Your welcome !!! Thanks for your interest in traveling to Argentina... :D ^

Im very glad the information was of help. As for the ITN booking, would you care to elaborate? In any event, let me advise you that in my (limited) experience with these fares, its not an issue of being Argentine, its an issue of being a resident of Argentina. In this regard, Im not sure I understand how getting a booking is the real challenge... I know of non-residents that have made bookings and purchases of tickets on resident only fares, the real game starts when you attempt to check-in or board... thats when you roll the dice and if the agent catches the "arbitrage" you may have to cough up the difference. In any event, I hope your strategy works, I only want you to be well informed of what the different outcomes may be. Have a great trip !!! :D ^

Thanks for the heads-up, Gaucho... I will do some more research and see if I can't figure a way to avoid a run-in at check-in. Doubt I'm going to convince anyone I'm an Argentine resident with my U.S. passport and less-than-100%-fluent Spanish.

As for ITN: I checked out a wide variety of search engines and carrier Web sites looking for flights from AEP-MVD (Buquebus would make doing MVD and Iguazu very challenging). Travelocity, Expedia, and all the others (including Aerolineas Argentina's own site) listed the Aerolineas flights at a hyper-inflated fare. ITN.net, American Express' travel service, priced in the $100 range, if I remember. Paid with Amex as well, so my hope now is that if plans crumble at the Aerolineas ticket counter, I can go back to them for some help with the situation.

(As an aside, it seems that now the prices even on Travelocity are down to $136, so perhaps I was pricing on a bad day. No matter.)

Tried Pluna as well, but for some reason, couldn't book on their Web site. Feel relatively confident with a guaranteed reservation and the Amex connection. Thanks again.

As far as restaurants in the vicinity of Recoleta, how common is it to find waiters who speak any English and menus that have any English?

We will have our phrase books and do our best, but just wondered how prepared to be.

I figure nothing will be as complicated at one night in southern Spain in a small town. We finally decided on somewhere to eat (small town, limited choices). It was a Moroccan restaurant, with a Moroccan waiter, and a menu in Spanish :eek: No English of any kind. Although we knew the words for chicken and fish, by the time we ordered, we really had NO IDEA what would be coming back. The fun of travel :)

Most of the more upscale restaurants (and many around Recoleta) will have English menus and some staff that will have at least basic knowledge of English. In any case, always ask for an English menu... the worse thing that can happen is that you will get a nice broad smile... :D

10,000 OnePass miles for a weekend night at the Marriott Plaza Hotel
 

I think I've stumbled upon a pretty good hotel deal for folks who have some Continental Onepass miles to burn. It's a pretty complicated scheme but, hey, this is flyertalk, so you guys will get it. :)

As one of the awards in the Amtrak Guest Rewards program, you can earn a free Marriott Flex Reward night for 10,000 points, or an Anytime Marriott Flex Reward for 15,000 points. These rewards include free breakfast for two. Doing some sleuthing on flyertalk, I managed to come up with a list of Marriott properties that participate. Many of their best hotels don't, but the Marriott Plaza in BA does.

http://marriott.com/incentives/stayA...20List#anchor4

I don't know too many frequent Amtrak customers, but the Continental OnePass program allows you to transfer miles to Amtrak on a one-for-one basis. (BTW, Amtrak sometimes limits withdrawls to outside programs to 25,000 points a year, but since this is actually an Amtrak reward -- you don't need to transfer points to Marriott -- I don't think that limit applies). I'd probably make sure there was availability with Marriott before I did the points transfer (you can do a search of "marriott flex award" on flyertalk to get more details on how to contact Marriott for award availability.

I've heard alot about the historic Plaza Hotel, but have never stayed there -- not the kind of place that usually has many cutrate deals. It seems like it might be cool to try. What say the experts?

10,000 miles for a weekend seems like a pretty good deal, but I'd be more reluctant to blow 15,000 for a weekday. It seems like a room at that hotel these days goes for about $200/night, including breakfast and taxes.

Thanks for the tip. It may work for AEP-MVD
Not for all: I looked for Buenos Aires, Argentina to Mendoza, Argentina
On ITN $498.00 :td:
Still, I bookmarked the link.

If its any consolation... $498 for a Round Trip from Aeroparque to Mendoza is a very good rate... as a matter of fact, Im not only a resident but also a citizen and I paid exactly this fare for a one day trip I must make to Mendoza on business next week.

The Plaza is indeed one of the great places to stay in Buenos Aires, provided you like the "old school" type hotel. Some of the rooms are more dated than others... but the hotel is stilll a great place to stay or at least to visit. They have some very cool fans in one of the restaurants/lounges below.... its definetely a place worth a visit.

I've crossed to the Brazilian side from Argentina numerous times w/o a visa. Usually, I hire a driver/guide for the day to handle the border crossing and transportation issues. Your concierge can arrange for a driver/guide... No visa needed... The border guards seem to know most of the guides, who probably keep the guards on their "Christmas Card List!" ;)

Are you doing this on a US passport....?????!!! :eek:

You can do it on a US passport, but it's illegal. If such persons are caught, they are often expected to pay a bribe to get out and/or get in greater/more expensive trouble as a result.

If one is in a tour group going from the the Argentine side to the Brazilian side with a mostly Argentine guided tour group, usually people that would be illegal get skipped over by Brazilian immigration.

While GU is correct that it is not a legal practice of course, it is how the system works there on a daily basis it seems. The typical cost is $10 - $20 per person, the driver indeed takes care of the border guys on the Brazilian side, thus no problems with the return trip across the border. There are no stamps on the passport, so it's as if you were not there - no record to get anyone in trouble. We did it with our two kids, total cost was $40 (I have no idea how the money was split :) )

A tourist's view on these two places, and Estancia, which we also visited for lunch.

Estancia is more of a typical local's place, dressed up for tourists (two minutes from the Obelisco on Lavalle), great value, and a good selection of meats. Nothing fancy.

El Parillon - (Gaucho - if I remember, this is the spot right across from the Cemetery?), also decent, not a fancy place, great for a nice steak and glass of wine after the tour.

Las Lilas - definately a high end place, owned by a company that raises cattle, expect to pay $30 - $35 per person USD, with a good bottle of wine. IMHO, this is probably one of the top three steak meals I've ever had. The meat just tastes different than in the US - maybe not having all the hormones and crap in the meat is what makes the beef better, I don't know.

In general, we did not have a bad meal and that includes the Argentinian equivalent of a fast food parillijada in one of the malls. I can't get over the fact that you can either have McDonald's or a steak and the price is the same.

If you get on a certain "watch" list as a result of crossings -- illegally at that -- at places like Ciudad del Este and elsewhere along the Argentine/Brazil/Paraguay border, then don't blame me. :D

I'm glad you had a good time in Argentina. Great place overall.