Was working on it today. When I called aerolinas they asked for another 350 usd a person which makes no sense as the ticket costs less then that from IGR to BUE so I am working on getting despegar to cancel my ticket without penalty I just wonder if they will go for it.

Well I hope Despegar show more compassion than AR did. $350 is rather steep.

Ok here is the scoop. Aerolinas and Despegar are not letting me cancel the ticket at all. Despegar wants to charge me a change fee, service fee plus difference in fare to make the change. What audacity!!

I paid 387 for 2 tickets one way from IGR to BUE. If I were to rebook today US fare would be 433 for 2 tickets ( if I make BUE a stopover on way to MVD next morning and then just do not finish the ticket).

They want to charge me another 154 for the 2 tickets bringing my cost to 535 instead of 433 for the tickets due to their fees etc.

I have 3 options,

1: leave it at $387 and try to board with printing boarding pass in advance not checking luggage, I just have a wheelie.

2: pay another $154 making it $535 and changing it with them.

3: cancel the ticket dispute charges with chase and rebook us ticket at $433

Any ideas?

Was the subject of it being a resident fare even mentioned by you, AR or Despegar?
If so....did they say you wouldn't be allowed to use it?

The concept was never mentioned. I booked it online. I learnt about that here on Flyertalk and now Despegar and AR are saying I cannot use the ticket however it is still ticketed and nothing was done to it yet.

So for them to say that they obviously recognise it was a residents fare. I guess they won't do anything with it as you've paid for it....however they might attach a note to it which might mean trouble waiting for you at the airport.

Try your credit card company and see what they say. I think they're your best bet.

Just spoke to credit card company and they said that may take up to 60 days for the airline to respond to my claim. I would need to know before that since my flight is August 1. Otherwise it is a gamble that I will end up paying almost double.

SO SO unsure of how to proceed!! Truth is it is only 100 dollars extra over the regular fare if I pay the change fee so may pay to just blow 100 dollars. Alternative would be to see if there are any notes on the account and try my luck.

This article does give me a drop of confidence
http://www.gringoinbuenosaires.com/h...ne-air-travel/

I think you need to put a Chinese Wall between your old and new tickets. For what you have booked, I suggest you put in a formal dispute and let the credit card company deal with it... then, I suggest you make a new reservation and pay your new tickets by the book, and use another credit card.

One final comment regarding your initial booking.... if you purchased a restricted non-refundable fare, then you may be in the hole.... I would still dispute the charge and see if the credit card takes your side, but if you agreed to the T&C of the original fare you may have nothing to claim and may just have to take the loss.... thats at least my 2 cents layman's opinion.

Good luck and please do keep us informed....

Gaucho100K

I appreciate all the help with this Gaucho100K and HIDDY!! It is nice to get usefull advice. Just had the wierdest phone call with aerolineas, as previously I had been told that it is an invalid fare however when I called back the rep said it is good. She may not have know what she was talking about, though that would show that there are no notes on the ticket, or something may have happened now that I called several times, though unlikely. It is funny because it was my last time calling before I was going to book new tickets.

Well of course it doesn't really change anything as you will be travelling on a resident fare which might still cause you trouble at the airport if you cannot produce your DNI when/if asked.