Viva Air Peru is the new low-cost airline operating in Peru. Discover all of the info you need to know about this new airline!
Viva Air comes from the Ryanair group, famous for their low cost flights throughout Europe, and is a sister company of Viva Colombia. They started in May 2017. Viva Air Peru promises some of the lowest fares possible in Peru, and looking simply at the base prices, they seem too good to be true…but are they?
Below is a list of all additional costs you must factor in to your price calculations when considering whether Viva Air Peru offers real low cost flights to its customers.
FREE – 6kg very small bag Viva Air only allows 6kg of hand luggage for FREE. This is the size of a very small bag (or a handbag for ladies). Bags ARE weighed, and if you go over 6kg you can expect to pay a large fine, so be very careful with this.
$60usd Hand Luggage up to 12kg This is your typical size hand luggage bag.
$50usd Suitcase or Large Backpacks up to 23kg Your typical bag that travellers would carry with them
So be careful – 1 large backpack and 1 normal piece of hand luggage could cost you $110usd in addition to the air fare!
If you want to check in at the airport, you must pay extra for this service (approx. $5usd). If you choose to check in online, and do not print your boarding pass, you will be fined $15usd to print your boarding pass at the check in counter.
If you want to ensure you have a certain seat, or that you and your friends sit together, then you need to pay for this option. Usually the cost is around $10usd. Viva Air is very similar to Ryanair as you can see.
Unlike LAN, Viva Air do not serve food on board but rather charge for it at higher than normal prices. No free water is provided on their planes either.
As Cusco Airport is one of the most dangerous in the world (high altitude and landing is through gaps in the mountains…beautiful but scary), please be aware that flights with smaller companies (Viva, Star Peru, Peruvian Airlines, LCP) get cancelled way more often than LAN. Cusco can have a lot of rain and cloud cover and the smaller airlines use planes that are not equipped for this weather/reduced visibility so they cancel their flights quite a lot.
Be sure to take into account all the above when checking the prices of Viva Air compared to LAN and other airlines.
For getting to and from Lima Airport, the safest way is with Airport Express Lima. It is a cheap luxury bus with free Wi-Fi and usb chargers …some taxi companies are NOT to be trusted.
If you plan to fly to Lima or Cusco, and are looking for some tours to do, we recommend you check out FindLocalTrips which allows you to search and compare tour operators.
If you plan to travel by bus anywhere in Peru (and maybe fly 1 way) in order to see more things, check out our Peru Hop passes.
