Read before you leave

Important contact information.

 

If an emergency arisen while in Chile, the faculty advisor will immediately contact the education abroad office, who will then contact your family. If your family must contact you for an emergency they must contact the study abroad office who will then redirect them to us.

 

Here are some important contact numbers at UCONN and the US.

UConn Education Abroad office: 860-486-5022.

UConn police (for use during non-business hours): 860-486-4801.

HTH Worldwide Global Health and Safety Services: (call collect) 610-254-8771.

U.S. State Department: 202-647-4000 (ask for Chile desk)

Emergency number at State: 202-647-5225

 

Regarding your cell phone: you may want to consider subscribing to an international plan for one month for emergency calls. Inquire with your carrier. You may also consider, if your phone allows it, buy a SIM card in Chile.

 

Updates on trip.

Internet access may be limited while you are in Puerto Williams, on Navarino.

You will spend the first two nights in Punta Arenas, and you may have easier access to your e-mail then, to inform you family that you arrived.

We will attempt to post regular updates and pictures to the course website (chile.uconn.edu). Please direct your family to this site.

 

Connecting in Santiago

When you fly from the US you will land in Santiago de Chile, the capital, as you are transiting to Punta Arenas. You can find info about the airport at: http://www.aeropuertosantiago.cl/english/

Because you have two distinct tickets, one to the Santiago and one to Punta Arenas, you must pick-up your luggage in Santiago, and check in with LAN Airlines. Your luggage will not be transferred directly to Punta Arenas.

You should be meeting with Dr. Capers and the group in Santiago, and be on the same flight to Punta Arenas. You have received your flight info for the flight from Santiago to Punta Arenas. You should be arriving in the morning in Santiago and leave at 8.35PM. You have electronic tickets and you can check-in upon arrival. You should have all gotten the link to check your reservation; I suggest you print this info out and carry a hard copy. Also remember to have a copy of your passport, HTH somewhere.

In case one of the flights from the US is cancelled or if you missed your flight, proceed to the LAN Airlines counter. As soon as you know you will miss the connecting flight in Santiago you should:

a)    contact Dr. Capers at 860-208-4382 or e-mail him at robert.capers@uconn.edu

b)   contact Kelli Moses, the local program coordinator; her phone number is +56-9-54483399. She made the flight reservation for you. If you cannot reach her, you should call the field station is +51-61-2621715 and ask for her, or if all fails, call the Universidad de Magallanes is +56-61-2621305. If you dial from the US you must dial 011 first. If you cannot call Kelli, e-mail her kelli.moses@gmail.com and state what happened, where you are, if your flight has been rescheduled and if so what flight you coming in on. If you get a day late to Punta Arenas, that is ok, the group will still be there, but we need to arrange for you to be picked-up at the airport.

Note these numbers are not to be USED for any other purpose. If anyone from the US must reach you they must go through the study abroad program at UCONN.

Upon arrival in Santiago airport

1. In Santiago: You will go through Immigration. You will receive a little slip of paper. You will need this when you leave the country, so make sure you put it in a safe place. This is your “tourist visa”.

2. In Santiago: Go to the designated/announced baggage claim to pick up your bags. If you see a baggage cart that isn’t being used along the way, make sure to grab it, because you may not find another if the airport is very busy. You do not need to pay for baggage carts…Just take one that isn’t being used by someone else.

3. In Santiago: Pass through customs/”aduana”. Make sure to declare anything you have doubts about…especially food items, or anything listed on the customs form that they will give you on the airplane. The fines are hefty if you don’t declare. They will likely let you through, so don’t worry, but just let them know to avoid any problems.

4. You will exit the international arrivals terminal and there will be a bunch of people at the door trying to offer you a taxi. Just keep walking. On this level of the airport, you can find a money exchange counter and ATM, if needed.

5. Take the elevator to the 3rd floor.

6. Go to the check-in desk for LAN Airlines. The check in desk opens up to 5 hours before the flight. So you can check in at the counter and check your bags at about 3:30pm.

7. After you have checked in, you will to the “National Departures”, enter, and find your gate.

8. Once you’ve found your gate, you can rest, or get something to eat, but make sure to pay attention that you board the plane when they call your boarding group, “grupo”. This number will be printed on your boarding pass. Ask someone if you aren’t sure.

9. You will look for a large group of students, and this will likely be our group. There are more than 20 students affiliated with the field course on this flight.