# Wow, plane tickets to San Miguel de Allende area (Querétaro airport) are Pricey!!!



## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

I've been looking into visiting San Miguel de Allende this March, but the plane tickets are $900 each! That's almost $2000 for me and my son just to get there! I've found two promising schools in the San Miguel area, but I don't think we can afford to travel and check them out. Driving would be 22 hours from my location, probably not an option either, unless we were actually moving there. 

Any tips on getting cheaper tickets?


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Buses are less expensive than airplanes. For two or more, driving may be even more economical. There are no free lunches.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

RVGRINGO said:


> Buses are less expensive than airplanes. For two or more, driving may be even more economical. There are no free lunches.


Yes, I would probably drive for sure if I had more time!


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

RainbowBright said:


> I've been looking into visiting San Miguel de Allende this March, but the plane tickets are $900 each! That's almost $2000 for me and my son just to get there! I've found two promising schools in the San Miguel area, but I don't think we can afford to travel and check them out. Driving would be 22 hours from my location, probably not an option either, unless we were actually moving there.
> 
> Any tips on getting cheaper tickets?


Try https://www.cheapoair.com/ flying into Querétaro

Or fly into Mexico City and bus to SMA.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RainbowBright said:


> I've been looking into visiting San Miguel de Allende this March, but the plane tickets are $900 each! That's almost $2000 for me and my son just to get there! I've found two promising schools in the San Miguel area, but I don't think we can afford to travel and check them out. Driving would be 22 hours from my location, probably not an option either, unless we were actually moving there.
> 
> Any tips on getting cheaper tickets?


I can't remember if you said where you might be flying from, but try Volaris or Viva Aerobus or even Easy Jet. I recently paid about $350 from Denver to Guadalajara on Volaris and I thought that was expensive. I bought it just a few weeks ahead. It might have been cheaper if I had bought it sooner.


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

joaquinx said:


> Try https://www.cheapoair.com/ flying into Querétaro
> 
> Or fly into Mexico City and bus to SMA.


Yes, this is the way to go. Or, it you prefer, there is a shuttle service (car or van) from Mexico City to SMA. They will pick you up at the airport. Last week RT tickets from Boston to Mexico City were under $300.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Lots of folks fly into Mexico City and take one of the many buses or shuttles up to San Miguel since it is only about 2.75 hours away. Even the private shuttle service BajioGo only costs $72 from MEX to SMA. The bus would be much less still. I don't know where you are flying from but from Chicago it usually costs about $400 - $450 to MEX (sometimes even down into the two hundreds). Add in even $145 for shuttles both ways and you are still way better off.

Better yet, fly into Guanajuato/Leon BJX airport. It's even closer to SMA and the flights are usually comparable or even cheaper than those to MEX and it is only an hour and a half to SMA.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Fly to Mexico city where there are deals. Smaller airports always have expensive flights. The deals are with the large airports so fly to a large airport and bus it.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

I have to correct the price for BajioGo I put above - the private service from Mexico City to SMA is $209, not $72. $72 is the cost from either Leon/Gto or Queretaro to SMA.

Again, don't write off Leon/Gto just because it is a small airport. I have flown into Leon/Gto probably 15 times and into Mexico CIty at least 10 times and maybe half the time the price for Leon/Gto is equal to or less than that to MEX. Plus, it is much closer to San Miguel than MEX is and it's about the same time/distance as the Qro. airport to SMA.


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## perropedorro (Mar 19, 2016)

citlali said:


> Fly to Mexico city where there are deals. Smaller airports always have expensive flights. The deals are with the large airports so fly to a large airport and bus it.


Pretty much the same in the U.S. where the large hubs feature more competition on fares than the secondary markets. The only difference is that in Mexico some smaller cities, like PV or Cancún, have an intense tourist market. Once in a while an airline opens up a new run to a smaller market and has bargain airfares to gain share. Volaris seems to be doing this a lot lately. Last year it began a direct GDL to Sacramento run for $250 RT, all included. The catch is most of these aren't daily but usually a 3 or 4 times/week affair.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Thanks! I'm willing to pay more to fly into a closer airport than MEX, so I'm looking at Queretaro and Leon. To go to San Miguel de Allende, is it better to fly into Leon or Queretaro? It looks like Queretaro is a lot closer, is that right? 

Also, what is Guanajuato like? I have a friend living there now and she says it is smaller and more like a village, whereas San Miguel de Allende is larger and a more "happening" type of place. Since I need a town with a lot going on culturally for my son, would it be ok to skip visiting Guanajuato? Or is it super important to see both towns when visiting for the first time. (On this trip I am really just trying to get a sense of whether this area would be an option for us.)

Thanks!
RB


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

RainbowBright said:


> Thanks! I'm willing to pay more to fly into a closer airport than MEX, so I'm looking at Queretaro and Leon. To go to San Miguel de Allende, is it better to fly into Leon or Queretaro? It looks like Queretaro is a lot closer, is that right?


The city of Queretaro is closer to SMA but the airport is quite a ways out of town in the opposite direction from SMA making the travel time from either airport to SMA just about equal.



RainbowBright said:


> Also, what is Guanajuato like? I have a friend living there now and she says it is smaller and more like a village, whereas San Miguel de Allende is larger and a more "happening" type of place. Since I need a town with a lot going on culturally for my son, would it be ok to skip visiting Guanajuato? Or is it super important to see both towns when visiting for the first time. (On this trip I am really just trying to get a sense of whether this area would be an option for us.)


The populations of the two cities are basically identical -- ~150K

Guanajuato City is the state capital, has a large state university with tons of activities related to that and is also the cradle of Mexican independence/history (sort of like their Boston/Lexington/Concord ) so there are a number of historic sites in town that Mexicans visit regularly. The state symphony is located there as is a gorgeous 100 year old opera theater that regularly hosts major concerts. El Festival Cervantino, the largest arts festival in all of Latin America takes places in town every fall and also the largest cinema festival in Mexico takes place there each year as well. 

San Miguel has, well, none of the above. San Miguel does have a modest jazz fest each year and a fairly big annual chamber music festival too. 

My opinion - I would never dream of skipping Guanjuato. If I were short on time I would stay in Guanajuato and make a side trip to San Miguel. We're just not much of San Miguel fans and we find it a bit boring so a day or two is all we can take. My wife is Mexican and the heavy foreign presence makes her feel like she is in some kind of a theme park version of Mexico.
On the other hand we can't get enough of Guanajuato and we lived there for 5 years! I love the vibe of a college town and Guanajuato definitely has that.

You may want to find a San Miguel fan to give you a contrasting opinion but our preference is very clear for Guanajuato!


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## lagoloo (Apr 12, 2011)

Guanajuato is a great town, but it is at an even higher elevation than SMA and it gets hella cold in the winter. Yes, it has the good vibe of a college town. Do check it out if you have the time. Also check out the availability of undergraduate private schools there.

I think the "theme park" comment about San Miguel is only too true. Well put. Lots of folks are "reinventing" themselves as artists or writers with no real claim to same. That can actually be fun to observe if you don't expect others to be fully authentic, and treat it as a puzzle. "Border Promotions" are a way of life among expats. The former sargent's wife becomes the colonel's widow, and so on. 
If anyone is lacking in patience or a sense of humor, he/she should never consider moving to Mexico....for any number of good reasons. Both are absolute essentials.


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## TurtleToo (Aug 23, 2013)

RainbowBright said:


> Also, what is Guanajuato like? I have a friend living there now and she says it is smaller and more like a village, whereas San Miguel de Allende is larger and a more "happening" type of place. Since I need a town with a lot going on culturally for my son, would it be ok to skip visiting Guanajuato?



No! The two cities are so close, relative to the distance, time, money, and effort of traveling from your home to Mexico. Already you've heard from people who recommend SMA but not Guanajuato, and those who recommend Guanajuato but not SMA. See both for yourself, if you are coming all those miles. It takes 100% of your effort and investment to see one; probably not more than 110% to see both!

In my opinion, describing Guanajuato as "like a village" is completely misleading and off the mark. Yet that was your friend's impression. You can't know without experiencing it for yourself. Circle110 and many others, myself included, find that Guanajuato offers a vibrant cultural life. Yet I just read a complaining expat on another forum dismissing it as a cultural backwater! Nobody else can really say what YOUR opinion would be.

Guanajuato, overall, has more going on. But it has a much smaller expat population than SMA, so it has less, by far, going on in English. Many find this considerably more appealing, but you have repeatedly mentioned a large expat community as one of the things you want. SMA has a much larger expat population, so even though it may offer less in the way of cultural activity overall, more of it happens in English. Guanajuato has a younger population, but again, not so many expats, so there may be fewer English-speaking teens--whether you consider that a plus or a minus. SMA expats number in the thousands, Guanajuato's in the hundreds.

I suspect if you visit both cities, you will find that you and your son have a strong preference for one or the other!


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

TurtleToo's point about the language is very true. Not a lot of English in Guanajuato, whereas San Miguel has a lot. There is an international bi-lingual school in Guanajuato but none of the expats I knew sent their kids there so I can't comment about its quality level. I don't think it was because they didn't like the school, just that they figured it was better to have their kids in Spanish immersion every day and they'd get their English at home. Again, these folks were long term or permanent expats so their point of view was different.

Regarding the comment about elevation, San Miguel is only 300 feet lower so the climate differences are pretty small. During our time living in Guanajuato, and also having spent parts of several previous winters there, there was only one really cold one (2009/2010 -- brrrrrrrr) and San Miguel and Queretaro, which is even lower elevation, were freezing just the same that year. 

I haven't piped up about Guanajuato in RainbowBright's other threads about looking for a location because it didn't seem to fit enough of her criteria regarding expat presence but since this is an exploratory quasi-vacation trip, now I'm putting on my travel salesman hat!


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Haha, points well taken everyone! Thanks!!! Yes, I actually WANT to be in an area with a lot of expats, I think it might make the whole thing easier on my son, and there is a much better chance of finding a school that will work for him in an area with lots of expats.

Good news! My mom decided to come along and help out with the cost of plane tickets (she's so awesome, I am really lucky to have such a nice mom!), so the three of us are booked for the middle of March!  We are flying into Leon airport (BJX) so we can easily visit both Guanajuato and SMA. Looking forward to seeing both! Thanks for all the tips!

RB


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Volaris and Vivaaerobus are the cheapest, then Interjet then the other airlines..If these airlines do not fly there the airfares will be expensive..it is pretty simple.


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## TundraGreen (Jul 15, 2010)

RainbowBright said:


> Haha, points well taken everyone! Thanks!!! Yes, I actually WANT to be in an area with a lot of expats, I think it might make the whole thing easier on my son, and there is a much better chance of finding a school that will work for him in an area with lots of expats.
> 
> Good news! My mom decided to come along and help out with the cost of plane tickets (she's so awesome, I am really lucky to have such a nice mom!), so the three of us are booked for the middle of March!  We are flying into Leon airport (BJX) so we can easily visit both Guanajuato and SMA. Looking forward to seeing both! Thanks for all the tips!
> 
> RB


I don't have any vested interest in where people live, but you might want to look at Guadalajara as well. There are several very good schools. I interview students applying to a major university in the US, so I talk to some of the students. There is a club house where a lot of US and Canadians hang out and have events regularly and for US holidays. The group is smaller than in nearby Ajijic where there is a very large collection of English speaking immigrants to Mexico, but the school opportunities are better in Guadalajara.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Yes, I have heard of a few good schools in Guadalajara too...I will keep researching!


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## Anonimo (Apr 8, 2012)

SMA arguably has better restaurants than Guanajuato.


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## circle110 (Jul 20, 2009)

Anonimo said:


> SMA arguably has better restaurants than Guanajuato.


Yup, Ill have to agree there. We found several good ones over time but we had to try a bunch of bad ones until we found the tasty ones.

Even though there are a couple of the most famous gourmet restaurants in all Mexico in town, Guanajuato has a pretty poor selection of restaurants in general and I could never quite understood why.


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## ffejcat62 (Sep 9, 2016)

I have visited both and Guanajuato is awesome. I wanted so badly to move there, but lost out to my wife and her home town of Chihuahua. We plan on visiting again in the fall for the festival cervantino. It has a very European feel to it, which I love.


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## alexsma (Jun 27, 2017)

circle110 said:


> I have to correct the price for BajioGo I put above - the private service from Mexico City to SMA is $209, not $72. $72 is the cost from either Leon/Gto or Queretaro to SMA.
> 
> Again, don't write off Leon/Gto just because it is a small airport. I have flown into Leon/Gto probably 15 times and into Mexico CIty at least 10 times and maybe half the time the price for Leon/Gto is equal to or less than that to MEX. Plus, it is much closer to San Miguel than MEX is and it's about the same time/distance as the Qro. airport to SMA.


It is $92 not, they have raised prices. You can check info about that on smahealthinfo.com/sma-mexico-web-sites


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

RainbowBright said:


> Haha, points well taken everyone! Thanks!!! Yes, I actually WANT to be in an area with a lot of expats, I think it might make the whole thing easier on my son, and there is a much better chance of finding a school that will work for him in an area with lots of expats.
> 
> Good news! My mom decided to come along and help out with the cost of plane tickets (she's so awesome, I am really lucky to have such a nice mom!), so the three of us are booked for the middle of March!  We are flying into Leon airport (BJX) so we can easily visit both Guanajuato and SMA. Looking forward to seeing both! Thanks for all the tips!
> 
> RB


So how did your trip go? Did you enjoy both cities? Did you decide on one of them? My family and I are going next month two visit both of them. We're sort of following in your footsteps. Although we'll be flying from the border town of Reynosa to Mexico City and then to Queretaro. We'll be staying in SMA and visiting GTO, and we'll be getting a "feel" for the towns.


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Unfortunately we had to cancel the trip due to a family problem at home.  So I have not made it to the area yet, though it's still at the top of my list of places to check out! Enjoy your trip and definitely check out both towns...I know several people in both places and they absolutely love the area!


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## Haskins (May 21, 2017)

I'm sorry the trip hasn't worked out for you yet. Tomorrow we'll be leaving for CDMX and Puebla. We'll be there for a couple of weeks. Then after a two week rest, on July 26 we will be heading to SMA and Guanajuato for a week of sightseeing and scouting. We'll post our personal impressions of the towns here. I hope you make it down there soon! Hell, maybe one day we might be vecinos (neighbors)!


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## RainbowBright (Jun 13, 2016)

Awesome!!! I look forward to reading about your trip! Have a great time!


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## reanns (Oct 6, 2015)

Volaris! Don't know where you live, but worth flying out from a city where Volaris Airlines is available. You then want to fly into Leon and can arrange with bajiogo.com to shuttle you from the airport to San Miguel for a very reasonable price - or take the bus.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

Volaris Vivaaerobus and Interjet fly to smaller cities and are economical if you are lucky to have them fly where you want to go..


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