Layover in Rio (Airport)

Flight #40 – TAM 8079
New York (JFK) – Rio De Janiero (GIG)
Monday, Mar 18, 2013
Depart: 8:10PM / Arrive: 6:55AM (+1 Day)
Duration: 9hr 45min
Aircraft: Airbus 330
Seat: 26D-26G (Economy)
Earned: 4,786 miles
Cost: $400 / person
Lifetime Miles: 87,668 miles

By the time everyone reads this on Tuesday morning, my parents and I will be in Rio De Janiero's airport waiting for our connecting flight to Buenos Aires.

The flight down to Rio was actually pretty decent especially since I only paid for a lapchild ticket (10% of adult fare). Originally, we were sitting in 29A and 29C along the left side of the plane that was configured in a 2-4-2 set up in Economy.

They called all passengers with special needs (disabled, pregnant or with infants), so we head right up to the front, by passing all the Brazilians waiting in line for regular boarding. When we boarded the plane, we secured overhead bin space for our backpacks and sat down in our seats with me sitting on my mother's lap as usual.

When you're accustomed to flying on United (and getting E+ seats with extra legroom), the TAM seats seemed very 1970's (tight seats and ugly fabric). I'm shocked they didn't allow smoking! The In Flight Entertainment systems were very small (3'x3') but at least they were touch screen and had about 20 recent movies including Life of Pi, Skyfall, and Silver Lining Playbook among others.

As the rest of the passengers boarded, the TAM flight attendant came up and said we could move up to row 26 and take all 4 center seats since they were open. She did warn us that they were right by the lavatories (but who cares when you're a small baby and can spread out over 4 seats?). So my parents and I traded our 2 left side seats for 4 center ones.

The good news was that the 3 of us spread out over 4 seats. The bad news was that the center arm rests (between seats E and F) didn't go up, so you couldn't lie completely flat - unless you were a small infant who only needed 2 seats to lay down. The other bad part was that being next to the bathrooms on an overnight flight meant that every time an old grandmother or large smelly man opened the door, the bathroom light hit you every time. Man, those Brazilians like to use the bathroom between 2-5AM.

But overall, my parents and I got some pretty decent sleep (and some less than decent in flight meals) and we were descending to Rio de Janiero before we knew it. Now that the long 9hr 45 min flight is over and now we just have a much more manageable 3hr 15min flight to Buenos Aires.

When we originally booked this flight, we thought about having a 23 hour layover so that we could leave GIG airport and spend a day in the actual city that I heard so much about in the Rio movie. After all, my father's 2008 Brazil visa was still valid through December 2013 and my mother and I had Israeli passports that didn't require a visa.

But my mother wasn't a fan of that idea claiming that Brazilian women were "dirty sluts and prostitutes." Now, despite my father's arguments otherwise, she didn't budge so we just kept our 3 hour layover and planned to stay in the airport.

Luckily, having a United Gold, Platinum or 1K card (which gives him Star Alliance Gold status) meant we could use either the TAM VIP Lounge or the Smiles VIP Lounge.

If he didn't have United status, he could also get access from either (A) his American Express Platinum Card which gives him membership to Priority Pass lounges or (B) his Chase Ink Bold card which gives him membership to Lounge Club.

So now after our 10 hour flight, we're likely going to head over to the TAM Lounge in Terminal 2 while we wait for our next flight. Hopefully it won't be as bad as the reviews that say it's "too crowded" and has "horrible food." At the very least, hopefully the showers are working because that would be a nice treat after the long overnight flight.

But, how does my father always know what lounges are available at which airports? Well, simple.

First, he first logs onto the Star Alliance Lounge Finder website and inputs his flight information. But sometimes, it comes up with nothing as in this particular case.

However, savvy flyers know never to take no as the final answer. So second, my father searches on Flyertalk.com.

For example, the Google search "site:flyertalk.com GIG airport star alliance lounge" leads to this Flyertalk Message Board post where a recent flyer confirmed he was able to enter the Smiles VIP lounge using his Star Alliance Gold card.

Reference Websites:

• Star Alliance Lounge Finder
• Priority Pass Club
• Lounge Club
• Flyertalk