LoCo09

Has anyone ever flown into Medellín? Jose María Cordova. Is it easy to navigate for an American with limited Spanish? Any tips getting in or out would be appreciated.

sfosuw

MDE is just like any other major international airports with bilingual signs around, navigating around the airport is not challenging at all. Taxi to/from the city of Medellin is a flat fare of 60,000 COP as of last month, the airport is located in the city of Rio Negro so it is a 45-60 minutes drive depending on traffic condition.

If you are departing on an international flight out of MDE, you will need to obtain a "Departure Tax Exempt" stamp in your passport from the airport tax office located right in front of the International Security/immigration checkpoint. The check-in agent will not check you in without this stamp.

coolcoil

Agreed. It's a small airport and though you won't find a lot of people who speak English, they are used to dealing with non-Spanish speakers. I fly in there a lot and did fine back in the days when I didn't speak much Spanish.

Here's a few things to be prepared for:

Arriving:
- Follow the crowd getting off the plane to Immigration.
- The immigration officer will probably not speak English, but make sure you have your hotel name and ideally the address listed on the customs form and all will go fine.
- You will then go to baggage claim. They usually pull the bags off the belt and put them to one side instead of letting them go around again. If you see rows of bags lined up, check to see if yours are there first.
- On exiting baggage claim, you maybe asked to show your luggage tags, so make sure you have them handy.
- You will be asked to present your customs form. They will glance at it quickly. They won't give you back any part of it. They will then either direct you straight through without additional inspection, wave to you a x-ray machine with a belt (almost always for me) or direct you to the tables for a hand search (unlikely, but it happens). If you get the bag scanner, ALL bags, including purses, backpacks, etc. go through.
- There is a money change kiosk as you leave the area if you need it. You should have some pesos in your pocket as you leave the airport (I would say no less than COP$150,000 or so, but not a whole lot more either).
- If you have a lot of luggage, you can rent a cart at baggage claim for $3. You give it up when you leave customs, and at that point you will be solicited by a porter with a cart. A decent tip for them is about COP$5,000.
- If you do need a taxi, as you leave the baggage claim area go out the door immediately to your right. There is no taxi stand. There will be guys asking if you need a taxi. They are actually legitimate and will put you in a legal taxi bound for your destination. You do need cash for the taxis. As for the tip, if it were me, I would give them another COP$10K above and beyond the COP$60K flat fee, but not more. Many Colombians would not tip at all.

Departing:
- The big thing is that you need to get the piece of paper from the tax office in the airport that confirms that you are exempt from the resident exit tax before the airline will hand you a boarding pass. It's not a big deal. Typically, the first time tourist will go through the check in process, and then be directed to go to the tax office and return with the paper before they give you the BP's (you don't have to wait in line again - just go right back to the agent that helped you). The experienced tourist goes to the tax office before checking in. The tax office is at the far end of the airport, relative to the traffic flow. If you want to go there first, get dropped off at the last door. The office is immediately to your left as you enter that door. Get in line, and when you get to the desk, all you have to do is hand them your passport, they will do the rest.
- You will then go to int'l departures. The first person you meet will want to see your passport and BP for the flight leaving the country.
- You then go into the security screening line. If you must have liquids with you, follow the USA rules. You will need to remove your belt and large electronics from bags, but unlike the USA, you are expected to stack them all in one bin. Shoes, unless they are large boots, do not have to be removed.
- You will then go through the metal detector. Wait until they indicate for you to come through. If it beeps, you will be scanned front and back with a hand-held device. Hold your arms out to the side and turn around when they tell you. It almost always happens to me.
- As your bags exit the scanner, they may be subject to hand search by a policeman who will also ask to see your passport, though it's possible they will just wave you on to immigration.
- Prior to entering the line for immigration, you will be frisked. They only do it from the back, so when you get to the person, put your bags down and turn around so that your back is to them and hands out to the sides.
- Get in the line for immigration. When you get to an officer, present your passport and BP for the flight from Colombia. They may ask how many days you were in Colombia, and they will collect the paper you were given at the tax office.
- Proceed to your gate. There are only 4 int'l departure gates at MDE, so not hard to find. Some airlines like you to present your BP to the gate agent as soon as you get there so they can check you off their list to confirm that you actually got there. It's not required, but I always do it.
- Note on duty free: If you are transiting through PTY or SAL to the USA, do NOT buy liquids at MDE, as you will not be able to get them through the special screening at the connecting airport and will not have access to your checked luggage.

I would plan to be at the airport two hours before departure. You absolutely MUST have your bags checked in 1 hour before, so if you're running late, go to the airline first and tax office second.

LoCo09

Thanks for the great information. some of the forms and taxes seem a little confusing but you did a good job simplifying it

coolcoil

Thanks for saying that, but 12 hours later, my post looks like early morning stream-of-conscious gibberish to me.

Here's what you need to know:

Arrival:

- Have you immigration form that you get on the plane filled out correctly with hotel name and address (though address is not absolutely required).
- The guys asking you if you need a taxi are legit. They will put you in a taxi that will get you to your hotel.

Departure:

- You need to collect that little white piece of paper that is your tax exemption either before or after check in. You don't need to fill out a form. The Colombian government supplies the form and the clerk fills it out for you.
- If you don't want to be stressed out, get to the airport 2 hours before departure. More is unnecessary.

In general:

- Watch what people ahead of you in the line are doing and do the same.
- Colombians are happy to have you come to visit and it is not their desire to give you a hard time.

drvannostren

MDE is in my wheelhouse, but it looks like CoolCoil has beat me to it!

He didn't mention the shuttle, but if your Spanish is really limited I wouldn't recommend it anyway.

If you have any more questions, feel free to ask either me or CoolCoil and if you need an apartment rental you can ask me I don't actively rent mine, but I am interested in getting into that.

Rest assured the taxes aren't difficult. I've been to Colombia 10 times and I'm still not 100% clear on it. MOST of the airline employees speak decent English, they'll tell you where the counter is to get your stamp. I've never spoken to the stamp guy other than pleasantries, so that part should be easy too, hand over your documents and he does the rest.

The DIAN (customs) agents will ask you questions, but they usually speak decent English as well. While the hotel address isn't necessarily a requirement, if I were you I'd have something lined up before I show up. After 4-5 trips I started to just show up and tell them the hotel I USUALLY stay at, but there are times it would be full as well.

I would say also check the Colombian calendar for holidays, some of the holidays make for difficult times finding hotels. That said, if you DON'T find something online, rest assured there are lots of perfectly adequate "motels" that aren't listed online or anything.

Skink

One thing to add that I recently heard is to ask the ticket counter for a refund of $37 or $38 when showing them the departure tax exempt slip (if you were in Colombia less than 60 days). I've been their several times and never had a ticket counter inform me of this but looking back I see that I was charged the tax every time.

coolcoil

If your trip did not originate in Colombia then the resident exit tax was almost certainly not built into the price and you would not have been entitled to a refund. You would have had to get the tax exemption form, though, or they would have charged you for the tax. The only time you get a refund is when you are exempt, but you have a trip that originates in Colombia. For example, if you come to Colombia on a month-long trip and decide to fly to LIM for a couple of days. MDE-LIM-MDE would trigger the resident exit tax being added to your fare and you, as a non-resident, would be entitled to a refund.

There is a second tax that everybody has to pay, and it's often confused with the resident exit tax. Everybody flying international out of Colombia, regardless of their residency, pays a $36.00 airport tax, which is built into the ticket price. One way to tell is if you have a $15 tourist tax on your fare. When you look at your tax break out this is what you should see for Colombian taxes:

Trip originating outside of Colombia:

Airport tax - about USD$36.00
Tourist tax - about USD$15.00

Trip originating inside Colombia:

Airport tax - about USD$36.00
Resident Exit Tax - about USD$35.00
Colombian Sales Tax - Varies, but about 16% of the fare, I think

For some of the taxes at least, the values in USD$ are in flux since the peso has fallen in price so rapidly over the past few months.

EmAAx

I flew out of MDE a couple days ago. There is no more tax desk. IF YOU AREN'T CHECKING BAGS, go to the last door in the terminal which is International Departures. Immigration will check and stamp your passport, you go though easy security with a metal detector and you are on your way. It took about 7 minutes to get through the entire process.

I'd recommend arriving at the airport 90 minutes before your flight which will give you an hour should you encounter delays on the drive (again if you aren't checking bags).

They have definitely improved the process since some of these OPs

Bago'peanuts

I'm flying on LAN; MDE to LET but noticed on my flight receipt that a charge of 14,400 COP impuestos was included -- is that the only tax and is there an exemption for those traveling on a tourist visa?

coolcoil

COP $14,400 is only about USD $5. Actually, I thought airport and sales taxes for internal flights were a bit higher than that. I am not aware of any exemptions for those on a tourist visa for internal flights.

FYI - You are only exempt from the Resident Exit Tax when flying to a destination outside of the country. If your itinerary originated outside of Colombia, then your airline would not have collected it as part of your fare and there would be nothing to refund.

Jboucsei

Can you say more about it? Impuestos literally just means surcharge, but what type of? In Colombia it is generally cheaper to book flights from within Colombia, however some websites will only let you do that with Colombian CCs.

Other than that, do you already know where you're staying in LET? I am in Colombia at the moment, happy to help with Info or tips!

Bago'peanuts

Thanks for the feedback. The receipt lists the tarifa separately on one line, then on the next line "tasas y/o impuestos (2) --- COP 14,400". I understand that it isn't much money in dollars but wanted to get cash ahead of time if more will be requested at the counter. I've heard that the departure tax out of Leticia is 20,000.

I'm spending 5 days with Yoi Ecotours in the jungle, then 2 days at the Decameron in Leticia. Both a bit pricey but worth it to me. Meals have been taken care of in the Amazon but any restaurant recommendations in Rionegro or the vicinity would be appreciated. Thanks again.

Jboucsei

To Rionegro itself I haven´t been, so I could copy+paste you tripadvisor reviews

However typical for the region around Medellín would be Bandeja páisa, a dish that was traditionally prepared for the hard working farmers. It is a mountain of beans, rice, platano, eggs, avocado, sausage and several kinds of meat, washed down with some Club. Give it a try but don´t feel bad if you can´t finish. If you have some time you could also head over into Medellín, there´s much more variety there.

The Colombians in general don´t seem to value their coffee, drinking instant sh*t mainly, but in Medellin you´ll find a young and aspiring Barista scene. Imagine: grown in the sourroundingss, rosted at home, prepared with good italian machines.

From the airport there´s a bus that goes to Medellín´s central Parque Berrio and takes round about an hour, (cost 10k$COP ~ 3$US if I remember correctly). The tour itself is well worth it since it leads along the ridges of the mountains, providing a spectacular view over the city.

Have fun there!

howtofreetravel

Is it still possible to get a refund in the airport for the resident tax?