Flying to & from Colombia: help me make decisions please?!

[Popfarts1]

Not sure why I'm struggling to make a decision on this!

There is one direct flight a day from London Heathrow to Bogota - it arrives 3am every day.

Would you do that flight or do a stopover to arrive at a more 'sensible' time?

I'm joining a group tour on the Saturday so thinking of arriving on the Friday and booking a night there before it starts to acclimatise first. Arriving at 3am Friday - I'm obviously not going to be able to check in for hours (hotel isn't far from the airport) and don't really fancy paying for the Thursday night too. I'm not sure there's a huge difference in price.

And coming home - the trip ends in Cartagena. So I can either book a return Bogota flight so need to hop from Cartegena (Medellin airport) to Bogota then straight to Heathrow.

Or I could fly with a stop over - Swiss go from Medellin to Zurich then to Heathrow for example. Long leg out the way first?

I've never done an indirect flight before.
So direct to Bogota with Avianca or indirect one or both ways flights at better times?

I’ve looked at this before too (although not yet been to Colombia). Personally I’d go indirect and arrive at a more sociable hour. Being able to go direct to a safe place to sleep when journey over is my preference.

Avianca were dreadful to deal with when my flights were cancelled in covid, so I would try to avoid them too.

I went to Colombia 3 years ago so maybe some flight options have changed. I've been trying to remember who we flew with but I know we arrived in the evening and went straight to our hotel in the Parque 93 area of Bogota. Personally, I wouldn't break the journey unless there's somewhere you really want to see as a bonus. It's faff enough doing airports these days.
I would have thought a lot of hotels can check you in any time if you've booked the room and yes, you'll pay extra but you're settled and safe. Airport taxi direct to hotel. When I have been joining a tour I often arrive 1 - 3 days earlier and find my feet, see/do the things the tour isn't doing. Don't wander round the Candeleria district of Bogota at night though! Do go to the Gold Museum, fab.

Not sure I understand your comment about the end of your trip. Cartagena has its own airport, it's a long way from Medellin. I presume you'd fly from Cartagena straight back to Bogota for your flight home. Are you going to Medellin also?

I wouldn’t want to arrive at 3am by myself. Although if booking a hotel for the previous night and going straight there was an option I wouldn’t rule it out.

I’d choose an indirect option with an European airline that arrives at a more socialable hour and make sure you’ve got a decent connection time in Madrid or Zurich or Schipol or Charles de Gaulle or wherever to reduce the stress

Remember if the hotel is near the airport they may be accustomed to early arrivals. Also bear in mind a 3am arrival may mean a minimum of 2 hours to get through immigration, never ceases to amaze me how slow airport immigration is outside of Europe! I landed in Delhi at 6.30am (45 minutes late) worrying about how early we could check in but at 9.30 we were only just clearing immigration and still needed to pick up luggage which bizarrely wasn’t put on the belt yet, go figure. Got to hotel 10 miles from airport at just past midday and got straight into our room

Sorry you're absolutely right Id go from Cartagena

Are you on a tour with a company like Explore? I've previously arranged my own flight to join a tour and bumped into other people at the airport doing the same trip! The tour company can sometimes help even if you're 'land only'.

Anyway, to answer your original question, you could fly via somewhere else to get you in at a time you prefer but don't worry too much about overnight flight plus early morning arrival. There'll be less heave ho at the arrival airport, you'll spend some time waiting for bags and doing passport control anyway and big cities like Bogota don't really sleep! Bogota is pretty bad for traffic congestion so arriving in the early hours may not be a bad thing in terms of getting from the airport to the hotel.

Colombia is lovely and I'm sure you'll have a great time.

Thank you @flightymadam. I think I'll book a simple return direct flight with Avianca to Bogota then even though the flight arrives at a less than perfect time. And then a separate flight from Cartegena to Bogota at the end of the trip. How long should I leave the gap between arrival to Bogota and then the flight to Heathrow?

Feels like the least stressful option!

And yes doing a trip like Explore (but not explore!). They include the transfer from Bogota to the hotel when I arrive too whichever day I get in.

Has anyone been to Cartagena? I'd like to extend the trip at the end to just relax but not sure how many nights to do. Was thinking three?

Sorry, me again!

If your bags aren't checked through you need to allow more time changing at Bogota. I'm no expert but I'd say 2-4 hours. We did a few internal flights in Colombia and they all worked smoothly, no issues but you have to err on the side of caution if you need to connect with an international flight. Ask the airline.

Cartagena is actually a huge city. We stayed in the walled old town - cobbled streets, colonial architecture, an old fort etc. It can get busy especially when the American cruise ships come in but wander far enough and you might find a quiet square. It's touristy but historic, felt pretty safe to me but such places always attract a few dodgy types. There was a cookery course near the hotel we stayed in if you fancy that sort of thing. There's a beach area further out but it's more high rise.