siankaan1

Traveling MIA-SCL in a couple of weeks. I see that the AC has showers which I'd love to use, but of course it's on the secured ticketed pax side.

Any tips on how to get back there after Immigration and Customs? In the US I'd pre-arrange a security pass, but I'm thinking no-can-do in Chile... but it doesn't hurt to ask.

Spiff

Need to go anywhere else in Chile from SCL, preferably on LAN? That would get you airside access and access to the AC.

siankaan1

Unfortunately no, three days in Santiago and then off to EZE.

ashill

Don't think that would do it anyway; international departures (where the AC is) are in a separate secured area from domestic departures in SCL. You have to clear exit immigration formalities to get in.

There's no boarding pass check at all to clear security to get into the domestic gate area, but there's no AC there. (In fact, you just plop your bags on the X ray belt as they are and walk through the metal detectors -- no removing laptops or shoes, no liquid ban -- very civilized.)

ETA: or at least that's how it was before the earthquake -- haven't been there since.

rjw242

There is someone in the domestic security area who asks to see your boarding pass, though it doesn't seem like a particularly stringent check (they don't bother asking for your ID, for instance). The only lounge in the domestic area is the Salones VIP Pacific Club, but unless you're a Diners Club or Priority Pass member or holder of certain Chilean bank/credit cards, I don't think there's any way in.

ajnaro

There are two lounges just under the escalator that leads to the lower domestic departure area -- one for smokers and one for non-smokers. They accept Diners Club and lots of other cards of varied sorts.

zpaul

Depends on where you're going. For domestic travel in Chile you're right - no preferential check-in for elites (although I have seen the agent checking BPs upon entry into the maze send Comodoro/EXP to the left and everyone else to the right). For international travel the Business/preferential check in is actually out of the main check-in area, down a hall to the left. It's quite nice - kind of a separate room and has priority access to the Policia Internacional area. Unfortunately, it's not well-marked, so if you don't know where you're going it's easy to miss.

Google "santiago chile airport" - there's an okay map that shows it there.

And for my two cents' worth, I think the AC is pretty darn nice in SCL! I like the wood and brass look much more than the cookie-cutter beige and blah of Neruda and the Int'l AC in DFW. Nice shower, too.

siankaan1

I'll give the AC a clear win on decor, and the LAN club a slim win on food and drinks. Mostly because I like cheese for a snack, and the ACs almost never serve it anymore.

ajnaro

LAN serves real brut Champagne, while AC has some cheap sweet sparking wine that strikes me as undrinkable.

siankaan1

All champagne strikes me as undrinkable, so I wouldn't know.

zpaul

+1. Love the bubbles! It makes the visit to Neruda more bearable.

Looking over some pics I took with friends while in the Neruda lounge the last time, it struck me that the non-working lamps that are between the chairs resemble IV poles.

ajnaro

So the moral is: if you like Champagne, go to the LAN lounge; if you like wood and brass, go to AA. Then everyone will be happy and neither lounge will be over crowded. Of course, there is also a lounge that accepts Diners Club (and other cards or payment) for those who want to escape both Champagne and wood/brass. Not to mention Gatsby's, Starbucks, and a few others.

spotwelder

The lounges in domestic take lots of credit cards, but Chilean ones. There is nothing that a 1W multi-elite can do to get lounge access. Buy a coffee and get wireless access free. Now you know why LAN makes so much money!

I prefer the LAN international lounge, so that is where I hang out if I have time before the flight. However, I usually arrive with webcheck-in printout and go straight to gate.

All LAN flights have the split boarding for expensive tickets and elites on one side and the rabble on the other. Of course, on a domestic sector in Chile, you may well be sitting next to the rabble shortly! I have been the only elite on some flights and I am not sure that a queue of one is possible, even for a Brit.

ajnaro

I regularly use a US-issued Diners Club card (ex Citbank) at the lounge in the domestic area of SCL. I don't remember the name of the lounge, but as you come down the escalator from the upper floor entrance (security and some gates), turn backwards (opposite direction from Starbucks). This lounge is non-smoking and serves free drinks and snacks.

zpaul

Sure there is - you can pay US$28. But is it worth it? Methinks no.

The problem is that the domestic lounges (I only use plural in that there's the Pacific Club, and the Pacific Club Smoking Lounge though one entry gets you into both) aren't run by the airlines, so neither elite status nor lounge membership are valid. As you mention, they do allow free access with a variety of Chilean credit cards or with Diner's Club or the Priority Pass card if membership is from outside of Chile; otherwise it's US$28 per day (or less depending on the type of credit card you use to pay: http://www.tuugo.cl/Link/lones-vip-pacific-club ).

The International Pacific Club is nice, on the other hand. Got in free based on my friend's credit card. Only used it once, but it was a good experience. I prefer the AA or LAN lounges, as well, but for my flight on TAM it was a decent start to the trip.