Best route to Barranquilla

[jvoorhees]

I am in the process of booking my third trip to Colombia (trip report coming soon on the second).  It is over the holidays and the airfare is a little higher than they have been previously.
 
In all of my flights so far, I have flown through Miami directly to Barranquilla.  I have liked that as it has been a short travel time and I have less connecting flights.
 
For this trip there are currently better prices with layovers in either Panama City or Bogota.  Has anyone taken those flights?  Is there any difficulty in switching planes outside of the US?
 
Which cities do you usually travel through?

[dennislevy]

There is no difficulty in switiching planes in the El Dorado airport in Bogota. 


Bogota to Baranquilla by plane is a chip shot..... very easy..............A cab from the BQ airport to North baranquilla should be about 15,000 pesos.

why not book it now and get a cheaper price before the airfares  start to climb. .


If you need help with accomodations in Baranquilla, let us know

[benjio]

Dennis is right, usually an easy transfer.
 
I'll tell you one thing though...make sure there is ample time between the time your flight arrives in Bogota and your connecting flight to Barranquilla. If you are flying Continental to Bogota and Avianca to Barranquilla, or American Airlines to Bogota and Avianca to Barranquilla, you will NOT enjoy the hotel Avianca puts you in if your flight from the U.S. arrives after your connecting flight leaves.
 
Spirit use to have dirt cheap flights from Fort Lauderdale to Barranquilla, but they stopped the route late last year. Once I got from Houston to Barranquilla for a little over $400.

[dennislevy]

Benjio,


Just out of curiosity...where does Avianca put up travelers who arrive late for a connecting Avianca in country flight?

[benjio]

Benjio,


Just out of curiosity...where does Avianca put up travelers who arrive late for a connecting Avianca in country flight?

DL, I don't remember the name of the hotel at this moment,but I'm sure you remember my horrible experience the first time I was in Bogota from my thrid trip report on Gringos.com. When I was there a couple of months ago working I passed by the building in a taxi and I told one of the guys that work for my company in Colombia about my horrible experience there. He told me it was definitely one of the worst hotels in Bogota, but was still relatively expensive. I'm actually flying out of Sao Paulo tomorrow morning on my way there. I will try and remember to come back to this thread to give you the name.
 
When I'm there for my company I stay at the Bogota Royal in the World Trade Center Building because it's two blocks from the office. Just an FYI, that place is awesome! Great service, nice rooms, and the whole shebang.

[dennislevy]

Benjio
It s a whole different ballgame when the company is footing the bill! jejejeje
have you eaten at la Fragata on top of the WTC? assume it s still there....
 

[benjio]

Benjio
It s a whole different ballgame when the company is footing the bill! jejejeje
have you eaten at la Fragata on top of the WTC? assume it s still there....

Hell yeah it is...and not bad at all considering it's dining in Colombia. Jeje...but my favorite restaurant by far is Club Colombia. Ironically, I hate the beer. I'm an Aguila man.

[fathertime]

 
For this trip there are currently better prices with layovers in either Panama City or Bogota.  Has anyone taken those flights?  Is there any difficulty in switching planes outside of the US?
 
Which cities do you usually travel through?

i was recently had a layover in panama city for 5 hours....it was after an overnight flight from Los Angeles...it was very pleasant the airport...there are seats without dividers so you can snooze and there is free internet access and plugs in a bunch of areas.  The food is real good in the airport as well, there is a small second story that is easy to miss with lots of restaurants.


Fathertime! 

[Jason1]

The sooner you book the better off you will be. Air fares only go up around the holidays.

Having a connecting flight in Bogota isn't too bad as long as you have enough time to make your connecting flight. The airport in Bogota can get busy though and there is always a chance of not making your flight. I would look into possible hotel choices just in case.

[whitey]

Have you considered flying into Cartagena?  It's only 2 hours and $US13 to get to Barranquilla via a door-to-door shuttle service.

I have always found the best rates and flight times doing this, on Spirit out of Ft Lauderdale.

[Alabamaboy!]

Flights into Panama are cool if you have a couple hour layover, but if more than that, maybe better off flying directly into Bogota and then make a separate ticket purchase with Aires Air to BAQ. They have like 5 flights a day and many times are super cheap.

[jvoorhees]

Thanks all for the great advice!
 
After a day of digging all of the sites, I found a great price out of New Jersey, and Panama City.  Most of the layovers I saw in Pamana City were 1 hour.  But luckily, this layover is 11 hours overnight.  So I should have no problem making my connecting flight.  And it was a better price.
 
The down side, I delayed about 2 hours in booking from when I found it.  And the return trip that I liked leaving Barranquilla at 4:15pm jumped $700.00.  So I was forced to change the departure from Barranquilla to 6:49am to get the same price.  Ugh.
 
I was just shocked at how quickly and dramatically the prices could change.  I felt like I was on eBay.

[fathertime]

 
The down side, I delayed about 2 hours in booking from when I found it.  And the return trip that I liked leaving Barranquilla at 4:15pm jumped $700.00.  So I was forced to change the departure from Barranquilla to 6:49am to get the same price.  Ugh.
 

I recently had this exact same returning flight at 6:49am....let me give you a bit of advice on this one...don't bother getting to the airport TOO early, like we did...the terminal doesn't even open until 4:30...I it would be safe to get there probably around 5:15...we got there super early around 4:15 and had to wait for things to open...yeah we were second in line but it wasn't worth it...the barranquillan airport is a breeze.


Fathertime!