AirCanada881

Hi all

Taking advantage of a nice promo on TK I will be in Argentina for a small week mid May.

As it's my first time in Argentina & South America to boot, & coming all the way from Paris, I want to be able to say I've seen more than just Buenos aires although it's a beautiful city & I plan on visiting. I also want to see some of the beautiful lakes & mountains & though of Bariloche. Only I heard May isn't the best weather although low temperatures don't bother me as much as rain.

Other thoughts/questions:
- Booking with Iberia Plus Avios, looking at AEP-BRC
- I cannot drive so rely on other means of transport
- Should I do 3 days in EZE & 3 in BRC?
- Are there any walking trails accessible without a car from downtown Bariloche?
- Any tips for high quality steak? Willing to pay up for it.
- Any security concerns? I will travel alone.
- Is 5 hours enough to transfer from AEP to EZE? Any risks of flight cancellations in case of light load? Or should I return to Buenos Aires a day early to ensure I don't miss my flight back to IST?

Many thanks for your help

HaagenDazs

Hi Wilko,

I will reply some of your questions:

- You can do AEP-BRC only through Aerolineas Argentinas or Latam www.aerolineas.com.ar , www.latam.com.ar . No AVIOS though. (Bear in mind that Austral Airlines is "part" of Aerolineas Argentinas"

-Buenos Aires is a huge city with a LOT to do. You could easily spend a week in Bs As doing new stuff everyday so it will depend on you interests how many days you should spend where. You should think it like this. If someone was to visit France, would you recomend 3 days in Paris and 3 days near the Alps?
-From downtown Bariloche you can walk to the lake (Nahuel Huapi), and go arround. But in my opinion you would need to get any kind of transportation to go to Villa La Angostura, Isla Victoria, San Martin de los Andes, etc.
-Pretty much anywhere you can get a good steak, but I guess "Cabana Las Lilas" is where every tourist goes.
-As in any big city, use common sense.... and a little bit more. Try not to show up innecesary objects (Eg: expensive watches, DLSR Camera hanging on your neck all the time, leaving an Iphone on a restaurant table when seating outdoors, etc). Riding a bus is pretty safe and so is the subway. Just take measures suchs as leaving your bagpack between your legs instead of wearing it, so you wont give access to your pockets, etc etc). And of course, avoid empty dark streets, etc etc.
-5 hours for a transfer is more than enough. Of course it will depende on the time of the day and the day of the week. Well, you can always get a cancellation, anywhere in the world. Just bear in mind that you have some flights that go straight from BRC to EZE, so you can avoid the transfer btw airports.

Bottomline, you will have a GREAT time.
Enjoy it

David Beach

[QUOTE=Wilko Pali Sedef;28127379]Hi all

Other thoughts/questions:
- Booking with Iberia Plus Avios, looking at AEP-BRC
- I cannot drive so rely on other means of transport
- Should I do 3 days in EZE & 3 in BRC? LEAVE MOST OF BAFOR LAST
- Are there any walking trails accessible without a car from downtown Bariloche? NOT FROM TOWN, BUT YOU CAN TAKE THE PUBLIC BUS ALONG THE LAKE SHORE TO SEVERAL TRAIL HEAD, GO TO TOURIST INFO OR THE GREAT BARILOCHE ALPINE CLUB BUILDING DOWNTOWN FOR INFO
- Any tips for high quality steak? Willing to pay up for it.
- Any security concerns? I will travel alone. IN BA, YES, TYPICAL CITY CARE NEEDED, IN BARILOCHE NO CONCERNS OTHER THAN SOME PICKPOCKETS IN TOWN AND BUS STATION
- Is 5 hours enough to transfer from AEP to EZE? ALWAYS RISKY Any risks of flight cancellations in case of light load? Or should I return to Buenos Aires a day early to ensure I don't miss my flight back to IST? ABSOLUTELY

Many thanks for your help

Marambio

Iberia Plus = LATAM for AEP-BRC. They have between 2 and 3 daily flights between both cities. If you happen to have some Skyteam miles, Aerolíneas and Austral fly to Bariloche between 6 and 8 times a day, so even more chances to find a booking with miles.

Public transport in Buenos Aires is good, plus there are taxis and Uber. I go to Bariloche quite often but never tried the public transport there, but taxis are available throughout the city.

Sounds reasonable. 4 days in BUE and 2 in BRC is also fair.

Short answer: no, most trails are between 5 and 15 km away from downtown Bariloche. Long answer: I wouldn't stay in downtown Bariloche. The city isn't really worth it per se, it's the surroundings that are spectacular. "It's Switzerland on steroids", as my wife says.

There are very nice hotels a bit further away from the city on Avenida Bustillo, and they usually offer free transfers to the centre should you need to get there.

Check the "Buenos Aires F&B Scene" thread on this forum, there are many good options there.

For BA the usual security warning for any big city applies + wallet in the front pocket, avoid dark areas and, especially in the night, try to call a taxi or use Uber instead of hailing a cab on the street.

Bariloche is a calm small city.

5 hours should be ok but I would try to allow some more time, just in case traffic from AEP to EZE is hectic or your flight is delayed. If you use AR/AU, they fly BRC-EZE in the evenings, especially tailored for connections.

keisari

Bariloche is known for its "corderito" which is lamb
I really liked this place. Not very upscale for the fire is awesome

http://www.laparrilladejulian.com/#!/-nuestros-locales/

I stayed in town at the Edelweiss hotel; get a room with a lake view. nothing fancy but clean and close to the center.
take a tour of the lake, the islands and the mountains. that way you do not have to rent a car. I would not drive around Bariloche. not fun.

https://www.nh-hotels.com/hotel/nh-b...FZePYgod8m8LMg

AirCanada881

Thank you everyone for your help, very much appreciated. I just booked my flights using Iberia Avios for 17,000 miles & 15 USD in taxes in fees. Had I booked a revenue ticket it would have cost me 500 USD but by purchasing 17,000 avios + the taxes, the flight is only costing me around 220 USD so 60% less.

Very happy & excited, I decided to book the return on the same date as my flight back home, I am supposed to arrive in AEP 7 hours before my flight leaves EZE. Sadly LATAM doesn't fly directly to EZE from BRC & I have no skyteam miles. I also took the 2nd to last flight, in case there is an issue with that one there is still one last flight in the day which arrives in AEP 5 hours before my TK flight to IST.

I just hope it won't rain too much in BRC as I really want to do some trekking.

Flying Machine

Nice score. I used BA Avios from GRU-EZE with Qatar last week for 7500 Avios and $35 or so.. I Transfered 50,000 AMEX Membership Miles to Avios when they had a 40% bonus awhile back. Have been working that balance down. Great use for positioning flights as well. Great to hear that you found space on the flights you wanted. Have fun a Safe Travels

AirCanada881

I was surprised actually, reading on the forum it seems people were saying it's hard to redeem avios for LATAM flights. From what I experienced, AEP-BRC was the only flight I could find so it turned out well. I tried looking just for fun to go to USH, FTE, RGL or IGR, nothing pulled up so really a stroke of luck, not to mention the avios sale I took advantage of.

Flying Machine

The trick I found in finding space for Avios is using AA Award Bookings. I have no status on AA but my buddy is an Ex Plat.. He normally finds available space there which guides me to work with BA online or calling in. So if AA shows space on LAN or others BA will have it as well. I would assume the same for Iberia. (As an asaiden there are offers several times a year to transfer to Iberia at a Bonus, have you noticed them)?

Have a nice journey!