steveblower

Hello. I wonder if any experts on LAN and/or Lima airport can help.

We are expecting to arrive Lima on Air Canada AC80 at 2355 on Wednesday 27th August.

Our next flight is LAN 17, departing Lima (going to Cusco) at 0525 on Thursday morning.

These flights are on separate tickets, so it is very unlikely that AC will check us all the way through. I imagine, therefore, that we will have to pick up our luggage and do immigration etc, ending up in the arrivals hall sometime very early Thursday morning. It really does not seem worth going to a hotel for what would be 3 or so hours rest.

How early will we be able to check in for the LAN flight?

Are there any lounge facilities we can use, and if so, what do we need to get into them? Would Priority Pass or Diners Club be helpful?

Any suggestions for making these few hours in the airport bearable, please?

Mant thanks in advance for all ideas.......

Steve.

Eastbay1K

I've never been on the domestic side. But...(since no one has given you any advice)
(1) There are no lounges that I'm aware of on that side.
(2) The "good" news is that the line (queue, for the linearly-impaired) for immigration at 23:55 could be quite long, and so you won't feel bad that you are not wasting $ at a hotel (not even your strong CAD$)
(3) Your flight isn't the first of the day. I'd imagine by 2:30 the counter will be open, if it isn't a 24 hour counter.
(4) The Airport Hilton, Holiday Inn, or Sheraton doesn't exist, so you'd only have about a hour or two, MAX, to sleep, if you went to a hotel.
(5) The other "good" news is that LIM is no longer a nasty pit of an airport. Maybe a newspaper, a book, some coffee, or Inca Cola, will pass your relatively short connection time. I bet by the time you get your bags, go to LAN domestic check-in, and get through security, you'll only have 3 hours before boarding.

tourismspecialist

Hi - just wanted to give some advice here, as I've been through Lima many times, as well as up to Cuzco:

1. there are two very good lounges on the Int'l side, both of which accept Priority Pass (but not Dinersclub), but I don't think there is one on the domestic side.
2. the line will probably be pretty long, although the last time I was there they had really beefed up Immigration staff numbers and that sped things up. Be prepared for a wait, though.
3. LAN operates TONS of flights, so Eastbay1K's comment on it possibly being a 24hr counter is probably true.
4. Eastbay is wrong here - there is a new hotel - A Ramada: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...port-Lima.html
right in front of the terminal. You can't miss it. Looks pretty nice, but also somewhat $$$. However, it all depends what a few hours of flat sleep and a shower are worth to you.
5. Lima airport is pretty pleasant, you can see some information here:
http://www.lap.com.pe/otros.html

You may decide to make the investment in the hotel (I would), even if only for a few hours of sleep, as arriving into Cuzco (at 3,400 meters) after a full day of travel and no sleep can be physically challenging even for the most fit. Plus, I assume you're on holiday, and want to be as rested as you can to enjoy the sights!

steveblower

A big thank you to both Eastbay1K and tourismspecialist for taking the time and trouble to post such comprehensive and useful advice.

We have decided to stay in the airport and feel much happier about the idea. It is not ideal, but all those $$$ for a couple of hours probably just isnt worth it. Although we are flying to Cusco, we are going straight down to the valley on arrival.

And we are in J on Air Canada, so with a hopefully comfortable seat and some nice vino, we may well be able to nap before arrival anyway. And if we are really lucky, off the plane first and race to immigration!

We shall see.

Again, many thanks to you both. Really helpful and reassuring.

Steve.

MiamiBeach

Some good reviews here:

Sleeping in Airports

rockdoc

As someone who has had to do what you will be doing before the opening of the airport hotel I can tell you that you will be EXHAUSTED soon after arriving in Cuzco. It got to the point after several trips of arrival in LIM at midnight with a 6:00 or 7:00AM connection, that I often took a quick taxi ride to Miraflores for a couple of hours of sleep. The 4 or 5 hours you will have in LIM waiting for your connection will be uncomfortable as there are no really comfortable places to lie down and you do not want to fall asleep as you risk having your bags stolen if you do. Even flying in J (which I often did) does little good as the flights are not timed to arrive for optimal sleeping.

Having been into and out of Peru more than 30 times, I would grab the airport hotel in a heartbeat especially now that it is so close.

tourismspecialist

thinking about the OP's scenario, assuming they have Priority Pass, one alternative could be for you to go back into the international departure area after you deplane (there are some stairs right before Immigration, and then a security check (but they don't check boarding passes). From there, the VIP Lounges are just to your left and down the hall. The first one (SUMAQ) has a sleeping room, showers, snacks, and internet. If you have priority pass, it's a good deal, but if you're paying, it's $60 per person for four hours. I believe they are open 24 hours (it says it is on the www.prioritypass.com website).

The risk is being sure you can actually leave this area and get down to immigration (probably not too hard to play the "confused" foreign tourist - I mean, what are they going to do to you, anyway??), and also that there is even someone attending arrivals in immigration. I have no idea as to what (if any) int'l flights arrive into Lima between 1 and 4 a.m.

Eastbay1K

And, I wouldn't want my luggage whirling around unattended down there.

luv2ctheworld

Thanks for some helpful info.

I have a related question: If I have a 6AM flight on LAN, can I check in prior to midnight the night before and get a BP to go airside or are they partiuclar about that?

Thanks.

tourismspecialist

LAN offers online check in. However, there may be some conditions, I know COPA requires (or at least used to) that you had bought your ticket from their website. You'd need to check the details with LAN.

MiamiBeach

I've done LAN online check-in for all my LAN domestic flights even with a handwritten paper ticket on SCL-IPC-SCL issued by AA.

catwood

Lima is a nice airport, they have great and cheap Chair massages. I arrived about 7am and blew right through immigration in october and it was no issue at all.

Josanna

Also, just know that as I have read, and is my experience that the departure times are just estimates. We flew out of Cuzco one morning. Got their earlier than we needed too, and 45 mins before and as we were in line to pay our taxes prior to departure, we heard them paging our names over the loud speaker. The only reason why they probably did not take off without us is that there were 6 in our group. So beware!

MiamiBeach

Cusco has a single runway that can only be used in one direction (because of mountains at one end), so take-offs and landings operate in opposite directions, landings on runway 28 only, and take-offs on runway 10 only. Whenever tail winds are present (pretty much every afternoon, which is why most flights leave before noon), flights are canceled or rescheduled, so instead of leaving people stranded, LAN tries to operate the flights early instead.

Bottom line is, to avoid problems, book early flights, which the OP did anyway.

rockdoc

I don't know about tail winds being much of a problem as far as take offs go at Cuzco, but most flights leave in the morning because of pressure altitude issues with warmer weather in the afternoon. Also, thunderstorms in the PM can reduce visability substantially on approach and departure in the afternoons as well.