Originally Posted by
iahphx
So your first point of entry into Chile (including Easter Island) is SCL? If so, yes, if you're an American, you have to pay the $140. It's not a "visa" -- it's a "reciprocity" fee charged to the nationals of countries which charge Chileans for visas. If you don't enter Chile at SCL (which is tricky to avoid) you don't have to pay the fee.
That, of course, was the beauty of flying LIM-IPC, even if you wanted to visit SCL at the end (IPC-SCL is domestic, no fee collected). Of course, with the flight pulled (at least temporarily) that option has vanished. The only way now for an American to directly get to Easter Island without paying the fee is to fly there from Tahiti. I'd love to do it that way but, as we all know, it ain't easy.
Your other choice is to "sneak" into Chile by land. Like take a bus from Mendoza, and then fly to IPC from SCL. Not easy, either -- and most of Chile's neighbors now have "reciprocity" fees, too.
help me out here. this is the route i plan on taking, taking advantage of BA's unlimited stopover perk:
NYC to Lima
Lima to Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires to Santiago
Santiago to Easter Island
Return Flight is
Easter Island to Santiago
Santiago to NYC
if i am understanding you correctly, i would have to pay the $140 reciprocity fee entering santiago (i guess because argentina would charge chileans the same $140 fee)? off topic, but do you know if lima or buenos aires would have similar reciprocity fees?