Entry / Exit Fees in South America

[Kruz Guys]

For our cruise January 17, 2010 around the horn, we are flying into Santiago from the US on January 13, 2010 and deaprting Buenos Aires back to the US on February 5, 2010.

What are the required fees at the Santiago airport when one lands there from the US?

What are the required fees at the Buenos Aires airport when one departs from that airport to go back to the US?

Are these paid by cash or will credit cards work?

My travel agent and the airlines didn't say anything about these fees so I want to be prepared and not get caught short.

Thanks for any information you can share.

[jjb415]

For Chile, all US Citizens & those of a few other countries arriving by air at SCL must pay a reciprocity fee. For US Citizens it is currently $131 and good for the life of your passport. Here is a link to a thread that gives more details:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1048338

Hope this helps a bit and have a great trip !!

[Kruz Guys]

Originally Posted by jjb415

For Chile, all US Citizens & those of a few other countries arriving by air at SCL must pay a reciprocity fee. For US Citizens it is currently $131 and good for the life of your passport. Here is a link to a thread that gives more details:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1048338

Hope this helps a bit and have a great trip !!

I appreciate the information. Best to be ready for everything.

[BobEspungy]

I've flown out of Buenos Aires several times. My rule of thumb is to keep 50 pesos for the cab ride to the airport and the departure tax. I believe the departure tax is around 15 pesos. You pay it at the airport after you check your luggage and before starting through the security gates. One final word of advice, get rid of all your pesos before leaving Buenos Aires. You cannot change the Argentenian Pesos anywhere except in Argentina. Hope this helps. Buenos Aires is a lovely city. I enjoyed my visits there.

[Kruz Guys]

Originally Posted by BobEspungy

I've flown out of Buenos Aires several times. My rule of thumb is to keep 50 pesos for the cab ride to the airport and the departure tax. I believe the departure tax is around 15 pesos. You pay it at the airport after you check your luggage and before starting through the security gates. One final word of advice, get rid of all your pesos before leaving Buenos Aires. You cannot change the Argentenian Pesos anywhere except in Argentina. Hope this helps. Buenos Aires is a lovely city. I enjoyed my visits there.

Thanks for the information about flying out of BA. Good to know. By the way, we are in Houston, Tx as well. Do you travel a lot?

[BobEspungy]

Hey Kruz Guys,
I don't get to travel much, but when I do I like to go someplace outside the USA. I started doing the Atlantis cruises a couple years ago. Those trips seem to have put my "world tour" plans on fast forward. On a typical cruise, you can see 5 or 6 ports. It's hard to do that on your own.

One more comment about your trip to Argentina. You might already know this, but call you bank to be sure your ATM card will work there. I used my ATM card there in 2008 and had no issues. The Argentine peso does not trade outside of Argentina. I think it has something to do with IMF loan defaults many years ago.

[Kruz Guys]

Originally Posted by BobEspungy

Hey Kruz Guys,
I don't get to travel much, but when I do I like to go someplace outside the USA. I started doing the Atlantis cruises a couple years ago. Those trips seem to have put my "world tour" plans on fast forward. On a typical cruise, you can see 5 or 6 ports. It's hard to do that on your own.

One more comment about your trip to Argentina. You might already know this, but call you bank to be sure your ATM card will work there. I used my ATM card there in 2008 and had no issues. The Argentine peso does not trade outside of Argentina. I think it has something to do with IMF loan defaults many years ago.

We will check with the bank to see where our ATM can be used on our cruise.

How is the Atlantis to travel? Apparently you like it as you've been on several of them. We'll have to check it out one day.

So far we've been to South America, the Caribbean, Mexico, Costa Rica, Europe and the Baltic. This will be our second trip to South America.

Thanks again.

[skf]

We always tell the bank, even if we're only going to Québec. The card always works that way. Of course, the tellers have started to sneer & ask "Where are you going now?"
Steve & Pete

[Kruz Guys]

Originally Posted by skf

We always tell the bank, even if we're only going to Québec. The card always works that way. Of course, the tellers have started to sneer & ask "Where are you going now?"
Steve & Pete

We'll be sure to let our bank know (also our credit card company), although I don't think there would be eyebrow raised after all of the time and traveling. We also get that "where are you going now". Funny.
Thanks for sharing.
Stephen & Tom
stephenandtom@att.net

[BobEspungy]

I like the Atlantis cruises. It is fun to share the travel experience with like-minded people. For me, these cruises are about the ports. I am there to see and experience as much foreign culture as possible. The Atlantis entertainment, on the other hand, adds to the fun of the cruise. There is a wide variety of entertainment to suit every taste on the boat. There is also a wide variety of people on these cruises. Based on my observations, there is something for everyone on these Atlantis cruises. Guess that is why I keep going back. If you search this website, you can find other threads that discuss Atlantis cruises. Read them at your leisure. Hope this helps.

[Kruz Guys]

Originally Posted by BobEspungy

I like the Atlantis cruises. It is fun to share the travel experience with like-minded people. For me, these cruises are about the ports. I am there to see and experience as much foreign culture as possible. The Atlantis entertainment, on the other hand, adds to the fun of the cruise. There is a wide variety of entertainment to suit every taste on the boat. There is also a wide variety of people on these cruises. Based on my observations, there is something for everyone on these Atlantis cruises. Guess that is why I keep going back. If you search this website, you can find other threads that discuss Atlantis cruises. Read them at your leisure. Hope this helps.

We appreciate the info and will definately check it out.
Stephen / Tom