www.ecuadors.org

[Jaleh]

I'd like to know which airline is better to fly to the Galapagos Islands (Baltra) from Guayaquil.

[Dafydd]

I just returned from the Galapagos last month. We (family of four) were scheduled on TAME but for reasons unknown to us got switched to AeroGal. The flight was delayed, but during our trip we had a total of 10 takeoffs and landings in the US and Ecuador and every one of them was delayed to some extent - so I can't say it was the airline's fault - it's just a fact of life when flying. The plane was new, clean, and roomy enough, the crew was very nice and the service was fine. My only complaint was they put my whole family in the exit row - which would have been OK for me and my wife, but our kids couldn't sit there. Fortunately the plane was not full and we were able to switch seats. On the return flight there was mass confusion at the Baltra airport. We once again got switched to AeroGal, but some of the people we flew over with got put on a TAME flight instead - I don't know if this happens often, but the airlines seemed to be interchangeable and I can't say that there was much difference between them. We later flew on TAME on internal flights within Ecuador and found TAME to be perfectly serviceable. The planes seemed a little older and a little less roomy but the service and staff were about the same.

[Bailey]

I agree that the domestic airlines are pretty interchangeable and I've had good service on all, but Aerogal has the newest fleet, Tame the oldest. I choose based on schedule, but if it doesn't make a difference, then I'd choose Aerogal.