I'm going to be spending Christmas in Florianopolis, Brazil and I would like some advice on transit times at GRU.

I'm booked on the BA246 from GRU which departs at 18:15. I'm unsure whether the TAM flight from FLN which arrives into GRU at 14:55 will give us enough time to collect luggage and check it back in for the long haul.

The other option is to take the earlier flight which arrives into GRU at 11:00, which would mean over 7 hours sitting around at GRU. I'm not expecting the GRU lounge to be up to much either.

Finally, does anyone have any view on whether TAM or GOL are the better airline for this route?

Thanks in advance

Read some of the posts in these threads and I think a number of your questions will be answered.

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...sao-paulo.html

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/south...-question.html

I travel through GRU every month and generally arrange flights so that I have 3 hours between them. Has always been sufficient.

If you do decide to take an earlier flight, there is a Fast Sleep hotel located airside between terminals.

Haven't taken that particular route FLN-GRU, but TAM and GOL are pretty similar. I prefer TAM, but depending on price and schedule, either one would be fine. A couple of others you might check out are Webjet and Ocean air. Not sure if either do the FLN-GRU route. Perhaps someone else can provide info on that.

We flew GOL from FLN to GRU a year or so back. Quick flight, on time, no problems. Transit in GRU is quick. And, GRU is not a great airport; the less time spent there the better. As for the FLN-GRU route, in the summer a number of Sao Paulo businessmen "commute" from FLN to GRU on the weekends, leaving their family to enjoy FLN during the week.

Floripa is great. Make sure you take the drive to Ostradamus for a seafood lunch. Just terrific.

I have a TAM to TAM international-to-international transfer at GRU on Christmas Eve with just 1 hour 50 between flights (in from LHR out to SCL). In J class on an I-fare/mileage award ticket.

Any reason I might not make it ?

UK passport needs no transit visa but would welcome update on security/queues/delays/ways to avoid delays from someone who's transited GRU more recently than the last forum posts.

thanks

We reside in Brazil. 3+ hours probably sufficient, but I'd probably go with the earlier flight, since the TAM fight could be late, and/or the airport crowded during the holiday season. And if you miss your BA fight you could have problems (no flight until the next day, I think, and that assumes there's space). I don't think you'll have to collect your bags (check with TAM in advance). We haven't had to when we've connected domestic-to-international at GRU, but we had purchased our entire trip as a through ticket. The fact that you will apparently have two separately-purchased tix could make a difference. Although our bags were checked through, we still had to leave the secure area and stand in line at the counter of the airline operating our onward flight to the U.S. (did this on different trips, with both United and Continental), along with those just starting their trips at GRU in order to get our boarding passes. Then went through security, and passport control, to our gate. Counters of foreign carriers sometimes open only 3-4 hours before their flights leave. There is a better variety of eateries outside of security.

International-to-international is an entirely different system. Don't see how anyone could guess whether someone would make that with a short connection. Will both flights be on time? Will airport personnel be efficient in the transit area? The airline(s) involved apparently felt it was sufficient time (though if someone misses their flight they may have to stay overnight, and if they don't have a visa they can't leave the transit area), assuming both flights were purchased as a through-ticket. Besides, if someone already bought their tickets, it's a moot point.

Overall, I'd rate TAM and Gol about equal. TAM is part of the Star Alliance, and Gol is a code share partner with American Airlines (but not part of the OneWorld alliance), if that makes any difference.

This is enough time because international>international you dont need to collect your bags neither you need to go through immigration. You deboard your plane and head for your connecting flight immediately. You need however to clear security again, but there is a security clearance for international to international connecting pax.

Rgs,

Thanks hardiwv, that's what I wanted to hear - that we'd not be processed through the GRU-originating queues to get to the second plane.

Just have to hope that the snow at LHR is sorted by Thursday, otherwise this is all a bit academic :-)

On arrival in GRU JJ has a desk to resolve problems of pax with late arrivals or missed connections. GRU-SCL is a busy route with several daily flights and JJ can easily rebook you on another flight because JJ and LA codeshare on this route and both airlines in fact merged forming LATAM.

Rgs,