Thanks all, I have passed on the recommendation to take AA from JFK. That would be my choice as well, so let's hope they listen to their daughter who has a lot more travel experience than they do!

NY Times published an updated 36 hours guide to Buenos Aires. So many new places to try! I can attest that La Alacena Pastificio y Salumeria is a really good neighborhood spot for pasta.

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/...nos-aires.html

hire Gloria Parera for meet & greet and EZE pickup
 

Dont know if this is too late for you... but here goes anyway. You mention meet & greet... for this, I would suggest you hire a Private Guide that may just kill 2 birds with 1 stone. I would suggest you contact Gloria Parera, she is an amazing private guide that Ive worked with for over 15 years, she is 100% reliable and can offer you not only pickup but will also arrange transportation, and perhaps you parents could benefit from a private tour of EZE on their day before the cruise... if your parents want, Gloria can also be there to take them to the Cruise port on the next day, etc. If you want to PM me I will put you in contact with Gloria for you to handle all the details with her directly.

I have farmed out dozens of clients to Gloria over more than a decade and can attest to her superb service & reliability. She is a seasoned professional, speaks perfect English, is a local Buenos Aires resident that knows the city like none, and has great contacts as a personal shopper. From show tickets to restaurant suggestions, she can do it all. Gloria is not a budget guide, but her fees are very fair given her experience, contacts and the level of service she provides. You will not be disappointed and your parents will have an amazing companion for their EZE experience.

Cheers,
Alex / Gaucho100K
,

Thank you! I’ll ask them about this and see what they think. They’re still in the process of getting their air and hotel bookings done, so once all that is sorted they will be in a position to take yet more of my advice :D

Delete

Hello. Do you know if i can contact the check-in desk at EZE airport to ask a question about a reservation name issue?
More exactly, i will be flying with Turkish out of EZE to Istanbul. In my ticket the Surame and First Name are inverted with each other compared to passport. And i am trying to find out if there could be any problems when checking in.
If someone can provide an email to contact the company that manages the check-in or maybe can ask this question at the check in desk if they happen to pass by or depart from there, it will be much appreciated . Airline can't help, they do not do name corrections at all and said " they cannot guarantee anything" regarding check in 's.

Are you okay just using credit cards now with MEP rate? Also, is cabify the best option from Eze airport? Finally, is phone snatching a big problem? It’s what I read about online.

Our visa I got a near blue rate ( like 530/dollar as opposed to 590/dollar vs 290 official rate), much better than the official rate/ our master card I haven’t seen the bill yet - and our cards are based in Japan). I tried to use the cabify app, but could not get my telephone to verify. I ended up using uber which was okay.

As to the phone snatching, I was wandering around using my smartphone gps, but I was warned by one local not to do it, even though I saw a number of people in Ricoleta doing it.

In BA at present (at least for 2 more days) the MEP rate at least from Visa is all over the place Ive seen it as long as 609 and as high as 651 when the Blue Rate was a low of 720 and high of 740. We ate in a couple of places that had a sign Ca$h only. You will do best if you change your money at the Blue rate by far

We are staying in Recoleta and see people walking all over with their phones in the hands , never saw anyone try to snatch it, actually that was pretty much the case anywhere we walked. There may be a few places its not good to walk around with it in your hands but I dont know where that would be

"There may be a few places its not good to walk around with it in your hands but I dont know where that would be"

In our nearly 6 months spent in BA, we went to a lot of different neighborhoods. We heard that La Boca is where this happens often? When we went to go see Bombonera where Boca Juniors play, we were more careful with having our phones out. This is just what we heard from the locals.

I’ve DM’d you if the offer to share contact info is still open. Many thanks

Any recommendation place for money exchange/West Union in Buenos Aires?

You can not exchange money at Western Union, just pick up what you send to your self. The one located on Peru street close the Avenida de Mayo is the one will usually have enough pesos early in the morning, Outside of there you will hear "cambio cambio", there is a newspaper booth or small Kiosko that will exchange your crispy (no marks) Franklin at market rate (blue exchange). Otherwise, on Florida street (pedestrian street) you will find more places, I have used a tourist agency that is located on Florida street between Tucuman and Viamonte.

The Western Union in Palermo on Armenia Street (Armenia 2109) is the one we used a few times. They do set a cap at how much you can withdraw (it was $600 worth of pesos per visit), and it's advisable to get there by mid-morning as they can run out.