SkyTeam’s new Mexico Pass a boon for intra-country travel?

To see a whole lot of Mexico in a little bit of time, you’re probably better off traveling by sky than road. To help make ventures by air easier, global airline alliance SkyTeam has just added a Mexico Pass to its cadre of discounted-flight packages for various countries and continents internationally (like Italy and Asia, for instance).

Though the Mexico Pass program doesn’t seem to be up and running smoothly just yet, those eager for a long-winded, exploratory look at the country — rather than a quick one-resort stay — might want to keep this option in mind for future travel.

The pass allows passengers from the U.S. and other international departure points on any SkyTeam airline to obtain discounted intra-Mexico flights on Aeromexico. To take advantage of the special rates, you must buy at least three flight coupons for travel within Mexico (there is no coupon maximum), and these can be booked anytime before your departure to Mexico. All coupons must be booked outside of Mexico.

Some of the 42 destinations included in this pass offer are Acapulco, Cancun, Campeche, Cozumel, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, Mazatlán, Mexico City, Monterrey, Oaxaca, Puebla, Veracruz and Zacatecas.

But be warned that the word doesn’t seem to be completely out yet. A Continental Airlines reservations person whom I spoke with wasn’t even aware of the Mexico Pass, nor could she find any information about it. She suggested I call Aeromexico, which I did. The reservations person I spoke with there also had no idea what I was talking about.

A SkyTeam spokeswoman explained that Continental Airlines will soon be leaving the alliance, which could explain why the reservations staff were not up to speed on the pass. However, she said, “the sales team member from each individual airline should know that it’s in effect.” So, you may have better luck than I did.

At time of writing, I couldn’t find mention of the Mexico Pass on SkyTeam.com, but the spokeswoman assured me that the passes are publicly available for purchase and that the pass information will be available on the website soon.

A sample fare given by SkyTeam: “An adult passengers (sic) traveling Mérida - Villahermosa - Veracruz - Mexico City - Cancun will pay $361 versus the conventional air fare of $721,” SkyTeam stated in a press release.

Current SkyTeam partners include Continental Airlines, Northwest Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Air France, Alitalia, Korean Air and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. You can theoretically book your Mexico Pass coupons through your SkyTeam member airline, or travel agent, but again, don’t be surprised if you have to wait just a little longer to easily take advantage of this just-launched program.

- Susan Derby, Special to the Los Angeles Times

Photo: Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. Credit: Casey Mahaney / For the Los Angeles Times

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This entry was posted on Thursday, September 17, 2009 at 2:04 pm by Susan Derby and is filed under Acapulco, Airline travel, Baja California, Cabo San Lucas, Cancun, Cozumel, Deals, Guadalajara, Los Cabos, Mexico, Mexico City, Oaxaca City, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a comment, or trackback from your own site.