When I try to book Cuzco-Lima flights on the LAN Peru website using "Base Plus" category, I get a message: "Le informamos que la tarifa de los vuelos seleccionados es válida sólo para residentes en el Perú." (Please note that the tariff on selected flights is only valid for residents of Peru.) I thought this applied to Base fares, not Base Plus. Weirdly, I get the same message for the higher "Flexible" fares, and I get it (in English) for fares booked through the LAN USA website. Any idea what is going on?

Following up my own note, speaking with a LAN rep, the message is incorrect. Any fare type that is not "S" is not restricted. (Base Plus is "V")

Base Plus is the rip off fare LAN hikes up

to make toursists pay 2-5X what locals pay

Always book another honest airline that does not

shaft tourists like

www.taca.com

www.peruvianarilines.pe

www.starperu.com

far cheaper too sales from $50

i booked with taca for our trip next week...it was much much cheaper than lan.

Taca and Star are both easy to book & much cheaper.

Not to defend Lan's obscure price policy too much, but Star Peru has only 3 flights Cuzco to Lima (the day I am departing) and Taca only has 2. Their fare is $100. Lan has 15 flights and Base plus is $128.

drbier I think LAN has posted a general "buyer beware" notice which is what you're reading.

Book on the wrong flight wrong time and you can lose a days' worth of signtseeing. At least with LAN you have a priority for being on another flight that day. And Cusco is a tricky airport to fly into/out would rather use a major carrier.

Always use flightstats.com to check ontime star rating.

Newest problem - when I tried to book tickets using online Peru site several different credit cards are not accepted. Telephone rep says I cannot book through Peru site, so I cannot get base-plus fares. Frustrating.

You can purchase tickets through the Peru website only with a Peru-based credit card. You have to choose the site for your own country.

Try to Visa Verify your card but yes LAN can be a PITA.

You can use someone like traficoperu for a fee if you can't resolve this.

Update: I was able to purchase tickets at Base-Plus fare using the Peru site with a Mastercard. Notably, I registered for LANPass frequent flyer program; when I login using this on the US site all of my reservation information is readily available (in English).

I had initiated a reservation with Traficoperu before I figured out the Mastercard trick, which, quite frankly, would have been far easier, but I was being cheap and their per-ticket fee is $20. The savings are marginally worth it since we are 4 travelers. Traficoperu staff were helpful and very responsive by email.

Glad it worked out. Trying different credit cards may help. Even when I booked an international fare from the US on LAN I had trouble paying on line, but at least they didn't hassle me about the fare...which was too good to pass up.

Tips on LAN Cusco-Lima

Do NOT miss the first leg of your flight, they get pissy about that and have been known to cancel the return; if you are overnighting at a hotel in Lima other than the airport, leave AT LEAST 2 hours before the flight and honestly I would leave 3 hours ahead;

In Cusco they tell you it takes no time to get to the airport, this is true, but I was glad I went earlier since our flight was cancelled and I think if you're early you'll have a better shot at getting out on the next available flight.

At the Lima airport you need time to use the bag drop and to pay the departure tax in cash either USD or Soles, there can be lines, especially if flights have been cancelled;

If Online check is permitted (can't remember for this route), it allows you to use bag drop, however the line for bag drop is also long! If you are signed up for their Lanpass they will email if online checkin is available.

They are fairly strict about carryons for this particular flight, they'll go around the lounge and if your bag is too big they may check it for you;

The departure area in Lima is nice, no armrests so you can stretch out if you have one of the early flights, a lot of people don't even bother with a hotel if they come in late and leave on the first flight;

Don't miss the gelato and espresso drinks at 4-D upstairs at the food court before you go into the departures area..excellent! (My fave was tamarindo)