Finding the cheapest airfare to Margarita Island
I have been traveling back and forth from the US to Margarita for years
and I have found that spending a little time searching can save you a lot of money
Updated 31 May, 2012
CCS = Caracas (Aeropuerto Internacional de Maiquetia-Simon Bolivar)
PMV = Porlamar, Margarita (Aeropuerto Internacional del Caribe Santiago Marino)
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Travel From the USA
Important! To get the best fare to Margarita it usually makes a big difference if you book your flight to Caracas (CCS) first and then book the flight from Caracas to Porlamar, Margarita (PMV) separately. Trying to book directly to Margarita can result in a price as much as 3 times higher than booking separately. Try the Caracas hotel info page for hotels near the airport if you have to spend a night in Caracas. Air Canada and
United (use the discount sites below) have overnight flights which get into Caracas in the morning so you can connect directly to Margarita and save the cost of a hotel room. American has flights from Miami at 7:00am and 11:45am which also allow enough time to get to the island without an overnight in Caracas. | |
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Here is a list of sites that offer the best fares FlyCheapAbroad.com BookingBuddy.com is a site that lets you check many different companies without having to enter all of your data each time |
Playa El Agua |
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I always check all of these sites and play around with different dates to find the best fare before I buy my ticket. Travel Tip! Travel from the US to Grenada (GND) and Port of Spain, Trinidad (POS) is often much cheaper than flying to Caracas (CCS) and both are about the same distance to Margarita Island as Caracas is. There are far fewer flights from Grenada and Trinidad to Margarita, but it is certainly an option worth considering. Travel Tip! Recently the fares to Aruba (AUA) have been very cheap. I just paid $224 for a one-way ticket from Minneapolis to Aruba. Aruba is very close to Venezuela and there are a number of flights to Venezuela.
Travel From Europe and Canada
There are direct charter flights to Margarita from Toronto and Montreal on Air Transat during the winter season. Exitravel.com is a good place to find deep discount last minute deals on flights from Canada. Go to the page www.exitnow.ca/cheap-airfare/index.html for very good last-minute deals. There are now weekly flights from Prague and Warsaw direct to Margarita booked thru Exim Tours. The site is in Polish but you will find phone contacts there. I was told that the one-way fare is US$500. There is a website called Air Ninja that offers discount fares from a number of European cities direct to Venezuela. For a list of all international airlines that serve Caracas airport and info on airport taxes go to CCS Airport Info.
Travel From Latin America
Here is a site that gives online quotes for all countries in Latin America Despegar.com Travel From Neighboring Islands to Margarita There are direct flights to Margarita Island from Trinidad, Grenada, St Vincent and Dominica on Conviasa, Trinidad (Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday), Grenada (Friday & Sunday), St Vincent (Tuesday), and Dominica (Tuesday)
Travel From Caracas to Margarita
Travel Tip! When you pass through Customs, don't go out the exit. As soon as you pass through the Customs area, take an immediate left turn just before you get to the glass doors and you will find an enclosed air conditioned passageway that connects the international terminal with the national terminal. As I remember, there are signs with arrows on the floor that say "Terminal Nacional". It is about a 5 minute walk to get to the National Terminal. If you exit into the International Terminal you can still walk over but it is a little further and you will have many people asking if you want a taxi, a hotel or if you want to change money. Here are a several travel agents that give online quotes for flights from Caracas to Margarita. Grupo Sun Travel, Despegar.com, L & L Tours and Agencia de Viajes Mazzocchi. Be sure to use the dd/mm/yyyy format (not the US format) or you will book the wrong date. For online ticketing from I recommend that you go by air but there is also a ferry that goes to Margarita from Puerto la Cruz. There is a webpage in Spanish for ferry info at Conferry.com There are several ferries a day leaving from Puerto la Cruz but you can often find airfares that are comparable to the combined price of the ferry and bus and save a lot of complications.
High season-Flights to Margarita are more expensive and selection is limited during the Christmas/New Year season, Semana Santa (Easter week), and the month of August. There is a departure tax of BFs. 45.00 for domestic flights and BFs. 225.00 for international flights but the international tax is usually included in the price the tickets. | |
