catocony

Kathy,

Yes, I do not need RCC membership to use the clubs at GIG and GRU. Then again, I do travel domestically and thus, pay for the club. At least for for now, depending on how things go next year I may bail on it completely.

schley

Well considering you have survived the "worst club facilities on the planet" already it can get nothing but better for you.

nsx1164

Agreed - I used the Guarulhos GRU RCC frequently in 1998-2001, and was last there in 2006. Was definitely better than most US Domestic clubrooms.

OT, but amongst the international RCCs, there's a broad range. I particularly liked Tokyo/NRT (the beer server machine !).

river_rower

I use the GRU RCC frequently. It is definitely frayed at the edges, but no more so than IAD. The food and beverages are definitely a step above anything in the US (RCC that is). Oh, don't forget the old RCC at LHR, that one was frayed at the edges AND the food sucked!

Favorite lounge in the world, for me anyway, continues to be the Koru Club in SYD; stunning views of Botany Bay, hot showers, great food, and huge. ^

Worst lounge in the world? The little box in BOM that fills to the gills prior to the 3AM departures (yawn); warm beer and no carpets.

Yeah, you can do a whole lot worse than the GRU RCC...

sapguy

This is very good news as I will be going to GRU a lot this year and 2010.

mgs 1k

Whas in GRU this weekend and asked some friends from Infraero and UA what will happen.

With TAM comming to *A next year there is a plan to move all the *A companies LH, LX, CO, UA and JJ (TAM) to the same terminal. There is a lot of speculation what will happen. Some suggest TAM will make a super lounge to take care of everything, others say it will be a TAM lounge for TAM flights and a new RCC for all the other *A flights.

Although I don't agree with the second option there will be a renovation next year.

qfrodo

Was at the GRU RCC today, Nov 17. While there I noticed several people who had airport badges going around looking at things. One of the other passengers started talking to them. What I heard was that Infraero finally fixed the leaky roof and now they can replace the carpet. They are also looking at updating others things. The time line mentioned for completion was the end of January.

sapguy

Arrived into GRU on Monday and passed through GRU on Thursday connecting from GIG. No one from UA invited me to the RCC as a 1K - seems like UA uses contract workers in GRU, so they do have any clue or do they care?

The UA check-in at GIG was TERRIBLE!

UALUNOK

I go to Sao Paulo several times each year on United.

Regarding the RCC, both sides of the argument pro and con are correct. If you care about furniture, lighting, architecture, and a clean, bright, modern feel, you will hate this club. If you care more about food, drinks, and service, you will love it. One way or another, your drink never gets empty; it will be refilled either via the attentive service, or the dripping ceiling.

On a related note, GRU - ORD is my all-time favorite long-haul flight. It's got the new F&C 767; It's a north-south route, which means no jet lag. It departs at night, so it's natural and easy to fall asleep. After a full 8 hours of sleep, you wake up, have breakfast, and get ready to land.

sapguy

I will be going to GRU a lot in 2010, and will try to go through ORD, although since I'm based in PHL, going through IAD makes better sense.

Kurt

Yes, the north-south redeye flights are great for sleeping. Our recent YYZ-SCL and back on AC were some of the least tiring flights I've experienced. Long flight, proper time of the night to sleep, little to no time change, and a comfortable seat/bed and it's very easy to get some quality rest.

sapguy

Would have to agree! I was in C for IAD-GRU and woke up well refreshed with a nice omelet breakfast.
For the return GRU-IAD, I was in E+ since I had to change my return to 1 day earlier, but the bulkhead seat (17F) was not that bad (even though it was not my customary aisle seat, it was easy to get in and out of my seat).

The food in C was quite good (choice of grilled mahi mahi by Charlie Trotter, braised beef w/ peppercorn sauce, or spinach lasagna with rosetta sauce) and the wines surprisingly good with Champagne to start. The food in Y was also surprisingly decent (choice of beef or chicken), and I ate it all even though it was already very late and I had dinner earlier.

Can't wait to try the flat beds on ORD-GRU and back.

dgcpaphd

You wrote that no one invited you to the RCC as a 1K. I hope you know that you do not need an invitation to use the RCC. You merely show your boarding pass (assuming you are at least *gold) to the person at the entrance to the club.

Yes, UA (and most other foreign carriers) use contract workers for the flights in and out of GRU (and many other Brazilian airports)

You also commented about the check-in at GIG which "was terrible." I can relate to the departure process from GIG and GRU and having to contend with contract workers.

Some of the contract workers are pleasant but most are disorganized and are not customer friendly. At times, those contract employees are quite demeaning to passengers. But that is an issue unrelated to the RCC at GRU.

qfrodo

At GIG they have a podium set up where everyone stops to get their ticket receipt. After that point, the divide occurs into Y, C, or F with 1K using the C line and GS using the F line. The clue to make it easier at GIG is to not wait in any line to reach the podium. As a 1K, (or GS or even 1P or 2P), just walk past the line up to the podium on the right hand side and indicate your status. They will take care of you promptly and direct you to the appropriate segregated line.

My last flight through GRU, on Nov 17, the purser announced prior to landing that elites could use the RCC on the second floor.

colonius

If they don't have IAD's mice or JFK's roaches, then GRU is not even in the running for "worst"...