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Taken November 2005 from Melbourne, Victoria (Tullamarine International Airport) - MEL to Sao Paulo, SP (Aeroporto Internacional Guarulhos) - GRU

My flight started from Melbourne (Australia) to Sao Paulo (Brazil), stopping at Buenos Aires (Argentina) for transit.

The flight went well from Melbourne to Buenos Aires. I was lucky enough to get a seat next to the emergency exit, and could stretch my legs the during flight. However, it would have been a very uncomfortable flight to Buenos Aires.

In Buenos Aires the problems started. I lined up to get my boarding pass to Sao Paulo, and when it was my turn, I was informed that there was no more flights that day, due to a strike made by the pilots. I was to exit immigration and ask for a new ticket at the Aerolineas counter.

Going throught immigration they opened my luggage and said that I could not come in with spices and electronics. I tried talking to them in English, but they could not understand; the airport officers only spoke Spanish. As a Brazilian I speak Portuguese, and they insisted me to speak it, although they could not understand what I was saying. I decided to throw away whatever I had to, because of the stress and the hurry to find a flight to my final destination.

Once outside, there were very long lines everywhere, due to the number of people arriving and not being able to follow with their journey. I approached an Aerolineas employees and she could not inform me how to proceed. Finally, they got me a ticket to fly to Rio de Janeiro, and then follow to Sao Paulo. They required the payment of an airport tax, so I could fly. At first they did not want to pay for me. It was hard explaining that I had a canceled flight because of the language barrier. Once they finally understood, and paid for the tax I followed through.

The plane landed in Rio de Janeiro at 8pm; the flight to Sao Paulo would leave at 8:45pm. I had to rush to get my luggage, go through immigration, go to Aerolineas counter, run to Varig counter to check in, and finally, board. Luckily, the flight departed late, allowing me to reach my destination.

The air ticket was definitely cheap. The price surely reflects on how professional they treat their passengers, and of course, the quality of their services. Therefore I do not encourage anyone to fly with them, and will not fly with them again.