Getting There From North America
While departure cities are limited in the US to Miami, New York, Houston and Los Angeles, it is possible to pick up connecting flights from all major US cities to these departure points easily. Several airlines offer daily direct flights from the departure cities listed above into Quito or Guayaquil. There are no direct flights from Canada to Ecuador, so you'll need to catch a flight into Miami where you can connect with a plane to Ecuador. High season runs from mid-June to the end of July and again from mid-December until the end of the year. From the US , Avianca Airlines, Colombia's national airline, flies out of New York, Miami and Los Angeles daily via Bogota to Quito. American Airlines flies daily from Miami direct to Quito or Guayaquil, while Ecuadoriana, the Ecuadorian national airline flies direct from JFK to Quito or Guayaquil. Continental flies to Ecuador through Houston and Panama. LanChile, the Chilean national airline, flies from Miami to Guayaquil three times a week. Lacsa the Costa Rican national airline fly from JFK to Quito via Costa Rica five times a week. Approximate flying times from the US to Quito are: from Miami 4 hours; from New York approximately seven hours. As for fares , expect to pay around US$650 in low season and US$750 in high season from JFK; $650/750 from Miami; and $1300/1400 from Los Angeles. From Canada , Canadian Airlines offers daily flights from all major Canadian cities to Miami, connecting with another airline, such as American Airlines, for the flight on to Quito. From Toronto, for example, fares are around CAN$1220 in low season and CAN$1280 in high season. From Toronto, flying time is approximately seven and a half hours. Barring special promotional sales, the cheapest of the airlines' published fares is usually an APEX ticket, although this carries certain restrictions, which you should be clear on before purchasing - for example, you may have to purchase the ticket up to 21 days before departure and spend a set number of days abroad. You can also cut costs by going through a consolidator or discount agent . While Ecuador is somewhat isolated in the Round The World (RTW) market, there are three fairly regular options: Los Angeles-Rarotonga (Cook Islands)-Nadi-Auckland-Papeete-Tahiti- Easter Island-Santiago-Quito-Panama City-Los Angeles (US$ 2995 plus tax); Miami-Guayaquil- Caracas-Lisbon-Madrid-Bangkok-Kuala Lumpur-Honolulu-Miami (US$2495 plus tax); and New York-London-Cape Town-Buenos Aires- Quito-New York City (US$1995 plus tax). LanChile also offers Pacific Circle fares. A number of specialist tour operators organize trips to Ecuador, including flights, transfers, accommodation and excursions (though before booking, check whether domestic flights are included in the cost). This works out as more expensive than doing everything independently, but it does cut down on potential hitches and delays. Options often involve travelling with an escorted group, combining rainforest, highland and Galapagos trips with visits to haciendas, taking an overland tour, and special-interest trekking, bird-watching and mountain-biking tours.
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