The way I've seen it done is 40k BA miles or 50k frequent flyer miles from most other programs for EZE to the LA or NYC area and then a separate ticket to Seoul from there.

Lan Peru, KLM and United all offer fares under $1,800 on EZE-SEL too.

A thought on hotel research in BA
 

Spending far too much time on the internet in general and looking for that mythical lower-medium priced hotel room in BA (spurred on by the prices shown in the Lonely Planet guide) I came across a site covering the hotels and restaurants (and a few other tourist-related businesses as well) of BA

Likely to cover just about any hotel you might have been recommended - though on this site it is information that is presented not reviews. Includes data on some hotels without their own web sites. In Spanish..... though the hotels normally have english on their own sites

Happy wandering.

Oh yes Any thoughts on hotels in the 90-120 peso/night range? We're more into sleeping and breakfast than concierges and fancy surroundings..... in mid November

WF

try the Cambremon on Suipacha.. they have web site, but if you also email direclty they will negotiate,, might work in your price range,, and centrally located
Oh yes Any thoughts on hotels in the 90-120 peso/night range? We're more into sleeping and breakfast than concierges and fancy surroundings..... in mid November

WF[/QUOTE]

hi,
I'm exactly in same boat for a stay in November, and have heard good things about this place (and it's where we'll be staying)
http://www.princehotel.com.ar/ubicacion.htm

Maybe this has been asked already, but since this thread is so long, forgive me if I take the shortcut.

How widely is English spoken in Argentina in general. The person I know who's asking this doesn't speak any Spanish.

Rita

EZE on zero spanish - a non scientific approach
 

This is a very "tricky" question, but I will try to answer it.

If the traveller to Argentina will limit him/herself to the main tourist attractions and use "above average" services, then one can get by perfectly without any Spanish. I know the definition of "above average" is vague in itself, but its kind of hard to give this kind of question a scientific answer. What I mean by this is that the higher up you go in the hotel chain, the higher the probability that one will be able to interact with English conversant counterparts at almost every instance. The same applies for other services that are of usual use by the tourist, as in: car service, restaurant & bars, shopping, cultural areas, other services, etc. etc.

This being said... the "survivability" of a foreigner in any country where one lacks basic command of the native tounge is a multi-variable model. Many people are able to get their message across using only a few words, or using a guide book, or sign language... trying hard gets you a very long way in just about any city, and this is especially the case in Buenos Aires where more often than not people are open to helping visitors.

Im sorry Im not able to give a more specific answer, but I hope this is of at least partial help in answering the question.

Gaucho,
Your answer is great. And I'll pass it along.
Thanks.
Rita

The workaround for the linguistically-challenged for important situations: a cellphone with a sort of three-party conversation where you communicate to the hotel concierge and he/she communicates with the party with whom you must communicate.

Around the beginning of the coming November -- Nov. 4-5, 2005 to be specific -- many of you may wish to note the possibility of strikes and other sorts of street-blocking manifestations. Summit of the Americas is in town then -- with some 30+ heads of state/government, not all of whom are popular in Argentina.

This is a woman who learned French as her second language, and has never travelled to a Spanish speaking country. What happened was my sister wrote her with links to rentals and property-for-sale in Buenos Aires and she was smitten. So she asked the question.

I think a deeper curiousity was whether there is a large American ex-patriot community in the city.

Rita

There is a siginficant American and Argentine-American expat community in and around Buenos Aires, but it's not like one finds in Mexico or various parts of Central America. There is, however, a larger British one than American one. (The numbers of Brits is still significantly underreported courtesy of the impact of the Malvinas/Falklands war.)

Thanks GU
Rita

The Buenos Aires Herald is the English-language daily in Buenos Aires and it often lists some social events oriented toward the English-speaking expat community there.

The Americas Summit is in Mar del Plata
 

Just to clarify.... the summit of the Americas will be held in Mar del Plata, not in Buenos Aires. However, GUWonder is correct in that the day around those dates may include some Buenos Aires based demonstrations. In any event, the bulk of the protests are expected to be in Mar del Plata. Finally, the local press has been speculating with the fact that GW Bush may finally decide not to come down for the event, in what appears to be a mixture of post Katrina domestic policy and the fact that the Bush and Kirchner administrations dont enjoy the warmest of bilateral relations.

Agreed on the size of the US community.

Just to give a little historical perspective from a native Argentine's viewpoint, I wanted to make a few comments regarding the under-reporting of the British community, as Im not sure Im in agreement with the above post.

Argentina´s heritage has a very relevant British component which is present in various aspects of the day-to-day lives of dozens of cities all around Argentina. Many Malvinas veterans carried British surnames into battle, wearing Argentine uniforms. Many Argentine citizens, sons and grandsons of British immigrants went back to fight in WW2 for the British Armed Forces, the most famous group of WW2 vets flew for the Royal Air Force. There is a large Anglo-Argentine community that is deeply patriotic of both its Argentine present and its British roots - these are Argentines above all but they dont forget their heritage. To pose just one example.... why is Rugby is so popular here?

To close... let me point our that its perhaps a very little know fact that Argentines (both the well educated and better off parts of society and also the masses) have always taken a very "interesting" approach to the Falklands war and the associated blame-game. The blame is thrown on the person of Margareth Thatcher and the military junta that was in charge of the Argentine governemt, closely followed by the then US administration and the Pinochet regime (both of which conspired to aid the UK in achieving a swift(er) victory). The Brits as a people are never the frontrunners in the blame game.... as a matter of fact there is no animosity with visiting Brits. We only get rowdy when we play soccer with our UK cousins... since they insist on losing a lot to their "colonies" in just about all the sports that they invented... :D