Booking Trip in Sth Amercia

gerryg80

How folks im in the midst of booking my trip to Sth America.
Basically its fairly straight forward, into Rio and out of Lima. Ill be spending about 6 months inbetween etc. I've been speaking to trailfinders who have informed me that i need to show proff to the Brazilian athorities that i intend to out of brazil within 3 months and that only a flight onwards will suffice. I intend to be in brazil for about 5-6 weeks while making my way to Buenos Aires. I thought maybe a bus tickets or proof of a hostel booked in Buenos Aires would suffice. Anybody come across this before, and how to get around it?

dory

Definitely a hostel booking won't work. Not sure about bus. What I did when I was there was use LAN's 24 hour money back thing. Book a flight with them, enter Brazil, cancel flight. You'd want to make sure they're still doing the money back bit.

doriansmith

I was told the same by Trailfinders & debated buying a flight but decided not to & to risk it in the end as we'd heard that the Brazilian authorities rarely ask for proof. Sure enough no one batted an eyelid or asked us anything about it. So I would have been raging if I'd wasted money on a flight I wasn't gonna use!

But if that money back offer Dory mentioned with LAN is still on then that sounds like a good idea. I hadn't heard of it when I went but it's a good plan if you don't want to take any risks.

gerryg80

According to trailfinders its not so much the braizilan authorities I need to worry about, but the actual airline im traveling with as they get charged a fee if i dont get through or something.

On first look LAN seems to be my best bet, looks like they've changed to 72 hours which is good news i guess.
Although I just had a read of the refund service terms and conditions and it states

- Although your fare is not eligible for a refund, you can request a refund of unused fees and taxes. Fuel surcharges are part of the fare, so are subject to the regulations of the fare purchased, except for tickets issued in Colombia, where fuel charges are refundable regardless of the fare regulations of the ticket purchased.

Does this mean all i can get back is the taxs etc.

http://www.lan.com/en_us/devoluciones/tyc_formulario_devoluciones.html

imme

I flew into Brazil last March, didn't have an onward flight to show authorities, was worried I'd be asked for one. Was planning on some travel similar to your own.
Was relieved when they didn't ask for one. As others have said it's rarely asked for.

Hockney

The immigration authorities won't bat an eyelid.

Low cost carriers within South America, (or the likes of Spirit when flying from USA - South America) sometimes ask for this at check in just to make you fork out for another flight with them.

Is it Air France you're flying with? If so I wouldn't worry about it at all, ditto Iberia, I've flown with both to SA (incl Air France to Rio) with no onward travel in the last few years with no questions asked.

You could go with Dory's option if you want peace of mind, personally if I was flying with Air France or Iberia though, I'd just chance it.

ko4jm6y9iwv2lc

I was flying from Madrid to Rio last summer. I wasn't allowed check in for the flight as I didn't have proof I would be leaving Brazil within the ninty day period.

Que much panic and confusion, I didnt have a word of Spanish. Anyways, ended up booking a useless flight to Montevideo in Uruguay. Ran back to the check in desk as it was closing, a different guy behind the counter, and he didn't ask for anything.

Its just the luck of the draw I suppose, anyone I was talking to throughout the trip didnt have any problem.

darrenh

Same here. I was never asked and I didn't have anything booked either. My biggest concern was smuggling my 300 tea bags through customs!

garrincha62

No one will care about whether you have proof of onward travel. My advice to you (as a resident in Brazil) is not to bother buying an onward flight. Waste of money. The airport police are more interested in taxing people on electric goods they bring in.

filthymcnasty

Got the same spiel from trailfinders when booking flights to Rio. Flew with BA who never said anything despite no onward flight.
Maybe it depends on the carrier, the immigration blokes won't care less.

ellie2

Just arrived back yesterday from 10 weeks doing the same trip in the opposite direction. Flew into Lima and out of Rio. Again was told the same by trailfinders about entering peru. Had no onward transport arranged and was never asked for anything. As most people are travelling overland in south america I dont expect many people would have anything booked and Ive never heard of anyone being sent home. Just a tip Rio is really expensive and Argentinian prices have increased in the past couple of years so if your looking at a guidebook the prices are well out of date. Its an amazing trip though and worth every cent.Enjoy