Connecting on LATAM Airlines

The four numbers that matter at Santiago

LATAM actually publishes these, which is rare and genuinely useful, so start here.

Santiago (SCL) is LATAM's main hub, and unlike most airports it has clear, published minimum connection times. There are four, and which one applies to you depends entirely on whether each leg is domestic or international:

• Domestic to domestic, 30 minutes. Both flights are at Terminal 1, no terminal change, no immigration.
• International to international, 65 minutes. Both flights are at Terminal 2, you stay on the international side.
• Domestic to international, 75 minutes. Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. On a single reservation code your bag is not re-dropped, and immigration and customs formalities happen at Terminal 2.
• International to domestic, 110 minutes. Terminal 2 to Terminal 1, and the one that eats time, because you retrieve your own bags and hand them back before crossing.

These are the minimums an itinerary must meet to be sold; they assume your inbound is on time. LATAM sets them and they change, confirm at latam.com.

Santiago has two separate terminals, and that's the whole story

The reason the four numbers are so different from each other.

Santiago splits its flights across two buildings. Terminal 1 handles domestic flights within Chile; Terminal 2 handles international flights. They are not two ends of one concourse, they are physically separate structures, and moving between them means going outside across walkways and past parking, not a quick stroll through a shared hall. That's why a connection staying on one side is quick, 30 minutes if you never leave Terminal 1, 65 if you never leave Terminal 2, while any connection that crosses between them carries a real time penalty built into the published minimum.

If both your Santiago flights are the same type, domestic then domestic, or international then international, you'll likely never see the other terminal. It's the mixed connection that you have to plan for.

International to domestic is the one that catches people

Longest minimum, most steps, and the one most likely to be underestimated.

This is the connection where you fly into Santiago from abroad and continue on a domestic flight inside Chile, and it's genuinely the tight one. You land at Terminal 2, clear Chilean immigration, and then, instead of your bag riding through on its own, you collect your own checked bags and hand them to the connecting-flight counters located behind the SAG and Customs arch. Only then do you cross to the physically separate Terminal 1 and clear its security before your domestic gate. Stack all of that up and LATAM's published minimum is 110 minutes, and even that assumes your international flight landed on time. If your inbound is late, this is the connection that unravels first.

SAG is Chile's agricultural inspection service, and its checkpoint sits alongside Customs at the arrivals point where you re-hand your bags. It's a normal step, not a problem, but it's one more line, so don't picture an international-to-domestic Santiago connection as a quick walk. Picture immigration, bag claim, a re-drop and a terminal change.

Domestic to international is easier than it looks

The reverse direction, and the good news within the terminal split.

Going the other way, from a domestic Chilean flight onto an international one, you move from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2, but the published minimum is only 75 minutes, not 110. The reason is that on a single LATAM reservation code your checked bag is not re-dropped, it's already tagged through, and you handle the immigration and customs formalities on the Terminal 2 side. You still change terminals across the same external stretch, so it isn't instant, but you're not collecting and re-handing bags, which is what makes the opposite direction so much longer. The single-reservation-code detail matters: if your legs are on separate tickets, that through-bag protection can fall away, so tell us how your trip is ticketed.

Sao Paulo and Lima: no clear published minimum

LATAM's other big hubs, where the honest answer is "leave more time."

LATAM's other major connecting points are Sao Paulo (GRU) and Lima (LIM), and here we won't pretend to a precise number. We don't rely on a single published minimum connection time for GRU or LIM the way LATAM publishes one for Santiago. So the honest advice is different: leave generous time, especially if your connection crosses between international and domestic or involves an immigration step, and confirm your specific connection before you commit. A connection that would be fine in Santiago at 65 minutes is not something we'd assume is safe at GRU or LIM without checking. Give us the route and we'll pressure-test it rather than guess.

Where we can't cite a published figure, we say so; that's the point of calling before you book a tight one.

If your LATAM trip enters or ends in the United States

A separate layer that has nothing to do with Santiago.

None of the Santiago figures apply once you reach the US. Arriving into the United States, whether it's your final stop or a US connection, you clear US customs and immigration and re-check your checked bag at your first US airport, exactly as on any US arrival. On a same-day onward US connection, that customs-and-recheck step eats real time, so a layover that looked comfortable on paper can be tight. If your LATAM trip touches the US, treat the US airport, not Santiago, as the place you need a healthy connection buffer, and price the Santiago minimums and the US arrival as two separate problems.

How much connection time is really enough?

A published minimum is "legal," not "comfortable."

LATAM won't sell you a Santiago connection shorter than the minimum for your direction, so any itinerary you can book is technically valid. But a minimum assumes your inbound is on time, your gate isn't at the far end, and nothing goes sideways at immigration or the bag belt. A late arrival, a distant gate, or the extra steps of an international-to-domestic connection can all swallow the cushion. If your layover sits close to the published floor, or your trip mixes a Santiago terminal change with a later US arrival, call us before you book and we'll tell you whether it's realistic or whether a slightly later flight saves you a missed connection.

Minimum connection times are set per airport and direction and change; an agent checks the current one for your exact routing.

If you misconnect

What to do in the first few minutes.

If a late LATAM flight causes you to miss the onward one, LATAM rebooks you on the next available flight, and because it's a single airline through its own hub, that's often simpler than an interline mess. Get to a LATAM agent and get us on the phone at the same time, the next seats go to whoever asks first. Our full guide to changing and rebooking a LATAM flight is on the changes & cancellations page.

Before you fly, the connection checklist

Thirty seconds now saves a very bad surprise at the belt.

• Which of the four Santiago connections is yours? Domestic, international, or a terminal change, that decides your minimum
• Are you international to domestic? If so, plan for immigration, collecting your bags, a re-drop and the walk to Terminal 1
• Is it one LATAM reservation code? Separate tickets may lose the through-bag protection and aren't connection-protected
• Connecting at GRU or LIM instead? No clear published minimum, leave generous time and let us confirm it

Frequently asked

Contact options

Reach LATAM directly, or let us check your connection is realistic.

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