My Santa Cruz De La Sierra Layover: A Little Complicated

My Santa Cruz De La Sierra Layover: A Little Complicated

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After flying Boliviana de Aviacion’s A330 business class, I had a very long layover at Viru Viru International Airport (VVI) in Santa Cruz de la Sierra. I arrived at around 5:30AM, and my next flight (in GOL’s 737 MAX premium economy) was at 1PM. Of course spending that much time at an airport sounds incredibly unpleasant, but I’m used to it, and I’m fortunate to be able to work from anywhere.

Since I was connecting internationally with just a carry-on and had my boarding pass, my hope was that I’d be able to stay in the international transit area. Well, that’s not how things worked out. Let me tell you about my adventure in Santa Cruz de la Sierra…

I was denied international sterile transit

Upon landing in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, I followed the signage for international connecting flights. The staff member asked where I was connecting to, and I said Sao Paulo. I cleared the transit security checkpoint, and then headed to the immigration counter, where I believe they’re just supposed to do a passport and boarding pass check, before you get back into the international sterile area.

Well, this is where the problems started. The staff member was confused about how I was connecting onto GOL rather than Boliviana de Aviacion, and insisted that I had to clear immigration, even though I was connecting internationally, since it was on separate tickets.

Now, I’m not sure I really get the policy, but if those are the rules, those are the rules, and I wasn’t going to argue it. I guess the airport doesn’t offer sterile international transit unless you’re traveling on Boliviana de Aviacion the entire way. It’s not that different than the rules at Jakarta, for example (and for that matter, the United States doesn’t offer sterile transit at all).

So I then cleared immigration as instructed. At least I have a German passport as well, so I wasn’t on the hook for the $160 visa fee I would’ve had to pay if I were using my US passport.

I was then denied access to the airside

Immigration was pretty efficient, and within minutes (around 5:45AM) I was in the arrivals hall and check-in area.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport check-in hall

So I headed back to the security checkpoint, ready to get back through security.

There are little “gates” where you scan your boarding pass, and then it lets you through. I was able to get through without issue, but then a guy came running after me, asking what flight I’m on. I showed him my boarding pass, and he explained it was too early to access the airside.

I asked him when I could access the airside, then. After looking at my departure time, he said I could come back through at 11AM, two hours before departure. That seems rather restrictive, no? I asked to confirm that this was the earliest, and one of his colleagues just chimed in to say that 10AM was fine as well. So I’m not sure if there’s some actual policy here, or if he was just making stuff up as he went.

Enjoying coffee, mosquitos, and the observation deck

At this point I was prepared to spend around four hours in the landside area of the airport. Okay, Viru Viru Airport is far from glamorous, though I’ve gotta say, the whole situation could’ve been worse. At least there were a couple of half decent coffee shops where I could plop down and set up my “office.”

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport coffee shop

There were only two issues:

  • The Wi-Fi was excruciatingly slow, to the point that it reminded me of when Wi-Fi was first introduced on planes (and for whatever reason, my international tethering wasn’t cooperating either)
  • Holy crap, the check-in hall was full of mosquitos

But I had no real choice, so I sat there, and did the best I could to get work done while avoiding getting bitten by mosquitos. My review trips are glamorous, aren’t they? 😉

I enjoyed a cappuccino, and later on had an açaí bowl, which was actually half decent for the departures hall of an airport (and certainly better than the Boliviana de Aviacion breakfast).

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport coffee
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport açaí bowl

I knew there was an observation deck at the airport, so eventually I checked that out. It was more impressive than I was expecting, and it’s so nice when airports offer this. It’s just too bad how it had such “tight” wiring, which made it really hard to snap pictures.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport observation deck
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport observation deck
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport observation deck

The airside situation wasn’t much better

While the airport employees had told me that I could only clear security at 10AM or 11AM, I decided to try my luck a bit earlier. GOL check-in opened at 9AM, so I figured if check-in for the flight was open, then I should also be able to clear security for that flight. Sure enough, I was able to get through security without issue.

At this point I realized that I wasn’t missing out all that much by not having access to the airside this entire time. The international departures hall has two Priority Pass lounges.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Airport terminal

One of the lounges is like half a living room area, and half a cafe that’s open to the public. The buffet is laughably bad, but you can also order a couple of things from the bar area.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Priority Pass lounge
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Priority Pass lounge

The other Priority Pass location is a more traditional lounge, though it wasn’t exactly great. Every time someone tried to charge an electronic device in one of the outlets, the lights throughout the lounge flickered repeatedly. No bueno. The food situation wasn’t much better either.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra Priority Pass lounge
Santa Cruz de la Sierra Priority Pass lounge

Bottom line

While I didn’t have high expectations of my layover in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, the whole experience was a bit more of an adventure than I had hoped for. It seems you can only do international transit at the airport if you’re traveling on Boliviana de Aviacion the entire way, or else you have to clear immigration (hopefully that’s useful for the two other people every decade who attempt something like this). 😉 On top of that, there seem to be some arbitrary rules about how long before departure you can clear security.

The whole thing wasn’t a big deal, and if anything, was an adventure. Different countries have different policies regarding sterile transit. So I believe the country has restrictions on transit on separate tickets, though how long before departure you could clear security seemed to be a bit more made up (at least that was my interpretation).

Please try not to be too jealous of my review trips, as I can promise you that spending over seven hours at a not-great airport isn’t a pleasure. But it’s a small price to pay for finally having the privilege of flying with Boliviana de Aviacion. 😉

Conversations (21)
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  1. iamhere Guest

    In reading this article I was going to comment that the US does not offer a sterile transfer for incoming international flights at all and foreigners if applicable need a US visa

  2. Fed UP Guest

    " The whole thing wasn’t a big deal " - but you sure did a lot of complaining about it....

    This is Bolivia - not Singapore.....

  3. Robert Guest

    Tip on getting through to the international departures halls - Show your Priorty Pass card and say you are going to a lounge. It appears they have the rule of restricting access untill 2 hours before the flight to control crowding in departure areas of all Bolivian airports. If you are going into a lounge, then you cannot be part of the problem of over crowding in the departure areas. I go through their airports 20 times a year, and it always works for me.

  4. Lieflat19 Member

    I almost died in Bolivia. Screw that place

  5. Tomas Guest

    Agree with Garrett. A 3 day jeep safari with an adventure outfitter across the Salar de Uyuni was exciting. In a world where many global destinations have turned into Disneyland, Uyuni remains authentic and the road less traveled. Plus after crossing the high altitude border into Chile, one can accommodate in luxury digs in San Pedro de Atacama.

  6. Andrew Guest

    Love trip reports like this, thank you!

  7. UncleRonnie Diamond

    I arrived at SEA at 5 am last November and - apart from the mosquitoes - it was an equally unremarkable 7 hours wandering around the terminal.

  8. Garrett Guest

    Definitely do a longer stay in Bolivia if you ever get the chance Ben! It was one of the coolest places I've ever visited. The scenery going from Salar de Uyuni to San Pedro De Atacama in Chile is some of the most surreal I've ever witnessed.

    Also, La Paz is a really interesting city to visit (I believe it's the highest capital city in the world), not to mention taking off from LPB in...

    Definitely do a longer stay in Bolivia if you ever get the chance Ben! It was one of the coolest places I've ever visited. The scenery going from Salar de Uyuni to San Pedro De Atacama in Chile is some of the most surreal I've ever witnessed.

    Also, La Paz is a really interesting city to visit (I believe it's the highest capital city in the world), not to mention taking off from LPB in El Alto is quite an experience. The runway is over 13,000 ft, and you definitely need it! I flew on the now-defunct Amaszonas when they had just acquired their CRJ-200. Small plug to my trip report from over 10 years ago when I traveled around the Altiplano: https://milesglu.blogspot.com/2013/06/the-south-american-altiplano-march-2013.html

    I'm sure much of the info is completely out of date, but it gives you an idea of how cool the entire region is.

  9. Steve Guest

    Good info on the MIA VVI route and the layover.

    I assume you spent your time in the VVI 'office' continuing to investigate the currency exchange rate issues at Mexico's Bonvoy/Marriott properties. Looking forward to you follow-up that you promised!

  10. HarveyFloorbanger Guest

    Is that just platters of chips for a buffet?

  11. Keith Guest

    We readers of the blog love to read about your more esoteric and complex trips, and for you, thank goodness the layover provided you some fodder to fill the endless need for content. Keep up the good work even if miles and Miles keep you hopping.

  12. AA70 Diamond

    Remember yesterday when I asked if it was a case of don't meet your heroes? :)

    Manchester also denied me sterile transit while self connecting, I flew in from IAH on SQ and was connecting to PRG on EasyJet. Had boarding pass in hand and everything

  13. hbilbao Guest

    That buffet looks as bad as any copa club's :(

  14. Daniel B. Guest

    Weird stuff with these arbitrary rules set by staff. A year ago at JFK I wanted to go through security with my printed LOT boarding pass (7 hours before departure). The agent who checked the boarding passes said that the LOT boarding pass is not good, I cannot go through security, I have to wait another 5 hours until the LOT desk opens and get them to print out a "real" boarding pass. He was...

    Weird stuff with these arbitrary rules set by staff. A year ago at JFK I wanted to go through security with my printed LOT boarding pass (7 hours before departure). The agent who checked the boarding passes said that the LOT boarding pass is not good, I cannot go through security, I have to wait another 5 hours until the LOT desk opens and get them to print out a "real" boarding pass. He was adamant about it. So I waited 2 hours until he left and another agent took over, went these, and she let me go through immediately.

  15. Robin Guest

    LOL this made me chuckle, and good on you for taking it all with some humor, Ben!

    Not sure how you were able to deal with a mosquito-infested area, that's the worst...

    Looking forward to reading the rest of your Latinamerican adventures...and I agree with another reader, make sure you spend some time in each of the countries...South America is full of amazing places!

  16. Marcos Guest

    Recently I bought a Rio-Madrid-Rio ticket. It is a non-stop flight, but I realized that the return flying using the route Madrid-Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro would be cheaper! Instead of a 10 hour direct flight, I choose to stay 12 hours in the long-haul MAD-EZE, plus 3 hours in the EZE-GIG flight, with an almost 5 hours stop in EZE. With this choice I flew the new Iberia A350 (that does not fly to Brazil),...

    Recently I bought a Rio-Madrid-Rio ticket. It is a non-stop flight, but I realized that the return flying using the route Madrid-Buenos Aires-Rio de Janeiro would be cheaper! Instead of a 10 hour direct flight, I choose to stay 12 hours in the long-haul MAD-EZE, plus 3 hours in the EZE-GIG flight, with an almost 5 hours stop in EZE. With this choice I flew the new Iberia A350 (that does not fly to Brazil), stayed at the Iberia/AA Buenos Aires lounge (as AAdvantage Platinum) and tried the British Airways 777 in the EZE-GIG-LHR route. Inside the airport no need to leave the airside. During the boarding, the BA staff noticed our Iberia issued boarding card (for the BA flight) , and she said it was a quite uncommon situation.

  17. Never In Doubt Guest

    The glamorous life of a travel blogger revealed!

  18. chris w Guest

    That observation deck looks like a prison yard

  19. Josh Guest

    @Ben why didn't you stay over for a day or two in Bolivia? There must be some interesting things to see outside of the airport.

    1. Ben Schlappig OMAAT

      @ Josh -- I'd LOVE to visit Bolivia, and plan to return (and really want to fly to both La Paz Airport and Uyuni Airport. In this case I just couldn't get away from home any longer, as I have a commitment at home tomorrow.

    2. derek Guest

      I wonder if it would have been worthwhile to visit the city. I once visited a city during a layover where the taxi driver agreed to a certain fare or the meter, whichever was lower. He then drove by several attractions and stopped at one for a few minutes.

      I once had a layover in Santiago de Chile and they refunded me a departure tax even though I had two separate tickets for the connection.

Featured Comments Most helpful comments ( as chosen by the OMAAT community ).

The comments on this page have not been provided, reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any advertiser, and it is not an advertiser's responsibility to ensure posts and/or questions are answered.

HarveyFloorbanger Guest

Is that just platters of chips for a buffet?

3
Keith Guest

We readers of the blog love to read about your more esoteric and complex trips, and for you, thank goodness the layover provided you some fodder to fill the endless need for content. Keep up the good work even if miles and Miles keep you hopping.

3
Daniel B. Guest

Weird stuff with these arbitrary rules set by staff. A year ago at JFK I wanted to go through security with my printed LOT boarding pass (7 hours before departure). The agent who checked the boarding passes said that the LOT boarding pass is not good, I cannot go through security, I have to wait another 5 hours until the LOT desk opens and get them to print out a "real" boarding pass. He was adamant about it. So I waited 2 hours until he left and another agent took over, went these, and she let me go through immediately.

3
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