Hi,

I am thinking about booking this one way flight with Gol: Departs BOG (Columbia) arrives GRU on Saturday Oct. 23 at 5:35AM. I will have to transfer to CGH airport which departs at 9:10AM and my final destination is SDU. Any help with these questions would be greatly appreciated:

1. Since my final destination is SDU, will my checked luggage from BOG go to SDU or do I have to pickup the luggage at GRU and then recheck it at CGH? I'm trying to access the online chat feature at Gol's website now but it is not working

2. Does Gol have a free bus transfer from GRU to CGH? Will I have enough time to clear immigration and make it? I've read on other threads where max bus time is 1 hour and on Saturday or Sunday can be 30mins, it is early in the morning so that might help.

Thanks! Greg

Don't know about GOL, but TAM has free bus transfer.
Yes, you have to pick up the luggage and recheck (doesn't matter if you fly out of GRU or CGH, since it's a domestic flight, you have to pass customs first).
To be safe, I'd fly out of GRU to GIG and then go to Rio city centre by bus/taxi.
And welcome to Flyertalk!

Neuromancer has the better solution. GRU-GIG will have no hassles for the transfer but the connection GRU-CGH can be very long if traffic is bad.

GIG to Zona Sul in a yellow taxi is never more than R$50, usually around R$40 or so, and takes 20 minutes at slow times, up to an hour or so in rush hour.

If you do the GRU-CGH transfer on Gol, they do have a free bus. I did it once and it took 90 minutes. Really depends on traffic and traffic in S�o Paulo can be nasty

Hi Greg,

I read the other responses to your questions. I agree with them.

You said you are "thinking about booking" a flight which means you have not yet booked it.

Although Congonhas (CGH) has more flights to Rio than does GRU, the aggravation you would incur while worrying if you will make the cross town flight is not worth any savings in money to you.

First, your arriving flight into GRU could be late. Second, you have only a few hours to make the CGH flight. It just is not worth it to attempt the transfer to the downtown airport in Sao Paulo.

Bottom line, I would stick to waiting around GRU and catch a flight to Rio from there.

A drawback with using GRU to GIG is that there are fewer daily flights. From CGH - SDU, they run almost every hour. From GRU to GIG they run an odd schedule and the prices are higher.

Hope this helps

-

If your heart's set on arriving at SDU, you could try OceanAir (AKA Avianca) or Webjet from GRU.

GOL doesn't have a free bus transfer. You can take a bus named "Airport Service", You'll pay 30 reais (something like USD 17) to the transfer. Avoid taxis...they'll cost you more than 60 dollars.
The maximum bus time can be until 1h45min. S�o Paulo has a big traffic. Depends od the time or the day. If the trafis is free, you can do it in 40 minutes.
Yes, you'll have to pick up the luggage and recheck.

Not true, I've taken the Gol bus to make this very transfer

http://www.voegol.com.br/Facilidades...inas/home.aspx

Yep....Gol has free transfer from GRU to CGH

You'll be fine transferring from GRU to CGH at that time. I did the transfer a couple of weeks ago on a Sunday evening. I arrived at CGH at 5.40pm and was in GRU at 6.35pm. Bus journey took about 35mins. Cost was just over R$30. With a bit of luck you'll get the 6.30am bus, if not there's another at 7.00am. http://www.emtu.sp.gov.br/linha/resu...numlinha=10350

I am arriving at GRU at 9:40 am March 2011, and need to transfer to CGH for an afternoon flight (will probably be around 2:00pm) to JOI. Last year I took a taxi from GRU to CGH and the cost was $40.00 USD, booked by an agent just inside the exit from the airport where the taxi's wait for passenger pick up, but this year I would like to know if anyone knows the bus fare (not sure if I will be on GOL or TAM). I know that in the past GOL passengers can take their bus for free? Also would be interested in knowing what others have paid for the taxi ride. As for traffic, I would think it would be good at that time of day barring any exceptions, so if you have any knowledge of the length of time the trip takes I would appreciate input. Traffic was terrible (rush hour) last time I took the taxi and it seemed to take about an hour, but the taxi driver stepped on it because I had little time to make my connection. Thanks

I think $US40 which is about R65 is a very good price for a taxi between GRU and CGH. GOL, TAM and Webjet have free bus transfers as does Diners Club for its cardholders. The Airport Bus Service that also has buses to Republica and Paulista is about R30. Local bus/metro/metro/local bus will cost around R10 if you are adventurous and have plenty of time

I took a taxi from GRU to CGH last month and the cost was R$110 or about USD65, there is only one taxi cooperative (GUARUCOP) which operates in GRU, service is excellent, you can pay with credit cards, however, fares are high.

I arrived with AZ at 4.20am, boarded the taxi at 5.00am and arrived in CGH at 5.15am, and took my flight to NVT at 6.00.

If you have time, as I can see above, I would take the bus, Airport Bus Service offers GRU-CGH service every 30min, for about R$25, credit cards accepted, the buses leave from the exit of the aiport, near where the taxis are located. The ride takes about 40min.

http://www.airportbusservice.com.br/

Btw, you may be interested to know that TRIP Airlines now operate GRU-JOI twice daily nonstop.

http://www.voetrip.com.br/

Rgs,

Boarded the taxi at GRU at 0500 and arrived at CGH at 0515??? I would have been happy paying R110 for a helicopter too . Even flying, the direct distance on GCM is 29km so an average speed of close to 120km/hr - that's pretty good for Sao Paolo even at 5am