Colombia has some of the most diverse geography in the world. From Cartagena on the Caribbean coast, to Bogotá, one of the highest altitude capitals in the world (2640m above sea level, 4th highest capital in the world), to the Amazon Jungle in the Southeast corner. That means that as you are traveling between cities you are going to making some crazy elevation changes. The roads between city’s are windy and not very direct. If you are traveling by bus it is going to take you a VERY long time. Luckily there is Viva Colombia. Viva Colombia is a discount airline in Colombia servicing most of the major cities and really low prices. It is included in Sky Scanner, one of the most popular tools for travelers looking to book flights.
Bogota to Santa Marta for just under $30 USD
Last year Amanda and I were in Bogota and realized that the bus we were taking to Santa Marta was actually the same price as a flight to Santa Marta… We went to buy it but found out that they don’t take foreign credit cards. Someone told us that foreigners couldn’t buy tickets on Viva Colombia, so we gave up and took what ended up being an vomit inducing 20 hour overnight bus ride from Bogota to Santa Marta. Only later did we find out that it was possible to buy Viva Colombia tickets you just had to know how to do it!
There are two ways to buy tickets with Viva Colombia, the first is pretty straight forward. Find someone with a Colombian credit card to buy the tickets for you and then pay them back. A good plan if you have friends in Colombia, but we didn’t so that wouldn’t work. The second way, is a strange roundabout process. While you are going through the online ticket purchasing, you will eventually get to the payment options.
Payment options on Viva Colombia
There is a payment option called Via Baloto. Via Baloto are the lottery stands in most of the major supermarkets, and you can pay for your flight in cash at the Via Baloto stand after you have a reference number.
After you’ve filled out your info click Via Baloto as payment and proceed. You’ll end up with a reference number. You then need to find a Via Baloto. It can be hard to find out where one is, but most Exito’s (Colombia’s major supermarket chain) have one. You walk up to the stand and you may have to wait in line for people buying lotto tickets or doing whatever they are doing the takes forever… Eventually you give the person at the Via Baloto counter your number (it’s best to actually print the page from Viva Colombia with the number), pay the person cash, and they will give you a receipt, which is actually your ticket. That is how you buy Viva Colombia Tickets as a traveler.
Then on the day of your flight you go to the airport (probably wait in another exceptionally long line) and when you check in with the airline you get your actual ticket.
You can save yourself a ton of time and nausea by avoiding the busses and flying for pretty much the same price, and actually sometimes cheaper than the bus. Not only that but you end up with a cool story about this ridiculous process of buying plane tickets in Colombia.
If you are traveling Colombia right now, or planning on it, check out our podcast episode on Colombia!
A few tips for those of you doing this:
- Check in online to save some Pesos
- You don’t get an assigned seat, but don’t pay for for upgraded boarding. Amanda and I paid to get priority boarding but in typical South American fashion it is very chaotic at the airport. People start lining up for the flight as soon as they get into the terminal, and they don’t really listen to the ordered boarding call. Unless you speak Spanish well and are assertive, you won’t notice the advance boarding or be able to take advantage of it.
- You are only allowed a 6kg carry on item with your ticket so you will have to pay to check your bag
- They check in counter is not open until about an hour before your flight so don’t bother going to early
Finally if you are going to be taking buses in Colombia, know that the bus prices are negotiable and not fixed. Practice your negotiating skills and try to get a lower price!
