newyorkmetz12

Friends a few questions for my flight from GIG tomorrow.

I have to arrive a the airport well before the ATL flight since my friends flight leaves at 4pm.

1. What time does the counter open for DL?
2. Is there a place to store luggage before the counter opens(for a fee like at yyz?)
3. Can i get my boarding pass a go through security before the ticket counter opens?
4. As a diamond is there a lounge and what time does it open.

Thanks so much! Struggling to read the website in Portuguese!

knoa_knows

It's been a year or two, but this is what I remember:

Counter opens three hours before the flight. Thing is you might need those three hours to get through in case security and visa check is busy. As far as I know you cannot get through until the counter opens.

There is an AmEx lounge land-side you might be able to store luggage, but I have never done it.

Air-side there are contract lounges that you can use as a diamond. Forgot what it is called. It is actually not too bad.

good luck!

boeingATL

Been over a year since I departed from GIG, but I've done it several times. Check in opens about 2 hours before departure. Sometimes earlier for Biz. Still takes time to process through immigration.

Once through, the lounges are upstairs, a long walk to the end of the terminal. You can't get to the lounge without a BP. DL used to use the Air France lounge which was pretty nice (but the staff sucked) My last time out of there, DL used a generic contracted lounge. Not too bad.

sbm12

I was in GIG last week; the above details are not quite accurate.

DL is in T2 now, not T1, and so they use the contract Smiles lounge, not AF. The lounge is downstairs in T2, not upstairs. It has no windows, rather worn furniture and it was horribly crowded when I went in to shower (via PPass). But they do have showers and some light snacks. It is open all day AFAIK, certainly from when you are expecting to arrive at the airport through to your flight departure.

I was at the airport around 4pm and there was no line at all through immigration at that time; it likely gets worse later in the day as the night departures to the US/Europe start to stack up but earlier it was a piece of cake.

There are lockers in T1 per this thread: http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/brazi...rport-gig.html. I didn't see them and there is a lot of construction going on but I would be surprised if those were gone.

ETA: The GIG ticket counters open at 6:30pm per the DL twitter account.

The food court upstairs in T1 is probably the best place to pass the time since you won't be able to go in through immigration without checking your bag. Go up to the top floor and there are a bunch of restaurants. To the back left corner there are a bunch of tables with views of the field.

j.bell

I was through there in May. I did get there very early I think - probably around 5:30-6 (the person at my hotel suggested it might take 3 hours to get to GIG from Barra - it did take long but not that long). Although I've heard that the security + exit immigration can be quite long... no line at either when I went through. You can get into the "Smiles VIP Lounge" airside. Wifi, self serve bar, a few sandwich-y options. I seem to recall it being downstairs instead of upstairs though...

knoa_knows

I am not surprised that things changed at GIG - with the World Cup and Olympics I certainly hope they have improved that poor excuse for an international airport. However, I would still caution on the time to get through security + the visa check. I have never been through it quickly the times I went through. They didn't have a separate line for VIPs, and the number of agents was always less than what the space could hold. Only two places worse in my experience fo speed through immigration - Mumbai and Newark (hahaha - go figure...)


k_k

C010T3

3 hours before the flight.

There used to be one until refurbishment started at T1. Since they were located exactly where the renovation is being done, I'm not sure if the lockers were either moved or removed for the time being.
You should certainly try to look for them at T1. Ask for Malex (Mah-LEX') if you can't find them.

No, you need the Infraero sticker on your BP, which only DL can provide.

I don't know if DL hands out invitations to FFs, but you're certainly not going to receive access to the contract lounge based only on the status.

Don't bother... GIG does not even have a website.

knoa_knows

Well, it might be different because I always flew business, but I never had a problem getting into the lounge. The people at the desk have always been very nice.

sr_tipitinas

Any place in GIG to take a shower when you arrive?