Grupo Taca - great airline for travel in South America
Written: Mar 15 '02
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Clean, safe, on time and pretty cheap.
Cons: I don't really like crack of dawn flights.
The Bottom Line: Clean, safe, on time and for a good price. It is all I want and I got it.
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| azielinski's Full Review: Grupo TACA |
Before writing this epinion I read several of the other epinions on Grupo Taca. Either they have really changed for the better overall or the route I took is the best one they fly.
I just got back from a week long vacation in Peru. For most people going to Peru on vacation, Cusco and Machu Picchu are on the itinerary. The most efficient way to get to Cusco is to fly.
I did not pick Grupo Taca. My friend and traveling companion works for a major US airline and I left it up to her to find the best possible deal to get us from Lima to Cusco and back again, while keeping in mind that we wanted to fly safely. Since we had both been on an absolutely hair-raising flight years ago (Shameless plug alert: see my epinion on airline horrors), safety was an area of concern for both of us.
After checking safety records and prices, we ended up with Grupo Taca with a $119 each round trip price. I was very pleased with both the report on safety and the price.
When you are flying into Cusco, you need to fly in early. The city is nestled in a valley in the middle of the Andes Mountains and weather can make it impossible to fly in or out much past the early morning hours. (While we were there we heard of a few people who had to wait over an extra day in Lima because the weather prevented any flights from taking off.) Our flight left Lima at 6:00 AM, which meant we had to be at the airport at 4:30 AM. (Our return flight left at 8 AM so we got to sleep a little later.) The check in process is like everywhere else except that you have to check all but the smallest bags. (They have a contraption to show you the size you can take in the cabin and it is smaller that the one in US and European airports.) From the check in desk you proceed to the tax booth – all internal flights have to pay a $4 tax at the airport and then through security and to your gate. From the gate you walk outside and up the stairs to your plane – checking tickets and passports every step of the way.
The plane we took was very clean and in excellent condition. There was a small first/business class section – which had no one in it, and the main coach. On the flight to Cusco, we were in the first row of seat behind first class and had lots of legroom. One the way back we were in a different row and there was still a pretty good amount of leg room (Don’t go by me, I am only 5’1”, but my friend is 5’7” and had room to move around.)
Both flights left within 10 minutes of their scheduled departure times and arrived on time too. The flight attendants were pleasant, efficient and bi-lingual and the pilot pointed out the sights we might want to look for. The breakfast pastry wasn’t great but it was enough to stop my stomach noises until we reached our destination. My checked baggage arrived without any mishaps and so did I.
I know that a lot of people have not been pleased with their Taca flights. I was very pleased. Maybe they do better on the internal flights versus the international ones, but if you are flying in Peru, make sure you check out Taca. Clean, safe and a money saver – that makes it a winner in my book.
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
azielinski
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Location: Boston, MA
Reviews written: 341
Trusted by: 175 members
About Me:
Just started a new job...I'll be writing again soon.
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