Puerto Vallarta Ordaz Airport (PVR) Flights & Information

Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport is the primary air terminal for the Mexican resort destination of Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, and for resorts in the neighboring state of Nayarit, including Riviera Nayarit, Nuevo Vallarta, and Punta Mita. The airport is conveniently located just minutes from the Puerto Vallarta’s town center and most popular resort areas around the city.

Getting to and from PVR

PVR is one of those airports where it’s ideal to have transportation pre-booked before you arrive. Immediately after Customs, there’s a dedicated timeshare area where salespeople will hassle arriving passengers, offering free or discounted transfers in exchange for attending sales presentations. Then there are the half-hearted attempts from the rental car agencies, then another round of aggressive taxi solicitation once you finally exit. If you have transportation pre-booked you can ignore all of these and just watch for the driver holding a sign with your name.

If you haven’t prebooked transportation, the best way to get a car into town is to visit the government taxi stand at the licensed booth just past the timeshare sales area. You’ll prepay, and they’ll write you a ticket for the destination you’re headed to, then put a license plate sticker on your ticket and direct you to find that specific taxi. Taxis are typically smaller, accommodating three people with limited bags. They also generally lack air conditioning or English-speaking drivers.

Many of the hawkers soliciting rides outside the customs exit are unlicensed, and it’s not advisable to accept rides from them, for safety reasons. If you take a right outside the terminal and take the bridge across the highway, you’ll find a bus stop and more taxis, which are just a few pesos cheaper. The schlep honestly isn’t worth the slightly lower taxi fare, and the (non-air conditioned) bus is honestly not the easiest for passengers with more than carryon baggage.

Many of the pre-bookable transportation companies will sell roundtrip transfers, and these are the easiest option; otherwise, taxis are a good bet from your accommodations back to the airport; just remember to keep some cash handy (most will accept pesos or dollars) – virtually none of the taxis accept credit cards.

Car rentals are also available at PVR, but the process can be significantly different in Mexico, even with US-based car rental brands. Rental processes can be lengthy, and drivers are required to purchase Mexican liability insurance. It’s also common practice to do a very involved walkaround of the vehicle prior to accepting it while the representative takes video of all the removable parts of the interior and exterior of the car to prove they were there at the time the car was picked up.

Timeshare solicitations

Timeshare solicitations are so aggressive at PVR that the airport operator has set aside a specific area for them between the Customs exit and the regular terminal exit. Timeshare operators are only allowed to operate in that specific space. The discounted or free accommodations, tours, activities, and transfers they offer come with strings attached. Namely, you must sit through a high pressure sales presentation (they say it’s not high pressure, but it’s high pressure). If you’re not interested, it’s perfectly acceptable to ignore their repeated attempts to get your attention as you walk through.

Navigating security lines at PVR

Security lines at PVR can stretch all the way through the retail concourse to the top of the escalator up from the ticketing area, but the lines tend to move quickly. If you have a disability or are traveling with small children and the lines are long, it may not be apparent there is a separate line for those travelers, so make your way to the front of the line to check if those separate lines are open and available instead of waiting in the long queue.

Outbound traffic for security lines peaks on Sundays and Thursdays between around 10 a.m and 4 p.m, so if your flight is departing on those days during that time period, you’ll want to allow extra time to get through security. High season at the resorts tends to run from December through April, so traveling during that period can have some spillover from high demand days through the rest of the week.

Airline lounges at PVR

There are three lounges at PVR, and they’re all operated by the airport authority. They take the major lounge membership passes like Priority Pass, and they also sell access directly if space permits. There’s one arrivals lounge outside the Customs exit, and there are departure lounges each in Terminal 1 for domestic Mexico flights, and Terminal 2 for international flights. Both departure lounges are accessible to all departing passengers – it’s only their proximity to the domestic or international departure gates that varies.

The Terminal 1 lounge for domestic departures is smaller, but the amenities are the same – a hosted bar, lounge chairs, TVs and a buffet of hot and cold food. The Terminal 2 lounge for international departures look small at first glance upon entering on the 2nd floor, but there’s an entire extra floor down the stairs by the bar with additional seating, restrooms, and an additional buffet.

Things to do during a layover

It’s exceptionally rare to change planes at PVR, but you’ll likely find yourself with time to spare in the terminal if you give yourself ample time (as you should) to arrive prior to your flight departure, owing to the unpredictable waits at the security checkpoint. There’s a good amount of shopping and dining available in both terminals, so there’s plenty to distract the traveler with time to spare.

If you’re visiting and forgot to purchase souvenirs of your visit to Mexico, both the duty-free shop and the other shops past the security checkpoint are overflowing with local products. I’ve also found the pricing in the shops not to be too terribly marked up, so they can be a good stop to make last minute purchases of hot sauces, chocolate, local spices, Mexican-style snacks and pantry items to slip into carry-on bags before boarding the plane.

American quick service and table service chains abound in the airport, including, rather incongruously, a Bubba Gump Shrimp Company (which has pretty fast WiFi if you’re looking for that). Aside from the local product gift shops, the airport looks like a suburban mall anywhere north of the border: Starbucks, Sbarro, Carl’s Jr, Jonny Rockets, Famous Famiglia are all part of the dining lineup in the terminal.

While the retail shops aren’t significantly marked up, you’ll probably find that the airport dining options are more expensive than what you’ll find in Puerto Vallarta. However, keep a close eye on the space available in the sit-down restaurants, as they can be a godsend when the gate area seating runs out. I’ve found that Bubba Gump usually has tables available when the gate areas are full-to-overflowing, so that can be a more comfortable option for a longer wait.

Customs formalities at PVR

Most foreign passport holders arriving at in Mexico for touristic purposes need to complete the Multiple Immigration Form (FMM) prior to arrival. The form is supposed to be handed out by airlines onboard the inbound flight to PVR but this doesn’t always happen. Some Mexican airports will accept the electronic version of the form completed online, but it’s been my experience that PVR typically requires the paper version.

If the forms aren’t handed out on your inbound flight, ask immediately upon arriving at the Immigration area. You’ll be given the form (one per person) but they almost never have pens.

The Customs officer will keep the large part of the form and hand the bottom portion back to you. This receipt needs to be kept with the passport until you leave Mexico, and not having it when you check in for your flight departing Mexico can result in delays. Different airlines also have different ways of handling the FMM return. Some will collect it at the ticket counter, while others will collect it at the departure gate.

Getting bussed

There are far more aircraft parking positions at PVR than there are jetbridges to the terminal, which means a number of flights will be boarded and deplaned via a bus. This can unfortunately cause delays, because there are invariably roadblocks to the process of bussing. One is that the boarding can’t begin while there are passengers arriving inbound on the busses, which use adjacent parking positions.

Customs rules prohibit two “streams” of inbound and outbound passengers crossing, so when another flight is arriving via bus, you’ll have to wait for the bus to unload completely before agents will let you outside to board the bus to your plane.

When boarding by bus, pay attention to your row number. There is often an announcement in the terminal, on the bus, or sometimes there are makeshift signs at the aircraft, but boarding from the ground typically means there are multiple stairs to multiple aircraft doors.

If you have a higher row number you’ll often save time by boarding from the back of the aircraft. Airlines that board by group numbers still comingle all the passengers on the same bus, so waiting near the door to the bus will allow you first crack at boarding.