Earliest do-able flight time out of Santiago Chile for cruise arriving in Valparaiso

[jeanico]

Hello all! If my ship docs in Valparaiso at 8AM, will I be able to catch a flight back home (Canada) leaving at 12PM?

Thanks in advance for the insight and suggestions!

[FredZiffle]

If the ship is on time...

If there's no delay getting off the ship and going through customs...

If you're willing to pay for direct transportation like a taxi or hired car...

If there's no unreasonable delay in getting through the airport to your gate...

then, yes, you can make it.

 

Say an hour to get off and out of the port. An hour and a half to the airport. That leaves you an hour and a half to get to the gate. I don't mind cutting things close in many instances, but too many things have to go right here. I would not chance it.

[herdingdogmom]

Last year we took the NCL bus from the port to Santiago and had major delays. First the bus waited for over 1 hour with us all on the bus due to confusion about a bunch of no shows. Private transportation is a must.

 

Then there was a big accident in the highway in the tunnels going into Santiago. We sat for another hour. Fortunately our flight wasn't until that night but it we spent 4 hours in the bus after getting off the ship.

[DMH15]

I remember a looonnnngggg bus ride from the airport to the port. We cruised Santiago to BA.

 

 

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[bluesea777]

No, it's impossible.

 

Valpa port is more than an hour or two away from Santiago airport and you'll require a private car if you want to get to the airport directly - if you can get off the ship in good time. Also, you need to check in at least 3 hours before.

 

Book the later flight or the following day - to be on the safer side.

[crayola1932]

In addition to all the other problems mentioned above, be aware that the check-in lines at the Santiago airport are long and slow. It doesn't matter if you already have your boarding pass, The lines are all mixed in with each other.

[mypleasure]

When we sailed this year the dock workers in Valparaiso had a strike. The cargo ship that should have been long gone was still in our berth . The Sun had to tender all the luggage and all the passengers to shore. We were in a suite and had the luxury of the concierge to get us off with the first to leave. We got on shore around 11:00AM. We were spending time in Valparaiso and also Santiago for a few days so it didn't matter much to us. The ship continued tendering until after lunch and then was able to move to the pier. We saw this from various places in the city as we travelled around.

 

The journey from Valparaiso to the airport in Santiago is mainly on highways that are prone to accidents. Delays can happen with no warning.

 

I would not even think about a same day flight home from there. I saw a lot of people having nervous breakdowns over this on the ship and in the port. Don't put yourself through the stress. Fly next day or even stay a few days in Valparaiso and / or Santiago.

 

We had an early evening flight home and found the airport to be good. No crowds, went straight to our airline's check-in desks, quick check-in, no crowds at security, LATAM lounge was nice.

[zqvol]

Hello all! If my ship docs in Valparaiso at 8AM, will I be able to catch a flight back home (Canada) leaving at 12PM?

Thanks in advance for the insight and suggestions!

 

Here is how I would look at the situation.

 

 

You will need between 60 and 90 minutes to get off the ship and clear customs and get to your transportation.

You need to calculate the time it takes to get from the port to the airport. (From what I read in this thread it is about 90 minutes, but to be safe you should allow 2 hours.)

You need to arrive at the airport 3 hours before departure to allow time to clear customs, immigration, check and check luggage, and then clear security. Keep in mind that most airlines require you to be at the gate no less than 1 hour prior to departure

 

 

If you feel like you can cram between 6 and 7 hours of time into the 4 hours that you have between arrival and when your plane departs then by all means book the noon flight.

[joyy7403]

We stood in line for over 3 hours before the ticket desk was open. It was a long wait & a very disorganized mess. That's just the way it's done there, so we just went with it. Lots of nice people to talk to. As long as the line was, I wonder if everyone made their flights.