It’s funny that when I was walking through Bogotá earlier this year, how I took for granted that I was actually there. What I mean is that Colombia is certainly not a cheap place to get to from the UK, yet when you are there, you just forget it. Sometimes, when I meet Americans there I feel a bit jealous that they are only a few hours and a few hundred dollars away from their home country. When they ask why I don’t try living there myself, I have to remind them (and myself!) that cheap flights to Bogotá, Colombia from London and the UK are difficult if not impossible to get hold of!
I have to admit that as I live in the North of England, that the problem is exacerbated, certainly in terms of price. There are times that it will be a couple of hundred pounds cheaper to fly from London, but as anyone in the UK knows, rail fares are so high that the saving is soon wiped out. Especially when like me, you plan your trips something like a month in advance and struggle to take advantage of “cheap” advanced rail fares. Although the bus can be a lot cheaper, if the flight leaves before 9am, there is no chance of arriving on time!
Happy times once you're there!
The most important thing to realise right now is that there are NO direct flights to Bogotá from London or the UK. If you want to fly via Europe your main options are Iberia (via Madrid) or Air France/KLM (via Paris or Amsterdam). The good thing is that both of these airlines serve the UK hinterland very well, so it is not difficult to get a flight to those cities and then connect to a Bogota flight.
The other main option of course, is to go via the USA. The main airlines such as American Airlines, Delta and Continental all have connections to Bogotá. If you are lucky they might be a little bit cheaper and have more flexible terms, such as being able to change your return date. Although it is tempting to take this choice, I have a word of caution based on when I flew via Miami with American Airlines.
The problem is that the US is the only country where; if you are in transit, you have to collect your luggage from the carousel and then check it in again! It doesn’t seem like too much stress, but when you have only a couple of hours in transit it is really stressful! Firstly, Miami is a large airport and it might take a while to firstly get to the immigration area and then to actually get though immigration. Because you see, even though you are only in transit (a concept that Americans still don’t “get”), they still insist taking your fingerprints and the rest. So if it’s a busy hour it can take an absolute age to get though and then to the baggage carousel!
After somehow getting through immigration, it then took an age waiting for my bag to turn up. Then I had to run (and by the way Miami is quite a warm and humid airport) to literally throw my backpack into a pile for the flight to Bogotá There wasn’t any official check-in (so much for security!). By this time the scheduled departure time had already passed so I ran like a maniac to the departure gate. Fortunately the flight had been delayed – perhaps deliberately, I don’t know – but I can tell you that if it hadn’t there would have been no chance of me catching it. I have never ever had this problem anywhere else when having a relatively short transit period.
So that’s my take on flights to Colombia from the UK. I’m looking forward to the day that Avianca or British Airways pull their fingers out and offer something direct, even if just from London. And remember, this is just to get to Bogotá, if you want cheap flights to Cartagena, Medellin or Cali, Colombia; well, you can imagine!
The good news is that once there, you can forget how much hassle and cost it took to get there and just enjoy the country. Well, that is until you decide that you want to extend your stay and that the cheapest flight to Colombia that you found and then booked doesn’t allow you to change your return date! Yep, I’ve quickly changed my mind, when you start taking being in Colombia for granted, remember the frustration you endured just to get there in the first place!
