SunnyDay - 10-12-2009 at 09:43 PM
Just back from 10 days in La Paz. First trip in almost 2 years, and it's better than ever. Despite the absence of a few LP icons (La Perla dept
store still an empty lot, Los Arcos and Carlos 'n Charlies closed down, Engleberts torn down) the city is going stong with the malecon completed way
out of town, city seems lively and prosperous, new home construction everywhere, great restaurants full of people. Bismark on malecon very good, Tres
Vigrenes is fab/4 star/tops, Buffalo BBQ great, La Fonda really good and really cheap, Capellitos (spelling?) makes you think you're in Mexico City.
All in all a great destination for vacation or retirement living, more than ever. Can't wait to go back! Volaris Air to TJ with bus to San Diego bears
checking out, way less $ than Alaska.
Alan - 10-13-2009 at 07:50 AM
Thanks for the report and welcome to Nomads. I agree with you about Volaris. It's a great airline and only about 25% of what US carriers are
charging if you fly from TJ. Their shuttle service is completely hassle free, except for finding long-term parking in San Diego. I'll be in LP on
Sat.
Volaris/La Paz
bajajazz - 10-14-2009 at 12:30 PM
The entry of Carlos Slim's Volaris Airlines into the international air travel market is what's known as a game-changing event. At last, La Paz is
going to get direct flights from important cities in the USA. The expansion of Volaris's flight schedule is happening incrementally as we speak.
The first time I flew Volaris out of Tijuana I noticed that only three of sixteen counters emblazoned with the Volaris logo were staffed. The last
time I flew Volaris from Tijuana the number of staffed counters had gone up to six or seven.
If and when the U.S. economy recovers from thirty years of unregulated trickle-down free market voodoo economics, La Paz is going to boom in just the
same way as Cabo already has. The fact that Volaris has leased so much space in the Tijuana airport tells me that Carlos Slim agrees.
(In the interests of accuracy, it should be noted that Volaris is owned by a consortium of interests, of which Carlos Slim is only one -- an important
one, however).
Bajahowodd - 10-14-2009 at 12:44 PM
Volaris has a couple of distinct advantages. Obviously, their wage/ salary structure is reflective of the Mexican economy. They benefit as well from
the controls on petroleum in Mexico. Actually, the same reasons allowed the now-defunct Aerocalifornia to under-price fares. They suffered, however,
from the disadvantage of flying fuel guzzling, very old DC-9 planes. La Paz was their home base. Anyway, while presently, Volaris from Los Angeles
only flies to Guadalajara and Volaris' home base in Toluca, folks in Northern California can benefit with flights from Oakland to TJ, where you can
connect to just about anywhere in Mexico.