Peru Getting There
International Flights
We suggest that you make your international flight arrangements to/from Lima on-line or with your own local travel agent. Be sure to check with the usual ticketing companies like kayak.com, expedia.com and travelocity.com, as well as with local airlines like LATAM Airlines or discount Spirit Airlines.
Please let us know if you need help booking your international flights – we are happy to assist you.
Domestic Flights
If you arrive in Lima early in the morning, you can likely get a domestic flight to Cusco that same morning, giving you that day for acclimatization at Cusco’s 11,000 foot elevation. However, if you arrive Lima in the afternoon or evening, you will need to stay overnight in Lima, as the domestic flights to Cusco are generally morning/early afternoon flights.
AWR can help arrange your domestic and international flights.
Who will meet you at the Airport in Lima?
Individuals and groups usually fly into Lima, Peru. The transfer agent will meet you at the airport and provide assistance to your next flight, OR take you to your hotel. This agent will also have your vouchers for hotels and tours for your stay in Peru and your airline tickets for your domestic flights (if booked through us).
If you are traveling on to Cusco, the transfer agent will take you back to the airport the next morning and see that you get the flight from Lima to Cusco. When you arrive Cusco, another transfer agent will meet you and take you to your hotel.
If you are going to Huaraz on the bus, the transfer agent will take you to the bus station for your bus ride to Huaraz. When you arrive Huaraz, another transfer agent will meet you and take you to your hotel.
At each point of your travel in Peru with Adventures Within Reach, there will be a guide or transfer agent to see that you get to your destination and return. All guides and transfer agents are bilingual.
For the Galapagos extension, you will want to fly to Quito or Guayaquil, Ecuador (before or after your Peru travel). We can help you with your schedule so that you get to Ecuador in time for the cruise to the Galapagos.
What if my flight is changed/cancelled/delayed?
As soon as you find out about a change in your flights, and you have not started your travel, you may notify us. We will contact the Lima staff, so that they can stay on top of your schedule. They will track you down!
Once you are in Peru, and find a flight delay/cancellation, please call the Lima 24-hour emergency number (on your reservation confirmation), to inform the staff of the change. They will assist you with added changes in flights, hotel bookings, and reworking of itineraries, if needed. You can also contact us, but please realize that it might take a bit longer, than if you simply contact the Lima staff. If the problem occurs in Cusco, be sure to call the Cusco 24-hour emergency number (again, on your reservation confirmation).
NEW PROCEDURES FOR THE LIMA AIRPORT!
AWR has been notified of procedures for the Lima Airport; some are the same and some are new. Be sure to read this prior to your travel. It may save you considerable stress!
INTERNATIONAL ARRIVALS
Upon arrival to Peru, you will disembark by the walk-way to an international arrivals corridor that takes you through the main building to immigration via an escalator. Keep in mind that if you arrive in Lima between 22:00 p.m. and 02:00 a.m., the arrivals area is pretty saturated so that the lines can be long. From immigration, you get your luggage and go through customs, per usual.
CUSTOMS
After clearing customs you will exit into an area open to the public, where there are counters for taxi-service and rental cars. If you are a small party, you will see an area to your RIGHT where representatives with hand-held signs are standing. Look for your name and approach/contact that person. If you are part of a larger group, you will see a hand-held sign with your name/company to your LEFT as you exit, and you should approach that person and make contact.
Your transfer agent will have porters to help with luggage and will guide you to the vehicle to take you to your hotel. OR, if you are connecting at the airport to a domestic flight, you will simply be transferred to your next flight. If the wait-time is long, your contact will offer you areas where you can have a snack, rest and recover, or just wait in a lounge (some options require a fee).
In case you cannot find the contact person or your group, we strongly recommend you proceed to a coffee shop called “Aroma Cafe” located just opposite to the left of the International Arrivals area. Wait there for your agent to find you.
INTERNATIONAL DEPARTURES
The following applies only if we have booked a transfer/assistance for you in Lima at your departure (be sure to check your reservation confirmation and request this service if it has not been included, AND you would like it included):
Due to security reasons, your transfer agent or driver cannot enter the passenger departure area. You will be dropped off at the entrance of the international airline counters while you check in. If you need assistance with luggage, there are porters with carts available.
Once checked-in with your boarding pass, your transfer agent will meet you at the exit point to show you to the immigration area and entrance to the departure gates. There is an international security departure tax (close to US$30/person cash) which one has to pay prior to entering the immigration and security checkpoints. This has not been included in your itinerary pricing, due to the fact that it changes regularly.
VIP LOUNGE
Located on the second floor of the airport, this lounge offers an alternative resting and service area for passengers in transit or connecting from morning domestic flights with late international departures. This lounge offers magazines and papers, drinks, coffee and snacks, buffet breakfast, lunch and dinner, access to internet (WiFi), toilets and washing facilities, hot showers and massage lounges, video games; everything is included at a single reasonable price. If you want to use this service, contact us so that we can reserve space for your group for the amount of time you need.
DOMESTIC DEPARTURES (FLIGHTS WITHIN PERU)
If we have ticketed you domestic flight with LAN, you will be able to arrive at the airport one hour before departure, with your internet pre-check-in boarding pass. You will drop off your luggage at a shorter line, taking less time than an ordinary check-in. Note this is only for LAN tickets.
Other airlines check-in will take longer, so that we will ask you to be there at least two hours prior to departure. Usually, your transfer agent cannot enter the passenger check-in area. However, once you check-in or drop off your luggage, your agent will wait for you and accompany you to the National Departure gates where you have to pay a security departure tax (about US$6/person), prior to passing security and continuing to your assigned gate.
DOMESTIC ARRIVALS (FLIGHTS FROM WITHIN PERU)
On arrival at the National Arrivals area, you will pick up your luggage at the assigned concourse; there are individual carts available.
If you are part of a group, a porter will carry out the entire group’s luggage in a larger cart to the vehicle outside, OR to your connecting airline, making contact with you outside the arrivals concourse. If you have free time available, just outside the National Arrivals area to the right, there is a “Left Luggage” facility where you can store your luggage for the day.
As you leave the Exit to your left, there will be a hand-held sign with your name. That person will take care of you. Should you not see anybody meeting you, and you are expecting assistance, we recommend that you proceed towards the Airport Exit at the National Arrivals area and just before exiting to the Parking area, to the left, there is a “Dunkin Donut” store with a Money Exchange facility right next to a large column. We recommend you wait there for the contact person there. Transfers are seldom missed, but sometimes the area is so crowded, the confusion may cause transfer agents and passengers not to make contact immediately.
AWR’s EXPLORANDES REPRESENTATIVE AT THE AIRPORT
As an extra service touch, Explorandes now has a representative at the airport during the rush hours from 04:00 to 08:00 a.m and from 21:00 p.m. to midnight. Pablo Solorazno, will assist passengers to their connecting flights, locate their transfer agent, or provide other services as required. This service will help passengers get a quick response to any concern about the flow in the Lima airport.
LUGGAGE TAGS
When you are met by the transfer agent, he/she will provide all suitcases/duffels with a woven wool-pompom made by the members of the Community of Tinki, in the Cordillera Vilcanota. These will be tied to the luggage so it can be easily recognized by staff and representatives as you travel through Peru, to minimize risk of loss of baggage or mix-up with other passengers and groups traveling inside Peru.