Delta/Aerolineas Argentinas
 

I have been shopping flights from MIA-EZE, and Delta keeps showing a decent fare, but it's on an Aerolineas Argentinas plane. There isn't much info on here (I did check the other "everyone else" thread) about them, does anyone have an opinion on service and seats?

Thanks for any feedback!

They have a reputation, including among general citizens in Argentina, of very bad customer service, including cancelling lots of (presumably local) flights and making schedule changes.

I flew them once on a domestic flight and it was OK except for bus gates and everyone with even one gray hair deciding that they needed to board early in SkyPriority (and being rather nasty about pushing me aside to do so, despite my boarding pass being the only one that said SkyPriority)......also, no alcohol in domestic FC, IIRC just a packaged sandwich wrapped in plastic on the local equivalent of stale wonderbread.

I flew JFK-EZE a few years ago in J. Good service, flat bed seats. Also flew them locally to AEP--Iguazu and MVD-EZE. Perfectly fine for short flights.

I flew JK-EZE in AR two years ago, it was fine, though I seem to recall a crazy early arrival time (like 4:30 am, I think?). Other than that, it was fine.

Domestic, I flew AEP-BRC, and it was fine also, the AEP-BRC segment as on time, the return was about 30 minutes delayed as I recall, but nothing to really fuss about.

I flew them back in 2012, right after they joined the Delta alliance, on a few domestic flights in Argentina. I remember boarding being something of a mess, but the planes seemed pretty new and no delays or bad experiences that I can remember.

Did a short hop eze - Córdoba and back this year and was perfectly unremarkable

Delays are the big issue with MIA-EZE. Some 40% of flights are delayed, with the average delay being an hour. No biggie if you are not connecting, but something to be aware of. Service is fine, nothing special.
Domestic fights are much worse for delays and cancellations.

Didn't they just have a strike in Argentina?

AR got me where I needed to go and they weren't terribly late. But, the service was just OK. I remember watching the FAs yell at a passenger over an issue and the boarding was a disorganized mess. And there was no consistency on luggage rules despite me being a GM at the time. But, we did get to where we needed to be in a reasonable amount of time.

One more thing I thought of: "BUE" means EZE and AEP, if you will be connecting to a domestic flight, make sure you understand arrival (EZE if you're flying from the USA) and departure for your connection (likely AEP, though there are some domestic flights out of EZE). If you're on an AR ticket, they will arrange the ground transfer, but it'd be a good idea to know what to expect.

Thanks everyone! All the thoughts are much appreciated. Atlanta is my normal base, but Delta has moved well beyond being competitive in pricing. To fly out of MIA, it's over $1000 cheaper than Atlanta. I guess at least I'll still be getting the MQMs on AR.

I wouldn't worry too much about AR. They're known for labor strife (as has been noted above), but your likelihood of being affected is small. I haven't flown them internationally, but I'm told they're tolerable. Domestically they're fine.

Tolerable isn't comparable to DL, especially when you're comparing business class.

OP should be sure to check the airport terminal AR uses if an AR flight is on the itinerary. For example, my guess would be T1 at JFK with the other SkyTeam partners, but I'm not sure.If so, the lounge choices would be AF, KE and AZ. [At EZE, DL uses the big AR lounge.]

Speaking of the AR lounge in EZE, we're flying KL from EZE-SCL in March. Assuming I'd be able to use the club since it's an international Sky Team flight, is it worth popping in for breakfast (0855A flight out of EZE)? Not sure how much time I'll have to grab it in the hotel before heading to the airport, but also unsure if the club is worth making time for.

I've never been there for breakfast, but yes you should be able to use the AR lounge and it should have some food for breakfast, assuming that your flight isn't extremely early. (Check whether KLM will serve breakfast on the flight.) This assumes that you'll be SkyTeam ElitePlus (DL GM and above) when you travel. It's good to bring the physical elite card if possible.

If you have the right color of AmEx card, you can use the (better) Centurion lounge just next to the AR lounge.

What lounge arrangements did AR have in T7?

AR uses the BA lounge at JFK T7 (currently the only lounge in the terminal) but that is getting somewhat off topic.

To the OP: AR longhaul business is tolerable but not good, and a lot worse than DL longhaul business. The seats are not fully flat like Delta's -- they are angled lie flat seats, and among the worse implementations of that concept at that. Food and service are several notches below typical Delta One standard. For a single trip, if the price is right, you'll survive, but set your expectations accordingly. Delta manages to charge a lot more than AR does on US-Argentina business class flights for a reason.

Skymiles or Skyteam/other miles required for AR travel
 

Hi All,

I'm sort of piecing together an award trip down to Argentina and will have some domestic Argentina travel. Before spending a bunch of time on the phone with DL Skymiles/other programs, I'm trying to find out how many miles/points are needed on DL and other partners to fly domestic one-way/round-trip on AR. Any thoughts/insights on this? I can't find a lot of info online. If cash prices are particularly expensive and mile prices are palatable, I'll potentially do BUE-REL/PMY and REL/PMY-BUE or REL/PMY-IGR if that's bookable as a one-way at some point.

Any insights on AR flight costs in miles with DL and other partners, and whether there's a sweet spot, is appreciated.

I hadn't thought about returning to Argentina until I saw this thread. Mrs. ND76 and I were there in December, 2004. We had a fantastic time.

The currency exchange rate has changed a little; from about 3 Argentine pesos to the dollar in 2004, the exchange rate is now 107.405 ARS to $1.00 US.

The cheapest J fare I found on the Aerolineas web site was ARS 537.536, which converts to $5,004.74.

As noted above, AR uses T7.

We were on the second to last flight out of EZE to JFK on March 16, 2020. Obviously not the best of times. Flying Delta One and AR doesn't come anywhere close to the standard. Surly flight attendants but that that could be because of the circumstances. T.he AR lounge was seedy at best - well worn.

We flew AR short haul (EZE-GIG) and paid 15,000 miles + 65 Euros for each ticket. This was back in 2016.

- Deleted -

Angled seat in their business class was noted further upthread.

I flew an award ticket on AR SCL-AEP. IIRC, I somehow booked the ticket on delta.com rather than with an agent. 25k miles for the front, which didn't seem bad to me

With 3 AR flights under my belt (SCL-AEP, SCL-AEP, EZE-BOG) service is acceptable if unremarkable. The biggest issue with AR (and other carriers in the region) is that departure times are definitely "ish". Even the first flight of the day will depart when it departs, so plan accordingly if connections are involved.

Actually we departed from AEP, not EZE. Flight was surprisingly on-time and arrived in Rio ahead of schedule. Service was, indeed, just normal.

I love using AEP. I've stayed a few blocks from the clock tower, and although you can't realistically do it, it SEEMS like you could almost walk to AEP.