Zacnlinc

Thanks as well. Will be there in SCL come November.

TBD

Is the Holiday Inn still the best option for an arrival shower in SCL? The HI still offers day rates, but $130 for the day seems pretty high if all I want is to get cleaned up for a meeting ....

747FC

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zpaul

The dedicated check-in is only for LATAM flights, but anybody can use the security check to the side, which dumps you out at the Salon VIP entrance. I check-in at AA or QF and just take the escalator by the currency exchange up (to the land-side Gatsby), just keep walking forward from there.

Eastbay1K

The last time I was there (a January afternoon), there was only 1 migraciones officer and the line was going back to the check-in area. It was a good half-hour wait. (Or, I might mean bad half hour wait.)

linglingfool

This is exactly what I was trying to ask. Thanks.

linglingfool

Following up again:

Per https://www.aa.com/i18n/travelInform.../scl-club.jsp:

It sounds like they'd allow access on arrival, regardless of what airline you're connecting to, if you can get to the lounge? LA's connecting flight times are not ideal DFW-SCL-MDZ, so I'm trying to figure out if I can fly another airline SCL-MDZ but get arrivals access with a DFW-SCL boarding pass in J. Obviously I'd prefer the LA lounge, but don't want to push my luck too much.

zpaul

If I'm reading all of this correctly, you are flying from Dallas to Mendoza via Santiago, so all legs are international but might be on separate reservations. If you're trying to avoid LATAM SCL-MDZ, your options are Sky (which I really don't recommend, but it's only a 45 minute flight) and Aerolineas Argentinas which don't have a direct SCL-MDZ flight, so LATAM is usually the best simply due to having multiple flights per day. If you purchase the whole trip as one, upon arrival in SCL you'll just go through International Connections and into the secure airside area and viola, the lounges are there and you have access. Done.

If you book a separate ticket, upon arrival in SCL you'll need to clear passport control, collect luggage (if any), and exit to landside. If you fly with LATAM you can usually check-in for your upcoming flight up to five hours in advance of departure, and use the upper-level Preferred Check-In area. If you're on Sky, you'll be limited to checking-in just two or three hours before your flight, so if it's a long time between flights you'll be stuck in the not-very-comfortable terminal until they allow you to check in.

Now, on to lounge access. If you book LATAM, you automatically have access to the LATAM Salon VIP because you're Sapphire (Platimun) and it's an international fight. Sky does not have a lounge, and all of LATAM access policies state that you must be on an onward oneworld flight for lounge access. You may get lucky, but I certainly wouldn't plan on it as Chileans are very by-the-book, even when it makes no sense.

The SCL AC is open all day, so if you chose not to book LATAM this would be your only option. There's nothing in the AC access rules that says anything specifically about access based only on your upcoming fight, and since the AC is usually dead during the day (except for when the IB and QF flights are going out) they certainly can't deny you based on capacity constraints. I certainly can't guarantee that you'll have access but it's a good bet IMHO.

Overall, to have the most options and least hassle, I'd book the whole thing on one ticket on AA and LATAM. You might even be able to book the LATAM flight on the AA codeshare flight number and earn extras EQMs if that's important to you...!

linglingfool

That's correct, I'm trying to book Sky. Flight times are just better, and I'd prefer not to waste another hour and a half on top of a 4+ hour layover if I can avoid it. I don't mind being a sardine for 45 minutes.

Thanks, the by-the-book part is what I was looking for. I know the rules, but a little schmoozing has worked to get around those rules in some places. Not here.

This was also my assessment. Not nearly as nice as the LATAM lounge, but serviceable for a shower and a quiet place to wait if we can get in.

Even if the flight times to MDZ worked, it's almost twice as expensive to book everything on one ticket as opposed to nesting the MDZ legs.

Thanks so much for the detailed response!

Zacnlinc