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Smeef posted:Anyone had any experience with Interjet? I tried to book a flight with one card, and their payment system said the number was too long (it wasn't). I booked with another card, and it declined the payment twice. I looked online, and apparently they have a history of charging people multiple times and then refusing to refund them. I tried calling them to no avail. I've only booked Interjet with a card from a Mexican bank. A lot of Mexican vendors are unable to process foreign cards. I suspect you're not in the US (NL or Belgium?), where you can book through a travel agent who specializes in Latin America. Are you trying to book through Kayak?
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Dec 27, 2014 18:15
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I'm in the US and using a US card. Kayak and the other booking sites just forward me to the domestic carriers' websites when their results even show up.
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Dec 27, 2014 18:43
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Smeef posted:I'm in the US and using a US card. Kayak and the other booking sites just forward me to the domestic carriers' websites when their results even show up. Try a local Hispanic travel agent then. They'll usually book domestic bus and air tickets for Mexico for a nominal fee. Or, wait till you are in Mexico. Outside of Christmas/New Year and Easter, domestic travel in Mexico is rarely fully booked.
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Dec 27, 2014 18:48
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The problem is that I'm still trying to book Cuba. I managed to book and pay for a flight from Cancun to Havana at a reasonable rate. A return from Havana to DF gets declined by all my cards whether using Cubana or Interjet. And after the declined payments, the prices went up another $200. 
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Dec 27, 2014 19:53
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Smeef posted:The problem is that I'm still trying to book Cuba. I managed to book and pay for a flight from Cancun to Havana at a reasonable rate. A return from Havana to DF gets declined by all my cards whether using Cubana or Interjet. And after the declined payments, the prices went up another $200. You shouldn't book ANY travel involving Cuba using a US-issued card or from the US. I'm surprised the outbound flight went through. OFAC regulations regarding transactions with Cuban entities are rather toothless when it comes to sanctions, but it's still not a good idea to leave an e-trail. Book your return in Mexico or Cuba, better in Mexico. Remember to bring cash for all of your expenses in Cuba, as cards aren't widely accepted, and US-issued cards almost certain not to clear. Bring Canadian dollars, or better yet, euros. US dollars get hit with a 10% fee to exchange for convertible pesos.
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Dec 27, 2014 20:25
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It processed it through some generic sounding travel agency entity. If I do wait to book the return and I ended up getting hosed and having an outgoing flight without a return, do you have any idea if Cubana has a decent refund policy? I'm guessing it's a big fat no, and I just sank $600 into a black hole.
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Dec 27, 2014 20:32
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My bank called today about the declined purchases, which were due to them being international and online. They didn't mention the Cubana ticket at all. Heh.
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Dec 28, 2014 20:49
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Hey, Sorry if this is the wrong thread to ask this question and if anyone can point me to a better one then please do. My girlfriend is a Brazilian exchange student and recently returned to Brazil. She was over her baggage limit and left me with a fair amount of stuff, including a camera, a few purses, and a dress. I would like to send these back to her but google searching shipping to Brazil is giving back some extreme responses about reliability of postage. I do not want her to lose these items forever. I am also particularly worried about the camera being taxed some ridiculous amount as well. Is there anyone here with experience in shipping to and from Brazil that can help me with some information?
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Dec 29, 2014 15:49
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Harley C posted:Hey, Know anybody traveling to Brazil anytime in the next few months? That will be a cheaper, more reliable way to get the items to her.
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Dec 29, 2014 15:59
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Juanito posted:Know anybody traveling to Brazil anytime in the next few months? That will be a cheaper, more reliable way to get the items to her. Yeah I would see if she can reach out to the program and maybe there's a student from your area who is going to the same city in Brazil soon. Lot's of exchanges work like that.
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Dec 29, 2014 16:06
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Harley C posted:Hey, Shipping to Brazil is notoriously slow. It's not even just getting past customs, in the country it's slow too. I was in Salvador, Bahia and my friend there mentioned importing a violin. It took 3 days from Europe to get through customs, and then 3 weeks to get from one side of Salvador to the other. But yeah, before that there's customs and they can stay forever and get hit by large amounts of customs.
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Dec 29, 2014 16:53
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Leopold Stotch posted:More immediately, I am going to the Dominican Republic in a week, flying into Santiago (STI). We arrive at 3:40 AM on the 27th, and I need to arrange a car with a reputable service/driver for the 3 hour car ride to the Samana peninsula. I lived in the DR for a while. Where are you going in Samana? Do you want to go to Samana immediately upon landing? Do you want to have a rented car while you're there, or just have someone drop you off? Either way it might be better to wait until dawn, given that the roads/drivers in the country are notoriously lovely (although the roads in/around Samana aren't bad). Dominican taxi drivers will be salivating at the idea of driving you long distances, and you'll probably get wildly different offers if you were to just start asking around. I lived in the middle of nowhere in a remote part of the country. When I was in the capital headed to the bus station, I had several taxi drivers mention how they'd be happy to drive me there in that very moment... only an 8 hour drive! At the same time, I don't know of any taxi companies online. Private car services will probably run you a lot more than you could get by asking around. Without Spanish you'll have to rely on someone at the airport to help you. Some taxi drivers will speak varying levels of English. There will be tons of taxis there, as it's outside the city so you need to take one anyways. Sorry I can't provide any more specific info. If you wanted an adventure you could take a bus.
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Dec 29, 2014 20:22
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I'm going to Ecuador for around 10 days next month, couple of questions. I'm coming in through Guayaquil and leaving from Quito. Is Guayaquil worth hanging around? My initial plan is just to get in and go straight toward the coast for some beach time, but i'm not set on it. How is Isla De La Plata? I know the whole poor man's galapagos tagline, how much is that bullshit? It looks fairly cheap, has anyone been there? I want to spend a bit of time on the pacific coast in Puerto Lopez and maybe check out Montanita for a laugh. Would anyone recommend other beaches in that area? I saw some posts on Montanita, is it more aussie/euro hostel party crowd or more expats and burnouts? Don't mind the former for a day or two, latter not so much. How much time would you spend actually in Quito? How would you divide up time between Quito and maybe 1-2 of Cotopaxi, Pululahua, or some other day trip type thing from Quito. I'm not too set on anything, but mostly thinking spending 4-5 days on the pacific coast, and then 5-6 days in Quito and the Andean highlands. Would be interested in any recommendations. G-Hawk fucked around with this message at 07:20 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 07:09
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Trip Review Cusco and Lima: 1 - Hiking the Inca Trail was incredible, and I was even able to do it on acute food poisoning from something I ate in Cusco. It's not that difficult if you can, say, run 2 miles. Highly recommend Alpaca Expeditions. 2 - Everyone told me to only spend 3 days/nights max in Lima if time was in short supply, and they were correct. We did Plaza Mayor, Barranco, and Miraflores all in that time and we felt pretty fulfilled. 3 - I wish we had an extra day or two in Cusco. Only did 3 days, 4 night there in addition to our Inca trail hike. 4 - The "museums" in Cusco can be skipped, $50 ticket saved. Those weren't worth it. 5 - Copa airlines is the most bullshit mickey mouse airline I've ever flown. I have a few hundred thousand "butt in seat" miles total spread across a handful of airlines, so this isn't my first big trip or anything. I won't fly Copa again. A range of errors, starting with their inability to even charge the right credit card and then straight-up lying about Panama law regarding exit row seating and language. Their customer service is basically non-existent. They just won't respond to you. 6 - First trip abroad with a non-iPhone. Verizon Android phones have bloatware, drivers that will block a Claro sim from being used. The only remedy I could find online was to root my phone and disable the Verizon software. My S5 was useless. Blinkman987 fucked around with this message at 20:19 on Dec 30, 2014 |
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Dec 30, 2014 20:11
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I booked Interjet from MEX to Havana. Everything worked out for me. Nice carrier. If you're worried about them double charging, just generate a temporary, limited credit card from your bank's site (if you have that option). Or buy a gift credit card for the value of the ticket.
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Dec 30, 2014 23:05
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G-Hawk posted:I'm going to Ecuador for around 10 days next month, couple of questions. I'm coming in through Guayaquil and leaving from Quito. Hello. Guayaquil is just a big industrial city. I wouldn't spend a lot of time in it. Puerto Lopez is nice, and so is Isla Plata. It shouldn't be more than $50 to take a tour out to the island. To me Ayampe is amazing. Very relaxed surfer town. Supremely clean and large beach. Jungle comes up right to the sand. Yea sometimes the surf gets massive and swimming can be dangerous, but usually in the springtime. Montanita is a dirty, crowded and loud place. It's hard to say what kind of crowd it is, but I'd say it's a mix between shady Hispanic dudes looking for girls, burnouts, and drunk fat backpackers. Quito is not much better than gayaquil. It's got some nice things, but the real place where people love to visit the Andes is Cuenca. Impressive little colonial town right in the mountains. Short ride away from Cajas National Park. I recommend Cuenca instead of Quito. Edit: and I do recommend mountain climbing! It's bees knees. I feel Peru has the better mountains but Ecuador has some nice ones too. white sauce fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Jan 1, 2015 |
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Dec 31, 2014 13:56
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How do you guys get money in Argentina? I specifically mean for Buenos Aires and to a lesser extent also Mendoza/Cordoba, since I'd rather not carry around a months' worth of cash for two people on me. Can you pretty much trust any money changing guy that quotes you a reasonable rate? Any particularly good (or bad place) to go for this? I imagine the airport and shops at major bus stations only gives the terrible government exchange rate.
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Dec 31, 2014 18:46
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I had my best luck getting local currency out at ING ATMs in Buenos Aires. Local banks will often times change money at acceptable exchange rates. They're only open certain hours and days though. In Colombia last week I got a pretty fair price from a shop owner in the bus station. Argentina recently had a lot of problems with their exchange rate against the dollar, right? I don't think things are anywhere near as bad as Venezuela but whatever exchange rate you get ought to be very favorable right now.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:12
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It's been a few years since I've been to Argentina, but you used to be able to withdraw USD from ATMs there.
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Dec 31, 2014 19:20
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I arrived from Uruguay so came with USD. The great thing about USD is that they come in $100 bills, and that's what they spit them out in in Uruguay, and so when I got to BA just went to la calle Florida and found lots of people giving just under the rate mentioned on http://dolarblue.net The alternative is to find someone and change it with them. I stayed with someone on CS for example, and he wanted to buy USD. A fair number of people do, because the peso just keeps devaluing.
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Dec 31, 2014 20:53
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Hadlock posted:I had my best luck getting local currency out at ING ATMs in Buenos Aires. The official exchange rate is 8.5 pesos to the dollar, but the real exchange rate is 14 to the dollar, so you get hit pretty hard if you use govt exchanges. But yeah it's not insane like Venezuela where you can't use a credit card or withdraw money even in an emergency. Good tip about selling them to your hosts. I hadn't even thought about looking at CS or AirBnB for Argentina, I'd just been looki at hostels.
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Jan 1, 2015 13:25
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G-Hawk posted:I'm going to Ecuador for around 10 days next month, couple of questions. I'm coming in through Guayaquil and leaving from Quito. Echoing the previous poster, Guayaquil is bland. Quito is cool for a day to go check out the old town and the Teleferico. Montanita is pretty much white euros/aussies. If you like drinking/clubbing until 5am, may be worth it to spend a night there. Ask one of the guys on the beach selling tattoos if he has some weed if you're into that. Despite what's been said about Montanita, I quite enjoyed it there. If you're headed in the Cotopaxi area, I spent a couple days in Banos doing hiking/rafting/adventury stuff, and it was a fantastic time. If I had 10 days, I would spend 2 in Banos, 4-5 in Puerto Lopez/Montanita, 2 in Quito, and the other day you'll spend on the bus.
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Jan 3, 2015 05:07
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unsanitary posted:Echoing the previous poster, Guayaquil is bland. Quito is cool for a day to go check out the old town and the Teleferico. After looking into Banos(and other places) some this morning I pretty much came to an itinerary like this, so good to run into this post after. Anyone done the bike ride from Banos to Puyo? Was eyeballing that, looks pretty fun.
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Jan 4, 2015 07:20
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G-Hawk posted:After looking into Banos(and other places) some this morning I pretty much came to an itinerary like this, so good to run into this post after. You could go all the way down to Puyo, but the prettier part is the first 20-25km. I rode up it a few weeks back on my way to Quito, and it was a bit drizzly so there weren't that many riders out. It's great in terms of infrastructure with BEWARE THE CYCLIST signs everywhere, which combined with Ecuadorian driver's general niceness leads to a good time.
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Jan 4, 2015 12:18
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Thesaurus posted:I lived in the DR for a while. Where are you going in Samana? Do you want to go to Samana immediately upon landing? Do you want to have a rented car while you're there, or just have someone drop you off? Either way it might be better to wait until dawn, given that the roads/drivers in the country are notoriously lovely (although the roads in/around Samana aren't bad). Thanks for responding with this great advice, although I wasn't able to read your post until we got back. We had an amazing time in the DR and I would go back and do the exact same trip over again. Having gone and felt very safe the entire time, felt no more dangerous than a major US city, we would probably have waited until dawn and then negotiated for a taxi at the airport. But no regrets, we booked through dominicanairporttransfers.com, which had been postively reviewed on Tripadvisor. They were at the airport at 3 am when we arrived and at the hotel exactly at the time promised for the return trip. I was amazed that other drivers really do sometimes drive with no working lights whatsoever at night. It was $400 round trip, which I suspect may be double what I could have paid if I had negotiated in person, but not having been to the DR before and wanting certainty before getting on the plane, they did a great job and I would recommend them for people like me who want to know exactly what is going to happen as much as possible from the door at home to the door at the hotel. We stayed at the Hotel Vista Mare on the road outside Samana on the way to Galeras. We snorkeled playa fronton, rode horses in Galeras, drank mojitos in terranas, and took a small boat over to Haititses national park. All were fantastic. The only thing we hated was Cayo levantado, felt like what I imagine a bad all inclusive is like. Too many big groups of tourists and the associated vendors. Leopold Stotch fucked around with this message at 19:03 on Jan 5, 2015 |
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Jan 5, 2015 19:00
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G-Hawk posted:After looking into Banos(and other places) some this morning I pretty much came to an itinerary like this, so good to run into this post after. That was on my list until I got roped into a last-second ayahuasca Amazon tour trip through a Banos travel agency. I'd love to know how cool that is if you do it. Puyo and Tena were the two places I didn't get to visit when I was in Ecuador.
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Jan 6, 2015 04:18
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Leopold Stotch posted:Thanks for responding with this great advice, although I wasn't able to read your post until we got back. Glad you had a good trip. The DR is a cool country (especially the Samana area)... I wish I were still living there. It's good that you didn't go for an all inclusive, as that's the extent of most people's (non)exposure to the island. I wouldn't sweat the airport transfer. Having lived in the country, it's easy for me to be like "Ask around for Chicho at the local gas station... he'll give you a good price." When you're flying in, ease and peace of mind is huge. I'm assuming that you drank your mojitos at that Las Terrenas beach place called "Mojitos"... that place was legit. Some of my favorite beaches are in Samana.
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Jan 6, 2015 17:27
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Leaving for Costa Rica tomorrow for 12 days. Going to be a completely different experience this time. Last trip buddy had his girlfriend and he couldn't really do poo poo(felt bad for the guy). Now he's single and another friend of ours is coming. Plus were checking out a different part of the country. Lol high here in NC is 35. Going to be chilling in 90 degree weather in 24 hours. Owns.
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Jan 7, 2015 16:43
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Thesaurus posted:I'm assuming that you drank your mojitos at that Las Terrenas beach place called "Mojitos"... that place was legit. Some of my favorite beaches are in Samana. Yes indeed! The ceviche at Mojitos was excellent, the best we had on the trip, and can't beat that view.
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Jan 7, 2015 21:52
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I really didn't want to start a new thread, so here goes: A former colleague was just granted what she says is a B1/B2 Tourist Visa from Nigeria to the US, good for two years. She's planning on visiting for three weeks this spring, and I'm hosting part of the trip in Texas. Is there any way we can visit friends in Mexico, and if so, what's required?
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Jan 12, 2015 08:33
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Aliquid posted:I really didn't want to start a new thread, so here goes: http://www.nairaland.com/975632/traveling-mexico-general-enquiries suggests a $36 visa fee and a visit to the Mexican embassy, but beware!!! Nairaland posted:Life in mexico is hard if u can't speak spanish or u don't have someone that can put u through. Mexico Is Survival of the fitest so if u are strong willed and can do and can work well u might just find the facour of God.
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Jan 12, 2015 08:44
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Aliquid posted:I really didn't want to start a new thread, so here goes: A couple of things to bear in mind on the US side. Be sure the B visa is for multiple entries. I don't know if State even issues single-entry B visas any longer, but check to be sure. Also, having a valid visa does not guarantee admission to the US. It's unusual, but not unheard of for CBP officials to deny admission to aliens with a valid visa that have successfully been admitted on that visa a week or two prior. Admission is at the discretion of CBP, and Nigeria is in practice a nationality that gets scrutinized more heavily than others.
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Jan 12, 2015 15:54
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TheImmigrant posted:A couple of things to bear in mind on the US side. Be sure the B visa is for multiple entries. I don't know if State even issues single-entry B visas any longer, but check to be sure. Also, having a valid visa does not guarantee admission to the US. It's unusual, but not unheard of for CBP officials to deny admission to aliens with a valid visa that have successfully been admitted on that visa a week or two prior. Admission is at the discretion of CBP, and Nigeria is in practice a nationality that gets scrutinized more heavily than others. I am pretty sure they're not single entry. I got a B2 visa and it's valid for 10 years and I'm allowed to try to enter as many times as I'd like in that time.
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Jan 12, 2015 16:01
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I'm flying into Guayaquil, Ecuador on Saturday (GYE) and I arrive around 5pm. I think that's too late to catch a bus and I'd like to get to Puerto Lopez the same evening. Will I be able to arrange for a taxi at the airport, or should I try to do that in advance?
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Jan 14, 2015 19:43
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I get into Santiago on Jan 28, and have to be in Buenos Aires on Feb 3. That's six days of time where I have no idea what to do. Recommendations? I'm trying to keep it cheap.
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Jan 15, 2015 01:24
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Pretty Boy Floyd posted:I get into Santiago on Jan 28, and have to be in Buenos Aires on Feb 3. That's six days of time where I have no idea what to do. Recommendations? I'm trying to keep it cheap. How cheap, and what kind of things do you like to do?
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Jan 15, 2015 02:30
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Leopold Stotch posted:I'm flying into Guayaquil, Ecuador on Saturday (GYE) and I arrive around 5pm. I think that's too late to catch a bus and I'd like to get to Puerto Lopez the same evening. I think you should be able to. The airport is close to the bus terminal and buses run until 11 pm or more. There are taxis in the airport that will take you to the bus terminal, "terminal terrestre" in Spanish. The trip to P Lopez is no more than 6 hours. white sauce fucked around with this message at 02:33 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 02:30
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King Metal posted:How cheap, and what kind of things do you like to do? I'd prefer to keep my lodging under $50 a day. Airbnb has a lot of stuff at around $30/night – that's kind of my target. I like to visit places and just get a feel for them. I'm not into super touristy poo poo. My idea of traveling is a book, maybe a map of the city with some interesting spots starred on it, and just me walking around eating, drinking, talking to people. I like museums, but a lot of them are not worth the time. I'm currently pondering hanging out in Santiago for a day or two, heading up to Elqui Valley for a few days, then coming back down before flying to BsAs. I've also been told Valparaiso is cool. What's nightlife like in Santiago? in Valparaiso?
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Jan 15, 2015 03:29
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Valparaiso is rough at night. I highly don't recommend it for anybody to be out and about. Worth checking out, but I'd try to stay in Vina del Mar if you want to be in the general area.
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Jan 15, 2015 03:42
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Tight Booty Shorts posted:I think you should be able to. The airport is close to the bus terminal and buses run until 11 pm or more. There are taxis in the airport that will take you to the bus terminal, "terminal terrestre" in Spanish. The trip to P Lopez is no more than 6 hours. Thanks, and what if I wanted to just hire a taxi at the airport to drive me to Puerto Lopez? I know it will be expensive and require some negotiation, but will the drivers do this or should I try to arrange in advance. Leopold Stotch fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Jan 15, 2015 |
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Jan 15, 2015 16:04
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