lowfareair

Was that because of your airline choices at LIM (Avianca --> Copa) or do all Domestic to International connections require it now?

jlarroulet

Not every DOM-INT connection requires it. It must be something airline-related

I have flown CUZ-SCL via LIM a couple of times, on a 100% LA itinerary, and my bags always get tagged to final destination. While I have had to go landside and then back to international airside on such connections, I never had to worry about my bags

saxman66

Bringing this thread back. Similar question as the OP. We are arriving from Cusco at 6 PM, but our Delta flight doesn't leave until 2 AM, so we have lots of time to kill. I understand that the Delta counter won't open until around 10 PM, so to avoid getting stuck in the ticket counter area we thought we'd just carry on our bags for our domestic flight and go straight to the PP lounge in the domestic terminal to kill time. But then I realized that every country and airport is different and they might stick us right back out to baggage claim instead of in the air-side of the terminal like is normal for a US domestic flight. If they do make us leave the secure area, and advise on what else to do for 4 hours before we can check in for our Delta flight to ATL? We already spent a full day in Lima, so not all that interested in seeing the tourist stuff again. Perhaps a decent dinner near the airport?

carlosdca

Nothing. Don't do it.
Just go up to TANTA landside on the second floor and on the way to security/passport.
It is a great little restaurant, better quality and better prices than anything airside (dom or intl).

IIRC, you can stay airside in the domestic terminal when you arrive.

saxman66

carlosdca

You could have gone to TANTA and spend your time there.

248477

I have a 2045 arrival into LIM from MIA on AV, and a departure to CUZ on LA at 1615 the next day (a Monday in June). I want to spend some time in Lima, and am considering the following two options:

1) Spend the night at an airport hotel, get up early, check into the CUZ flight, then head out into the city for a few hours, before heading back to the airport (and walk straight to the security line). I know that there's traffic into the city in the morning, but that should be manageable. I'm more keen to eat a good lunch, so want to leave the city as late as possible. Is this plan even workable, i.e. can I check in at 0800 for a flight at 1615? Different airports seem to have different policies on this. If it works, with boarding pass in hand, can I leave the city at 2pm, or even later?

2) Spend the night in the city, and check-in closer to departure time. I know they advise you to arrive 2 hours prior to departure, but when does check in close? When is the latest I can leave Miraflores if I want to catch the 1615 flight? I'm flying Y and don't have status on OW.

This is my first time in LIM, but I'm a regular at chaotic cities/airports across Asia like MNL, BOM, DEL, etc.

Thanks!

carlosdca

If you check-in online and have only a carry-on, you don't need to be at the airport that early since you can print your bp at the hotel and head straight to security.
Even with a bag, checking in online will save you time at the airport.
Miraflores to Airport mid-day will rarely take more than an hour. I would leave Miraflores at 13:30 the latest if you have to check a bag, 14:00 if no bags.

I would not stay at at airport hotel (Costa del Sol/Wyndham). It is overpriced and I don't see any pros to staying at the airport in this case.

248477

Thanks! Very helpful.

mrandrews1

MfromL

1.Yes, given that you do not have to pick your bags and re-check them with United (and if you do, they won't open their counters until 4 hours before the flight because Newark is their only flight of the day, so consider the idea of using a storage service. There used to be one next to domestic arrivals, you can check the airport's website). If you leave the airport at 1.30 p.m. (get a taxi hired in one of the kiosks inside the terminal, or use the airport bus –private company, also inside–), you could be in Miraflores or the centre of Lima by 2.30, do things until 7.30, and arrive at the airport by 9.00. Two hours is enough to do everything and be at the gate on time. If you have checked bags, 3 hours are recommended.
2. To my knowledge LIM does not offer airside connections in most domestic to international flights for passengers like in all US airports. In most cases you have to get out of the domestic side of the terminal, get your BP, or if you have it, proceed to security and passport control.
Coming from CUZ you might be lucky enough and board as an international passenger from there, which means you do passport control and customs in CUZ, not LIM, and are routed directly from the national side to the international side by the airport staff. If this is the case, no visit to Lima, I am afraid. Check with AV that this is the case before doing plans... In any case, the TUUA is already included in the tickets. So, if you don't pass passport control in CUZ, you should be able to leave normally and re-enter in the international terminal whenever you decide to do it.
3. All passengers are made equal in Peru. No express security line –or anything close to Clear or TSA pre-checked. It is hardly needed. No shoes out, no laptops out. The only things banned are liquids bigger than 100 ml, which I guess is around 3 US oz. Maximum time I've spent in a line was about 5 minutes –and the line was moving all the time– and from the point you put your stuff in the rollers of the scanning machine to the time you pass by the magnetic detector –also, no 3D scans in Peru– can be around 30 seconds.
4. Also, once you pass security you can buy all the (overpriced) liquids you want, but they will be taken from you upon boarding because all US-bound flights have a pre-boarding security check by TSA-trained local security.

mrandrews1

MfromL

No, I wasn't refering to which gate your AV plane will use in LIM –most likely a domestic one, since it is a domestic flight, and it will be re-boarded to head to another domestic destination– but on how is the boarding process done in CUZ. The same passengers can board a plane in CUZ in two different groups, depending on if they have a domestic or international destinations. If you have an international destination, you can they can direct you to passport control and customs, so officially you would be leaving the country in CUZ, and only transiting in LIM. Upon arrival at LIM, airport staff will direct you to the international side of the terminal and be forced to wait there. I guess that you could be allow out from that side, but that means re-enter the country in LIM, and pay the TUUA later in the night.

I've heard this happening on some LA flights departing from CUZ and connecting to OW flights (either AA or LA) during the last year, never with AV-UA. But knowing that this is possible, you would have to ask the AV staff in CUZ how will they proceed. If they don't force you to pass immigration at CUZ, then you are set for an experience in Lima (unless they don't check the bags to final destination, but there is baggage storage!). If they try to force you to pass them, you can find a way around the whole by asking the airport agent politely to check your bags to EWR but explain that you have, say, an important work meeting in LIM or visiting an ill friend, and that is why your choose this route with a long layover, to avoid exiting the country in CUZ. Not sure if they would, but airport staff can be very nice if you ask them nicely and do not demand things (also, don't be too midwestern about it, kind of suggesting but without asking it really, you know what I mean, that passive-agressive expectation for something that is not stated clearly that some northeners and teenagers have).

mrandrews1

MfromL