ticket all the way thru with your international flights, which may offer you some protection as all flights are on one ticket, but be sure that you arrive at the correct airport at the time recommended by the boat or your agent. Some flight arrive later than others which may mean you have to cover cost of transfer to boat and keeping other guests waiting for 2-3 hours for your late arrival is not always conducive to starting off a trip well. At the end of the day, unless you buy one ticket all the way thru, it is often preferable to have the boat or booking agent take care of it. Additionally, some tickets offer more baggage allowance or an extra bag, and some include cost of Visitor card, priority checkin and other benefits.
If you plan to arrive in GPS a day earlier than the cruise, you would then need to make your own way to a hotel in Puerto Ayora (about an hour away by taxi or public bus) and have to make your way back to the airport in the morning. These transfers are at your own cost and although not terrible, it would not give you any time to arrange a tour or dive with only one overnight.
Hope this helps and feel welcome to contact me if you have questions. We have been operating dive trips to Galapagos for thirty years and have offices in the US and Europe so I hope we can help you.

Dominick Macan
Dive Advice Travel
dom@diveadvice.com
www.diveadvice.com
Tel: +33 492 94 02 99 (France)
SKYPE: adventuredom

Live search for dive liveaboard spaces … for up-to-date liveaboard availability worldwide

"In Partnership with Amazing Adventures Travel of Mill Valley, California"
 
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We stayed in Quito. Our family had people arriving from different places on different days. My kids arrived each from a different country a day before us and loved exploring Quito. No of us had a hard time finding accommodation near the airport which was beautiful. I made our arrangements and the kids their own and honestly we had no issues at all. It is an awesome trip. We were on The Galapagos Sky. We made friends with a group from the UK who used Guayaquil as their base and they had no issues. I think you should just book whichever best suits you. Hope you have a wonderful trip.
 
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