I've been pleased with Movistar prepaid service. I'm using it on my unlocked GSM phone from the US. When last I checked, it was the cheapest prepaid service.

I recently helped some friends from Germany buy a Movistar SIM for their month vacation in Argentina - I seem to remember the cost was about 25 pesos for the SIM (without minutes). We went to the Solar de la Abadia which is close to our apartment, where there was a little booth with a single salesperson. There was no sales pressure to buy any other plan.

A passport is necessary for ID, as well as a land-line phone number (so just use your hotel phone number).

The saleswoman tried out an activated SIM in their phone first, to make sure that everything was compatible. Service was activated the next day. Coverage in major metro area in Argentina is good.

Prepaid cards can be bought at Kioskos in multiples of 10 pesos.

John

Haven't visited here in a while, but just caught up and saw some recent inquiries and thought I'd share my opinions.

Parrilla 1880. Hands down my favorite place for beef in the city, and particularly when head to head with San Telmo La Brigada. You can read my reasons why from the Food and Beverage thread right here along with many other restaurants I visited and what I thought of them.

Local BA Travel Agent. I wholeheartedly recommend Cintia Stella and her husband Mattias at Wow Argentina! They speak excellent English and took care of our needs perfectly in a professional, friendly and timely manner.

Cintia Stella
WOW! Argentina (EVT Leg.12235, Disp.1127)
www.wowargentina.com.ar
[email protected]
Address: Av. Santa Fe 882, 12º F
C1059 ABP, Buenos Aires, Argentina
MS Messenger: [email protected]

And someone posted a few pages ago about it being their first trip to BA and they had some concerns because they don't speak Spanish, but they're from New York and have a decent level of street smarts. That was my wife and I about a year and a half ago. Buenos Aires has now become our favorite destination on the planet (being so affordable helps!) and we're now planning our third trip for later this year. You're gonna love it.

Glad to hear about your fondness for EZE too. 3.07 pesos/dollar doesn't hurt -- well, at least it shouldn't hurt tourists and Argentine exporters.

spas
 

hi. my beau and i are heading back to BsAs at the end of march for our 2nd visit. we loved it when we went a year ago and have decided to plan our trip around the boca/river match (and what a coup...it's at boca this year!). anyway, that's for my beau and while it would be a great story to tell the grandkids, i'd prefer to spend the day at a spa (don't get me wrong, the match we saw before b/w boca and san lorenzo was crazy great. much more exciting than any of the british matches we've seen but i'm not sure i can handle a boca/rive match). any suggestions on must-do spas? i know a few of the hotels have spas and the evian spa and home hotel spa, but i've had a hard time getting information on prices and reservations and such. we'll be getting in the day before so i'd like to have something set up before we land.

as well, while i speak a bit of spanish, my english spa vocabulary is quite lacking so i can't imagine trying to communicate in spanish. in other words, a spa that can provide english-speaking technicians would be great. i'm happy to spend more time fumbling through a website or sending even more emails if someone insists one spa is better than the rest...

thanks for any and all suggestions.

I thought of some other things. Men's clothing. I really like Rhoder's. Excellent prices and service. Find Sebastian. He speaks English well, has a great sense of style and will be happy to see that you get a coffee, beer or scotch while shopping. But here's another reason why I like Sebastian. We wandered in there on our first visit and he helped me pick out some great clothes to go home with. Alterations done quickly on premises and delivered to my hotel free of charge. Eighteen months later, I return to Buenos Aires and pay a visit to the store. He knew exactly who I was, where I was from and was glad to be of service to me again. Sebastian is THE MAN that I trust for clothing in BA.

Rhoder's
Florida 933
4311-5470

I know I saw buzz in this thread and others about prices creeping upwards. One of my preferred hotels, the NH Latino, seems to have gone that way. In fact, all the NH hotels have. Last March I was paying about US$70/night there. Now it's US$120. Kempinski hotels have shot up in price too. No doubt there's something going on.

I wholeheartedly concur with this recommedation!! I've used Cintia/Matias twice now, and they've been able to help when I visited a while back with two other FT'ers......Both of them thought they were good as well.....Even if you do nothing other than arrange a city tour (for a first timer), it will enhance your visit immeasurably....
Best wishes, Dave

A good friend of mine want to visit BA and also include GIG (Rio) and Iguassu Falls. Are any of the tour companies included in this thread better for say a package 10-12 day tour w/ all 3 cities lumped in? I'd love to do something similar to Contiki style group tours. Any help appreciated.

The Most Helpful Thread for Bs As
 

I have (finally) completed page 94 of this extremely long and helpful thread. I found it through the Fodor's Latin America and am so grateful to the person who posted the link on there. (You know who you are!)
I have been on travel newsgroups for years and have spent many hours reading and posting, (You can Google me as Brahmama) but I can't recall a thread with more interesting and PERTINENT information.

A few thoughts:

The value of this thread is its length and longeivity to me. It was fascinating to watch the information grow and develop over 4 years. Although it was a bit disheartening to watch the prices raise and raise over the last 2 years as we are budget travelers. We also are seniors with a bit of a feeling that we better go ahead and travel as much as possible with the future unknown at our ages!

Another great value to me is for those people who have returned from Bs As and then written their reviews, their opinions and their unique experiences. Actually that information is more helpful than the other because it is timely. I appreciate hearing from someone that was there 2 months ago more than the information from the experiences in 2004. Because things change!

Please don't change this thread; do not allow it to be closed. Let it evolve.

My final observation goes to Senor Gaucho/Alex/Alexandra etc.

Sir, you have created a tremendous bonus for all who wander here. You have taken your time (which is extraordinary in itself) and patience to clear the waters and encourage potential visitors to your country. I do hope that this knowledge will pay you in great amounts - as it is worth more than money. You have my complete admiration and awe for your dedication and passion in creating this mission of Welcome to your country.

We will be traveling to SA but not until November or even January. So you will be seeing my posts later, but I have no concrete questions now. I am just hoping that inflation will not increase for a few months so that I can stay in a hotel and not in a hostel with those half my age!

Kind regards and many thanks to all of you who have made this thread what it is today - a virtual treasure-trove for the readers.

Carol / Brahmama on the boards

Buenos Aires is a lovely city and the economics are interesting......at UGIs, one can buy a whole pizza 8 slices for 3,79 pesos.....yet 1 stamp(air mail) for postcard to US costs 4,00 pesos.....and took 6 weeks to arrive. Figures are from 4/05.

Brahmama--

Thank you for the kind words. I hope you are able to finalize your planning to your expectations and have a great trip.

On a side note, please allow me to point out that despite the recent inflation, the good news for foreign visitors that can do their math in US$ and/or Euros (and other G7/OECD type currencies) is that the exchange rate has followed the trend in prices.

Of course, due to adjustments in relative pricing some Peso price increases have beat out the correction in the exchange rate, but overall visitors bringing US$ will still be able to get very good deals.

When traveling on a budget, I advise visitors to remember seasonality, as this is the no. 1 overlooked issue when planning a trip.

As Ive said before, the almost out of this world prices that followed the immediate post-crisis moments in Argentina were just that, extraordinary, and after the initial couple of months prices tend to adjust to find a new equilibrium.

I am leaving for BA tomorrow - from reading through this thread, am I correct in understanding that if I take the Manuel Tienda Leon shuttle from the airport, that it will drop off within walking distance of the Marriott Plaza hotel? I'll actually be coming from AEP when I head to the hotel (if that matters).

Thanks - this thread has been very helpful!

In the 3 years that I've been going, I've seen prices (when converted to dollars) go from anywhere from 50-100% more. I think my first trip I got 2.9 to 1, so only about 5-7% of an increase in the value of the dollar.

Yes, there's been an increase in prices when looked at in dollar terms. Nowhere near as cheap in USD-terms as when I went down when the correlito was in full play and the peso was in free fall -- getting rather close to 4 to 1 at one point, especially on the street -- but nowhere near as expensive in USD-terms as in the mid-to-late 90s when it was more expensive than most all cities in the US. Still a bargain, and one that won't last forever.

Buenos Aires Flights
 

I have a good friend in Buenos Aires and I am interested in taking a trip to visit. However, I'm a college student and am on a very low budget. With that in mind, what time of year is cheapest to fly there? Which airlines are best..etc? I would love any info about inexpensive travel.

Safe Travels Everyone :)

As usual, Alejandro is right on! I'm heading for BsAs next week and my spouse and 2 young adult daughters are following me there a couple days later for 8 days.

I made a folder for my spouse and each daughter to take along which contains an Oanda "Cheatsheet" http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet ,as well as an envelope containing a few USD $20's, $10's, $5's and $1 bills totalling about USD $150 for general use to pay taxi fares etc. Also in each folder is a sheet that states our hotel info (not room numbers) and phone numbers. I also place a color copy of the face page of each family member's passport in each folder. This has been helpful in the past when you don't need the actual passport, but specific passport information, such as when you are making Buquebus http://www.buquebus.com/BuquebusLoca...asPrincipalEng reservations for a day trip to Uruguay (You need the actual passport for the journey) ,or are in a bank making a financial transaction, etc.

I visit deep South America often and reiterate some advice from my previous posts in that in my opinion, you are well-served by leaving your wallet and most credit cards and cash in the secure hotel safe each day. Take with you a credit card and the cash you'll need for the day. Identification can be a copy of your passport face page and you should have hotel info and a copy of your daily prescription meds and Physician contact info with you.