Thanks GUWonder. A hotel AT the airport would be ideal - somethink like the Transit Inn in Singapore would be wonderful.

back to UA check-in. Maybe there is something on UAL.com which answers my question re hours.

I'd call up the UA Red Carpet Club and ask ... or take the RCC hours to be a bit more indicative (than my post) of most of the hours for check-in:

Here's the RCC-EZE info:

Airside, adjacent to Gate 4
Hours:
Daily

8:00am - 1:00pm
4:30pm - 9:30pm

Telephone: 503-339-9449

And here's general info about UAL in Argentina:

There's nothing like the SIN transit hotel at EZE and I have no recommendations for anything around the airport.

I'd just recommend that you leave you bags at the hotel and go out for a late lunch/early dinner whatever you like to call it, or hang around the city. Food on UA ex EZE is nothing to write home about.

There's really nothing to do at the airport (unless you like to shop, but don't expect anything cheap). Immigration is much faster now after they installed the new system for directing passengers to agents.

John

GUWonder and SoFlyOn

Thank you both for thoughtful and helpful replies.

As a follow-up, UA telles me that the ticket counter is open from 0930 to 2200. So I should b able to check-in about 1630 and pass the time in the RCC. It should then be a VERY happy flight.

I wouldn't count on this. The last time I was in EZE (July), I got to the airport early thinking the same thing. Ended up sitting and waiting for the check in area to open (They might have opened around 6pm).

The mention of the continuous hours struck me too as not being applicable for check-in either.

At around 5 p.m. I could sometimes get a UA employee to take care of some matters besides checking in. But checking in before 5.30 p.m. seemed like it would not happen. (Then again, I'm usually a "cut it close" type.)

I'm scheduled to leave on Friday, but will probably change my flight to leave on Wednesday. I'll post the time that the check in desk opens. 7pm might be more realistic with the 10:05pm departure time to IAD.

Last time, I remember some UA personnel milling around (behind the counter), but the security people handling the pre-check in interviews weren't there yet, so I couldn't check in.

When I flew EZE-IAD in early October, the staff who did the initial screening (security questions, etc) began processing people around 5:20 (1720), and the UA staff didn't begin processing (or even staff the desks for that matter) until 5:30 (1730)

As for the liquids, I included the majority of my liquids (including toiletries) in my checked bag, but had a few things with me such as saline & other contact lens solution, toothpaste, and had no problems with what little I had in my carry-on.

ETA: At the gate, there was a mandatory search of all pax bags (hand search). There were 4 or 5 agents...some more thorough with the search than others. After bags were looked at, all pax were also wanded.

Just returned from BA
 

My girlfriend and I had a wonderful time in BA. The advice here was extremely helpful. We got to meet Alejandro at his wine store and look forward to trying the bottles of Malbec that he recommended. We also look forward to going back! For anyone else planning to go, here are a few updates.

El Pobre Luis was probably one of the best parrillas we ate at. The meat was so tender and grilled perfectly it gives most fine steakhouses in NYC a run for its money. The chorizo was to die for! Complete dinner for two including appetizer, main course, sides, dessert and a bottle of Malbec cost about US$ 50 for 2!

El Mirasol was another notable restaurant. Everything we ordered was top notch, especially the empanadas de carne and "La Recova" for dessert (probably one of the best desserts I've ever had!).

We stuck with the Radio taxis for all of our travels. Coming from NY, couldn't believe how cheap all our rides were. Only minor inconvenience was that on our way to El Pobre Luis, our taxi broke down (luckily on a main avenida) so we had hail another one. Our first driver was helpful in telling the second driver how to get to the restaurant. We tried to have exact change or close to it as much as possible to avoid the fake currency scams.

We took the fast day ferry to Colonia ($80 round trip per person) with the reservations handled by our concierge. Nice day trip from BA if you have the time. The ferry leaves BA at 11:15, arriving in Colonia at 1:15. Uruguay is one hour ahead of BA time so the ferry is actually about an hour. Return ferry leaves at 6:30 and arrives at 6:30 BA time.

Cafe Tortoni had a really good tango show.

We took AA and were excited to travel F on the 777 to JFK, the first day they switched over from a 767. The counter is not scheduled to open until 6pm but they didn't start processing check-in until 6:30. The line started forming by 5:30. Before reaching the counter, airport personnel ask security questions, take down names to put on a list and run back and forth to a table to retreive travel vouchers. We had to check-in the case of wine we bought at Alejandro's store as we were not allowed to bring it with our carry-on. After getting boarding passes, you have to pay the departure tax then go through security and immigration. Any liquid duty free purchases that are made (in our case wine and dulce de leche) will be available at the aircraft door. Tables were set up at the gate prior to boarding to check for liquids. Water bottles were not allowed, even if they were purchased in the sterile area. Travel size liquids were inspected but not confiscated.

Hope this helps and we definitely look forward to coming back. Lastly, thank you again Alejandro for all the recommendations here and for the wine you picked out for us.

We just returned from 8 nights in BA. We ate at both El Mirasols -- the one on 9 de Juilet and the one in Puerto Madero. They're both fantastic, but we liked El Mirasol del Puerto a bit better -- it didn't seem quite as rushed. Try the baby beef, but make sure you share it -- 1,000 grams of delicious meat! I also enjoyed the beef empanadas, and pigged out on delicious flan the three times we ate there. We also ate at Los Lilas -- though it's supposed to be THE restaurant, we thought it wasn't quite as good as El Mirasol, and the service wasn't very good. The Plaza Grill at the Marriott, just at the end of Florida near the park, was also memorable (in a good way). Great food and a wonderful environment -- classic decor that dates back to the 20s when the restaurant opened. Also, very reasonably priced by US standards. We ate there twice.

We also took the ferry to Colonia del Sacramento. Though we enjoyed our day, we thought it was very touristy. The beautiful old buildings are marred by all the tourist dreck being sold in front of them, and there were far too many hustlers looking for handouts of various kinds. The aggressive mime blocking the old city gates was, I thought, an apt metaphor. Still, I'd recommend the trip if you've several days in BA -- the ferry ride was pleasant, and if you leave the old city area, you can see some of the "real" Uruguay.

We recommend a visit to the Recoleta Cemetery. From a North American perspective, it's a strange place -- a city of elaborate mausoleums that is also a major tourist attraction. You can also visit Eva Peron's grave. The Recoleta area is also quite beautiful -- sort of a cross between Paris and 5th Avenue in New York. Great for walking around.

If you're there on a Sunday go to the San Telmo antique market. Though, of course, there's a lot of junk, touristy street buskers, etc., there are also some real finds. As an antique telephone afficiando, I was in pig heaven, though I missed a gread deal on a nickel candlestick, and couldn't talk my wife into springing $800 US for a beat up Eiffel Tower phone that I'd have to recondition (worth $2,500 US when restored).

We went to a tango show -- I don't recall the name. The show itself was quite good, but the dinner was dismal. We shared a table with a delightful couple from Brazil -- their company, along with copious amounts of included-in-the-price wine, made up for the poor food preparation. We didn't see the tango show at Cafe Tortoni, but did have lunch there. As with the show we saw, go to Cafe Tortoni for the environment, not the food.

We also stuck with radio taxis. Even so, we were scammed three times, but the amounts were minor -- twice roughly 2 or 3 pesos, about a dollar. On the ride to the airport, I noticed, too late, that the meter wasn't on. We wound up paying 80 pesos, about about 13 dollars, instead of the 60 or so that would have been appropriate. However, it was a 45 minute ride, the taxi was clean and comfortable and the driver was pleasant and provided considerable help with our numerous bags. I tipped him 20 pesos. ;)

We were impressed by the many beautiful parks, the tree-lined streets and avenues, the many sidewalk cafes, the great food, the friendly people and the excellent prices. What a wonderful city. We'd return in a hearbeat!

Very glad to hear you both had nice experiences here in Buenos Aires. As Ive said before, Argentina needs all the word-of-mouth reccommendations we can get, so, if you had a good time, please be so kind as to spread the word!! :D

Believe me, we are. Buenos Aires is a wonderful place, and one we knew very little about before we went. We've added Buenos Aires to our short list of possible places to retire. Do you know what's involved for foreigners to get permanent residence? Is it difficult?

PT, I've trolled around and found some expatriot websites for Argentina. The first of thes is this one which I"ve found to be quite interesting. You will benefit from going through their archives and reading everything you can. It's well presented and informative.

Here are two others: This one which I just found and this other one which seems to address the residency requirements.

I've also found a lot of good information at this apartment rental site which seems very practical.

Good luck. I'm leaving for BsAs in about 6 weeks for my first trip.
Rita

Gaucho,
What are the limits on pesos when withdrawing from an ATM? When we arrive in BsAs we're going directly to an estancia that takes only cash. So we'll need something like $4000 Pesos.

Rita

Buenos Aires is now a rather popular retirement destination for many G7 nation nationals. The above information is very good - I will add that the paperwork is not very complicated and there are very few (almost no) restrictions in terms of purchasing property and making a new life down here.