wanderingjock

Planning a retirement trip for a good friend and looking at an early Dec trip to Antarctica Planning to use Avios to book flights to EZE and wondered how long the stop in Rio is [BA249/BA248] - and do we "deplane"? (sorry for the language). Also, is it worth considering LHR-MAD-EZE as alternative? I have a joker left, to be used before 8Feb) so hoping that i have the choice of route.

We will probably arrive 2-3 days early - what should we plan to see in Buenos Aires? On the way back, probably looking to just stay 1 night, near EZE airport - so assuming there will be something nearby.

Any other "must do" or "must not do" from the esteemed forum members? (My first time in South America)

wj

UA^PX

The stopover is 90 minutes and I'm pretty sure you have to get off the plane.

turnerma12

yes - 90 minutes but you don't have to get off.

If I had option, I would prefer the Madrid route in business. Seat is good - try to book a window. Food is better than BA. Crew about equal because the route is very popular with staff. But main reason is that you leave Madrid at midnight and stand a much better chance of a decent rest because you avoid all the faffing about with the stopover.

corporate-wage-slave

You can't get off in Rio (or GRU if that version reappears). The cleaning staff work around you.

If looking for a more adventurous approach, which usually is cheaper and has good Avios options, consider going on Iberia to Montevideo, and then the ferry over the Plata from Colonia del Sacramento. Uruguay is the easiest country in South America to assimilate, for a first time visitor.

HIDDY

We prefer the IB MAD lunchtime day flight which arrives into EZE around 9pm that evening. We have a two hour drive so we can hit the sack soon as we get home. On certain dates they operate 3 flights a day.

I've only stopped at GRU on the way here never GIG. The stop can be a bit of a nuisance to be honest. Having said that it might not bother you especially if your home airport is LHR and you avoid the hassle of going to MAD.
Antarctica? Now that is an adventure. This is the closest I've ever got to there.

BA or bust

Agree (though I am a bit biased having lived there many years ago). Just booked to go back again with SWMBO following last year’s trip. Good availability with Avios to go in J (on a 241) LHR-MAD-MVD (with both the UK to MAD legs on the A350).
Uruguay is a small friendly country and with a decent economy and a lot of foreign investment and a very stable government. I will let HIDDY comment on Argentina. As CWS says, it is very easy to get across to Buenos Aires on the fast ferries from Montevideo.
If availability is a bit tricky you can go into one country and return from another back to the UK. Also consider (if time and budget allow) routing through Santiago.

dodgeflyer

There's a report from a Canadian who's just done BA and Antartica in the Trip Reports forum, pretty detailed on a couple days in BA. Worth confering.

turnerma12

I'd second the Uruguay option (full disclosure; I've moved there!)

For an idea of what it's like, a long-time expat from Wales has a great guide; guruguay.com.

An added plus is that Montevideo is one of the best airports in the world. Small, friendly, efficient, quick. A much more pleasant way to arrive in South America than EZE.

Iberia usually has 2 business class Avios seats available if you book far enough in advance.

ermis177

I done it last year but it was direct flight. Excellent crew, very good food and I managed to sleep pretty for most of the flight. Only issue was the typical CW cabin. I had to change seats as the IFE wasn’t working and also when I moved seats the divider wasn’t working. Just poor cabin maintenance as per usual with BA

HIDDY

Most of it would be unprintable.

wanderingjock pop over to the Argentina forum if you want more info on BsAs. My fellow expat Scot malagajohn who is based there knows a lot more about the place than I do. I'm more a countryside bumpkin.

BERbound

When I boarded in Rio recently - the plane was hot and the EZE passengers didn’t look overly happy. I’d say the MAD routing is the better option.

jorg71

I did the LHR-GIG-EZE a month ago. We had to remain on board but the stop was quick, the cleaning really not much of a bother and it didn’t really get hot in the cabin either. Plus, Club Suites all the way and great views of Ipanema after takeoff as a bonus, if sat on the correct side of the plane (it was the RHS on the day of our departure). Also, the catering ex LHR was the best we’ve had on BA for years and years.

Door5L

Why does BA not offer a direct flight, even 3 or so times a week? Surely there are some significant extra costs of crew changes, cleaning, re-catering, refuelling, landing slots, etc, for this indirect flight. If the route is underperforming due to the local economy, surely it can be direct 3 times a week on a 788, for example.

Steve74

They have done various things over the years with the destinations in deep South America. I suspect right now, a tag onto the GIG flight is the most efficient use of scarce long haul airframes. There aren't many 788s to go around, either.
When the South American flights moved to LHR in 2001, it was GRU with 4x weekly tag on to EZE and 3x to GIG - 772 initially then 744 wef winter 2004.
In winter 2008, GIG got a direct flight on the 772, 3 or 4 times a week, and the EZE tag on to GRU went daily. A couple of years later (summer 2011?), EZE got a direct flight, 5x a week I think. That lasted pretty much until COVID, with various eqpt changes - 77Ws to GIG in the run up to World Cup and Olympics, 77W replacing 744 on GRU at some point, with an additional 3x weekly to GRU on the B787 in the late 2010s for a while.
I'm sure BA would like to be back in a position with the demand to justify direct flights and the airframes to serve them, but in reality the economies of both Argentina and Brazil are volatile and there is a shortage of long-haul airframes. So you get a fudge.

StingWest

They will have an amazing time visiting the continent - a truly once-in-a-lifetime experience. This is a topic for another forum, but Lindblad runs a tour based on the National Geographic fleet - top-price, but also a greatly enhanced experience with the naturalists and N.G. photography experts on board.

We flew into EZE (San Francisco->DFW->EZE), and then the cruise-arranged charter flight down to Ushuaia (another couple of hours) - where many / most of the ships leave from.