skeptic54

We live in Seattle and want to go to Oaxaca in March.

We have a lot of frequent flier miles on Alaska, but unfortunately they do not fly into Mexico City. As far as I can determine, the only way to fly to Oaxaca is via a plane change in Mexico City (can't find flights from Guadalajara, Los Cabos, Manzanillo, Ixtapa/Zihua, PV etc to Oaxaca, always a plane change in Mexico City).

There is a fairly reasonable fare on American Airlines to DFW, change planes to MEX, then Aviacsa airline from MEX to OAX. I have never heard of this airline... any advice on choices of route/airline in and out of Oaxaca?

Thanks

Ross

Graziella5b

Hi, we visited Oaxaca last November instead of flying we took the UNO bus, this is a wonderful service that I highly recommend.
We boght the tickets by phone from home, this service is top of the line and really is very pleasant. Takes 6 hours but seats are so confortable,
has two bathrooms, and drinks that we hardly noticed the long trip.
Coming back we stopped over in Puebla breaking the trip into two. Of course this could be done both ways.
Ticket is less than $50

skeptic54

If we had more time I would like to do this (ride the bus), but it would mean staying overnight in Mexico City or taking an overnight bus to get to Oaxaca. The earliest we could get to Mexico City is 4:00 PM, that's before clearing customs, leaving the airport, etc. AND to get there that early we have to be at the airport here at 4:00 AM!

SrFlojo

I have taken several groups of high school students to Oaxaca and have always used that Mexico City changeover. We have connected from Houston, Dallas and Denver to a Mexicana flight which is a little costly, but it is barely an hour in the air. If you have Alaska miles you could get to LAX, then use a variety of airlines to go through Mex. City to Oaxaca. March is a great time to go, you shouldn/t have too many rainy days. Buen viaje.

skeptic54

Thanks! Still wondering if anyone has heard of or used Aviacsa airline, it apparently is the Mexican equivalent of JetBlue or Southwest. United has a direct flight from Seattle to Mexico City, it stops once but no plane change. It isn't the cheapest way to go.

As for Alaska, they fly to Guadalajara, Cabo, PV, Mazatlan, Manzanillo, & Cancun. Any advantage to flying to one of those instead of LAX before changing to a Mexican airline?

Thanks

Ross

skeptic54

Found a rave review of Aviacsa airline on epinions.com

The cheapest flights by far are on Orbitz, better than Travelocity, Expedia, Cheaptickets, and Hotwire.

Thanks all

Dude

Aviacsa is a Mexican discount airline. I have not been on it but anyone that has say anything bad about it. I see them flying in and out of Oaxaca City all the time. As far as flying into Oaxaca I have always been on Aeromexico, Mexicana, or a commuter that is operated by Aeromexico. I have not heard a reason not to take Aviacsa, I am thinking of doing so soon as they offer good fares out of Houston to Oaxaca.

cshuman123

We want to go from Oaxaca to Mexico city to catch a plane at 9:50 on a morning. Do you think there are any overnight busses that would get you there without wasting a whole day?

Dude

Yes there are overnight buses. This is the way Mexicans generally travel. There are lots of them. ADO Plus, ADO GL, or ADO's super luxury line UNO all have overnight service. Look at UNO.com.mx or ticketbus.com.mx for the times. Just for info. there is a ticketbus outlet in Oaxaca City by the American Express office at the southeast corner of the Zocalo. Buy your tickets a couple of days ahead of time. On a couple of occasions I have waited until the last minute a have not been able to get a seat to various destinations.

senorabarb

We flew from LGA to Houston and then directly to Oaxaca on Continental last month. Very easy (although not enough time on the connection back: almost had heart attack getting through customs and to a faraway terminal in an hour).

TioGringo

To the folks who want to know about Aviacsa, I say "relax --- they're great".

I've been flying them fairly regularly for several years now and I liked them when I started doing business with them, but like 'em a whole lot more now. They seem to be getting better and better as they grow.

Comparisons to Southwest etc. are not useful. While Southwest is essentially a serviceless flying busline, Aviacsa has very GOOD service, friendly flight attendants, quick check-in, assigned seats, meals on most flights, complimentary beer and margaritas on almost every flight --- basically all the "frills" (i.e., "service") that U.S. airlines have eliminated are not only still done at Aviacsa, but are done RIGHT.

Aviacsa might be cheaper than any U.S. flag carrier going into Mexico, but shockingly, they're also FAR BETTER.

And by the way, they're doing a lot of connections via Monterrey (MTY) these days, which is a VERY user-friendly, clean, and modern airport to fly through.

Buen viaje!
Mark
www.tiogringo.com

SuperStew

Hi Ross,

Just wanted to give you some good news. Alaska services Mexico City via connections in Los Angeles. So use those frequent flyer miles and save some $$.

Sincerely
SS

internetconnect

Continental airlines operates 2 flights a day from Houston to Oaxaca, and has direct flights from Seattle to Houston. That should be easy enough.

kwil

I flew Aviacsa from Houston to Mexico City a few times several years ago. Never had a problem, delay, etc. and wouldn't hesitate to use them again.

lois1950

I live in Seattle. Just returned from a trip to Puebla & Oaxaca. Used frequent flyer miles for the whole trip from NWA and flew Continental to Houston, Houston to Oaxaca, returned Oaxaca to Houston, Houston to Seattle. A small Brazilian-made airline flew from Houston to Puebla and Oaxaca to Houston, way more comfortable than the longer flight from & to Seattle.