Connection time in SCL
 

Hi!

We're flying ORD - SCL and then SCL - PNT (puerto natales).

We have an 11:11am flight out of SCL to PNT.. If we land at 9am from our ORD-SCL leg, is that enough time to go through customs, get bag and recheck in for the PNT flight (i.e. just two hours!)?

I'm not sure when you'll be flying, and if it's all on a single booking, but based on my experience earlier in July I'd say it's a bit tight. You need to land, taxi, disembark, get through the covid check, pick up your luggage, customs, then re-check (either in T1 or, as I found in another thread, there's also a desk in T2) and walk over to T2, where you'll need to go through security again. I'd go with 3hrs just to absorb any delays.

Deleted because reading is hard.

Confused - you're not connecting @ SCL, which is the point of this thread?

Yup, fried brain, previous post deleted.:rolleyes:

On this subject, I'd welcome any thoughts on my current predicament.

We're booked on a flight from LAX that arrives into SCL on Friday morning (Sept. 30), followed by a SCL-PUQ flight, departing at 9:35am. Both flights are LATAM, but separate PNR's, so unprotected. When I originally booked the LAX-SCL flight, LATAM indicated that the arrival time was 6:50am, leaving a reasonably comfortable 2hr45m connection time. However, upon checking my itinerary last night, I now see that the arrival time is showing as 7:50am (based on the experience an FT'er in a different thread, it sounds like LATAM forgot to take into account Chile's recent "spring forward" daylight savings time and had to update its schedule at some point :rolleyes:).

So now the connection time is down to 1hr45m, which is a lot more dicey - it's 5 minutes shy of LATAM's published MCT for I/D connections in SCL, which is 110 minutes, and, from this thread and others, it sounds tight since we're arriving in the peak morning crush of inbound int'l flights.

I could rebook the SCL-PUQ flight to either a 10:25am SCL-PMC-PUQ flight or a 3:09pm SCL-PUQ flight (neither would have lie-flat seats, which I snagged on my currently booked flight). But I don't love losing the lie-flats and adding a long layover or an additional stop. Would it be completely crazy to keep the 9:35am flight and try and make it? Obviously we would be at the mercy of LATAM if we don't make it in time, but would would they be likely to place us on one of the later flights that day without much hassle (assuming there are seats left), or just tell us we're out of luck and we have to pay for new tickets? Any experience with LATAM's rebooking process after missing an unprotected connection or other thoughts on what the move is in this situation?

Following up on my own post above so others have a sense of the current connection situation; we ended up keeping the 9:35am SCL-PUQ flight and we made it without any problems. We certainly had to hustle a bit, but I was amazed by how smooth the int'l-domestic connection process was: cabin crew opened the door to disembark our int'l flight at 8:10am and by 9:10am, we had stepped onto the plane for our flight to PUQ. The full rundown is below, just in case anyone is interested in how long the various steps took. Of course, YMMV, but 1hr45m was enough to make our connection, even with a slightly late (~10 mins late) gate arrival.

As we were sitting in J, we were one of the first off the plane, and it didn't seem like many other flights had arrived around that time (~8am), so we walked right up to an immigration officer without any wait. 10 minutes after stepping off the plane: cleared immigration.

Our checked bag came off the belt very quickly - maybe 5 minutes of waiting after clearing immigration (side note: we flew LATAM several more times during our time in Chile and I was very impressed by how quickly they got the bags off on all of our flights). We had already filled out the SAG's online customs declaration, which makes the process quite smooth. If you have nothing to declare, the form shows a green check mark that you show to officials who quickly waive you through. My partner did have some items to declare (some food items that we were taking on the trail for our Patagonia hike), so she had the "red" check mark and got sent over to a customs officer. After explaining that it was just a few snacks, she was waived on her way without any search of the bag.

After proceeding through customs, there's a transfer bag drop to recheck bags for domestic flights. Only one agent was working the desk, so we had to wait a few minutes before we could recheck the bags (there also appeared to an automated belt where you could scan a boarding pass to self-tag your bag, but it was broken when we were there). 30 minutes after stepping off the plane: cleared immigration, cleared customs, rechecked bag.

Next comes the walk from the new international terminal back to the domestic terminal, which took a little over 5 minutes (at a very brisk walking pace). Then clearing security at the domestic terminal, which had a short line and was a very relaxed experience compared to the usual TSA adventure in the US. 50 minutes after stepping off the plane: cleared immigration and customs, rechecked bag, cleared domestic terminal security.

Our flight to PUQ was boarding from a far-flung gate in the corner of the terminal, so we had more walking to do, but 60 minutes after stepping off our inbound international flight, we had completed everything and were pleasantly onboard on domestic flight. All in all, a very smooth and well organized connection process at SCL.

How was the experience in reverse? We have a Calama-Santiago LATAM flight that gets in at 9pm and then a United flight back to the USA at 10:45 Pm, is that enough transfer time?

A) Bag checked through on a single ticket? B) Or do you have to claim your bag and then go to UA? If A, doable. The exit migration line typically doesn't more than 30 minutes max (though I've not departed from the new T2). If B, really tight.

Thx, we will just have carry-ons So I’m sure it’s closer to option A, but I still might reschedule for an earlier flight into SCL to be safe.

Be familiar with LA's hand luggage policies, and be prepared to be separated from same should you not be in compliance (the out stations over the years seem to be particularly strict).

So this is probably a terrible idea, but I'm considering booking an I-I unprotected connection from LA to AA (coming in from MDZ and going to MIA) at SCL with about a 70 minute connection (unfortunately this is the earliest flight in the day from MDZ-SCL on this particular day). Is this just such a bad idea that I shouldn't entertain it? No checked bags.

Is AA running 2x/day on that day (and if so are you on the earlier one)?

If the stars are aligned, it will be an easy connection. But too many things can go wrong.

very very risky, if the exMDZ flight is delayed slightly, you’d lose the intl flight. I’d recommend to arrive Scl at least the day before.

Yeah, unfortunately, that's not possible with my wife's travel constraints. We'll just keep her flight through B.A. instead. AA had good J award availability out of SCL that night, but I guess she's going to be flying home in Y :D