Hello everybody.
I need to travel to Cordoba, Argentina from New York. I found a very cheap fare with Aerolineas Argentinas, but I hear that their flights are usually delay, or have some kind of problem.
I wanted to know if anyone used them recently and could give me a feed back.
Thanks so much!

Hello everybody.
I need to travel to Cordoba, Argentina from New York. I found a very cheap fare with Aerolineas Argentinas, but I hear that their flights are usually delay, or have some kind of problem.
I wanted to know if anyone used them recently and could give me a feed back.
Thanks so much!

Havent used them recently so I cant comment on recent timeliness. Something I found out that might interest you though:

Internal flights booked on Aerolineas Argentina are [at least they were] much less expensive if bought in conjuction with the international leg on Aerolineas Argentina. So if you have the idea to take AA to BA and then Aerolineas Argentina to Cordoba make sure you check out the total pricing independently.

2) Going to Cordoba might mean

I flew them a few months ago on domestic legs (AEP-IGR-AEP) and found the flights to be similar to domestic coach in the USA. My flights left and arrived on-time and a wafer-thin sandwich (one slice of meat) was served in coach on each leg.

The domestic sectors are sufficiently ok that I'd fly them. Flying them long-haul? Not for me.

I've flown on AR maaany times and internationally it's fine. Domestically I have my issues...it's more to do with Argentinean air traffic control issues- I'd do LAN for that segment if you can.

Domestic service is much worse than international.... having said that, your international flight experience will depend heavily on what crew you get and on what metal you will be flying. In my recent experience, international crews can be outright horrible (UA matron style) or be extra pleasant... its a coin toss of sorts.

If you can snatch a good fare and are out to save a few $$$, then I suggest you go for it.... if you are out for the special travel experience, then AR is probably too risky of a bet at this time. Also, consider that with AR you probably wont be able to get mileage on your favorite FFP... unless they have signed agreements as of late that Im not aware of.

Thanks everyone for your replies!
Yeah, I've flown with Aerolineas Argentinas in the past, about 4 or 5 times. And it's true what you guys say: the long strech: New York-Buenos Aires-New York was usually fine. The problem is always been Buenos Aires-Cordoba-Buenos Aires. Last year we were stuck in Ezeiza airport for 28 hours!!!!!! with our 3 month old baby boy!!. They didn't even want to pay for a hotel room. They kept saying: you'll be in a flight in the next 4 hours...
I need to flight again and all airlines are about $1300. Aerolineas Argentinas is $846!. A huge difference....pretty tempting. But I'm flying alone with my 15 months old.

So everybody agrees I should keep away, eh?

Well, from your last comment - I think that you should fly AR. Why...? Simple.... first you have almost $500 difference, second, if your problems are most for the domestic flight segments, then not flying AR on the long haul will not solve your problems.... since you will most probably have to fly AR domestic anyways. Therefore, unless you can do everything on LAN, which means coming most probably via Santiago de Chile, I suggest you take AR. Unless you can grab LAN on their MIA flight, although I dont know how you would deal with the NYC to MIA segment.

I apologize for straying from the original subject, but I'm flying from Buenos Aires to Auckland, NZ in a couple of months. Aerolineas Argentinas has the only nonstop service, so it's the logical choice. Has anybody been on that flight? Is the premium cabin (Club Condor) worth it?

I apologize for straying from the original subject, but I'm flying from Buenos Aires to Auckland, NZ in a couple of months. Aerolineas Argentinas has the only nonstop service, so it's the logical choice. Has anybody been on that flight? Is the premium cabin (Club Condor) worth it?

Wow, I wasnt aware that AR was again flying this route... thanks for the heads up.

speaking of airlines, does anyone know anything about pluna? we need to schedule a flight to BsAs from PDE and can't decided betwen airolineas and pluna. thanks!

At similar pricing, I suggest you go for Pluna. Less chance of your flights being late.

Thanks Gaucho! I really appreciate all of your input!

I made some flight reservations yesterday both on Aerolineas and on Pluna. The website allowed me to confirm the reservation, but I didn't see where to pay for the flight! Do you know how I can go about doing this?

Sorry, I cant help you with Pluna. With Aerolineas, purchasing online should be possilble.

Dont believe that Aerolinas flies non stop ny to eze it flies thru Mia secondly I dont know where you are getting prices from aa is showing 773 non stop jfk to eze... Also service jfk-eze is horrible on Aerolinas.


Sorry spoke to soon,, They do have some non stops on some days and one stops other. But the good thing is maybe that is the reason that AA has lowered somewhat the fare.

Hello everybody.
I made a reservation last week to go from JFK to Cordoba. The fare was $846 with taxes and everything.
It is supposed to go non-stop to EZE. I've flown with them before, and besides the problems they ALWAYS have with delays or flight cancellations, the service itself was ok. Probably could compare to LAN.
But it's happened that they tell you direct to EZE and then they stop in MIA anyway. Which I would hate if they do that this time because I'm flying with my baby alone, and it's a pain to setup everything so the baby can be comfy and fall sleep and then you have to pack up, get off, wait, go back in, etc.

So, is this Pluna company associated with Aerolineas?

It seems like AR now flies both 1 stop service from JFK to EZE (via MIA), and non-stop to EZE. You should be able to know for sure by calling the 800 number in the USA.

Pluna is the flag carrier of Uruguay, and is in no way related or associated to Aerolineas Argentinas.

I recently flew 4 domestic legs on Aerolineas, and found all 4 to be on time (one was 30 minutes late).

Compared to US domestic flights, there is at least food (fairly substantial on AEP-El Calafate and back).

One leg in F was decent -- IGR-EZE had a small meal, and attentive service.

Other than the scrum at boarding, I can't complain.

Aerolineas Argentinas should be avoided. It can never be a serious airline because it operates in a country (sadly) which has little to no oversight in terms of air safety- and I do not exaggerate. Fly in and get out of Argentine airspace.

Argentina is one of the only countries left in the world that still allows air traffic control to be handled by its military. And it is paid handsomely for it!

I won't fly them again after a "slam" landing in Iguazu a few years ago...fortunately (and I say this with sadness) not the slam landing at Aeroparque...

More importantly after seeing Enrique Pineiro's documentaries about the Argentine air regulations... a must for anyone travelling to Argentina. The FAA shamefully returned all of Mr. Pineiro's documentation back to the Argentine authorities and proceeded to elevate their safety level back to Category 1... hmmm...a shocker under this administration...

Aerolineas Argentinas should be avoided. It can never be a serious airline because it operates in a country (sadly) which has little to no oversight in terms of air safety- and I do not exaggerate. Fly in and get out of Argentine airspace.

Argentina is one of the only countries left in the world that still allows air traffic control to be handled by its military. And it is paid handsomely for it!

I won't fly them again after a "slam" landing in Iguazu a few years ago...fortunately (and I say this with sadness) not the slam landing at Aeroparque...

More importantly after seeing Enrique Pineiro's documentaries about the Argentine air regulations... a must for anyone travelling to Argentina. The FAA shamefully returned all of Mr. Pineiro's documentation back to the Argentine authorities and proceeded to elevate their safety level back to Category 1... hmmm...a shocker under this administration...

I wasnt aware of the fact that the FAA appears to have turned a blind eye to Pinieiro's documentation..... strange this hasnt been covered in the local press!! :eek:

This reply addresses the post by both Flor2006 and fsexman as I have just returned from a flight SYD-AKL-EZE-COR return, travelling Club Condor (C Class). As I have flown on AR in the past, I tried to avoid AR this time and would have preferred to fly Lan Chile but as I made last minute arrangements over the Xmas/New Year holidays, the only flights available were on AR.

In reply to fsexman: After 20 years of flying mostly C class, I would say that the entire experience of flying on AR was about the worse I have ever had, and I could compare it only to say my flights on Bangladeshi Airways or Air India. My comments:
1. Firstly the delays. Flight SYD-AKL was delayed 3 hours. No announcement was ever made. No explanation ever given. Just a lame "sorry for the delay and we apologise for any inconvenience", which you will soon learn prefaces almost every AR flight you will take!

2. When we went to board there was no separate queue for business class and no one took any steps to invite business class passengers up so you just waited in the queue. This issue wasn’t really a big deal, but then again this extra level of service is why we pay the higher C class fare.

3. Then we were delayed another 2 hours out of AKL, again with no announcement given. When I purchased duty free at AKL airport and gave the sales girl my flight number, she laughed and said "Oh, you're on that flight that is ALWAYS delayed!".

4. We arrived several hours late in Buenos Aires, and there was NOT ONE SINGLE announcement to advise passengers what would happen regarding the international and domestic connections that many people had missed. In the seats near me there were very upset people and a near revolt by those who had missed the only flight of the day to various cities in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. All they wanted was information and to know what arrangements/assistance would be offered by AR with their onward flights. They were just told to go to the transfer desk when you arrive. HA! The transfer desk was TOTAL CHAOS, as I soon learned by looking at the arrival and departure signs in the terminal that most flights were delayed and everyone was clamouring for assistance. There was no special assistance for business class passengers - they had to elbow their way to the counter along with many many very angry frustrated people.

5. My return flight EZE-SYD arrived 5 hours late.

6. Now.. regarding the service on the long haul sectors SYD-AKL-EZE and return: The most charitable way to describe the overall AR experience is to say that it was shockingly bad, at least when compared to my experiences with QF, NZ, SQ, TG, CX or even UA.
a. Seat pockets were torn.
b. Seats in C class were the old ones I remember from 10 – 12 years ago. No flat beds here! No fancy footrests, no big screen tvs either!
c. The individual TV screens were the original very small ones that first came out. Although there was a listing of the general movies of the month shown across the AR network, there was no tv/movie program relating to my flights, so you had no idea what was showing. About 3 hours into the AKL-EZE flight there was still nothing on the screen, when suddenly, after the meal service, a FA announced that the video program would commence and that there were 4 movies available. (Interestingly they were not the ones in the program, so you had to flick through them all as they were starting to see what was showing!)
d. The food.. Best not to talk about the meals! They were worse than hospital food, served on a small plastic tray out of a trolley in those disposable aluminium dishes. Coffee served was instant Nescafé. YUK. No menus, no china plates, no difference to economy class meals. YUK again and not worthy to be called business class meals.
e. Most surprisingly NONE of the AR flights offered a pre-dinner drink service, not even on the 12 hour flights. After take off, you didn’t see the flight attendants for about 2 hours until they started to serve the meals. The drink trolley was immediately in front of the meal trolley. A second glass of wine was never offered. Although there was no problem getting a refill if you rang your call button or asked for one, I would have expected someone to go back through the aisle offering a top-up.

7. I could go on and on, but I think you get the message. Despite the above comments I emphasize that I am not a particularly demanding passenger, as my comments relate to pretty basic levels of service one would expect to find on any business class flights. The major differences between airlines are the little things, and the finesse with which they are done. However with AR the basics in business class are sorely lacking and I will NEVER fly them again, so I suggest you try to take Lan Chile if at all possible as they are a far better airline. I have flown LAN on 4 occasions mainly from Havana and Mexico, but they flew new aircraft, and their meals and service in C class were very good.

In answer to Flor2006, my experience was that many domestic flights are delayed. This trip I only went to Córdoba but almost every flight showing on the departure panel was delayed or cancelled. No reason was ever given for a delayed flight. My advice would be to allow far more time than would normally be the case for your connections, and not to expect much help or sympathy from AR staff. They are a hardened lot!

In summary, I reiterate: AVOID AR id at all possible!

Typically, how delayed are domestic flights?

For example, would you recommend doing this in one day:
IGR-AEP 10:15am-12:05pm
AEP-FTE 1:40pm-4:53pm

There is a 1 hr 35 min connection ... is it too risky? This is the only way I can make it from IGR to FTE in 1 day.

Typically, how delayed are domestic flights?

For example, would you recommend doing this in one day:
IGR-AEP 10:15am-12:05pm
AEP-FTE 1:40pm-4:53pm

There is a 1 hr 35 min connection ... is it too risky? This is the only way I can make it from IGR to FTE in 1 day.
There is no "typical" delay time with AR. It is all luck of the draw. Maybe they go on time and maybe they don't. And you will never know why so many flights are delayed because they never make any announcements, never give any reason for the delays, or give any reliable indication of how long the delay might be. If you go to the desk and ask, expect a surly reply but don't put too much faith in what they tell you. You will know how long the delay was once your flight takes off! I have been going to Argentine for about 20 years and have rarely experienced on-time, hassle-free travel. Once you eventually arrive and get over the "AR effect", you will have a wonderful time!.

This reply addresses the post by both Flor2006 and fsexman as I have just returned from a flight SYD-AKL-EZE-COR return, travelling Club Condor (C Class). As I have flown on AR in the past, I tried to avoid AR this time and would have preferred to fly Lan Chile but as I made last minute arrangements over the Xmas/New Year holidays, the only flights available were on AR.

In reply to fsexman: After 20 years of flying mostly C class, I would say that the entire experience of flying on AR was about the worse I have ever had, and I could compare it only to say my flights on Bangladeshi Airways or Air India. My comments:
1. Firstly the delays. Flight SYD-AKL was delayed 3 hours. No announcement was ever made. No explanation ever given. Just a lame "sorry for the delay and we apologise for any inconvenience", which you will soon learn prefaces almost every AR flight you will take!

2. When we went to board there was no separate queue for business class and no one took any steps to invite business class passengers up so you just waited in the queue. This issue wasn’t really a big deal, but then again this extra level of service is why we pay the higher C class fare.

3. Then we were delayed another 2 hours out of AKL, again with no announcement given. When I purchased duty free at AKL airport and gave the sales girl my flight number, she laughed and said "Oh, you're on that flight that is ALWAYS delayed!".

4. We arrived several hours late in Buenos Aires, and there was NOT ONE SINGLE announcement to advise passengers what would happen regarding the international and domestic connections that many people had missed. In the seats near me there were very upset people and a near revolt by those who had missed the only flight of the day to various cities in Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Brazil. All they wanted was information and to know what arrangements/assistance would be offered by AR with their onward flights. They were just told to go to the transfer desk when you arrive. HA! The transfer desk was TOTAL CHAOS, as I soon learned by looking at the arrival and departure signs in the terminal that most flights were delayed and everyone was clamouring for assistance. There was no special assistance for business class passengers - they had to elbow their way to the counter along with many many very angry frustrated people.

5. My return flight EZE-SYD arrived 5 hours late.

6. Now.. regarding the service on the long haul sectors SYD-AKL-EZE and return: The most charitable way to describe the overall AR experience is to say that it was shockingly bad, at least when compared to my experiences with QF, NZ, SQ, TG, CX or even UA.
a. Seat pockets were torn.
b. Seats in C class were the old ones I remember from 10 – 12 years ago. No flat beds here! No fancy footrests, no big screen tvs either!
c. The individual TV screens were the original very small ones that first came out. Although there was a listing of the general movies of the month shown across the AR network, there was no tv/movie program relating to my flights, so you had no idea what was showing. About 3 hours into the AKL-EZE flight there was still nothing on the screen, when suddenly, after the meal service, a FA announced that the video program would commence and that there were 4 movies available. (Interestingly they were not the ones in the program, so you had to flick through them all as they were starting to see what was showing!)
d. The food.. Best not to talk about the meals! They were worse than hospital food, served on a small plastic tray out of a trolley in those disposable aluminium dishes. Coffee served was instant Nescafé. YUK. No menus, no china plates, no difference to economy class meals. YUK again and not worthy to be called business class meals.
e. Most surprisingly NONE of the AR flights offered a pre-dinner drink service, not even on the 12 hour flights. After take off, you didn’t see the flight attendants for about 2 hours until they started to serve the meals. The drink trolley was immediately in front of the meal trolley. A second glass of wine was never offered. Although there was no problem getting a refill if you rang your call button or asked for one, I would have expected someone to go back through the aisle offering a top-up.

7. I could go on and on, but I think you get the message. Despite the above comments I emphasize that I am not a particularly demanding passenger, as my comments relate to pretty basic levels of service one would expect to find on any business class flights. The major differences between airlines are the little things, and the finesse with which they are done. However with AR the basics in business class are sorely lacking and I will NEVER fly them again, so I suggest you try to take Lan Chile if at all possible as they are a far better airline. I have flown LAN on 4 occasions mainly from Havana and Mexico, but they flew new aircraft, and their meals and service in C class were very good.

In answer to Flor2006, my experience was that many domestic flights are delayed. This trip I only went to Córdoba but almost every flight showing on the departure panel was delayed or cancelled. No reason was ever given for a delayed flight. My advice would be to allow far more time than would normally be the case for your connections, and not to expect much help or sympathy from AR staff. They are a hardened lot!

In summary, I reiterate: AVOID AR id at all possible!




Wow!!!....you did have problems with your flights, hum?
Me too. I've flown with them about 5 times, and every time I say: "this is it. Never ever again will I fly Aerolineas Argentinas". And here I am again, about to fly with them again in 3 weeks. What happens is that they give you this killer fares, that you can't resist. They were about half the price than every body else.
I just hope I get lucky this time.
I heard that They bought a few more planes, and that they fixed some of the ones they had, so that should fix their problems a little bit.
And I've been checking this site, that gives you the arrivals and departures, and they tell you if they are delayed or canceled, and about 3 out of 10 flights are delayed. (www.aa2000.com.ar)
Anyway...thanks for everyone's tips!

Hi, I was looking for information about what the american FAA thinks about Piñeiro´s movie and I only found this at the moment. Do you know where can I find more information about this? I saw the movie and I had to laugh to avoid crying! Its really amazing but doesnt surprise me at all. As an argentinian Im very used to it, Argentina is not only corrupt in this area but in EVERYTHING, Its a real mess. =/

We have been planning a trip to visit friends in Beunos Aires from Auckland, NZ and have the 2 options, either LAN via Santiago or AA direct.
I have been told to take LAN if possible however, as has been stated in other postings AA gives you great prices. We can get to BA for NZ$1300 less! We will be flying with an 11 month old; the difference in his fares are LAN $511 or AA $186! Quite significant as you are not guaranteed a bassinet on either flight.
I have heard today from my friend that "I must warn you that AA do not have much safety equipment for kids - no seat belt (from what I have experienced) or no fastening of bassinet (from what I have heard). "

Can anyone confirm this?

The cheaper flight is tempting as it is a means from getting from A to B and saving some $$$ to do more sightseeing etc, but is it worth the risk?

I might monitor the flights from this end to see how many delays there are! But delays happpen on all airlines from time to time. On a trip back to NZ from Europe we had 2 planes with mechanical failure, one whilst in the air, and ended up going through SING instead of HK to find flights and that was with Star Alliance airlines.


The other question I have is what your opinions on the LANPass or the AA Pass are? These prices differ and may cancel the savings out.

I was also told about a TAM airways pass and that my brother who recently flew on them was pleasantly suprised, it wasn't the low budget no frills airline he was expecting.

We plan to travel in April so you can see we have to make a decision soon and am getting really confused :-)

NZmum-- I would suggest you contacting the local AA office in New Zealand and bringing up the issue of child safety & basinette issues. If the fare difference is something you wish to take advantage of and are willing to forgo top service, then perhaps Aerolineas is a good option for you. However, I can completely understand your concerns about the safety of your baby and I therefore suggest you take this up with the Aerolineas office and get them to give you assurances on what is available on your flights.

Have taken Gaucho100K's advice and called my local AA office. They confirmed that they did not have any infant safety belts on their airline, and that the bassinets were only for baies up to 6 months or 7kg.
I then rang LAN Chile as they are the only other airline servicing and co-share with QANTAS and their bassinets are for up to 4 months. (but they do have child seat belts). The fare difference for 2 adults and an infant is NZ$1300 and since we will have to have our baby on our lap either flight. I also think that I may wear the front pack with my baby during take-off, landing and seatbelt signs and feel quite comfortable with this decision because if we need to vacate the aircraft for any reason I will then have a firm hold of him and have my hands free.
I think that we may take the punt and hope for a nice crew on AA and no delays :-)
I asked about the reason why so many people warned me about delays and was told that last year there was an airbus down for maintenance and that a plane from Rome was also being used on the NZ so if there was a delay from Rome then there was a delay from here... He assured me that they have been more punctual lately.
I was impressed with the assistance from AA and the lack of enthusiam and volunteering of information from LAN so I can only hope that the aircrew are as friendly and helpful as the person who helped me yesterday.

When we flew Aerolineas AEP-IGR-AEP it was fine on the way out but the way back we had a 2, then make that 3, then make that 5 hour delay. I asked the staff if this was normal and the answer was along the lines of "yes, sorry for the inconvenience". We did get something like 9 pesos credit for the food hall.

LAN had delays that day too - so I can't say how endemic to AR it is, but the staff attitude implied it. Oh, and there is NOTHING to do at IGR.

NZMum--

Glad to have been able to help you at least a little. I hope you flights work out OK, if you get a chance to post your experiences after your flights that would be great.

From reading your posts its clear to me that you are a "people person" and I think that with this gentle & polite attitude you will find that most AR cabin staff you deal with will try to be helpful. Aerolineas as a company has been in decline for many years now, and I am a great critic of its overall product & service (I am ashamed that our national flag carrier has sunk to the current lows), alas, a smile and a positive approach in dealing with the staff which is at the front lines of a company that doesnt offer them the best tools to work with will take you a long long way.

Good luck with your journey!!

I flew EZE-AKL-EZE last month starting with very low expectations. I have to say it wasn't as bad as I imagined. The big plus is the ability to fly nonstop, which I value tremendously. other notes:

- the Club Condor seats were pretty old but relatively comfortable. Worse than Air NZ or United, perhaps comparable to Varig. It could have been worse.
- entertainment was lacking (same three movies both ways for a 13-hour flight).
- the food was ok and the service was average. I've had worse service on other carriers' premium cabins. The crew is not as uptight as in most US carriers, which I like but some may not.
- both flights were delayed by about three hours, which seems par for the course.

Having said that, I would choose that flight again over LAN because I hate stopovers more than anything. I fly between LAX and EZE pretty often, and if AR resumed flying that route nonstop they'd have me as a regular and I'd go back and forth more often than I already do.

I apologize for straying from the original subject, but I'm flying from Buenos Aires to Auckland, NZ in a couple of months. Aerolineas Argentinas has the only nonstop service, so it's the logical choice. Has anybody been on that flight? Is the premium cabin (Club Condor) worth it?

I'd avoid it...I've heard nothing good about that flight, and the few times I've flown Aerolineas I haven't been impressed. And I can't stand their policy of charging Argentine residents less than foreigners for domestic flights...reason enough to avoid them.

The best alternative is LAN, which runs direct flights from SCL to AKL, not daily but several times a week. Departs just before midnight and you arrive around 4:00 a.m. two days later...it's the first flight in so you fly through immigration and customs. There are plenty of flights every day from EZE to SCL so connections should not be a problem.

While Im a huge critic of Aerolineas Argentinas and always suggest taking LAN over AR whenever you have a choice, it must be said that for domestic flights, LAN has the same policy as AR which means that they also offer resident only fares.

At similar pricing, I suggest you go for Pluna. Less chance of your flights being late.

PLUNA has recently been 'acquired' by Leadgate Investments who plan to turn what is a small but very decent airline (with an excellent 75 year safety record) into a major regional player with MVD's new airport to become a hub to get people to/from Europe (they go into MAD) and (soon) MIA. They have just ordered a stack of new CRJ900's and are looking for 4-5 l/h aircarft as well.

Basically my understnding is that the new owners are pulling out all the stops to offer a high quality service. You won't see the new aircraft yet but do use them to get to Punta del Este... and let us know how you get on! :)

Hello BA or bust, thanks for posting this. Is Leadgate a UK based Investment Fund....? Do they have other airline investments..? If you have a link to more information, I would love to read more on this.

This is GREAT news for regional travelers.... ^