Chile reciprocity fee [removed from 16/12/19]

[RooFlyer]

Some friends of mine are flying to SCL, parents in business, 2 adult children in economy.

The parents will obviously get to the reciprocity booths well in advance of the kids. They have asked, if they take their children's passports, will they be able to pay the RF for their children, and therefore gain some time getting everyone through immigration etc. Or do you have to physically present with your own passport to pay the fee?

(Am aware of the recent changes in RF location ...)

 

[V Singh]

I will report back after arriving on the 24th.

Thank you esseeeayeenn..v

 

[dwit]

i arrived morning 19/12 and wasn't required to pay reciprocity. The signs directing where to pay reciprocity are still up however the booths were not staffed and had closed signs at each window.

 

[RooFlyer]

Friends of mine who arrived the other day on QF didn't pay the fee, but got a bonus tear-gassing on arrival at their hotel downtown

 

[V Singh]

Good news..Looks like the Ground Staff @ SCL have now been notified that Aus PPT holders are exempt from paying Reciprocity Fees.

 

[esseeeayeenn]

Friends of mine who arrived the other day on QF didn't pay the fee, but got a bonus tear-gassing on arrival at their hotel downtown

Were they staying actual downtown, Providencia or Las Condes?
Just curious about where to avoid!

 

[RooFlyer]

Were they staying actual downtown, Providencia or Las Condes?
Just curious about where to avoid!

Downtown I think; they haven't been in touch too much - as you probably guessed, they were unlucky to have been 'followed' by some of the protesters, with police in pursuit.

 

[Ekka]

I don’t think it would be worth it. The process of paying the fee should not be too slow and passport control at SCL is usually well-staffed and fairly quick even if there’s a crowd IME.

We are not talking about passport control.

It was incredibly slow last November (2018) John, if you consider half an hour or so slow, as I did after a fourteen-hour flight across the Pacific with my son. We had no idea this was coming, and incidentally it was for Australians only. No one else. It had nothing to do with passport control, as you went there AFTER spending half an hour queuing for the payment simply because you were using an Australian passport.

As at least half the people on the Qantas flight were Australian, and there was one lonely bloke to take the money (there were five or six windows but of course they weren't open), it took at least an extra half an hour before we could rejoin the queue for passport control.

Chile also charged in USD, yet Chilean citizens are charged for an Australian visa in AUD, based on a USD/AUD conversion rate from several years hence, when our dollar was much stronger.

 

[JohnM]

I've never had such a slow process as that on many visits. But it's all academic now. And good riddance.

 

[RooFlyer]

I've never had such a slow process as that on many visits.

Me neither. I reckon going Business, knowing where to go (and to bypass the upstairs booth) and being one of the first in the Rec. Fee queues had something to do with it

 

[CPMaverick]

Were they staying actual downtown, Providencia or Las Condes?
Just curious about where to avoid!

Off topic obviously. But I stayed in Las Condes and there was no sign of any trouble there. Bellavista was similar. But I tried to go to the post office downtown (near the Crowne Plaza) and it looked like a war zone. The Crowne Plaza (which curiously came up as bookable quite recently) was half destroyed and boarded up. Lamposts, bus stops, and sidewalks destroyed. Stoplights gone - police directing traffic. People generally still going about their business, but military-style police around. Post office was boarded up anyway.

Bottom line, the city can be pretty scary or completely normal depending on your location. But Las Condes is a fine place to stay as of two days ago.

 

[VPS]

Off topic obviously. But I stayed in Las Condes and there was no sign of any trouble there. Bellavista was similar. But I tried to go to the post office downtown (near the Crowne Plaza) and it looked like a war zone. The Crowne Plaza (which curiously came up as bookable quite recently) was half destroyed and boarded up. Lamposts, bus stops, and sidewalks destroyed. Stoplights gone - police directing traffic. People generally still going about their business, but military-style police around. Post office was boarded up anyway.

Bottom line, the city can be pretty scary or completely normal depending on your location. But Las Condes is a fine place to stay as of two days ago.

I'll be in Santiago in a couple of weeks just overnight and debating whether to stay in Santiago or go directly to San Antonio where the cruise leaves from. If you have any recommendations for drivers that would be great

 

[CPMaverick]

Sorry I didn't use a driver but Uber is easy. I don't know what there is in San Antonio. But Santiago is fine for 1 day. I went to Bella Vista, took the funicular and gondola ride over the park, and it was a very nice day.