Braniff

I understand that the new government has announced plans/legislation to privatize the airline and its staff have promised to take action to prevent it.

I suppose it is not advisable to be making plans to fly with them.

wvc1

I’ve been wondering the same thing. I have a trip planned to Argentina and Chile next fall, and, regardless of the merits of this plan, in the short term it seems like it will be an absolute mess. Should I cut out the Argentine portion of the trip this year and wait to see how things shake out?

fifty_two

If your trip will be not be codeshared (in sense bought from another airline) and/or its a route where AR doesnt have monopoly then you can skip it , its safer for your money

If you trip is within few weeks period (max 2 months) then you are very likely safe

simply make plan B and book one way tickets few days before departure

higham44

I've got 4 internal flights booked with AA between 31 Jan - 6 Feb 2024. Fingers crossed that they operate as scheduled.

craigthemif

AR is not going to shut down before February.

However, there are very few consumer protections for when an airline changes its schedule drastically. As long as you haven't booked a domestic flight on the same day as your international departure, you should be fine.

higham44

Thankfully, no. I do have one flight from El Calafate to Buenos Aires with a four-hour connection there on to Iguazu on one day.

gq_dq

Just wondering what the plan B is to fly to Ushuaia. Hundreds if not thousands of folks will be needing to fly that route for their Patagonia and Antarctica cruise departures. I think AR is the only one that does the route from Buenos Aires. I see a "flybondi" schedule but whatever on earth that is I don't know.

TBD

Make a second (refundable) booking on an LCC like Flybondi or Jetsmart as a backup. They're smaller than AR, but should have flights to the common tourist destinations (Ushuaia, Mendoza, Iguazu, ...)

gq_dq

Ah ok. Never heard of them but will look into!!

craigthemif

Do not book FlyBondi! Bondi is local slang for a bus.

Think Frontier / Spirit but worse. And if they change their flight schedules or cancel a flight and rebook you for 3 days later, you are stuck with it...

gq_dq

Sounds fun! OK so I've always been skittish about LCCs and whenever I book an LCC here in the US, I would generally have a Plan B on a legacy carrier. In this case it's a 180 flip cuz with the legacy carrier going south (literally!), the LCC becomes the Plan B. Like the many hundreds of pax who are doing so right now during the current Antarctic season and more who will be heading down in the coming season which starts in October, AR presents pretty much the only realistic options to fly between BUE (AEP or EZE) and USH without stopping in Calafate or Gallegos etc.

Also, the LCC schedules on both JetSmart and FlyBondi are atrocious. Both appear to have really only one departure that leaves early AM (and that too not everyday) which means an overnite stay in Buenos Aires because the Int'l flights get into EZE in the AM. And since one should never plan to arrive in USH ... or anywhere for that matter... the same day as the cruise departs, that then means two pointless overnites. What a mess. Since I was planning to land in EZE and then take one of the 4 or 5 AR flights which I can reasonably hope to make later in the day which would get me into USH one day before the cruise departs. Oh well... I'm sure I'll not be the only one in the same "boat"...

swiss_global

I would probably book AR a few days ahead, after checking local news outlets. Recently, As regards the LCC, JetSmart seems to be slightly better than FlyBondi.

If the trip is further out, I would just wait and see for now. Part of the privatization degree also included open skies for international airlines even on domestic routes. If this actually takes place, I think both Avianca and Latam will start operating domestic flights within Argentina.

carnarvon

Everyone understood, but FYI and to avoid future misunderstandings, AA is American Airlines, when AR is Aerolíneas Argentinas.

higham44

Thanks.

M60_to_LGA

I just booked myself on AR from AEP-USH for mid-July. $203 round-trip. I'm quite happy with that fare. (Even more so because I finally got around to burning some ancient Expedia points I've had sitting around since before covid, so the flight is totally free.)

Just a data point to share.