craigW

I'm noticing that the flights back to lima from Cucso are few and they all arrive around 10:30am ish. The exception is Peruvian air with an 8:50 arrival flight back to Lima.

Our Return flight to LA on LAN leaves at 12:30

Is two hours. Three max enough time to make that connecting flight back to LA?
Are the Cusco to Lima flights pretty dependable in that direction?

Doable?

Thanks,

Craig

qwovadis

Hi Craig doable in 2 hours

connexions pretty seamless have done it

several times and never missed.

Although if not pressed on time

personally prefer to come in the day B4

to be safer and enjoy beautiful Lima

and break up my journey.

So odds are great unless rare Cusco AM fog weather delay

u will be fine.

insuremytrip.com always wise down there

strikes cancellation petty theft rare but do occur .

Have fun,

mlgb

I would never book a connection that tight from Cusco to Lima, and I suspect you already knew the answer or wouldn't have asked. They recommend 3 hours for a international flight back from Lima. I would not even risk the morning flight. Too many chances of delay. There is fog in Lima, not Cusco, which is the prevailing weather pattern in our summer. There can be high winds in Cusco, especially in the pm. When the last flight of the day into Cusco gets scrubbed, the first flight of the following day back to Lima gets cancelled or delayed until they get a plane in. The occasional strikes mostly affect ground transport around Cusco and MP.

So what happens if you miss the connection, in terms of change fees or having to buy a new one way ticket home? Do you also miss a connecting domestic flight? Add up all the potential costs of a miss and decide.

My advice is always to go back to Lima the night before.

dcd

The LAN flights from Cusco to Lima run every hour and sometimes twice an hour, particularly in the mornings. Plug in your date of travel here: http://tinyurl.com/3d3zzr8

mlgb

I flew LAN to and from Cusco. On the way there, there were people on my flight from the day before, when ALL flights were cancelled. On the way back, my morning flight was delayed by 3 hours. It doesn't matter how many flights there are, the weather patterns affect them all, and LAN is no better or worse than the others.

dcd

migb, I agree with you. That's why we spent a day in Lima before flying home. But if the OP is in a bind and can't do that, then he should take the earliest morning flight out of Cusco and keep his fingers crossed.

mlgb

It sounds like he is still planning his trip to me. I hope he does not take qwovadis advice this time, it could be very costly. I don't believe there is any travel insurance that will cover him for a connection time that short, either.

Jeff_Costa_Rica

I agree with mlgb, who describes the fog risk (LIM) and the wind risk (CUZ) very well. I would never do this.

I'll add this: Keep in mind that you have to be checked in for an international flight to the U.S. by the one-hour mark. Period. That's a TSA rule. That means you have your boarding pass in hand and you've deposited any checked bags. Standing in the check-in line at that time is not good enough. 59 minutes is not good enough.

LIM is a very nice airport, but it's a very sloooooooooow airport. You'll have to retrieve your bags from your domestic flight (can be slow), stand in the LAN check-in line where you answer a few security questions (usually very slow), go through security (can be slow), and line up for another security check at the gate where you answer more questions (usually very slow). I can't see that you'll make it.

I'll correct one thing that mlgb said: Generally no planes are scheduled to stay at CUZ overnight. Nothing can get out of there after mid-afternoon because of the high winds and funny approaches through the mountains that planes have to make. They try to get everything back to LIM by then. (That's the plan.) Any morning CUZ-LIM flights have probably all come from LIM that same morning and are turning around. But if there was fog in Lima that morning, those flights will be delayed.

When Cusco's new airport is built out in the Sacred Valley between Chinchero and Urubamba, the wind issue and the mountainous-approach issue should be no more. The new CUZ will be able to take bigger planes and, hopefully, even flights from the U.S.

But Lima will still have fog.

Craig_Welzbacher

Well, it looks like we're going for the gamble. Based on the three hours ahead our Cuzco flight is supposed to land we should hopefully make it. It appears fog is rarer in late June and July in Lima also.

We travel light. We may not even have checked baggage.

I'm trying to find out if we were to miss the LAN flight back to LA if it will just cost us a change fee. I can live with that. Or if we would both have to buy new one way tickets the next day. That would not be worth it.

If we're forced to stay in Lima for another day, great. one less day at work that week. haha.

Thanks for the feedback. Cross your fingers.

mlgb

Yeah, one way ticket about $1500 that time of year! Some of the LAN international fares allow those post-departure changes.

Also, be aware that on the Cusco-LIM flights can be strict about carryons. I saw the airline staff going around in the lobby and telling a few people to check larger backpacks and wheeled cases. This was on a completely full LAN flight, but with a tight connection I'd sure not want my bag to get pulled.