Originally Posted by
mvogel
Next week, we're flying to GRU on United and connecting to an Azul flight to Uruguay. This is all part of a single PNR and we are United 1Ks. Not yet sure if we'll be in Premium Plus or Polaris on the United flight.
We plan to carry-on our bags, but if we decided at the last minute to check a bag, can United tag a bag all the way to PDP and will it be transferred between United and Azul? Anyone care to fathom how reliable the baggage transfer is between United and Azul?
I think Azul leaves from a different terminal than where the United flight arrives. Do we need to go through Brazilian immigration or can we stay air side to transfer from the United arrival terminal to the Azul international departures terminal?
Lastly, we have a 2 1/2 hour connection in GRU. Is there a lounge we can use in the Azul terminal as a *Gold?
Any other advice on the United/Azul transfer is appreciated.
Originally Posted by
mvogel
Expertflyer shows that the GRU/PDP flight leaves from Terminal 1.
Originally Posted by
leoo
T1 doesn't have immigration so I'm curious to know how they deal with this.
Just a guess: you COULD have to go through security and immigration on T2 then get a bus airside to T1.
This is Azul's only international flight from GRU (and not VCP) and not a popular flight so there's not much about it.
Note: T1 was closed for most of 2020 and 2021 and Azul operated its domestic flights from T2.
Flightaware shows the past two GRU-PDP departures as gate 268 / 265, which I guess would be T2 and bus, since those aren't standard gate numbers for T2.
If not dealing with checked bags and if the boarding passes for GRU-PDP have been issued, it is possible to skip Brazil immigration and use transit security checkpoint. If checking bags, I'm not certain how it works.