Thanks and more info?
Thanks MariaSF
Yes, TP is Portuguese Airlines.
My information about terminals came from the Star Alliance RTW mileage calculator, which I used to develop the itinerary for our Round the world trip. It specifies terminal 1 for the LH flight. LH themselves on their site says for LH502 on 1 Jan 07 “Sao Paulo, Guarulhos Int'l, Terminal 1 2” which is not very helpful. I prefer to believe you, and the GRU departure boards which show LH currently going from Terminal 2.
Could we still transfer to terminal 1 and back again to use United’s RCC Longue, which is advertised on their site as being open until midnight?
Do you know about the process for collecting the departure tax? There are places – some Asian and Carribbean airports that I know of – where departure tax is collected and you cannot go airside without the receipt to show that you have paid the tax. Our tickets are Star Special Round the World, and we are not using Sao Paulo as one of our 5 permitted stopovers. This means, from a ticketing viewpoint, we will only be in transit. So it is unlikely that we will have paid departure tax in the ticket – which I am told, will probably be electronic. Paying for a hotel is OK. But if it is likely someone will insist on another $72US that would be a good reason to stay airside, even if we would have a lonely start to 2007. It is not as if we would have a long night in a bed, with a 8.30 am departure.