Guayaquil is one of two main gateway/airport cities in Ecuador and is the best option if your trip includes the spectacular reserves in southern Ecuador and/or the Galapagos as all the Quito flights stop in Guayaquil so you might as well save the time.

GETTING TO GUAYAQUIL WITH AIRLINE MILES

Guayaquil has service with members of all three major alliances so it is pretty easy to get there with miles.

STAR ALLIANCE – Avianca & Copa

ONEWORLD – American & the LATAM Group, Iberia

SKYTEAM – Aerolineas Argentinas

NON-ALLIANCE – TAME (good for smaller airports and Galapagos)

WHERE TO STAY USING HOTEL POINTS

IHG REWARDS – Holiday Inn Guayaquil Airport is normally 20,000 points but often goes on Pointbreaks.  We stayed there our first night in Guayaquil, you can see my review.

STARWOOD – Sheraton Guayaquil Airport is a Cat 3 for 7000 points.

HILTON – Hilton Colon Guayaquil is 30,000 points & the Hampton Inn is 20,000 points.

WYNDHAM – Wyndham Guayaquil is 15,000 points.

If these options don’t suit you, you could try earning airline miles by booking with Rocketmiles or Pointshound.

WHAT TO DO IN GUAYAQUIL

We only spent a night here on arrival and an evening here upon returning from our southern Ecuador loop before flying to the Galapagos so I can’t really get into city sight-seeing.  Just don’t miss out on Bosque Cerro Blanco, it’s amazing!

Guayaquil was the jumping off point for a loop through southern Ecuador to visit 2 major birding hotspots (reviews to come) – Podocarpus and Buenaventura.  I had been checking the TAME website daily for specials and finally got one in January for around $35 per person plus tax to Loja airport which is actually about an hour out of Loja proper.  From there we took a taxi to Zamora for a visit to Podocarpus, then went by bus back to Loja, then to Pinas for Buenaventura and back to Guayaquil.  Finally we flew to San Cristobal in the Galapagos.