Aeromexico Flights to Santiago de Chile

I did it! It has been an month and a half filled with anticipation, research, email correspondence and for awhile there I almost felt that I would drown in a sea of details. Having never traveled this far from the states, and doing it alone, I certainly feared for the worst and hoped for the best, and a few important questions lingered in my mind… Would I be denied entry at the immigration counter in Chile? Would my baggage make it to Chile with me? Would I be stuck in a tiny window seat for eight and a half hours? Spoiler alert - I made it past customs and allayed some of my fears, but not without a bit of excitement along the way. My mom and aunt dropped me off curbside at PHX and we all said our goodbyes as I made my way to check in at the Aeromexico ticket counter. Immediately my concerns seemed to be validified - the first leg of my flight had been delayed almost 3 hours. Fortunately I had three hours of layover time in mexico city, and I was assured that I would make all my connections in a timely manner. My first stop on the journey was in Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico and I had less than thirty minutes of turnaround time. Since I would be travelling on to Chile, I was confident that if I stayed within the gated areas, there would be no need to go through the customs declaration and visa process upon arrival. The immigration forms requested addresses in Mexico as well as the duration of my visit, so in my mind I was sure that I was safe to follow the “transit” signs and proceed past immigration. I jumped right on the plane bound for mexico city and continued to read a book I had brought with me, when suddenly the flight attendant safety lecture was cut short and an airline official asked me to deplane and follow him. I was then coaxed to follow him in a full sprint to the customs desk and haphazardly filled out my form, received a visa and passed through customs all in about two minutes. I then followed the airline official back to the plane as the ground crew yelled “corre, corre!” My heart was racing when I boarded the plane, and I was glad to order some tequila to calm the nerves! After a quick turnaround in Mexico City, I made my way to seat 25J on an 8 hour red eye to Santiago. Fittingly, I had been given a seat assignment with less legroom than a domestic united airlines flight right next to an overweight woman. After 8 hours of suffering and two horrible airline meals, we were on the ground in Chile and I had no issues passing through the visa and customs process. I still felt unprepared as I hopped into a shuttle to my hostel and the south american adventure was set to begin. A million thanks go out to the many people who offered me advice and guidance during my preparations - I’m not sure I would have felt comfortable enough to embark on this journey without your help and encouragement!