Brazil - GIG Connection time question

I will be flying into GIG and scheduled to arrive at 08:20am on an AA flight that I booked with miles. I am then taking a GOL flight to IGU that departs at 10:30am. I had to buy that ticket and thus could not get it on one itin. Both flights seem to be at terminal 1 though I am not positive of my AA flight. Will there be a connection desk for GOL at customs or will I have to exit security and go to the GOL departure desk to recheck my bags? I realize from reading other threads that this is a tight connection time. Any tips would be appreciated.

I will be flying into GIG and scheduled to arrive at 08:20am on an AA flight that I booked with miles. I am then taking a GOL flight to IGU that departs at 10:30am. I had to buy that ticket and thus could not get it on one itin. Both flights seem to be at terminal 1 though I am not positive of my AA flight. Will there be a connection desk for GOL at customs or will I have to exit security and go to the GOL departure desk to recheck my bags? I realize from reading other threads that this is a tight connection time. Any tips would be appreciated.

You will need to pass immigration and customs; your Gol flight will be a purely domestic flight. Two hours will be fine for such connection, if nothing happens out of the blue, but in that case, Gol is usually accommodative.

I fly to/from Brazil a lot, though through GRU more than GIG. If you were asking advice on flights you hadn't booked yet, I'd suggest a longer connection, since flights can be late and airport procedures in Brazil, while usually not slow, can be. But I assume it's a moot point, i.e. you have purchased your flights already. So you hope for the best. Don't go to the duty free shop before Customs (they have those at arrival and at departure for international flights). Make sure your Customs form is filled out before you show it to the Customs inspector and, assuming you qualify, go for the "Nothing to Declare" line (you could be randomly chosen for inspection). The last time I connected from international to domestic at GIG, there was no transit desk. We had to go to the regular check-in counter, which can be a delay (GRU does have a transfer desk, though it's outside the secure area after Customs). Terminal 1 has older, somewhat crowded check-in spaces. If time is tight, look for a Gol agent and say you're late.

It's not always easy finding an airline agent who speaks English, but if you do miss the connection, keep asking, as the check-in counter and info desk behind you. I agree you will probably make the connection, and that Gol will willingly try tp put you on another flight assuming there's space, but if you did have the choice I'd go for a longer connection time now, just to reduce any stress.

Even if the tickets were purchased together you'd have to go through the same basic procedures., but with a purely domestic ticket for your second flight you'd normally be subject to the domestic baggage limitations. Gol's site says: "On domestic flights and most Latin American and Caribbean flights operated by GOL, each passenger is entitled to a 5kg (11lb) carryon, and up to 23kg (50 lbs) of checked baggage" (I believe the 23kg is total, not per bag; I've never had my carry-on bag weighed but I've seen reports on this site from people who have). You MAY be able to get around this, and have your entire trip counted as international, if you have AA tag your bags for Iguaçu when you check-in in the U.S. (show them both itineraries). You'll still need to check in with Gol and, I believe, get your boarding pass, at GIG. AA and Gol have a code share agreement (ending in August, I believe) but are not in the same alliance.

Hope you will have time to see Rio on your way back.

Whatever you do, do not I repeat, check bags with AA. Several widebodies come in at once and it can be painfully slow. Buy what you need when you get there.

When you get off the AA flight customs is essentially right there. Move fast. Typically the flights from JFK or MIA are full of Brasilians. The hitch is often exiting customs even if you have nothing to declare.

Thanks for all of the advice. Yes, the tickets are already purchased. Hopefully timing works for me, if not at least there are 4 subsequent flights for standby. This is a whilwind trip of 4 days in Brazil before going to IPC. Socal, I will do Wednesday afternoon through early Friday at the falls. After that I wil do Friday afternoon and Saturday morning in Rio to see the main sites and get my landmark photos.

NYGeroge, I usually quick trips and pack lightly with everything in a carry-on. But it is a 10 day trip in all and I am with taking my 6 year old son, so while it will try to carry on small suitcases I could get nailed with weight limitations if they check.

One other question I have is if i am on a 5:20pm Saturday flight from GIG to SCL what time should I leave the JWMarriott? Something else I am debating is whether to hire a guide on Saturday who can show me the sights and then drop us off at the airport.

Thanks again.

It has been my frequent experience that if my international flight to Brazil connects with my domestic flight, I have been allowed to take my international size and weight limit baggage on the onward flight without penalty. Only once have I had to go from the regular check-in line to customer service to insist, sucessfully, that this had been policy for years and continues to be.

@ghia74--You should arrive at GIG for an international flight 2 hours ahead. It might take about an hour or less to get to the airport on a Saturday afternoon.
Only you can decide if hiring a guide with vehicle is a good choice for you, but of course, the fee would include any taxi fare you'd be paying otherwise, so maybe a good idea indeed. Maybe one of the guides who was not so fully booked might start a half day tour late in the morning and ending mid-afternoon at the airport. You could perhaps then get in a short swim or trip to the beach with your son before a shower and checking out for the tour and airport. If you do hie a guide, give some thought to what you'd want to do in regards to what you would have already seen.
My guide recommendation would be Rafa (Rafael Torres Lopes) who has been mentioned previously on this forum, but he is often quite fully booked. Worth a try though.

Whatever you do, do not I repeat, check bags with AA. Several widebodies come in at once and it can be painfully slow. Buy what you need when you get there.

When you get off the AA flight customs is essentially right there. Move fast. Typically the flights from JFK or MIA are full of Brasilians. The hitch is often exiting customs even if you have nothing to declare.

Considering the high price of items, not just imported items, in Brazil, and the time it would take to buy everything in cities you don't know (including a small city like Foz de Iguaçu, which would have a limited selection) in a language you're not familiar with, I find this advice absolutely bizarre. There's a reason Brazilians go on shopping expeditions to the U.S. Brazil is expensive. If you really need to go through this expense and bother to maybe (maybe) save a few minutes in Customs, your next flight is too early. When we've gone through the nothing to declare line we've not encountered long delays. You could, but buying everything when you get there??? Wow. Remember the limit on carry on bag weight for domestic flights in case you aren't given international limits for the second flight (you may get it, but can you guarantee?).

It has been my frequent experience that if my international flight to Brazil connects with my domestic flight, I have been allowed to take my international size and weight limit baggage on the onward flight without penalty. Only once have I had to go from the regular check-in line to customer service to insist, sucessfully, that this had been policy for years and continues to be.

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If the tickets were purchased together, on one itinerary, there'd be no question (though even then you might have to carefully insist on it with an airline agent who may not be familiar with the rules; we have had to do this). But OP's second ticket was purchased separately. Will it appear on a printed itinerary from a travel agent or such, or just from Gol? I do agree they will probably have the international weight limit, but insisting on it could take some time. As I said, I would ask AA to tag any checked bags for Iguaçu, to strengthen their case.

OP: you could encounter a similar sitaution on the return flight if they take a domestic flight to connect with an interntional one at, say, GIG or GRU. Could even be tougher, starting with a separately-purchased domestic flight, but show your full itinerary. If your bags are tagged for your U.S. destination, your bags will normally be transferred autoamtically to your flight to the U.S., but you will have to exit the security area, without those checked bags, and stand in line at the AA counter, with people just starting their flight there, to get your boarding pass, have your passport checked, answer the standard security questions, etc. Then go through security and exit passport control (be sure you kept the form you got when you passed through Immigration at GIG upon arrival), and go to your gate to fly back to the States. Don't assume anyone will tell you what to do unless you ask.

I have had separate ticketing. International RT flight bought from Brazilian travel agency in the U.S. and domestic flight bought online (since the Brazilian agency oddly doesn't deal with most Brazilian domestic airlines) with Brazilian issued credit card and CPF. Showed the printouts demonstrating the timing (i.e. same day, just enough layover to get comfortably from one flight to another) when necessary.
Maybe they have gotten more stringent about this since my last trip, though, although it was not all that long ago.