Agree 100% with your 2 posts. It´s also the way I think. ^
BTW: Sigo buscando buenas tarifas en C ......... pobres resultados!

While SoFlyOn is correct about the specifics of the fees charged for the US Visa, Ive been doing some research on what visiting tourists spend per day... and this sheds further light on why this reciprocity fee (or whatever you want to call it) makes no sense.

Government figures show that the average tourist spends US$162 per day. If you figure the average trip is approx 3 to 4 days long, it doesnt take a genius to figure out that collecting less than one days "toll" is stupid if it detracts folks from coming down.

(my bolding)

I still believe that only a very small minority of visitors will avoid Argentina as a result of this reciprocity fee. Given the relatively high cost of any visit from the US to here, the US$131 represents a small percentage of the total trip cost. If you really want to see all of the amazing things this country has to offer, are you seriously going to give it a miss to "save" $131? NO! Or go to a country that doesn't charge a reciprocity fee but where the cost of living is higher so you end up spending even more at the end of the day? There's obviously going to be lot of criticism from those in the tourist industry but I'm fully behind this fee.

I sincerely hope you are right about the very small minority... I guess we will have to wait and see what happens during the 2nd quarter of 2009 to get some insight.

That is not how many people feel. Further, it is different when considering 1 person at $131, or a family of 4 at $524. Further further, it is different when considering that many people might have done 2 or 3 countries (A, B and C), but now each with a fee, $1573 for a family of 4 changes the dynamic of the trip costs substantially.

A lot of psychology goes into fees like this, and yes, people will be "pound foolish" and spend an extra £100 for the luxury tax on the award C ticket to LHR, and spend £50 for a lunch of toast and vomit stew, but won't pay $131 to enter Argentina.

This most definitely will have an impact. I'm planning a weekend for 4 from JFK, and BA was at the top of our list, followed by Paris and Tokyo. Now BA slides to position #2. One must also remember that it is very expensive to fly down to BA to begin with. Now an extra $131x4 makes a difference.

On an unrelated note, has the Four Seasons in BA gotten a lot more expensive this year, or is it just me?

Lodging has gotten a lot more expensive in the past year, overall. Even the Holiday Inn Express has been in the upper $100s most of the year, and often full.

I think I'm like most people in that I look at the "up front" costs (airfares, hotels, visas etc.) when I am considering a variety of possibilities. Expenses at the destination (sightseeing, food), can always to "managed" (or so I like to kid myself). And I know that for many European cities there are often efficient and affordable public transportation options (including the airport).

Just comparing say Paris with BsAs (flying from SFO) in the next few months I can get a cheaper flight to Paris (and with immediately confirmable upgrades), a reasonable hotel for 85 euros (in which I've stayed may times, and is in a great location), not to mention a cheap bus from the airport, and very affordable metro fares. In fact I did this last December when the euro was higher than it is now.

If it weren't for the fact that we own an apartment in BsAs, there are many other places that are cost competitive, or better value than Argentina (considering all the costs involved), even before the addition of a reciprocity fee.

John

"The cut was quick and without anesthesia"
 

An article in La Nacion yesterday reported that hotels and restaurants are already reporting a 15% drop in business, and are expecting a drop of up to 25% in the coming months. Tourists are canceling reservations (particularly Europeans and Americans), and advance reservations (30-60 days out) are softening.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/nota.asp?nota_id=1058762

Probably the most problematic issue is the situation with Brazil, since Brazilians are the biggest tourist entity. The devaluation of the real in recent weeks makes Argentina much more expensive for them.

http://www.exchange-rates.org/history/brl/ars/G/90

John

I think the fee will have a significant effect on many North Americans. As I posted above (#19), my wife and I booked our trip to Argentina months ago, and will still come. However, we nearly cancelled a side trip to Santiago and Vina del Mar due to the $100 US Chilean entrance fee and high air fares, and we DID decide to forego Rio due to its $131 fee pp (and high air fares).

There's a top 10 or 20 percent of travelers (perhaps a bit higher--I can't know the exact figures) who won't be deterred by distractions such as this, but there's a much larger group of us that does weigh factors like this in making travel plans. While my wife and I are comfortably well off, we have foregone trips to Europe for the past several years due to financial considerations.

However justified the fee is -- and I well understand the "tit for tat" argument -- it will also have a substantial negative impact on tourism, if my own reaction is any guide.

On my first trip to Argentina, I chose this country because both Brasil and Chile charged a visa/entry fee, and Argentina did not. I knew I wanted to visit South America, and wanted to do it as simply as possible.

In the last few days, I've been upset about the visa fee which goes into effect January 1 2009. However, I have found out that it is supposedly good for ten years, multiple entry. I don't know if its the same way with Chile and Brasil, but to me its acceptable if its 10year multiple entry.

FYI, it is now $131 USD for US passport holders ... just so you won't be surprised.
___________________

My personal take.

No solid info yet on wether this will be charged at land crossings but if it is, I will no longer be doing two to three yearly visa runs to Argentina (balancing my two yearly trips back to the States) and will renew instead at the local Chile government Extranjería office as the cost/benefit ratio for a one to three night visa run to Argentina has been totally destroyed. As a result of this, the doubling of international bus fares and the fact that mid to lower end hotel rates have equalized between the two countries, I will only miss out on a good steak at a restaurant (carne Argentino can be purchased here in Chile), bottles of Malbec wine and maybe shopping for some Industria Argentina goods. A pity but manageable.

SEAUAKID - nothing has been officially announced regarding how long the "visa" would be good for. In fact the only information that I can find in the national newspapers was the quote from the Interior Ministry that I posted upthread (specifically referring to the US issuing B-type visas of varying validity).

Various bloggers have posted that it will be have 10-year validity (which has been inferred from the maximum 10-year validity that can be granted to Argentine citizens for B-type visas), but they've gotten some other facts wrong, so it's basically up in the air at the moment.

I'd guess the same as GUWonder, that it will be for the life of the passport (at most).

Yes, this is because the US increased the application processing fees for nonimmigrant visas and border crossing cards from $100 to $131 starting January 1, 2008.

http://travel.state.gov/visa/temp/types/types_1263.html

John

US visa fees are also directed at every visitor (excepting VWP countries).

Perhaps the US should have a reciprocity fee (say a 200% tax) for citizens of countries that charge US citizens more for airfare (or anything else).