Yes. This was a big deciding factor, and have decided to nix Brazil, as much as it hurt to do so. Hotels were so much cheaper in BA and going out to nice restaurants would be much more affordable, and Brazil has a hefty visa fee.

I think we have decided to fly into B.A (pay the reciprocity fee.) Then do about 5 or 6 nights in in Buenos Aires.

Do maybe 2 or 3 nights of side trips to either of Punta del Este, Tigre Delta, Colonia, Mar Del Plata, Montevideo, play gaucho for a day somewhere just outside BA.... Still researching side trips options. Recommendations would be great!

Then book an Aerolineas r/t flight from B.A. to Iguazu and back to B.A. --if i can get the Argentinean discount.
--I've read on another thread that you can book through the local Argentinian Aerolineas website for a much cheaper r/t flight rate to iguazu from B.A, than the US version of the website. Indeed it was about half the cost!

I'm not sure if i would need to get to Argentina first to make the phone call (to the Argentinian number) and pay though, after one makes a reservation on the Argentina Internet version of the site. I've read you can't pay through the website, only make the reservation, then a phone call is needed. I've heard this is easily doable, but some people say you have to wait till you arrive in Argentina to actually make the phone call to pay for the ticket (and a US credit card worked fine). Of course the thread i was reading was several years old. Any body have any recent experiences with this?