Ten days ago, I complained to TAM Airlines about the Hell we were put through boarding their flight out of Santiago due to gate agents who seemed clueless about Brazilian visa rules.

This afternoon, TAM had this to say:

Thank you for contacting the customer relations department at TAM Airlines. We appreciate the opportunity to reply to your concerns.

We regretted learning of the misunderstanding that took place when you and your wife Mrs. Irene Vartanoff, were returning from Santiago to Charlotte via Sao Paulo on February 9th. We can certainly understand your disappointment.

Please allow us to explain that our agents are expected to contact the pertinent supervisor, manager or security office when in doubt, to ensure our passengers do not experience any problems at their connecting points or destinations. Furthermore, to ensure the company is adhering to international travel regulations.

Nonetheless, we have reported matters to the pertinent department head, so that our staff is reminded that U.S. citizens can transit without a Visa when connecting in Sao Paulo (Guarulhos) or Rio de Janeiro (Galeao) Brazil, and to certify that our representatives are reminded of the importance of providing precise and accurate information to our clients.

Once again, thank you for contacting the customer relations department at TAM Airlines. We trust we can count on your understanding and future presence onboard our fights.

Cordially,

I’m glad we finally received a response, but the comment about what agents are supposed to do “when in doubt” raises the question—

Doubt? What doubt? How poorly trained are TAM employees that there would be any doubt? How is it that all three gate agents (maybe there were four, I no longer remember for sure) were unaware Brazilian law is clear that “there is no need for a visa if the traveler arrives in Brazil on a flight, remains in the international transit area, without passing through immigration control, and departs on another flight from the same airport.” That whole paragraph makes TAM’s answer seem more like an excuse than an explanation, because there was never a reason for doubt.

We’re surely not the first people this has happened to … and based on TAM’s unsatisfying answer, I seriously doubt we will be the last.

And I, unlike TAM, have reason for my doubt.

It occurs to me that when I complained about the way we were treated last Sunday by employees of TAM Airlines as we were boarding—or trying to board—a plane out of Santiago, I only offered my personal interpretation of the rules. But there’s to need to just take my word for it. Here’s what the Consulate General of Brazil in Washington has to say:

NOTE: There is no need for a visa if the traveler arrives in Brazil on a flight, remains in the international transit area, without passing through immigration control, and departs on another flight from the same airport.

Which is what I explained to TAM a week ago today when I emailed the customer service department about how their employees wouldn’t (until after much wailing and gnashing of teeth on our part) let us board a flight to Sao Paulo—where we would not enter Brazil but merely wait to board our continuing flight to Charlotte—for want of a visa.

A week later, here’s where we stand …

@scottedelman Hello, your case is under review. When finalized will contact you. Thank you.

— TAM Airlines (@TAMAirlines) February 18, 2014

It will be interesting to hear why the TAM gate agents had a different opinion of visa requirements than the Consulate General of Brazil.

Any bets on how long it’ll be before TAM’s investigation is finalized and we get an explanation?

We’re back home from our trip to Easter Island and Santiago, and I’ve got a ton to tell you about the amazing sites we saw, the great food we ate, the wonderful people we met, and more. But rather than start at the beginning, I want to share with you the strange way our trip ended.

None of the four flights that took us home from Easter Island went the way it was supposed to, and though the first flight went awry in our favor, the others—hoo-boy!—did not.

We were scheduled to return to Santiago from Easter Island on Friday … but didn’t. Our flight was cancelled because the inbound plane intended to carry us back to mainland Chile had to turn back two hours in after a passenger reportedly had a heart attack. Which meant that we got another day in paradise thanks to LAN Airlines, which paid for our hotel room Friday night, transported us there and back, and gave us vouchers to cover our lunch and dinner.

Here’s the view we had into a caldera from the patio outside our hotel room.

We were thrilled. Stranded on Easter Island for another day? Bring it on!

Unfortunately, our luck did not hold when it later came time to leave Santiago … (more…)