Chile Forum

EEUU, no the tour guide wasn't in on the take. He is a good guy who is from Temuco. They were taking money from all the other people and they gave you a receipt which you showed when you entered.

The volume of traffic at border where I was probably isn't as great at the border that you crossed at.

someone posted above as to not being sure how much the free is for canadians - it is $132. Only 2 other countries have to pay... there was a sign at the booth where you pay. i thought UK was one but someone above said they have no fee.

also when i was flying back to the us, i flew santiago-buenos aires-DC. I was told by friends and also in the email of my lan chile e-ticket that there would be a fee in buenos aires. i was able to transfer in buenos aires no problem and had to pay no fee, but my friends who were flying air canada i believe from santiago on an earlier flight that day, had to exit the airport, check in again at the ticket counter and pay a fee, but this is after the agent would not let them even check in till 2 hours before he flight! (we were on the same flight to DC and there was about an 8 hour layover). They had to spend the afternoon in the main concourse while I was in the terminal! made no sense....

4 countries have to pay - USA, Canada, Australia, Mexico.

Argentina fee is the $18 airport departure tax which you must pay to enter the international departure area. Thus transit pax not subject to this fee.

It is quite normal for international airlines with only a couple of flights to only open their checkin conters 2.5-3 hours before their scheduled flights leave.

I managed to read just a few of the top posts on this topic,and read that the reciprocity fee is $100.00 Well as of March 13, when I was there, it has gone up to $130.oo for U.S. Canadian and Australian citizens. While Mexicans (because I flew Aeromexico out of Mexico City) payed some ridiculously low fee in comparison. Oh well. Thus the 'price' to be American...among others... And a side note or peeve to this was that my flight got in around 01:00, there were about 60 or so passengers standing in the reciprocity fee line, and there was only one clerk processing all these people. Thereby adding at least another hour to my incountry inprocessing. A sort of insult to injury on my wallet!

The following is the accurate fee schedule:

Australia US$ 56
Canadá US$ 132
Estados Unidos US$ 131
México US$ 15


For Australia, it is only good for 90 days NOT life of passport as for Canada and the USA.

REMEMBER THIS IS RECIPROCITY for the fees charged to Chileans just to apply for a tourist visa to those respective countries. In the case of the US, the fee is payed with not even a promise of getting the visa.

eeuunikkeiexpat wrote:Argentina fee is the $18 airport departure tax which you must pay to enter the international departure area. Thus transit pax not subject to this fee.

It is quite normal for international airlines with only a couple of flights to only open their checkin conters 2.5-3 hours before their scheduled flights leave.

i understand, but the thing is i was able to transfer with no problems (and no fees), while my friends (who were on an earlier flight) had to exit the terminal and re-enter, thus having the pay the fee and wait uncomfortably in the concourse. they should have been able to transfer the same as I.

This is an interline agreement matter between the airlines or your friends did not know how to checkin at SCL to demand the interline option.

At SCL checkin, they should have said they wanted their luggage checked all the way through to the USA. If there were two airlines involved, then there needs to be an interline agreement between them to do this automatic transfer. The flights do not have to be on the same itinerary, just present the two tickets at checkin and tell the agent want you want to do.

If there were two airlines involved with no interline agreement, then bags would have to come off at EZE and they would have no choice but to go through Customs and Immigrations, come out landside and checkin for the next flight.

When interlining or whenever you fly for that matter, always look at the tags before the luggage is whisked away to make sure the agent tagged them properly. When a transit passenger, when you exit the gate ramp at your connecting airport, tell the attendant or helper nearby that you are "in transit" and they will direct you to the airside international departure gate area.

Question - are the referenced people in this post who travel across the border to Argentina every 30 days US citizen or from another country? I am a US Citizen and found this information very informative and am now curious as to whether I can 'mini-vacation' as well or if I will be required to travel back and forth to the US until I obtain a visa.

Actually it is every 90 days.

You can renew once each cycle at the Extranjeria office for a maximum total of 180 days before needing to leave the country or you could forego the drab experience of government offices and procedures and leave the country every 90 days. If Argentina does not end up charging a fee at the land borders, most will find a pleasant day or overnight in Mendoza or other Argentina town much more appealing than a government office.

-USA Nikkei Expat

Hi,
I'll be moving to Chile in february, and i've already used your blog a lot to help with all sorts of questions...so thanks!

I bought a one-way ticket, and after reading these posts and doing my own research it seems clear that i'm ok with the one-way ticket as long as i can prove i'm traveling onward after 90 days. I contacted the consulate, and she was clear that I would need to show that onward ticket (e.g. bus ticket to mendoza) and that sufficient funds (credit card) would not suffice. therefore i need to purchase and have my ticket to argentina before i board the plane to chile.

does anyone know of any bus companies that run from santiago to mendoza where i can purchase a ticket on-line?? I've searched around and haven't had any luck yet. even if the information i've received is incorrect and "sufficient funds" to buy a ticket is enough to get me through to board my plane--i'd like to play it safe and have a bus ticket ready. any ideas?

Welcome to the forum.

FIRST: THIS IS NOT A BLOG!!!!!

SECOND: THERE IS NO ONWARD TICKET REQUIREMENT IN CHILE. NO MATTER WHAT THE EMBASSY TOLD YOU. THEY ARE UNDER TRAINED, UNDER STAFFED, AND JUST WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Does anyone know where I can find an "official public interface of Timatic" website page which includes the statement "Exempt from holding return/onward ticket: when arriving for touristic purposes and holding credit card or sufficient funds to purchase a ticket." ? I don't want to walk up to the counter with nothing but my word versus theres and I would like to be able to pull out a printed sheet of paper to PROVE to the flight clerk that I can enter Chile without a return ticket as long as I have a credit card. Any information on where I can obtain this information (outside of a forum/message board) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks much

Try this:

www {dot} timaticweb {dot} com/cgi-bin/login_website.cgi?user=IE&subuser=IEWEB&password=20jan06

Cut and paste it, and replace the {dot} with the dot.

This link always works for me. Taken from some Solomon Islands airline, if I remember it correctly.