In January I had the chance to travel through Brazil’s Sao Paulo’s airport. I had the chance to travel through it again this past weekend. The international Terminal 3, is new, that’s what I saw in January, and what I’ll cover first. Second I’ll cover some changes I noticed from Terminal 2, which I had previously flown out of.
Sao Paulo Terminal 3
First off, the check-in area is much more roomy:
Despite that, there were a ton of people.
Even with American Airlines Priority, we had quite the wait.
Once we did make it in, we found the terminal still to be pretty expansive… The below photo is the ramp to the lounges.
There were a few lounges, American has one, and there was an American Express lounge that we found was also used by Emirates. First the American lounge:
I found the American Airlines lounge to be one of the nicest, if not the nicest lounge American has overseas. This isn’t terribly surprising, since its one of the newest lounges, but, lets just say, I walked in with very low expectations and was pleasantly surprised.
Now the Executive Lounge (that Emirates and a handful of others use):
Overall, neither really left me feeling like they should be written home about, except that I had the memory of the old lounges that were horrible. Back down to the terminal, there were some moving walkways and the usual suspects of establishments.
But there were some even better. I was particularly surprised to see a Jimmy Buffett Margaritaville. I’m not going to lie, had I know this existed, I would’ve skipped the lounge, grabbed some nachos and at least one incommunicado (think long island ice tea, island style).
If my previous statement didn’t sell you, well, this is the Margaritaville bar. Notice those mini-blenders? A “woman to blame” could be filling that while you are waiting for your flight. You might not even realize that you blew out your flip flop, on the way.
The below view is what you might get as your looking back at Margaritaville, wishing you weren’t on your way to board your flight.
Transitioning from Terminal 3 to Terminal 2
As you make your way to Terminal 2, they have a Red Lobster. I totally didn’t expect to see this. Just to be clear, this one is landside, meaning, you can visit it without going through security.
Ticketing before Terminal 3, I think this was probably Terminal 2, but it was hard to be sure.
More ticketing in Terminal 2 (enroute to Terminal 3).
Even more ticketing in Terminal 2 (enroute to Terminal 3).
Just in case you were having a hard time telling, GRU Airport is trying to improve!
Terminal 2
The last time I visited Terminal 2, it was flying United, and also 3 years ago. Flying through more recently, there were the same glass separation, although I have to say the flooring was improved, as well as the smell.
As you walk through, you could see some areas where the old terminal shone through. Luckily, they were few and far between.
Wrapping Up
I was quite happy to see the airport looking a little bit better. I’d say Sao Paulo Brazil’s Airport Terminal 3 is a huge, huge improvement, and puts it on par with many of the better airports. In truth, Terminal 3 really reminded me of Denpasar-Bali’s new International Airport. It seems to be a “style” I’ll say, and I don’t say that in a bad way.
