True, Spirit Airlines isn’t really from Latin America: their hub is in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. But they do fly direct to the following countries from the USA: Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Panama, Colombia, and Peru. Here’s a link to their route map.

They now fly to four different destinations in Colombia. Last month I got invited to join their inaugural flight to Armenia, a Colombian coffee district city in the mountains. It was Friday the 13th and the Ft. Lauderdale airport had a bomb scare just as we were about to check in, but thankfully the bad luck didn’t hold. We arrived fine after a reasonably comfortable flight.

I say “reasonably comfortable” because Spirit is known as the most bare-bones airline out there in this part of the world. They even refer to themselves as the “RyanAir of the U.S.,” with a-la-carte pricing for everything. It doesn’t matter if it’s a domestic flight or an international one; you’ll pay for every checked bag, every drink of water, and anything you want to eat.

You can pay extra ($60 to $150) to upgrade to a larger seat—4 across instead of 6—but that and a bit of extra legroom are all you get for the expenditure. You’ll still have to whip out a credit card for that coffee and muffin. (Though at $3 for that combo, some prices are pretty easy to swallow.) Seat pitch is about as tight as it gets on a plane in all the other rows, even with long flights to Lima, and there’s no movie or music system, so be sure to bring your own.

Once you get your head around all that though and do the math, it’s a pleasant airline to fly and a good value overall. Service on my flights was warm and friendly, with a bilingual crew making announcements in English and Spanish. The airline magazine is pretty thin, but at least there is one. Seats are leather and the Airbus planes are all widebody and relatively new.

Spirit flies to Cancun from Detroit, but all other flights to Latin America are from the main hub in Ft. Lauderdale. The good news on that is, you can fly into Miami or West Palm Beach and use the Tri-rail train to get from one airport to the other. Sure, that adds some time to your trip, but it’s pretty painless otherwise and the trip from Miami Airport to Ft. Lauderdale airport is only $5.50.

On some routes, like the one I flew to Armenia, Colombia, Spirit is the only game in town. Our flight in was such a big deal that people were waving up at the landing plane from the streets. At the airport there was a band to welcome the flight, a speech from the mayor and governor, and local TV crews out in force.

Spirit runs some unbelievably good fare sales now and then (like $59 each way to Colombia) if you can get yourself to their hub. You can pay to join their “$9 Club” to get advance notice on the best and cheapest deals, or get their credit card and join for free. That card also lets you jump the line at the airport—the equivalent of elite status without having to fly 25,0000 miles or more for it. Hey, this airline has some perks after all!

For more infor see SpiritAir.com

See other Latin American Airlines reviews

On Friday I flew as a guest on Spirit Airlines‘ first flight to the Coffee Triangle area of Colombia, to the town of Armenia and have been touring around the region. It turns out this was the first international flight to this airport of any kind, so it was a big deal. The mayor was there, the governor, local TV crews, a brass band, kids singing the national anthems (theirs and ours), and local beauty pageant winners. I can’t say I’ve ever gotten a welcome quite like that before when stepping off an airplane.

This is a beautiful area, with lots of mountains and rolling hills, and the climate is quite pleasant at this altitude of 1,200 to 2,500 meters above sea level. And of course the coffee has been heavenly. No “gas station Colombian” here.

Most of the tourism in this area has been domestic, so I’ve only visited one hotel that meets the standards of Luxury Latin America. It’s a beauty though: Sazagua, pictured here. The other problem is that English proficiency is pretty rare, so it would make sense to hire a guide or set up some kind of organized tour to get the most of your visit unless you speak Spanish. (Our group of writers and Spirit Air people has been using Citurc.)

Snag our RSS stream or subscribe to our newsletter to see when we post the full tour story and hotel review for this region of Colombia.

Things didn’t start off so well on my first Tame flight from Quito to the Galapagos Islands. The departures screen announced “last call” and “departed” before we even were called to board. The screen said we were stopping in Guayaquil for more passengers, but actually the plane went direct to the islands. We were all confused, but happy in the end.

Things went smoothly in the air on our big Airbus plane. The food was a bit odd both ways, including cold chicken nuggets (see photo below), but at least there was some food—more than you can say on many domestic flights anywhere these days. The staff was friendly and came around with a good drink selection, including complimentary beer and wine. Announcements were in English and Spanish and parts of the inflight magazine were in both languages as well.

There were only six business class seats and only two of those looked to be sold on either flight leg. I didn’t get a peek at what they were eating, but did hear the clang of real cutlery. Seat set-ups were standard biz class: four across instead of six, but seat pitch is underwhelming. (It’s not listed online at the usual sites.)

Tame—pronounced tah-may—flies to a variety of domestic destinations and has international routes to Colombia, Brazil, and the Dominican Republic.

Their Distancia frequent flyer program has partnerships with TACA, Iberia, and United, so you can get mileage on one of those for your Tame flights. Or book a free ticket on Tame with miles from United—in theory anyway.

If you’ve ever thought about retiring abroad in Latin America, here’s a big incentive from Ecuador: half-price flights for legal residents. That’s not me though, so I paid $360 round-trip in coach from Quito to Baltra Island.

Tame Airlines website in English

I was none too thrilled with the value equation at LAN Peru when I flew with them this past December (see my LAN Peru post here). But many long-term travelers and expats in Peru have for years gotten around the “stick it to the foreigners” two-tiered pricing policy LAN follows by buying from local travel agencies. Basically, they got the real price instead of the inflated foreigner price.

Well apparently LAN has had enough of this and wants to make sure it is reaching in every pocket that holds a foreign passport, no exceptions. Here’s the report from our correspondent (and Peru guidebook and article writer) Nicholas Gill.

“LAN airlines has begun charging foreigners who bought their tickets in Peru at promotional prices geared toward residents of Peru $178 at the airport. I do this all the time and have never had a problem, but apparently since September 1 they have begun implementing these fees. It doesn’t matter that the LAN agent who booked your ticket in the office knew you were a foreigner when you filled in your passport number and country of residence. Plenty of travelers buy their intra-Peru tickets from travel agents who purchase at these rates, so all of these people are affected. It’s all blowing up right now and LAN has added a small note on their main page (when you click on Peru as your location to start). As far as I know this is only occurring in Peru. the funny thing is the difference in prices between a resident promotional ticket and is not $178, so apparently it is a fine.”

Word to the wise, TACA flies some of those routes (including Cusco to Lima) and is a much better bang for your buck.

Condé Nast Traveler’s current issue has a rundown of its annual World Saver Awards, recognizing those companies who “are dedicated to saving their communities and our world.”

As you would expect in the original home of eco-tourism, Latin America has a strong presence in every category. Several organizations show up in multiple categories and some international chains that were recognized are active in the region.

Scrappy Nature Air of Costa Rica beat out nearly all the world’s airlines, recognized in the Education category for donating part of its profits each year so 200 local students can study English and the environment. They were also called out in the Wildlife category for helping to reforest Corcovado National Park. And they beat out all but two of the other airlines around the world for the “Doing it All” category for air carriers. Probably factoring into that is something I mentioned in this previous post on Nature Air: they were the first airline to go totally carbon-neutral. See more about them at NatureAir.com.

The Haciendas hotel group in Mexico, operators of lovingly restored retreats such as Hacienda Temozon, was the overall winner in the Poverty category. They were lauded for hiring local people who were having trouble making a living from the infertile land in areas where they restored the old buildings and “helped others start businesses, including folk art and massage cooperatives.” They were also recognized in the Education category and were the top Good Guys Overall for the “small chains.” See our reviews of several Haciendas properties in our Merida and Campeche luxury hotels section and at the end of each review is a link to the company’s website.

Upscale Costa Rican eco-lodge Lapa Rios on the Osa Peninsula was recognized for its poverty-fighting efforts. This included one project we wish more plastic-water-bottle-pushing hotels would initiate: the building and staffing of a local recycling facility. They were also recognized in the Education category and were #2 overall in the “small resorts” grouping, along with the less upscale Costa Rican nature haven Pacuare Lodge. Grano de Oro in Costa Rica’s capital placed in two categories: for providing vocational training and placement for abused mothers and providing job training for disadvantaged city children.

Ecoventura cruise line, operating in the Galapagos, has been leading the way in trying to reduce tourism’s impact on the fragile ecosystem there and the awards called them out in almost every category. They were the first company to earn and maintain the ecological SmartVoyager certification, the first Galapagos cruise ship company to offset carbon emissions, and the first to install alternative energy sources. Their solar and wind-powered hybrid yacht got called out in the Preservation category. They were recognized for their scholarship program in marine conservation for Ecuadorian students and a micro-enterprise project for fishermen’s wives. In the Health area they built and equipped a sign language school and they pay the salaries of physical therapists on the inhabited islands. Naturally, they placed at the top in the “cruise lines” grouping. See more at Ecoventura.com.

One of the other winners was Aqua Expeditions, the most upscale Peruvian Amazon River excursion company, which we are planning to cover with a tour feature in the first half of 2010. Also getting a nod were the Ritz-Carlton chain (operating in Santiago, Cancun, and soon Mexico City), Costa Cruises (operating in part of South America), Fairmont Hotels (with multiple locations in Mexico)

See the full results in each category here.