stevie

Very informative thread CWS and bookmarked for future reference.

DoctorCopper

Calum, I agree. Another odd quirk of Santiago is that sunrise is very late given its position. The Andes have a lot to be answered for. However, at dusk the Andes are often illuminated in a spectacular pink-wash. As for CWS's comment about the use of seat belts when flying over the Andes; somehow it adds a lot of atmosphere to the journey, particularly on arrival, i.e. flying east to west. Doc Copper

mmxbreaks

Know it's only five minutes different - LHR-SCL = 21:55 - 07:30 showing on my booking - so wondering if the SCL landing time is due to seasonal time zones or something?

mogsta22

OMG awesome information from CWS. We are flying on Monday to BsAs to join our cruise but returning from Santiago as that is where the cruise ends.
Particular highlights of the thread for me are which side of the cabin gets to see the Andes on Departure, all the info about the check in desks and the LATAM lounge and the info about the plug sockets for my electronics. I also enjoyed the food porn and meal time info.
I feel quite well armed for the trip so I give you my heartfelt thanks.

ringingup

I found CWS's guide (and this thread) incredibly useful in preparation of and during our trip to Chile.

We had an amazing time on board (especially on the outbound) and during our travels.

I've posted in this thread a few photos of some of the beautiful places we've visited.

MrWords

Having just returned from SCL, I wanted to give this thread a little bump as it’s easily the most useful thread I’ve found so far... So useful for helping get to/from SCL and around the airport itself. For me, this is what FlyerTalk is all about.

Pretty much everything is still as it was a year ago, but a couple of small notes:

- Our return flight used gate 12 at SCL, rather than 15. Not that it matters, but just in case you’re in a rush and end up in the wrong place.
- They did use the new group boarding process and enforce it. But left it until quite late to set up the lanes, by which point people were milling about and in the wrong places. But, as I say, they did enforce it and were very helpful.
- We used the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport, which was perfectly fine and has a free shuttle bus. Just go to door three, to the Trans VIP desk - they run the service for the Hilton and will take your name and give you a ticket for the service.
- Duty Free seemed oddly expensive compared to supermarkets in Santiago itself - so if you’re stocking up on booze etc, definitely worth doing it before you get to the airport!

Thanks again to C-W-S for an excellent report. If I ever have useful information to share, this is the standard I’ll aim for!

B-HQC

Very helpful thread! With fast track and HBO on the return, how close can I cut it at SCL?

allturnleft

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