#ECUADOR AIRPORT TIPS FOR #GALAPAGOS TRIP
Did you plan your own trip to the #Galapagos Islands? The following tips can be useful for you:
Bring cash with you; Galapagos National Park entrance fee is $100 per person, and they do NOT accept credit cards, travel checks or any other method of payment, CASH only.
Be on time getting to the airport. For the Galapagos flights, Ecuadorian airlines request check-in at least two hours prior to the departure time. From Quito city to the airport you must add an extra hour for the transfer ride. If you are in Guayaquil 20 to 30 minutes extra will be enough time for a taxi to take you to the airport from the downtown area.
Once at the airport, don’t go to the airline counter. First and foremost, buy the $20 dollar “tarjeta de control de transito de Galapagos”, a Transit Control Card for the Galapagos. Usually, you have to go where you find a line of people in front of a desk that reads: “Consejo de Gobierno de Regimen Especial de Galapagos”. Have your passport handy and $20 for them to issue this card. Please verify that all information entered on this card is exactly as shown in your passport. It takes around 3 to 5 minutes per person, hence the lines.
Secondly, you will need to have your luggage inspected. In both the Quito and Guayaquil airports this location is usually situated to the right or behind the desk where you buy the transit card. ALL luggage has to go through the X-Ray machine, but only the suitcases that you will check will be cable tied. Let them know which bags are carry-on so they don’t place a cable tie on them.
Now you are ready to go to the airline counter. The person checking you in will ask if the transit card was purchased; the airline will not check your luggage if they don’t see the cable tie from the Galapagos security check point.
All flights to the Galapagos Islands originate at either the Quito or Guayaquil airports. There are NO direct flights to the islands from any other location inside or outside Ecuador. All Quito flights will stop in Guayaquil, and you will have to stay on the plane until passengers who end their flight there disembark and new ones board the plane going to the Galapagos. The flight continues; you do not leave the aircraft in Guayaquil unless you are advised otherwise.
On your arrival at the Galapagos airport (Baltra or San Cristobal) you will go to Customs and pay the $100 entrance fee and show the Transit Control Card. They will give this back to you and you must hold on to it because it will be requested prior to your departure from the Islands. In the past, if you lost this card you paid a fine, but now it doesn’t really matter because they have everything in the computer system, but it's better to not take any risks and lose the card.
Additional pointers:
If you have an agency dealing with your air tickets and/or Galapagos hotel reservations, tell them to prepay the Transit Control Card for you. It will save you precious time at the airport.
The “Consejo de Gobierno de Regimen Especial de Galapagos” opens at 5am in Quito, so it won’t help you to be earlier than that at the airport.
I don’t trust any Ecuadorian government websites to pre-register any services. Chances are they won’t find your pre-registration and it will take even more time trying to find it.
Finally, I was recently notified that in case you did not buy the Transit Control Card at any of the mainland airports, there might be a chance for it to be issued and bought on your arrival in Galapagos. My advice is not to do it this way unless it is absolutely necessary. Let me explain why: The Galapagos airports are much busier than Quito and Guayaquil airports. Their custom agents do not speak English or any language other than Spanish. It will probably take you more time to acquire this card on the islands.
But again, it is good to know that you can buy it in Galapagos in case you are really late for your flight. Just tell the airline counter employee that you have it. They don’t need to see it and will take your word for it.