FlyerTalk Forums - AUS-EZE run on AA

I did a mileage run to EZE from 4/27-4/30 on AA from Austin, via Chicago and Miami.
Total miles, with bonuses about 37,000. I had been to Buenos Aires three years ago as part
of a RTW trip, but I'd only spent three days there then as well and wanted to explore the
city a little bit more. My Spanish is passable and I've never had any problems communicating
with anyone while there.

I've only recently come across the FT boards, but I've been doing mileage runs for some time,
and glad to find there are other people who have similar hobbies. The AUS-ORD-MIA-ORD-AUS segments
were upgraded to business but the MIA-EZE-MIA segments were in economy. Too late, if I had
known earlier about exchanging my upgrades for miles after reading comments on this board,
I would have upgraded the whole trip.

Left Austin at 1:30 on Thursday afternoon, the flight to Chicago passed quickly. I popped
into the Admiral's Club there, it was packed that afternoon. Next flight was to MIA, arriving
in around 8:00pm, with a two hour wait in the AC until the flight to EZE.

Arrived in EZE early Friday morning after the uneventful overnight flight from MIA. I
took the Manuel Tienda Leon bus into town, $14 including transfer to Recoleta. The ride
took about 40 minutes to their central office, after getting off there and waiting for the
transfer, I realized the place I was staying was only 5-6 blocks away anyway, so decided
to walk it. Arrived at the Recoleta Youth Hostel, checked in and had a quick shower. The
place was very basic, but then that's all I needed, just somewhere to crash. I soon headed
out to explore the city. First stop was Freddo's ice cream in Recoleta.. the ice cream/gelati
in South America is some of the best I've had, even better than in Italy, IMHO. Next, off to
the Recoleta Cemetery and wandered for awhile among the elaborate mausoleums of the rich and
famous. Also visited the Plaza del Congreso, the Casa Rosada, and the Florida/Lavalle street
pedestrian mall before coming back through the Plaza San Martin and back to Recoleta. That
night I went to see a tango show at a local bar, only $5 but the show was excellent.

Saturday morning, I woke up early and headed down to the hydrofoil docks, for a day trip
over to Colonia, Uruguay. There are several daily crossings on the slow ferry (2.5 hrs) or
the hydrofoil (50 minutes). Argentina/Urugay immigration formalities are taken care of before
boarding the boat, so when you get off the boat there is no waiting in line. The hydrofoils
have airline style seats, with both first and tourist ($68 r/t) class sections. Spent a few
hours wandering around the town of Colonia, the main historic area is pretty small, but filled
with interesting old colonial buildings which now contain restaurants, artisans shops, etc.
Most of the prices were quoted in US$, and most places took Argentine pesos as well, so no
currency exchange is necessary. Most places had lunch for $7-12. I noticed alot of antique
cars in Colonia, from the 1920s and 1930s. I don't know if that was just in Colonia or typical
of the rest of Uruguay. Soon I headed back to B. Aires. I wandered along the newly renovated
waterfront/dock area, which is now filled with restaurants and shops.

Sunday morning I also woke up early and had a walk along Florida street, people watching as
the stores opened and people went around their daily business. I headed down to La Boca on the
bus to visit the colorful street, El Caminito, arriving just before the hordes of tourist buses
arrived. Then headed to the San Telmo flea market for awhile before heading back to Recoleta.
Wandered about the plaza there for awhile enjoying the artisans and entertainers before heading
back on the bus to the airport. Spent the few hours before the flight relaxing in the Admirals
Club there, then boarded the flight to MIA. Full flight in economy to MIA, but I had upgraded
the return domestic flights as well. The first class cabin was full from MIA to ORD, but only
two people out of 12 seats from ORD back to AUS.

I had an excellent time on the trip and can't wait for the next run.