Business & First Class Flights to Puerto Vallarta

As with Los Cabos, every US nonstop is a narrowbody and the front cabin is a recliner: Alaska Airlines from Seattle, Portland, San Diego, Los Angeles and San Francisco; American from Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, Chicago and Charlotte; Delta from Atlanta, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Minneapolis; United from Houston, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Newark and Chicago; and Aeroméxico via Mexico City. No lie-flat seat flies this route from the US. What the front cabin buys is the lounge at the US gateway, priority check-in and boarding, two checked bags, a quiet cabin and — the part our clients value — a manager who handles the booking, the Punta Mita transfer and any change.

The airport is close to everything: the Hotel Zone is 15 minutes, the old town (Zona Romántica) 25, Nuevo Vallarta and the Riviera Nayarit resorts 20–30, Punta Mita 45 and Sayulita an hour. Resorts arrange transfers. Puerto Vallarta is a genuine town rather than a resort strip, which is why people return; Punta Mita is where the Four Seasons and St. Regis sit; Sayulita and San Pancho are the surf-and-yoga villages north of the bay.

The dry season, November through May, is the reason to go: warm, cloudless, with humpback whales in the bay from December to March. Christmas–New Year and Presidents' Day week are the peaks, and the front cabin on Los Angeles and San Francisco flights fills first. April and May are warm, dry and good value. June through October is hot and humid with afternoon rain and hurricane risk (September peak), and brings the lowest premium fares, below our $1,050 starting fare from Los Angeles.