South America - So, PLUNA is dead? Now what?

PLUNA has gone belly up: http://www.flypluna.com/ and http://www.globalpost.com/dispatches/globalpost-blogs/chatter/uruguays-pluna-airline-hits-strong-turbulence

I had a ticket on them for September from IGU to MVD, and now I'm trying to figure out what is going to be best and not cost me an arm and a leg. We were trying to avoid the EZE US passport by hitting MVD first and taking the boat back in, but what are our options now? Looking Sept 18th IGU/IGR to MVD.

Bus? 18 hours on the bus is one helluva a way to see the country. :D
Another airline? Any low cost carriers running this route or something similar?
Advice?

Also, if I enter the country at Iguazu and then fly domestic to EZE, do we still get hit by the $160 fee? I am thinking no, since we will already have the stamp.. but any advice would be helpful. :)

Also, if I enter the country at Iguazu and then fly domestic to EZE, do we still get hit by the $160 fee?

No (although you will probably end up @ AEP).

I have same thing so I am flying from IGR to AEP to save on the visa fee.

Did any of you guys have travel insurance?

Did any of you guys have travel insurance?

amex has super cheap travel insurance.

Aerolineas Argentinas have been flying stranded Pluna passengers on their same route services up until today.
Apart from that I think you'll be out of luck unless some backer is found who will guarantee tickets for future flights. Some travel agents will reimburse you if airline failure insurance was included in the cost of the ticket....or your credit card company will refund you.

amex has super cheap travel insurance.

That will unlikely help you in case of insolvency...

Aerolineas Argentinas have been flying stranded Pluna passengers on their same route services up until today.
Apart from that I think you'll be out of luck unless some backer is found who will guarantee tickets for future flights. Some travel agents will reimburse you if airline failure insurance was included in the cost of the ticket....or your credit card company will refund you.

Anyone have experience with getting a refund from the credit card?

Anyone have experience with getting a refund from the credit card?

You call - explain service was not rendered and request a charge back. Most CC's will refund the fare without issue.

That's about what I thought. I was just worried that they would pull something because it's an airline.

We ended up fixing it with a BQB flight that leaves the next day and a cheap hotel in there on the Brazilian side. :)

You call - explain service was not rendered and request a charge back. Most CC's will refund the fare without issue.

If this were a flight to/from the USA, you would have automatic US bankruptcy law protection (some people mistakanely think that this is a chargeback, but it's not).

If you used a USA bank's CC, you may have this protection, but should call ASAP to determine whether you do.

If you are protected, you will see a relatively immediate credit for your Pluna ticket, but are then on your own to figure out the best other options. I would not gamble on somebody picking up Pluna tickets that far out.

If you are not protected, you will need to follow bankruptcy procedures for Pluna (which should sooner or later be posted on Pluna's website) and make a claim. But, don't hold your breath as this can take close to forever and you won't likely see much.