Stay in B/A
 

Mr Gaucho, I am planning a very short visit to B/A (free airline ticket)
I will be flying alone(no family) so I will be looking for basic accommodation, is the Sarmiento Palace hotel a safe basic hotel to stay in? or the Grand hotel de la Paix? if not recommend something for a budget traveler, I am there to explore for our return trip in January 2006.

Thank you

Loisuites Arenales has been fairly decent (and very reasonably priced) according to some friends of mine (and are reasonably well situated).

Here's the latest from the States on SW. Looks like LAN is going to buy LAFSA, although I'm not exactly sure what their assets are (I guess they're co-mingled with SW?). They are NOT going to buy SW, which I guess means SW goes bye-bye.

FWIW, I would NOT buy a ticket for future date travel on SW. It looks extremely risky here.

Ultimately, LAN should bring some welcome stability to the Argentina airline industry. However, my guess is the fares won't be as cheap as SW.

http://aviationnow.ecnext.com/free-s...ticle=LAN03145

Im afraid I dont know anything about the Sarmiento Palace. On the Grand Hotel de la Paix I have heard very good things about their staff, although the place appears to be a little run down and the actual rooms are not as "nice" as can be seen on the website. Safety should not be an issue at either property.

Have a great trip and thank you for picking Buenos Aires as your holiday destination.

LAN and AR and SW - to buy or not to buy
 

LAN´s acquisitions here in Argentina are still unclear. Yesterday, news reports were saying that LAN had agreed to buy 100% of AR from the Marzan Group (Spanish investors that currently control Aerolineas and Austral). This seemed to make sense as LAN officials had said they were not going to buy SW, only cooperate with SW to ensure they could continue operations.

Then this morning, the Marzan group CEO comes out saying that they will not sell AR, only that they are looking for investors and want to take the company public, etc. etc.

I think everything is still up in the air..... in any event, for travelers I would still suggest you stay clear of SW tickets until all this plays out. Unles you are covered by travel insurance or some other cover from your credit card company, my guess is that SW tickets may be a problem.

Here is a story that was released approximately 10 hours ago:

Argentine airline workers demand back pay

thank you
 

thank you Guwonder and Mr Gaucho for the info,
I have read the threads and look forward to
visiting the restaurant mentioned for a wonderful
meat dinner.

Again thank you for your time

There's an IBIS hotel that also is very well priced, but I have no familiarity with that, other than it's rather new, very basic, and that some fellow FTer has stayed there and posted his observations somewhere on FT about the IBIS hotel in Buenos Aires. If I am not mistaken the various Loisuites priced out at around the same level as the Ibis hotel there. It's mentioned in post 172 and 173 of this thread.

The Holiday Inn Express Puerto Madero is also reasonably priced (but higher than the ones mentioned generally). The upside there is free local phone calls and a free business center with internet connected PCs and with a plethora of ICHotelsgroup.com bonuses in the thread in that forum on FT, you could rack up some good benefits for future stays. The downside is that the elevators have a strange stink and a Porteno friend of mine told me that it was the hotel (or hotel building) where a call-girl killed a hotel guest in his room or vice versa.

Is SW still flying?
 

I think this question can be better answered by Gaucho. I've read your posts about the current uncertain situation regarding the future of SW.

However, some of us are already holding tickets. In my case, I will arrive in BA on Mar. 31 and fly(?) to Iguazu on April 2. What has been the situation during the past week? Are they still cancelling flights? In case they are, is there a way to know which flights? If you could quantify our chances of flying, how would you? 50/50?

I'm sorry if I asked too many questions when my introduction mentioned just one, but I think there are other anxious would be passengers waiting for your information.

Thank you very much

Danny

SW is still flying, although the 10 days have seen their fair share of cancelations and delays. From what Ive been able to catch over the local news, the past 2 days have been much better.

Still, SW's future remains very much uncertain. Im not sure I can give you a reliable estimate on what your chances of flying are at this point.... there are simply way too many variables at this point. Some here are speculating that if the LAN purchase of AR dies out, then SW may be the next best bet for LAN. Again, all this is speculation. What I can say for now is that SW is still operating (with the occasional hiccup) and that for the latest, please stay tuned.

Sorry I cannot be of more help at this point. I do however maintain my advice to all those coming to Argentina to not issue any new SW tickets until things clear up, and to those already holding SW stock - please check your rights and options with your travel agent, credit card company, and please understand that if things do go wrong, you may have to resort to solutions that involve purchasing last minute fares on other carriers.

edited

Im afraid I dont know the details of the MercoSur pass. However, considering that RG does fly to Japan I am very surprised its not available for purchase there.... perhaps you should check with another TA?

The purchasing online of fares not eligible for non-residents is one of the hot topics of this thread. As Ive said before, you can choose to roll the dice and have no problems with one of these fares, but, if you get caught, the refaring of the ticket could get pricey. Buying it in Iguazy is also of course possible, but there you run the usual issues of last minute fares and the availability issue, etc. I guess its all about how speculative a position you are able to pallate.

Hope this helps.

SW - further update
 

Local news is saying that SW will probably seek BK protection in the next few days, so as to try to buy some more air in its fight for survival. Its still unclear whether this court protection will aid it in its negotiation with the Oil companies that are still refusing to extend it credit.

Its "cooperation agreement" with LAN and LAN's involvement in LAFSA is also still unclear. To top all this off, a new ingredient in this salad is that LAN is now reported as being after some paper airline that has no planes, but only local regulatory approval so that it can build its new operations with less red tape. A very small company, started by an ex-Dinar manager that owns no planes and operates very few of the routes it has rights over appears to now be the morsel of choice for LAN to gobble up.

Stay tuned... :confused:

Easter in Buenos Aires
 

Are there any major venues that will be closed in Buenos Aires during the Easter holidays?

edited