HIDDY

There has been reports of these low fares being found before through online travel agents. I would proceed with the purchase as I very much doubt they are fares only meant for residents.

As to the arrival of low cost airlines. I'm not so sure their operating costs will be as low as what they are in Europe so although average fares will come down I doubt you'll see a Ryanair equivalent here....not as long you have a sliced loaf costing 3x what it is in the UK.

iahphx

Thanks for the advice. What makes me nervous about the fare I see on cheapoair is that the established OTAs (Expedia, Priceline, etc) don't have it, so I wonder if cheapoair is making a mistake by offering it. I guess I'll try to call them, and see what they say. What I'm obviously trying to avoid is being denied boarding at the airport; that would be miserable.

Regarding the arrival of low fare carriers, I would certainly not expect Ryanair fares in Argentina. I would not even expect Sky Airline-like fares. I'm just hoping for better than the terrible fares than foreigners typically get quoted in Argentina today!

NickB

Well, it looks like the condition of residence that used to be in the fare rules of most fares sold only within Argentina has disappeared from a large number of fares. I was looking at discounted fares between AEP and SLA which, only a few months ago, would have been restricted to residents only and can now be sold to anyone regardless of residence even though they cannot be advertised nor sold out of the country. The Argentinian version of the Aerolinas website suggests that some resident-only fares still exist (VAP21 and TAP28 fares) but many advance purchase discount fares now seem to be available to all as long as you buy them inside Argentina (whether physically or virtually via internet).
One caveat: I have not been through the process of actually buying them yet as I need to finalise some dates first but the fare rules as published through ita no longer contain the residence requirement and the Aerolineas website no longer has the warning about fares not being available to non-resident (except for the VAP21 and TAP28 exceptions). This is good news for us visitors. ^

iahphx

Thanks for the heads up. I'll certainly appreciate the updates on this.

HIDDY

Well it's really only good news if the discounted fare is at the same price level as what the residents fare would have been.
Resident fares weren't always available...once they were sold they were gone so even residents had to pay full whack.

Gaucho100K

Thanks for sharing this !!! ^ ^ ^

Let us know when your travel dates are fixed.

Marambio

I just did a dummy booking AEP-COR-AEP on both LATAM and Aerolíneas' Argentine websites. On LATAM's I went through until the personal details page without seeing any message about resident fares, and that website used to show a huge yellow sign informing about them. On AR's, a bottom message stated "Las tarifas VAP21 y TAP28 expresadas en pesos argentinos (ARS) para vuelos dentro del territorio argentino sólo se aplican a residentes en Argentina"., i.e. booking classes VAP21 and TAP28 are for residents only.

Ages ago AR used to have a (very cheap) LAP21 fare which could only be booked by residents of Tierra del Fuego on flights between Ushuaia/Río Grande and Buenos Aires, part of the "let's move to the end of the world" seduction package that applies to deep south Patagonia, courtesy of the federal taxpayer. This was before the Internet was a thing but I remember travel agents couldn't see LAP21 on their GDS. You had to actually phone AR or go to an office in order to get that fare. I'm wondering whether VAP21/TAP28 are somehow the successors of that old LAP21 fare - in that case I as a porteño wouldn't be able to book them either

Still, we are getting rid of the resident fares, which is a good thing.

HIDDY

I've always thought the comments seen on here about ''resident fares'' were exaggerated. Just like any other discounted fare class only a certain amount were available on each flight. The way some people went on about it was as if they were available for residents right up to departure. Should also be said mile and status earnings on resident fares were more or less non existent as well.

The only thing that will bring down fares is competition from low cost carriers which I believe is supposed to be coming.

David Beach

Alto technically they can make you pay more at check-in, it does not happen, at least now. In November, I bought some Aerolineas tickets and Latam tickets for some nonresident family at an agency in Argentina, one good enough to give. me better prices than the airlines. I paid cash or used my Argentine bank card. They had no problems checking in and boarding.

So, ultimately, it is a payment problem. Pay using a foreign crest card online, or you buy at a airline office, you pay non-resident premium. Buy from an agent in country ( or possibly from a foreign agent) then you can purchase the resident fare with no practical problems. Freqflyers probably could not use points as they would registered as living somewhere else,

Gaucho100K

David, it seems like you have taken a roll at the dice, and come out on top. That is great and its certainly you choice to do so, but this does not mean that you can openly say "it does not happen" when you refer to paying the fare difference. I think its not a good idea to make folks assume they can break the rules and "ensure" them they will get away with it. It is probably best to inform people what the possible ramifications of their decision(s) may be.

Yes, you can play the game and come out a winner, but you must also be prepared to face the music and cough up the $$$$ if you get caught.

David Beach

Well I did not make the comment lightly , I seldom do. I base it on dozens of cases over the past 2 years from directly talking to the flyers involved. Of course there is a risk, but at this point it is negligible. Do you have sure recent experiences that make you think otherwise? And what risk is there, to pay the difference. "What are they going to do,'send us to Vietnam?" I was just sharing substantial and real experience, not some theoretical posSibilities, with respect.

NickB

Indeed. The risk would have been to pay what you would have had to pay anyway had you not taken the risk. In other words, the "risk" is a risk without downside, ergo hardly a risk at all.

HIDDY

Pretty sure the risk of getting caught is low especially given the state AR are in but knowingly breaking a fare rule always has some risk attached.
You would end up having to pay the walk on fare which will be a lot more than the lowest non resident fare available at the time you booked. Your seat could always go to a standby passenger leaving you to catch the next one.

NickB

Not in my experience: before the recent opening up of previously resident-only fares to all, the lowest fares available to non-residents in the majority of cases were full fares and there were no savings to be made by buying in advance as the fares available to non-residents were the same fares as those typically available as last minute walk-up fares.

David Beach

Theoretically yes, but does anyone have an actual case of that happening over the last few years? I doubt it. As I have said, I have several dozen first-hand account cases,including family members, where they used resident fares with their foreign tourist-visa passports, no issues. The proof is in the pudding.

I wonder if there are foreign travel agents, airline hacks or travel webpage hacks trying to install fear without substance. Just raising this last possibility, of course without proof. Just wondering, as we know that forums are prowled by corporate hacks constantly these days inserting "alternative facts".

Again, I will leave any "moral issues" as to whether to buy resident fares as a non-resident, if there is still a difference (this has yet to be cleared up). All I know is that buying in-country from travel agents is a lot cheaper still than buying online from airlines, webpages or out-of-country travel agents (and I do not want to disparage them, honestly). I am just trying to state clear facts, and perhaps offer some possibilities why fears may be being raised.