TAME (pronounced tah-may) is the largest airline of Ecuador and provides nonstop service between New York JFK to Quito UIO. TAME also flies Fort Lauderdale FLL.
TAME provides nonstop service from JFK and FLL airports to both Quito UIO and Guayaquil GYE.
Nonstop flights between New York JFK and Quito, UIO are as low as $548 round trip in June. Airfare is between $540 and $580 most dates into early 2016.
Flights departing from Fort Lauderdale FLL are as low as $430.
Fares to Quito are around $550 to $650 on Copa (via PTY Panama City) or Aeromexico (via MEX Mexico City) from airports like Miami, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. Flying within Ecuador to Guayaquil or Cuenca is fairly inexpensive with $100 roundtrip tickets possible.
Ecuador was on my mind yesterday after reading Le Chic Geek’s article about how U.S. customs thought she was a drug smuggler for flying to the Caribbean for a day at the beach and then back home that night to avoid the cost of a hotel stay at an expensive beach resort.
I was in Quito in May 2000 doing the LatinPass mileage runs for one million bonus miles when I was pulled out of the passenger line by airport police while boarding the plane to Lima. The police did not speak English and I do not speak Spanish. Fellow passengers translated the police questions and the main issue is why I had spent the previous night in Quito, flew to Lima for the day, then back to Quito and once again I was boarding a plane back to Lima, Peru.
I showed the police the Spanish version of the LatinPass promotion brochure for the one million bonus miles. They did not read it. Passengers were also wondering why I had flown back and forth between Quito and Lima twice in one day?
The police finally let me board the plane. Mileage runs can be a confusing concept to the uninitiated. 12 hours later I was in Cusco, Peru, having completed the flights to earn one million bonus miles. Those miles provided over $30,000 in free Hilton Hotel stays around the world.
I did not see as much of Ecuador as I would have liked since my South America getaway was scheduled as a four day trip over an extended weekend from my job as a school teacher in California.
But, I did see more of Ecuador than I planned when I was stuck in Lima, Peru due to heavy fog and missed my American Airlines flight home to California. I had to call work and tell them I was stuck in Peru and would not be at school on Tuesday.
I ended up catching a flight to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where I spent the day and night before an American Airlines flight. Guayaquil was one of the most interesting cities I have visited. Normally I don’t buy many items to bring home. The ultra-low prices in Ecuador had me buying art that hangs on my walls today as a reminder of the high mountains of Quito and humid tropical coast of Guayaquil.
