Jogging at GRU airport
Jun 17, 2016, 7:09 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Bellevue, WA - AA EXP 3MM
Posts: 2,756
Jogging at GRU airport
Have a three hour connection at GRU, early morning, between AA arrival and LATAM (domestic) departure. Thinking about jogging, one of my favorite activities during long connections.
Any suggestions?
I'll have access to AA and LATAM lounges as well as any that accept Priority Pass. Looks like no shortage of lounges with showers. So that's easy. The other requirements:
1) A facility for leaving luggage (at least in a luggage check storage of some sort, ideally in lockers or with staff. Doable at most lounges though some worry about unattended baggage, even after screening by security staff.
2) Exiting the secure area (from lounges), going out to the groundside area, and returning.
3) Somewhere with enough open space for me to jog, and sidewalks or shoulders to make it safe enough to get out there. I studied Google Maps (satellite view) and couldn't quite figure it out. No substitute for being there.
Suggestions?
I'll update http://www.benedelman.org/travel/running/ with anything relevant.
Any suggestions?
I'll have access to AA and LATAM lounges as well as any that accept Priority Pass. Looks like no shortage of lounges with showers. So that's easy. The other requirements:
1) A facility for leaving luggage (at least in a luggage check storage of some sort, ideally in lockers or with staff. Doable at most lounges though some worry about unattended baggage, even after screening by security staff.
2) Exiting the secure area (from lounges), going out to the groundside area, and returning.
3) Somewhere with enough open space for me to jog, and sidewalks or shoulders to make it safe enough to get out there. I studied Google Maps (satellite view) and couldn't quite figure it out. No substitute for being there.
Suggestions?
I'll update http://www.benedelman.org/travel/running/ with anything relevant.
Jun 18, 2016, 9:14 am
#2
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,667
Insofar as 'ground side' anything, does the passport you hold require a visa for Brazil?
I would discourage the idea of being alone, jogging, almost anywhere in Brazil, no matter what the terrain is like, even in city parks at certain times of day. You set yourself up as a target, particularly at this time of severe and worsening economic crisis.
I would discourage the idea of being alone, jogging, almost anywhere in Brazil, no matter what the terrain is like, even in city parks at certain times of day. You set yourself up as a target, particularly at this time of severe and worsening economic crisis.
Jun 18, 2016, 11:03 am
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Jan 2001
Location: Bellevue, WA - AA EXP 3MM
Posts: 2,756
US citizen so visa waiver at present.
I hadn't considered the safety risk. Thanks for flagging that issue. Can I plausibly mitigate it by staying on airport property? At some airports, such as MAD and AUH and JFK, my standard jogging routes are entirely on airport property.
I hadn't considered the safety risk. Thanks for flagging that issue. Can I plausibly mitigate it by staying on airport property? At some airports, such as MAD and AUH and JFK, my standard jogging routes are entirely on airport property.
Jun 18, 2016, 4:40 pm
#4
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Virginia and Vitoria, ES Brazil
Programs: UA 1K, Million Miler, *G, JJ, AD, Global Entry, CLEAR, H.O.G. Life Member
Posts: 1,407
Well, while it might not be too scenic, what about jogging around the parking facility? Any vehicle traffic should be slow moving and it is connected by walkway to terminal 3, I believe.
Don't know about your other questions regarding exiting airside and returning and the lockers. Never did that or needed lockers at GRU.
Of course, 3 hours may seem like a lot, but could go quickly if your inbound is late. Also, The domestic flight will sometimes leave early if they have everyone onboard. I have seen this a number of times, as much as 15 minutes early.
Don't know about your other questions regarding exiting airside and returning and the lockers. Never did that or needed lockers at GRU.
Of course, 3 hours may seem like a lot, but could go quickly if your inbound is late. Also, The domestic flight will sometimes leave early if they have everyone onboard. I have seen this a number of times, as much as 15 minutes early.
Jun 18, 2016, 4:44 pm
#5
Join Date: May 2009
Location: EWR
Posts: 884
US citizen so visa waiver at present.
I hadn't considered the safety risk. Thanks for flagging that issue. Can I plausibly mitigate it by staying on airport property? At some airports, such as MAD and AUH and JFK, my standard jogging routes are entirely on airport property.
I hadn't considered the safety risk. Thanks for flagging that issue. Can I plausibly mitigate it by staying on airport property? At some airports, such as MAD and AUH and JFK, my standard jogging routes are entirely on airport property.
Jun 19, 2016, 10:07 am
#6
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: GVA
Programs: BA Silver (OW Sapphire), A3 Gold (*G), Bonvoy LTTE, HHonors Diamond, LeClubAccor Silver, UA Silver
Posts: 1,778
Have a three hour connection at GRU, early morning, between AA arrival and LATAM (domestic) departure. Thinking about jogging, one of my favorite activities during long connections.
Any suggestions?
I'll have access to AA and LATAM lounges as well as any that accept Priority Pass. Looks like no shortage of lounges with showers. So that's easy. The other requirements:
1) A facility for leaving luggage (at least in a luggage check storage of some sort, ideally in lockers or with staff. Doable at most lounges though some worry about unattended baggage, even after screening by security staff.
2) Exiting the secure area (from lounges), going out to the groundside area, and returning.
3) Somewhere with enough open space for me to jog, and sidewalks or shoulders to make it safe enough to get out there. I studied Google Maps (satellite view) and couldn't quite figure it out. No substitute for being there.
Suggestions?
I'll update http://www.benedelman.org/travel/running/ with anything relevant.
Any suggestions?
I'll have access to AA and LATAM lounges as well as any that accept Priority Pass. Looks like no shortage of lounges with showers. So that's easy. The other requirements:
1) A facility for leaving luggage (at least in a luggage check storage of some sort, ideally in lockers or with staff. Doable at most lounges though some worry about unattended baggage, even after screening by security staff.
2) Exiting the secure area (from lounges), going out to the groundside area, and returning.
3) Somewhere with enough open space for me to jog, and sidewalks or shoulders to make it safe enough to get out there. I studied Google Maps (satellite view) and couldn't quite figure it out. No substitute for being there.
Suggestions?
I'll update http://www.benedelman.org/travel/running/ with anything relevant.
Finally, unless you have access to Amex Centurion lounges, there are no domestic lounges available to shower. Not even sure Centurion has showers.
I'm not saying it's impossible, but I would reccommend you to have a jog once you get to your final destination.
Jun 23, 2016, 2:32 pm
#7
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 2,188
3 hour connection isn't that long. By the time you disembark, go through immigratiion, wait for your bags, go through customs, then go to the TAM (I think they're still calling it that in Brazil) transfer desk outside of customs to check-in for the domestic flight (even if everything was booked together), then go through security to get to your domestic flight, you could end up with little time to wait to board. To jog you'd have to find a location (no great ones by the airport that I know of, and lots of traffic and pollution), and find a place to store your clothes and, importantly, any valuables (e.g., money, passport, watch). And, as noted, no showers. I'd regard 2 hours as the minimum connection time. 3 hours is good but not so much time that you need think about how to kill the time.
Jun 25, 2016, 9:34 pm
#8
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Posts: 557
Insofar as 'ground side' anything, does the passport you hold require a visa for Brazil?
I would discourage the idea of being alone, jogging, almost anywhere in Brazil, no matter what the terrain is like, even in city parks at certain times of day. You set yourself up as a target, particularly at this time of severe and worsening economic crisis.
I would discourage the idea of being alone, jogging, almost anywhere in Brazil, no matter what the terrain is like, even in city parks at certain times of day. You set yourself up as a target, particularly at this time of severe and worsening economic crisis.
I wouldn't jog in the surroundings of GRU, because the roads around the airport are not always meant for pedestrians, so he would be exposed to risks involving vehicular accidents.
At GIG, it's a different story, since joggers are already common.
Jul 1, 2016, 12:56 pm
#9
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,667
Are you out of your mind? That's absurd!
I wouldn't jog in the surroundings of GRU, because the roads around the airport are not always meant for pedestrians, so he would be exposed to risks involving vehicular accidents.
At GIG, it's a different story, since joggers are already common.
I wouldn't jog in the surroundings of GRU, because the roads around the airport are not always meant for pedestrians, so he would be exposed to risks involving vehicular accidents.
At GIG, it's a different story, since joggers are already common.
And didn't some female doctor get held up and killed on the Linha Vermelha highway right near the airport a week ago?
Who is out of their mind?
Joggers may be "common" (and still at risk if they look like they might have valuables) in the lane next to the beach in Copacabana/Ipanema, but at GIG outside the airport?
Jul 1, 2016, 7:37 pm
#10
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Posts: 557
Jogging in a city where hundreds of people are forced to abandon their cars and run for their lives in traffic in front of a popular shopping center, as happened the other day?
And didn't some female doctor get held up and killed on the Linha Vermelha highway right near the airport a week ago?
Who is out of their mind?
And didn't some female doctor get held up and killed on the Linha Vermelha highway right near the airport a week ago?
Who is out of their mind?
Yes, the neighbours of the airport are people too. Have you never noticed that there is housing for military personnel just outside the airport?
Jul 2, 2016, 5:41 am
#11
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,667
@C010T3---
If you are a 'normal' Brazilian sufficiently middle class to be interested in a forum discussing details of air travel, then I can assure you that I have almost certainly been in parts of Rio (and elsewhere in the country) that you probably wouldn't set foot in, and felt at home there. I do not stay at home under my bed.
But I also do not recommend to friends new to Brazil that they expose themselves to potential risk by jogging alone in unknown places, as if the incidents I described did not take place recently. They aren't in Kansas anymore. I read the doctor's plastic surgeon husband wished she had stayed home, even under the bed.
And unless one is longing for the bad old days of the military dictatorship to return, as some Brazilians apparently are now, it would be more logical to think of many members of the military as frequently more of a threat to the everyday public in Brazil than the drug traffickers, rather than some Officer Bill manning the school cross walk.
If you are a 'normal' Brazilian sufficiently middle class to be interested in a forum discussing details of air travel, then I can assure you that I have almost certainly been in parts of Rio (and elsewhere in the country) that you probably wouldn't set foot in, and felt at home there. I do not stay at home under my bed.
But I also do not recommend to friends new to Brazil that they expose themselves to potential risk by jogging alone in unknown places, as if the incidents I described did not take place recently. They aren't in Kansas anymore. I read the doctor's plastic surgeon husband wished she had stayed home, even under the bed.
And unless one is longing for the bad old days of the military dictatorship to return, as some Brazilians apparently are now, it would be more logical to think of many members of the military as frequently more of a threat to the everyday public in Brazil than the drug traffickers, rather than some Officer Bill manning the school cross walk.
Last edited by VidaNaPraia; Jul 2, 2016 at 5:55 am
Jul 4, 2016, 6:56 pm
#12
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Rio de Janeiro
Posts: 557
@C010T3---
And unless one is longing for the bad old days of the military dictatorship to return, as some Brazilians apparently are now, it would be more logical to think of many members of the military as frequently more of a threat to the everyday public in Brazil than the drug traffickers, rather than some Officer Bill manning the school cross walk.
And unless one is longing for the bad old days of the military dictatorship to return, as some Brazilians apparently are now, it would be more logical to think of many members of the military as frequently more of a threat to the everyday public in Brazil than the drug traffickers, rather than some Officer Bill manning the school cross walk.
First of all, I was describing them as the ones that frequently jog around the airport and, FYI, mostly the military wives do it.
Actually, I'm not even going further with this. Reading about how members of the Brazilian Armed Forces pose some kind of threat is so ludicrous that I cannot even fathom that we live in the same planet, let alone the same country.
Jul 4, 2016, 8:15 pm
#13
Join Date: Nov 2009
Location: CVG
Programs: DL Diamond, UA Platinum
Posts: 361
Just jog in T3 after you arrive. You can get a nice workout in and then refresh in either the AA or the LATAM lounge. Clear immigration afterwards (if needed) and then connect to your outbound flight
Source: Personal experience 2 days ago...
Source: Personal experience 2 days ago...
Jul 5, 2016, 6:58 am
#14
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: GVA
Programs: BA Silver (OW Sapphire), A3 Gold (*G), Bonvoy LTTE, HHonors Diamond, LeClubAccor Silver, UA Silver
Posts: 1,778
I don't think that's possible, is it? As you deplane in T3, you are automatically forced to go through immigration + customs. OP's connecting flight is Latam domestic from T2, hence no lounges there (although there is a Bradesco credit card lounge hidden in T2 airside, where Centurion members may be granted access but I didn't try a couple of days ago).
Jul 5, 2016, 2:00 pm
#15
Join Date: Apr 2012
Posts: 1,667
For anyone not familiar with Brazilian history and who wants to understand more, please read (at the risk of being called "not in your sound mind"):
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/03/op...ship.html?_r=0
It is those who forget history, and that it can easily repeat itself, who are not in their "sound mind".