SeeBuyFly

We're flying CUZ-LIM-MIA with a long wait in LIM. We might want to go into Lima for dinner.

a) I wanted to check that luggage will be interlined with no problems. Obviously we don't want to have to retrieve our bags. The AA counter won't even be open at that time.

b) Do we have to check in with AA, or can we save some time (after returning to the airport) by going through security/immigration using LAN-issued boarding passes? I recall that in LHR, AA always replaces BA-issued boarding passes. Is there an AA security interview?

(c) I hear that immigration takes a long time. I assume there are no fasttrack lines? (We're in business class.)

Many thanks,

imagineertobe

I hope you mean 5 (or +) hours. Give yourself one hour each way btw the airport and the city depending on evening traffic.

Yep, they should be checked through in CUZ. As for b) and c), I'm not sure.

SJOGuy

I have done this route many times and LAN in CUZ has always told me that they cannot check my bags through to MIA. I always have to retrieve them in LIM. Nor do they give me my LIM-MIA boarding passes in CUZ. My last experience was a little over a year ago. Maybe something has changed for the better since then.

AA does have a dedicated business class line at check-in, but the problem I've run into is that AA conducts a brief security interview with you before you get in any line. Everybody is in that line.

I don't find passport control and security upon leaving to be any worse than any other airport I've encountered. That has always seemed to move right along.

There is another brief security interview at the gate before you board the plane. If you're in biz, you should be one of the first to get interviewed, but you need to be there in plenty of time so as not to have to brave that final long line.

I think Peru has become my favorite country on the face of the earth to visit, but the process of leaving can be kind of tedious. Oh, well ...

Nice airport though with nice shops and places to eat. As a biz passenger, you should get a pass to the airport-run Sumaq Lounge when you check in.

Goofy Foot

In LIM when they started to put up the signs for Biz class, I along with others just started a new line with a brief flash of the e ticket.
The lounge is not bad, but can get crowded.

SeeBuyFly

That's too bad. Many thanks for the first-hand info though.

I guess I could always use the left luggage place. There is one near domestic baggage pickup, right?

SJOGuy

Do ask in CUZ though. I don't see why they can't check your bags all the way through. I always get refused, but my last experience was Sept '08. I do have another trip to Cusco coming up, so I'll be anxious to see what your experience was. And have a wonderful time in Peru!

brp

It's near the check-in counters. To the far right as you enter the terminal, right below the escalator to the domestic (IIRC) portion of the terminal.

Cheers.

travelinterpreters

How long is your layover in LIM? We just did this same route three months ago. Do you have a place you want to go eat at in Lima? We went to Miaflores and really enjoyed it. Count how many times people try to sell you sweaters or hats made from "baby Alpaca", to b ho est it was more like " maybe Alpaca". We agree with the other poster and Peru is one of our favorite countries we have been to. If you are in Cusco on a Sunday,check out the parade on the square.

SeeBuyFly

Six hours. We have a number of restaurant candidates, but we aren't going to go to Miraflores. We're more centro historico types. And it'll be a Friday evening.

hillrider

You're not going to Astrid & Gastón? Actually, I am not sure if it's still as good as it was 6 years ago, but at the time we had one of the best meals ever.

SeeBuyFly

Along with being centro historico types, we're Anthony Bourdain watchers. In my view the best food is what regular people eat; that cuisine has been refined over many generations. And it's usually cheap too!

So we'll probably be looking for a cevicheria in Lima, and picanterias elsewhere.

PS I do realize Gaston appears in Bourdain's Peru episode, but his restaurant does not.

quant_93

I agree. I've eaten at the Astrid y Gaston in Santiago and Mexico City several times, each meal was spectacular. To be in Lima for dinner and not go is almost criminal.

FLLUAFlyer

- I would be really surprised if AA would allow LAN to interline you bags from CUZ to MIA, because AA has thier own, more strigent, bag screening policy than LANPeru does.

- AA has a dedicated First/Bus/Elite check-in line for both the security interview and the actual check-in.

- There is no "fast-track" through immigration unless you are pregnant, handicap, or have small children. But is moves fast most of the time.

- At the gate, there is another security interview by AA, but if you are Priority Access (Bus/Elite), than go the left side and there should be a seperate line for interview/boarding.

- Astrid & Gaston is nice, and well established. However it does not serve "typical" Peruvian cuisine. A good bet that is a straight shot from the airport is "Jose Antonio". It serves up typical "Comida Criollo", as well as ceviche, etc., and an excellent Pisco Sour.

Frequented by tourists, but also a favorite of limenos for many years

Doghound

If you want, PM me and I can get you some very local and authentic places to go have dinner. I know a few Peruvians and can get you plenty of recommendations. My own dish recommendations are ceviche (they do it right! ), lomo saltado, and rocoto relleno. And a drink recommendation of a pisco sour... yum!

Everything domestic and international is separated at LIM. When you land in LIM, you will have to pick your bags up and recheck them to continue internationally. I had to do the same thing. The AA counter opens up 3-4 hours before their first flight, so you'll probably have to end up holding onto your bags if you are before that.

You will have to check in. I have done AQP-LIM-MIA several times and LAN could never check me in at AQP. Besides, you'll want to do this anyway! Since you are traveling Business class, AA will place a sticker on the back of your bp that marks your departure airport fee as paid. And, as others have mentioned, they have their own check in questions and processing they will have to do.

Immigrations through LIM has never taken me more than 30 minutes, I'd say. That's from right after checkin, through the airport fee collection area, through airport security, and then through passport immigration control. Now, that said, it can get backed up, but it still never really takes an exuberant amount of time. There are no priority lines through any of that, however. At the gate there is the normal priority boarding, but they do ask more security questions, check your boarding pass to passport, and potentially a baggage check. They wont close the door on you, though, if you are already in that process at the gate.



Enjoy Peru.

brp

Must be an acquired taste. We both tried the pisco sour at a renowned place in Lima and didn't care for it. The cuy (guinea pig) was interesting, but way too much work. Alpaca,though, was very tasty.

Cheers.