August 9th - Flight to Santiago
The flight from Houston departed as scheduled and I was even on it, plus my bags. Awesome! It was a 767 with a strange 2-3-2 configuration, I had a window seat in the exit row and no one next to me, but the armrest did not move up so it wasn't super comfortable. Only managed 1 hour of sleep, so feeling pretty zombie-like now. There were a few Americans with ski gear on the flight, heading down for some turns.
I'll include a bit of detail about the arrival process for anyone heading down to Chile. This might help. Overall, as long as you have the correct documentation, things went pretty smoothly. Step 1 on arrival into the new Terminal 2 International is to show the C19 form. That was also shown at check-in with United in Denver (the only thing they asked to see). Masks are also compulsory for use on the flight to Chile.....
Once you have had your C19 Travel Affidavit scanned, you get a little sticker to wear that must be visible (shows that the C19 has been checked). If you are unlucky, then I think this is where you would be pulled in for random testing (I saw signs for testing but no one heading that way). Then you head to immigration and passport control. They ask you why you are here (tourism/skiing) and then you get a paper receipt that you must keep with your passport. The line might look really long, but it moves pretty quickly. Then after immigration you go collect your bags. The bags come out a lot quicker than the old Terminal 1 setup that was an absolute rugby scrum so this is a much better experience after a red-eye flight. My suitcase was waiting for me next to the carousel and then the oversize (ski bags) are between carousel 5 and 6. They took an additional 10-minutes to come out but it's a good time to chat with the fellow gringos about where they are heading to for skiing.
After that, you go to customs and have to show your SAG declaration (go through green if nothing to declare and red if something to declare). You can do the SAG form online (I did mine in Houston on my phone whilst waiting for departure, you have to do it no more than 48 hours prior to arrival) or you can do it on arrival by scanning the QR code or going old school and filling out the paper copy. You might get a secondary bag scan at this stage. Then you are heading out towards the exit, but there is a LATAM counter where you can check bags onto the next flight. Unfortunately, they only accept regular-sized bags and a ski bag has to be carried onwards with you to Terminal 1.
If you have a tight connection, then this is where you could get into trouble. You have a decent walk ahead of you to get to the old terminal and then you have to go upstairs 2 levels (look for the elevators close to the entrance) to check in with LATAM. Then you have to go through a decently long line to check in or do bag drop (depending on if you are ticketed and/or tagged for the next flight). I was ticketed and tagged and still had to see a few people before my bag was dropped off. It took some time.....
A guy did come up to me pretty quickly as I entered the terminal and grabbed my cart with ski bag on it and offered to help. He had my ticket and took off quickly. I figured that if I was going to have this guy help me and get me through quickly, then he would probably want to be tipped. This has happened to me once before in Santiago. I let him take the lead though, I was too tired to resist. I offered him $10 USD and he was very happy for that. Seemed like a good deal to me as he definitely saved me some time. My buddy Gordon who had stopped for a cigar outside Terminal 2 saw me and I told him about the porter and he was also happy to use his services as he had a somewhat tight connection. You really do need 3 hours connecting time to get to the next flight without stressing, in my opinion. Use the porter (and tip them), if you want to make it even easier. They seem to be good at spotting lost Western skiers in the crowd....
That's pretty much it. You go through a pretty easy security check (shoes, watch, belt on, laptop/toiletries still in carry-on) and then onto the departure gate. I don't recommend hanging out for long periods at the domestic terminal, there's not much there. I waited about 30 minutes for a restaurant to open for breakfast (nice breakfast of fried eggs, bacon and toast) and then found a lounge (Condor lounge) that I could pay my way into ($35 USD with 6 hour maximum). I had 7 hours to kill overall..... you do get to see some snow-capped mountains from behind the smog. We arrived in the dark so didn't get to see sunrise over the Andes as we arrived, which we would normally see (grab a window seat of the left side of the plane for best views of that).
I just have the quick, 1-hour 10 minute flight to Concepcion and then I can have a little siesta. I'm really looking forward to that. Then probably see Gordon and Gary at the Holiday Inn Express and meet Dave (whose flight from LA to Houston was delayed so he had to stay overnight in Houston) and Tim and James should be in around 1245pm tomorrow. Then we head to the mountains. The snow forecast has really turned around and there is a lot in the forecast for this first session. Hopefully pow will be on the menu....
More updates to come......
Santiago - mountains, snow and smog! View from the airport restaurant for breakfast......
- Matt