Today was a long travel day as we go from Queenstown New Zealand to Santiago, Chile. The flight from Queenstown to Auckland was about 2 hours, there was about a 4 hour layover in Auckland and then the flight to Santiago was about 11 hours. We left our Queenstown hotel about 11 am and arrived our Santiago hotel about 5pm on the same day because we crossed the international date line.
Jennifer called an Uber and picked a ride that said 4 people plus luggage. The car that arrived was pretty tiny and we were going to send it back but figured we’d try to fit first- we managed to put all our luggage and us into the car. It was pretty packed and we had luggage on our laps but we weren’t worried since it was about 10 minutes to the airport.
We gave ourselves about 3 hours to get to the airport and go thru all the security. The Queenstown airport was very busy and crowded. It took awhile to figure out how to check in and check our bags. We purchased our flight from Latam but Air New Zealand was the carrier for the portion from Queenstown to Auckland and Jennifer’s app didn’t let her get a boarding pass to Auckland- it created one for Auckland to Santiago but not Queenstown to Auckland. We did figure it out and didn’t spend too much time in the wrong line. After a couple of small stuff bags were moved from Jennifer’s luggage to Tibor’s luggage, we were happy that our luggage wasn’t overweight.
As has been our experience this trip- at least one of our bags was called out of the security line for an extra check. So far every bag has been re-checked at least once on this trip.
We made it to the gate with about an hour to spare only to find out our flight was delayed about 30-40 minutes so the gate area was also crowded. It’s a smaller airport so the deplaning passengers walk right past the passengers that are ready to board making the gate area extra crowded when a plane arrives.
Nice flight to Auckland- we saw Mt. Cook from the air. Since we were delayed we didn’t have as much time for our layover in Auckland. We were enjoying the lounge and food and it was a good thing Jennifer reminded us it was time to go to the gate or we might have missed our flight to Santiago.
We went thru arrival customs/immigration in Santiago which took some time because Jennifer was the chosen one this time and the dog sniffer alerted on her bag with the chocolate. They didn’t take the chocolate so it was all good.
Our special experience in Santiago was the ride from the airport to the hotel. There was supposed to be a shuttle available from the airport to the hotel but it turned out it had to be arranged ahead of time. It would have taken 2 hours to get the shuttle. Luckily(?) there was a greeter at the airport that helped us get a driver and ride to the hotel. We hopped into the car with our luggage and away we went. As we neared the hotel, the driver stopped along the road and another person ran over to the car with the card reader to take the $10 payment. We offered cash but they wanted a card payment. I pulled out my credit card and they tapped it but it failed because it required a PIN. Then I pulled out my debit card and entered the PIN (it showed up on the screen in the clear- very odd). Then they moved the card reader around because ‘there was no signal’ hmmmmm….Then I got an alert on my phone – there was a charge of $233.16!!! Oh Oh…then I got another alert on my phone- there was a charge of another $233.16. I grabbed my card from the card reader and we gave the driver $10 cash and he took us to the hotel. At the hotel I called and cancelled my debit card- they did show the charges for $233.16 but I caught it in time so they cancelled the transaction and we’re not out any money. I’m glad I had another card and am traveling with Tibor & Jennifer so we can pay for the rest of the trip.
We were dropped off along side the road by a closed gate with a security guard- at this point we were a bit worried when the car/driver sped off but the guard let us in since we had a reservation.
At the hotel, they didn’t seem surprised that we were scammed because the real charge should have been $20. We, of course, had no idea of what the correct charge should have been and we had been so happy to have a greeter/helper to help us. The greeter/helper even had a badge with his name so I thought he was from the tourist board. This is the first time in my travels that something like this has happened. I’m so happy I have a cell phone that works in Chile so I could cancel my card.
The hotel was nice and we were happy to be there. Immediately after dropping off the luggage in our room, I got a Pisco Sour and lunch at the hotel dining room. Jennifer and Tibor joined me.
