Inca Trail permits drawn out of a hat???
 

We are considering booking an Inca Trail 4-day trek with Peru Treks. I'm a little nervous as their webiste indicates that permits are drawn from a hat. Has anyone used Peru Treks and/or know anything about this method of obtaining permits? Below is a quote from their website.
Thanks, Laurie

" The method by which the government allocates the trek permits and campsites is a slightly complicated one. A week before the permits go on sale each licensed tour operator has to submit to the government the full list of names, passport numbers and departure date of the clients that they wish to buy permits for. The evening before the permits go on sale the Association of Cusco Tour Operators puts the names of all the tour operators with valid bookings in a hat (can you believe it!). The order of the names of the tour operators that are taken out of the hat determines the order of companies that can purchase the trek permits for that given month. i.e. if Peru Treks is 10th out of the hat for June then we have an excellent chance of obtaining all the trek permits for our clients in June and a very good chance of getting Wiñay Wayna as the campsite on the 3rd night of the trek. If Peru Treks is 30th out of the hat we have a fair chance of obtaining the trek permits for our clients and a poor chance of obtaining Wiñay Wayna as the campsite. If Peru Treks is 100th out of the hat then we have a poor chance of obtaining trek permits for all of our groups and a very small chance of obtaining Wiñay Wayna as our campsite. This system is not a great way of allocating trek permits and we have campaigned hard to get the system changed, but this system is equally bad / unfair for all trekking companies. No matter how big or rich a trekking company is, the system cannot be beaten so we have to accept it. This means that even if you make a trek booking in September or October for a trek departure in June we cannot guarantee that we will be able to buy your trek permit or guarantee that we will be able to obtain Wiñay Wayna as the campsite on the 3rd night of the trek. A lot depends on the luck of the draw."

It is a very convoluted process by which the companies get their permits. You're right. The permits for March 2011 through January 2012 will not go on sale until this January. I did look at Peru Treks' website. If you read farther, they do say that they've never had problems accommodating someone with an actual reservation. You don't say when you want to do the trek. If it were me, I'd book something for one of the dates they list as available on their website (as long as you're 100% sure of your dates), and you'll be on the list they submit. With the statement above, they're cautioning you there's always a chance it'll be a no-go, but it isn't like you're going to find that out a week before or anything.

This is the rest of the statement from their website:

"This system has been operating in this manner for the last few years and what we can say is that, so far, we have always been lucky and managed to obtain all the trek permits for our clients and Wiñay Wayna as our preferred campsite. If for any reason we are not able to buy your trek permit we will email you as soon as we know and will try to offer you an alternative departure date or refund your trek deposit (see Inca Trail trek terms and conditions). We have never had to do this so far."

This is the way I'm reading it, I should say. :) But if anyone sees an alternate interpertation, they should speak up.

www.andeantravelweb.com details the process

permit availability but really for direct provider

just book with a direct licensed provider like

www.perutreks.com www.qente.com and you will be fine.

But caveat emptor lots of scammers pay big sums with CC

Never wire money and always www.insuremytrip.com

Happy Hunting,

I appreciate Peru Treks being upfront about the process. We don't have any flexibility with our dates so it worries me. But if there's no way around it, I guess we have no choice.
Thanks,
Laurie

If it's any help, Peru Treks is a good, well known company. They're not going to steer you wrong.