There were 5 key steps in my flight search that I think you will need to know so you can save too:
1. Know when to go. Try not to fly during peak times. Peak times in Ecuador are when the Ecuadorians living abroad come home to visit their families. These times are from mid-December to the first week of April (Semana Santa (Easter week)). Expect prices to be higher during this time.
2. Buy round-trip air tickets. I’ve found that round-trip fares are often the same price, or at times even a little lower than one way fares.
3. Fly from Miami or New York. The cheapest direct flights leaving the US for Ecuador fly out of Miami (MIA) or Fort Lauderdale (FLL) airports, with New York a distant second. I have saved $$ buying two separate tickets, one from my home (in Montana) to Miami, and a separate one from Miami to Ecuador. For example, I recently flew roundtrip BZN (my city) to MIA $292. MIA to UIO (Quito) $357…for a Total including taxes=$649. If I would have bought roundtrip from Montana to Quito the cheapest flights available were costing $850-$950 USD.
4. Know where to look online. I start my flight searches at Kayak.com, which is great because it checks for flights across many different sites like Expedia, Travelocity, Priceline and Orbitz all at once. Kayak also allows you to check for flights to nearby airports and allows you to see prices for dates both 3 days before and after your desired departure. After finding the cheapest flight on Kayak, you may want to hop over to the airlines’ official site to see if you can buy it straight from them for cheaper, sometimes I have been able to.
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