Chile Forum

I live on Margairta Island, Venezuela. I am an American and have lived in Venezuela for 3 1/2 years. My girlfriend is a Venzuelan citizen. Will I have to pay a entry or exit tax to come to Santiago ? What is the cost per person ?
How safe is it to travel from the North to the South via automobile ? What mode of transportation would you recommend, time is not important (retired), comfort and cost are more important ? If I want to stay in Chile for 4-5 weeks, would you recommend that I rent an apartment versus an hotel ?
I thank all for any responses, it is truely appreciated. And I extend the same courteouses to anybody needing information about Margarita Island.
Bob

I will answer the entry and exit parts.

The only place the reciprocity fee is charged is when entering SCL (the international airport in Santiago) on an international origin flight. For anyone traveling on a USA passport it is $131 USD paid in USD credit card or cash. No fee is charged if arriving by sea, land or other air entry point. Any exit tax are airport taxes and are usually included in your plane ticket. If not, you pay at the counter at check-in or the departure gate if the airline catches you.

How safe is it to travel from the North to the South via automobile ? What mode of transportation would you recommend, time is not important (retired), comfort and cost are more important

Safe as in....what? Crime etc.? No problem it's safe. Safe as in the condition of the roads and other drivers? Again not a problem, unless you're going to drive in Stgo. Centro and nearby, certainly do-able but not for the faint of heart. And in places in Patagonia you could have some road condition problems. I'd think being on vacation it'd be less stressful to just take the bus everywhere. Better by bus, i.m.o. Then when you get where you want to go maybe rent a car for local sight-seeing. I always tried to go salon cama on the lower level of a double decker bus. Stays cooler, more comfortable.

cheers.

North to South travel...how far south? I agree with posts above, travel is safe. Drivers in Chile are generally better drivers than in other Latin American countries in my opinion and experience. The furthest south you can travel without putting a rental car on a ship or ferry, is Puerto Montt. I would not recommend relying on a rental car once reaching the mainland south of Puerto Montt...there is a huge disconnect in travel services, and no rental cars available in Chaiten, Futaleufu, and south until you reach Aisen, and then it's iffy. Gas stations....none from Chaiten, Futa, until you get to La Junta. Bus service from Chaiten to points along is spotty...you might find yourself stuck for a day or so waiting for transportation further along. Santiago south, north and outward is great, scenic and in my opinion a great road trip no matter the direction you take. If you don't want to make the skip on south from Puerto Montt to the southern mainland of Chile...definately take the short ferry onto Isla Chiloe and enjoy the culture and food and people there. It's lovely. Oh...keep lots of lucas for the tolls down from Santiago...I don't remember the exact count but it's like 15 or so toll booths and costs are from 800 pesos to 1500 at each stop. Happy traveling.

Vicki and Greg Lansen wrote:Oh...keep lots of lucas for the tolls down from Santiago

So called "lucas" are just small pieces of paper money in Chile (1 "luca" = 998 to 999 pesos, as of today).

Just flew into Shittiago and got hit for the reciprocity fee.. no problem, I expected it.. good for 10 years, right? no problem... BUT, then they tell me the fee is good only for the life of my passport, in other words, 1 more year in my case. Is this so? Must I pay US$131 again in 1 year? Argh! Really makes me miss Colombia, where I just was for 3 weeks, where everything is cheap. Here in Chile I am paying CP$1,600 or US $3 for coffee... same for beer... this is VERY expensive.. and now I hear the reciprocity fee I just paid is good only for 1 year! Any info. about this?

Get your new passport, and keep your old one with the entrance stamp. Carry both when entering. You can also take the staple out of the sticker on the old one and put it in your new one.

I call BS AGAIN for the third or fourth time

The stamp that counts is BELOW the piece of paper which is just a receipt and actually can be removed as that is not the real proof for Passport Control international PDI dude or dudette purposes. One passport back, I lost the paper on a trip to Peru with 3-4 years left on my passport and must have reentered Chile 7-8 times at SCL and it was never an issue.

Have fun getting sent back to pay the fee and getting back to wait at the end of the line for trying this ploy

It has also been about 8-9 years since I got my stamp, and I have had residency of some form or another ever since.

Safe to drive inside Chile. Driving through Venezuela and other countries getting to Chile, less so. You don't get terrorists, freedom fighters, road agents, and police and military graft once you make it to Chile.

Roads in some places are reputed to be non-existant. There can be border squirmishes between Venezuela and Columbia.

Everything I've read says that you won't have any trouble gettin a car across the border as a tourist, but that there is often a fee for the car.

Flip side: car rentals in Chile are fairly expensive.

Suggestion: get onto the expat sites for each country you plan to drive through and ask about driving across their country.

admin wrote:Get your new passport, and keep your old one with the entrance stamp. Carry both when entering. You can also take the staple out of the sticker on the old one and put it in your new one.

I see the visa actually says "Valido hasta la expiracion del pasaporte" which I suspect translates to "don't screw around, just pay for the new visa when this expires". As you can tell, my Spanish is not that great but that is how I translate it.

Stoph wrote:Just flew into Shittiago and got hit for the reciprocity fee.. no problem, I expected it.. good for 10 years, right? no problem... BUT, then they tell me the fee is good only for the life of my passport, in other words, 1 more year in my case. Is this so? Must I pay US$131 again in 1 year? Argh! Really makes me miss Colombia, where I just was for 3 weeks, where everything is cheap. Here in Chile I am paying CP$1,600 or US $3 for coffee... same for beer... this is VERY expensive.. and now I hear the reciprocity fee I just paid is good only for 1 year! Any info. about this?

Its real simple leave, go away, don't like it get out. No one is forcing you to stay, no one forced you to come.