Wow, crazy...I land at 5:20am tomorrow and have a connecting flight at 10:30am...could have gotten the connection at 8:30 so looks like I may have made the right choice.
I'd be very interested to hear any reports on the situation coming into Recife. I land at 8:30 with an 11:30 connection...
Immigration line wait times will vary by terminal. They will also vary if you are the first or the last plane arriving at roughly the same time. Three hours is waaay too much.
Dude that is fked up, i was going to book that flight but i went with a later one leaves at 12:10am.....saw your post and started freaking out as well but checked trip it and it at least tells me that the later flight is on schedule, but of course it and the rest of the flights out early on 14th are all full
damn mine goes into terminal 1 too. When I went to Rio GIG last year, it was so easy, no queue at all, but then I a rrived around midnight, and maybe GIG is better staffed/operated than GRU.
Wow. I arrived to Brasilia yesterday morning from Atlanta on Delta. Luck was on my side, I was the first person in line. Walked through immigration in less than a minute.
I get into Recife Friday morning at 8:20. But then I have an 11:30 flight out to Fortaleza. That's why I'm a bit concerned what the customs situation at Recife is like. I'd hate to miss my connection.
Well some months ago i read an article from a Brazilian newspaper which ranked the Brazilian airports and I think Recife was the best one? Or at least top 3 but it probably does not include immigration because it was Brazilians ranking them the airport is pretty new and not many international flights land there
Not many international flights arrive in Recife at that time. You should be fine. São Paulo has 10-12 widebodies arriving between 5:30 and 7:00 on Terminal 1. That is where you could have to wait a long time.
Yeah wasn't ideal mate. The next available seat out of Cuiabá was the on the evening of the 15th. I ended up booking an 11 hour overnight bus to Campo Grande just so I can get out of there and get to my accommodation in Florianopolis.
How does customs work on these flights? I fly from Miami to Manaus. 1:45 layover in Manaus and then grab a connecting flight to Fortaleza. Do I clear customs in Manaus? Do I have to pick up my bag, go through customs and then re-check? If so, I'm probably screwed.
Thanks for the response. Looks like I'm carrying on, and crossing my fingers. There are 6 people in my group all with the same itinerary. Flying on TAM the entire way. Do they hold flights for people connecting? Or are we totally screwed if customs is packed?
No, but if you're going with the same company, they're obligated to give you a seat in another flight.
@Kempa how can you look this up? I'd like to see what things are going to look like for my layover 6/21. Thanks!
Recife: http://www.aeroportorecife.net/horario-voos-aeroporto-recife São Paulo-GRU: http://www.aeroportoguarulhos.net/horario-voos-aeroporto-guarulhos São Paulo GRU actually lists a bunch of codeshares with a caret ^. Still the same plane. Edit: Flightstats is a little better for GRU because it lists the terminal. http://www.flightstats.com/go/Fligh...Airport.do?airportCode=GRU&airportQueryType=1
I realize there are different wait times at different terminals and different times of day, but I arrived at GRU Terminal 2 on Delta this morning and from the time I stepped off the plane (8:20 AM) until I was thru immigration and customs and standing out on the street looking for the FIFA ticket kiosks, was 40 minutes. When I got to immigration it was so full we couldn't even get into the immigration room, they held us in the hallway for a few minutes. When I walked in I though it would be a 2 hour wait but the line never stopped moving, they were processing very fast. From the very back of the 100% full immigration line, snaking back and forth maybe 20 times, was 30 minutes. When I got to my immigration officer, the whole process maybe took 30 seconds for him to scan my passport, type something into his computer, and stamp my passport and arrival/departure card. Obviously I'm not saying this is the norm, just my experience this morning at GRU.
Flew from Brasilia to salvador on Gol this evening (17:30), and there were no crowds, and security was simple and fast. How i wish the USA was that fast.
Those having issues w/ Brazilian airlines: From my personal experience, they solve things faster if you contact them through Twitter and Facebook. Locate their official pages and accounts and try to make some noise!