Argentina - SFO-BUE/MVD-SFO plus 4 AR flights within Argentina

I have tried reading as many posts here as possible. We are rather late in booking a 3 week trip to Argentina/Uruguay mid-Nov to early Dec, 2011.
We are working with a wonderful travel agent in Buenos Aires for the land portion and she can help us with our domestic flights if we want. I am getting overwhelmed. Unfortunately we do need to use AR domestically. Our itinerary is:
SFO/BUE
BUE/MDZ
MDZ/SLA
SLA/IGR
IGR/BUE
MVD/SFO

Any suggestions on the best way to tackle this would be most appreciated!

Make sure your TA knows that you are not willing to take the risk of Argentina resident fares - you can end up with nasty surprises when you check in.

What carrier are you flying to/from North America? Are you sure LAN doesn't fly all the domestic segments? You can buy a South America airpass if you fly in on LAN or a Oneworld carrier. I don't know what kind of pass (if any) AR offers. If you fly AR, allow a LOT of time cushion, if the amount of time cushion of needing to get to a connection, or to a place on time, is important. Your TA cannot help you with the airpasses, because they cannot be purchased in Argentina.

Also, see how your trip prices if you try and book all the segments in one ticket. You might be surprised - it might be less than if you buy the int'l as one and the domestics as another. It could also work the other way. But you could theoretically end up with a better baggage allowance on some segments. Just something to think about.

I just spent some time on the LAN website and talked with a very nice reservation agent. We can do it all on LAN if we forego nonstops Mendoza-Salta and Salta-Iguazu. The international air SFO-BUE/ MVD-SFO with taxes is $1062 and the airpass for BUE-MDZ-SLA-IGR-BUE is $1135 and we get the 2 checked pieces, 50lbs each on all flights. We only plan to take one piece of luggage each. It sounds like even if we have to connect via BUE two times it is better than risking horrible service on Aerolineas Argentinas? The LAN international flights connect via Lima.
Are we on the right track here? Does $2197 for all those flights seem ballpark?

I just spent some time on the LAN website and talked with a very nice reservation agent. We can do it all on LAN if we forego nonstops Mendoza-Salta and Salta-Iguazu. The international air SFO-BUE/ MVD-SFO with taxes is $1062 and the airpass for BUE-MDZ-SLA-IGR-BUE is $1135 and we get the 2 checked pieces, 50lbs each on all flights. We only plan to take one piece of luggage each. It sounds like even if we have to connect via BUE two times it is better than risking horrible service on Aerolineas Argentinas? The LAN international flights connect via Lima.
Are we on the right track here? Does $2197 for all those flights seem ballpark?

I think the above is your best bet. Dont risk it on Aerolineas Argentinas, its not worth the potential savings which will all evaporate and turn to additional losses if things hit the fan with Aerolineas.

I think the above is your best bet. Dont risk it on AA, its not worth the potential savings which will all evaporate and turn to additional losses if things hit the fan with Aerolineas.

^Listen to the wise forum moderator, even though he erred in saying AA when he really meant AR. :p

The baggage allowance will come in handy - LAN can be pretty strict with the carry on, so make sure you have an "emergency" bag to get your essentials into on a moment's notice - you could need the extra allowance. You could also accidentally end up buying, i.e., a case of wine.

Price seems in the ballpark. The extra segments (via BUE) are likely adding to the price because of no nonstops. Still, not worth flying AR even if it is a bit less.

Have you looked at www.itasoftware.com and priced out various itineraries

eg on a quick search late Nov/early Dec the following on LAN prices out at:


$US1440
SFO-BUE
BUE-SLA
IGR-BUE
MVD-SFO

$US1333
SFO-BUE
BUE-MDZ
IGR-BUE
MVD-SFO

$US1592
SFO-BUE
BUE-MDZ
MDZ-SLA
IGR-BUE
MVD-SFO

$1995
SFO-BUE
BUE-MDZ
MDZ-SLA
SLA-IGR
IGR-BUE
MVD-SFO

These are just a few examples and if you take option 3 at $1592 all on LAN,for $229 you can add the only missing segment SLA-IGR which AR does non-stop for a total cost of $1821.

Different dates may alter the prices but there are a lot of options.

Edit:forgot to mention a point very dear to my heart - if you don't need to stop in BUE before MDZ similar prices are found flying there first ie SFO-SCL-MDZ saving the $140 or so per person Reciprocity Fee for international arrivals at EZE/AEP if you are liable

Okay my head is swimming with all these options but very very interesting! We were originally splitting our stay in BUE at the beginning and toward the end
but very interesting to do a direct SFO-MDZ......back to the drawing board!!! Thank you!

I have booked my flights with AR as for where, when and how I want to plan my itinerary, LA simply does not work.

AR has a Visite Argentina offer:

http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/arg/main.asp?idSitio=CA&idPagina=49&idIdioma=en&id=1800

If you buy this Visite Argentina offer, your baggage allowance will be the same as your international flight. Otherwise, it's only 15kgs for regular economy.

At the end, I booked AR's Club Economy for about 15% more to "pamper" myself a little bit and also for the change flexibility and 30kgs baggage allowance.

We ended up booking United/Continental SFO-IAH-BUE roundtrip for $1100
which now 3 days later is quoting at over $1400. I like the connection and am satisfied with it. Unfortunately we have to use AR domestically and IGR-MVD is going to be our toughest day because Pluna cancelled their nonstop the day we need it and we have to take AR via BUE. Of course, better to know now that something is cancelled but I also know we need to be prepared for delays and cancellations with AR. How are they about losing luggage? Knock on wood, the luggage gods have always come through for us but I am already planning to pack much more carefully this trip in anticipation of lost luggage.