Argentina - Recoleta to EZE on a summer Friday afternoon

Will there be a lot of traffic from Recoleta to EZE on a Friday afternoon at the end of January? Looking to get to EZE around 5:30-6pm and want to have an idea of what the traffic situation is like. Was planning on an hour travel time but should I leave earlier to account for increased airport traffic or people looking to leave the city? Thanks.

There is normally less traffic in January as everyone is one holiday - an hour should be fine. I would advise arriving at EZE a minimum of 2 hours before your flight assuming you have elite status to jump the check-in queues, otherwise 3 hours. I always plan on getting there 3 hours before to allow for any problems. Eastbay1K posted here (http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/argentina/1171119-eze-wait-time-warning.html) that EZE was chaos the other day so allow plenty of time!

I think that since its a Friday, you should plan 90 minutes to EZE, just to be safe.

Or last night, you should have planned on leaving BA four hours before your departure, or more if you didn't have status ...

Piqueteros invaded the autopista Richieri (altura de Mercado Central) last night around 8 pm, so the police cut the highway and let the protesters demonstrate on the highway. After an hour the police cleared the autopista, but not until thousands of cars for 10s of km were backed up trying to get to EZE. As far as I can tell, no flights were delayed because of missing passengers so I guess there were quite a few people who were SOL last night, and will have trouble getting reaccommodated given the flights loads this month.

I can't find any reports in the online newspapers this morning as to who the protestors were, because today's news is that kirchneristas/Moyano supporters are blocking (yet again) the plants of the majors daily newspapers La Nacion and Clarin.

Another day, another example of the K administration's support of actions that disrupt daily life in Argentina.

"Argentina un país en serio" :rolleyes:

John

Or last night, you should have planned on leaving BA four hours before your departure, or more if you didn't have status ...

Piqueteros invaded the autopista Richieri

That happened to us a couple of years ago and taught us a lesson.

For years we left the house four hours before departure for the two hour drive to EZE (100 miles away). This time we got caught by a protesters blockade on the Gral Paz. We took side roads and crawled along taking an age to cover 1 kilometre until the police waved us back on to an empty autopista only for us to come face to face with the protesters and their fires ....quite frightening it was too especially when the police arrived to break it up. The protesters walked past the car waving their sticks and shouting at us although I doubt they had any bad intentions. It was a mistake by the police to wave us back on to the Gral Paz before the road had been cleared. :rolleyes:

That was a wake up call as we were on a 140,000 mile redemption and could have lost the lot had we been held up longer. In the end the captain held departure for over half an hour to allow many people who were also caught up in it to make it...unfortunately some missed it.
Of course that was extreme and on most occasions we always arrive within ten minutes of our planned time. A delay can happen anywhere on any drive to any airport but from then on we give ourselves an extra hour to make the trip.
One hour is plenty of time for your journey but just to be on the safe side an extra half an hour wouldn't do any harm.

Or last night, you should have planned on leaving BA four hours before your departure, or more if you didn't have status ...

Piqueteros invaded the autopista Richieri (altura de Mercado Central) last night around 8 pm, so the police cut the highway and let the protesters demonstrate on the highway. After an hour the police cleared the autopista, but not until thousands of cars for 10s of km were backed up trying to get to EZE. As far as I can tell, no flights were delayed because of missing passengers so I guess there were quite a few people who were SOL last night, and will have trouble getting reaccommodated given the flights loads this month.

I can't find any reports in the online newspapers this morning as to who the protestors were, because today's news is that kirchneristas/Moyano supporters are blocking (yet again) the plants of the majors daily newspapers La Nacion and Clarin.

Another day, another example of the K administration's support of actions that disrupt daily life in Argentina.

"Argentina un país en serio" :rolleyes:


Amen !!! ^

All I can say is.... Vote a SoFlyOn, Presidente 2011 !!!! ^

I guess I was lucky today (Sat. morning). No traffic on the road (about 35 min.), check-in, security and immigration took about a combined 10-15 min. (LAN Chile flight).

I usually fly out anywhere from the late afternoon through the mid evening (but prior to the big rush of North America flights). Even if I have a later flight, I like to be sure and be on the autopista no later than 430pm. I've spent a lot of boring lounge-hopping time @ EZE because of this, because sometimes I'm there in 25 minutes, but that is better than the alternative. I would always allow 1 hour time for the highway. (My place is a block from the onramp, so that is the total travel time I allow). It is rare that my trip to EZE is more than 45 minutes, but you just never know. I once had an inbound trip where a bunch of truckers decided to block a lane, protesting whatever, and it was an hour just to the first toll plaza. I also plan on an EZE arrival no later than 2.5 hours prior to flight time, and in any event, I don't leave after 4:30pm. This is all for premium cabin travel. (If I had a very late flight, I'm not quite sure what my timing would be, but probably similar.)

Sometimes, from my front door, to the craptastic AA lounge is a total of an hour. Last week, from just after check-in, to the same craptastic lounge, was an hour. (However, the trip to EZE was about 25 minutes.)

From Recoleta, I'd add 30 minutes to my times in an abundance of caution.

I've never missed a flight, or even came close to it. But if, for instance, on the last trip there was an issue on the highway, combined with the EZE wait times, the day would have perhaps not ended the same way.

Amen !!! ^

All I can say is.... Vote a SoFlyOn, Presidente 2011 !!!! ^So Alex, are you offering to be my bag man (or should that be valija man? :D)

So Alex, are you offering to be my bag man (or should that be valija man? :D)

Si Sr. Presidente !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Si Sr. Presidente !!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Now, now, do you really want another president that has to flee the country via helicopter? :eek: :D

We now return this previously-hijacked thread to its original topic.

The most annoying thing about my experience was that when the police cut the autopista I was only ~10 minutes from the airport, and over 2 hours before scheduled departure. I was stopped maybe 200 meters from where the protesters were.

I'd left my apartment 3.25 hrs before flight time, figuring that traffic might be heavier on Gral Paz on a Friday evening, but it turned out that it was only about 10 minutes more than usual.

The police were of course not there to move the protesters off the autopista, but to ensure that they could demonstrate freely and cause chaos by stopping traffic reaching EZE. At the end of the prearranged time, the protesters just walked off the autopista, and the police opened it up to traffic once again.

This seems to be a favorite tactic, and it was at least only for an hour. About a year ago SENASA protesters blocked the same autopista for 3 hours.

I guess that last Friday night's protest on the autopista was so successful, that a repeat performance was staged today:
http://www.clarin.com/sociedad/protesta-colas-kilometros-llegar-Ezeiza_0_411559072.html

If the taxista knows about this before approaching the scene, are there any alternative (even if somewhat inconvenient) routings?

If the taxista knows about this before approaching the scene, are there any alternative (even if somewhat inconvenient) routings?

There are alternatives. Trouble is, as everyone else has the same idea it usually ends up in gridlock due to the state of the roads.

Thanks for the advice. I can use the J/F check in line and I'm an Admirals Club member so won't mind enjoying some Malbec before getting on my flight.

Are these protests usually planned/announced in advance? Do they usually take place on a Friday afternoon? Of course, that is the day that I will be heading back to EZE. :mad:

Are these protests usually planned/announced in advance? Do they usually take place on a Friday afternoon? Of course, that is the day that I will be heading back to EZE. :mad:

Seldom planned in advanced. Then again, nothing is planned in Argentina. More than once I had to take side streets to about half way to the airport from downtown BA. And yes, like it was mentioned in another post, everyone does that too ! The side streets make a good cultural experience for those curious about quasi-slums ways of life.

Good luck.

--J