Latin America Flight Policy
To ensure the safety and well-being of our students as well as the orderly operation of our programs, Rustic Pathways issues group tickets for all of its students on international flights. We realize the current economic situation has affected many of our clients. For this reason, Rustic Pathways has updated our airfare policy for students traveling to Costa Rica, Peru and Panama. We are now allowing those parents who need to purchase their own international airline tickets for their children to do so. This applies only to students traveling from the USA to Costa Rica, Peru or Panama, and only if those students are ticketed to travel on our specific Continental Airlines group flights. If you purchase your own ticket for your son or daughter, there are very important safety considerations you will need to evaluate. We strongly encourage parents who do not need to take this step to please allow us to issue normal Rustic Pathways group tickets for their children.

All students normally travel on Rustic Pathways Group tickets. Unless you specify on your application that you intend to make your own airfare arrangements, the cost for your airfare will be billed to you and Rustic Pathways will issue your ticket. Rustic Pathways will ticket your child, in most cases,  from your home city to our gateway city, and then on our escorted group flight to San Jose, Costa Rica, Lima, Peru or Panama City, Panama. When we issue your group ticket, we are able to track your child’s flight, access their airline records, change their flights in the case of an emergency, and arrange re-routing or assistance should this be necessary. Your student will be escorted by a Rustic Pathways Flight Leader from our gateway city to their destination city, and back to the USA on our group flight at the conclusion of their program in Costa Rica or Panama. This system allows us to coordinate all of our students, manage flight delays, handle lost luggage issues, change flights if needed, and track students through the airline system. We have used this system for more than a decade and it ensures that our students are safe and accounted for, and that we can manage any problems that do come up while they travel.

By purchasing your own airline ticket for your daughter or son, you take away the ability of Rustic Pathways to manage and coordinate your child’s travel, to access their flight records, to make changes in case of flight delays, to re-book tickets in the case of medical or other emergencies, and to pursue or assist with lost luggage claims.
 
We understand that in the current economy, some parents are trying to use frequent flyer miles or buy discounted tickets for their child’s travel to our Latin America destinations. We are allowing this where parents feel this is necessary for their child to participate on a program, but the parent must book their son or daughter on our group flights. Students may not arrive into San Jose, Lima or Panama City on any other flight as we have busses standing by at San Jose, Lima and Panama City airports and as soon as students on our group flights clear customs and immigration they are transported away from the airport. Parents who issue their own airline tickets must get their child to the appropriate gateway city airport. We suggest you allow plenty of time (we recommend four hours) for them to connect to their international flight. Please remember that if you issue the airline tickets yourself and your child misses their international flight we are not able to access their record or help to make changes.  We are still in contract negotiations with Continental Airlines and therefore, do not have our group flight details as this time. Please check back for our group flights details around Mid-October.  
If you wish to make your own airfare arrangements, please advise Rustic Pathways in writing on your application. On the application you will find an airport for departure and return field. Please enter “Doing Own Airfare” into both of these fields. You will be billed only the Costa Rica, Peru or Panama departure taxes and a $ 150 Flight Deviation Fee. Rustic Pathways has an extensive system in place to safely move our students overseas, including flight escorts and flight coordinators in our gateway cities.  You should then ticket your child so that they have adequate time (we recommend four hours) for their flight connections in the appropriate gateway city, and ensure that you are using our specific group flights.