Santiago´s Arturo Merino Benítez International Airport. Photo courtesy of www.thisischile.cl.
Like so many of us car-less city dwellers, we sometimes find ourselves needing to get to Santiago´s airport (SCL), just not quite sure how to go about it.
Well, you basically have three options: 1. Cheap and time consuming 2. A little more expensive and comfortable 3. A complete rip off. And of course, there could be a fourth if you´re so lucky as to know an available, willing car owner.
The first option is probably the most common: the metro and bus combo. You need to get to Line 1 and go in the San Pablo direction, and from there you have various options: Los Héroes, Universidad de Santiago, Estación Central, Las Rejas and Pajaritos metro stations. All of the aforementioned stations have busses constantly running to and from the airport. Time wise, it would be smartest to ride all the way until Pajaritos, as it is closest to the airport and less congested during rush hours. You have two bus options as well: TurBus for $1,700 CLP and CentroPuerto for $1,400 CLP. The first runs from 6 a.m. to midnight, the latter from 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., both 365 days a year.
So in total, you spend around $2,300 pesos with the metro-bus combo, which is quite cheap; however, as I mentioned, it can be time consuming, so you must plan accordingly. I would say from the Pajaritos metro station, you still need to allow for at least 30 minutes to get to the airport.
Option two is a comfortable alternative, which of course means more expensive: the Transvip minibus option. Especially for those with a lot of luggage —sometimes you can barely squeeze yourself into the metro, can you imagine trying to get two suitcases in there as well?— this could be your best option if you´ve got the cash. Prices vary depending upon your pickup location, but you´ll pay no more than $10,000 CLP; naturally, travel time also varies. The good thing is, they figure all of that out for you upon making your reservation, which you can do by phone or online. They are available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
Lastly, you have the taxi option, which is quite pricey and not recommended. However, if you consider yourself truly above sharing with others or bothering with the details of getting to the airport, go for it; taxies are everywhere.
Of course all of those options also function in reverse, from the airport to your destination in Santiago. My best recommendation is to find a good friend with a car and offer them a beer and a couple thousand pesos for a ride to the airport.
Safe travels!
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