Backpack Mack

Time to move on to Cusco, Peru where I’ll be enrolled in another week of Maximo Nivel Language School. But first, how to get there…

One of the major reasons I am able to structure this trip in the way that I have is because my amazing partner is a flight attendant and his flight benefits extend to me as well. So what that means is that I am able to fly standby on most major carriers both domestically and internationally for relatively cheap. 

The key term here however is standby. In this system you can view which flights are available and approximately how full they are ahead of time, but the challenge is that the availability can change at any time. Sometimes another flight will cancel and the airline will rebook passengers on seats you thought were going to be open. Other times airlines have flexible rescheduling policies and passengers will switch to your flight the day of. And lastly, each airline has their own priority rank typically putting their employees ahead of other airlines’ staff/partners. Bigger airlines have more people vying for limited seats.

So what this means for someone traveling on standby is that you have to both be flexible and well informed on what your options are. If plan A doesn’t work you should have a plan B, C and D just in case. Usually it isn’t a problem and plan A or B works out but this travel day had me worried. I had two options for nonstop flights from Mexico City to Lima, but my plan C and D required a stopover in Bogota, Panama City or Costa Rica. Each stopover is its own standby listing so I could theoretically get stuck waiting for a flight out of any of those additional locations. 

The morning of my departure both my plan A and B flights looked pretty tight with just one seat open between the two flights. Unfortunately I was bumped from the first flight but after much nail biting at the gate, I made the second! After spending the night near the airport in Lima I was able to catch an early morning flight to Cusco. Luckily it was smooth sailing and I arrived at my hostel and checked in with the school without incident. My plan is to take it easy today given the hectic travel day(s) plus acclimating to the 11,000 ft elevation of the city.

I am really looking forward to another week of classes!