Hi EdEdwards!
Im Sophie, Im a tour guide in Buenos Aires and have worked in various agencies for several years, at the moment I'm taking some time off since I'm a full time mom now since my baby was born last December.
The national carrier (Aerolineas Argentinas) is not running late at all and on the contrary, it has proved to have a very high level of punctuality in the past semester so at this moment both airlines are running well. Also, as it is a Saturday, it wont take a long time to get to EZE since there will be much less traffic than during week days.

For international departures you are suggested to be at EZE airport at least 2 hours prior departure so if your flight to Santiago leaves at 4:55 PM that means you should be there at around 2:55 pm. If your flight from Iguazu is on time, you will be just fine.

I hope this is useful info!

Although my single LAN and Aerolineas Argentina flights were both more or less on time, it seems that allowing only 4 hours between flights at different airports is cutting it rather close. A late flight coming back would mean you would miss your flight to Santiago.

One thing to keep in mind is that flight schedules also do change in advance fairly often. This happened for both me and my friend. So what seems like perfect timing now might not be so if they change the time of your flights.

Sofi, how long does it take to get from AEP to EZE? Also, I just realized that I will need to make my connection on a Sunday, not a Saturday -- so how will that affect the time needed? As WillTravel points out, I may be cutting things close. To be on the safe side, I'd like to figure that the LAN flight to AEP could be up to 2 hours late, leaving me 2 hours and 20 minutes before my flight out of EZE. Thanks.

I took that Air Canada flight last month. The lineup to check in was fairly long, although I don't remember how long I stayed in line. I then had to go into another lineup to pay the departure tax.

WillTravel, did you really need a full 2 hours before the flight?

I have to admit that I never cut it close at airports, so I can't say for sure. But I think that with 90 minutes, I would have been very rushed.

Early afternoon on a Sunday should be a comparatively good time to go from AEP to EZE. Estimate about an hour, maybe less. Avoid the cabs outside AEP and take a prepaid "remise".

In more general terms, I feel you are cutting it too close.

Have a great time in our country.

Thanks, avrooster. I'm also looking at an Aerolinaeas Argentinas flight, which leaves EZE an hour later -- so that would give us 5 hours 35 minutes between flights, instead of 4 hours 35 minutes. Do you think that will be safe enough?

Also, we're planning 7 nights in Buenos Aires and 6 nights in Santiago. Since we've never been to either (and are limiting ourselves to the 2 cities and day trips to surrounding areas), does it make sense to spend that much time in Santiago in the middle of winter?

Lastly, how do we arrange a prepaid remise?

Well, it's one hour more, which is better, but you never know...

Doesn't LAN have a good flight to Santiago?

The last question is easy: just go to one of the booths that offer "remises" and ask for one. You can reserve online with http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp

It costs 141 pesos, which is on the expensive side, but they are the most reliable company.

LAN has a few good flights later on August 2, but they cost US$260 more for the 2 of us. The other possibility is to stay overnight and leave on the morning of August 3. Given that it will be winter there, I'm wondering if we really want to spend the 6 nights in Santiago.

I believe staying in BA overnight or even for a couple of days is your best choice.

We're starting our trip with 6 nights in BA, so we're not anxious to stay the extra days in BA again, unless Santiago doesn't have enough to interest us for a full 5 days.

I am definitely an Iguazu fan (and since I'm not so much a nature person, I had to be talked into going) so I would tend to favour giving it an expanded treatment, particularly if you can go to Brazil for the day.

I don't know much about Santiago, because I've only been in the airport. I do notice that while many Chilean destinations are favored, Santiago doesn't seem to be at the top of most people's lists. It may have a devoted following I haven't noticed.

I think the idea here is that you run a certain percentage risk of your flights not working out if you plan a relatively close connection. What you need to do is figure out the cost of buying new flights on the spot if things fall apart. E.g. would a 5% chance of having to pay $1000 bother you? (I don't know if the numbers are accurate, but that's the general idea.)

On a return trip to Buenos Aires, you wouldn't necessarily have to stay in BA. You could do an estancia stay, for example.

Thanks, all, for your suggestions. Of course, we will be flying to Santiago after 3 nights in Iguazu, after 6 nights in BA.

Given the hassle of the connection to Santiago, we're now wondering if we should simply spend the last week in Argentina, since there's so much to see right there. Is Salta worth a trip in the winter? Where else might we go in the cold weather?

Salta is very nice in the winter.

I believe by the time you are here there should be an Iguazú/Salta flight, but I'm not sure.

I'll ask for some qualified help on the subject.

To EdEdwards and to Avrooster :

There is already a company flying between Iguazu and Salta on Mondays Wednesday and Fridays, leaving Puerto Iguazu at 4 pm and arriving in Salta at 5:45 pm. This is no doubt the most needed conexion for these two very demanded destinations. No need to come to Bs.As. Avoids time and money ANDES COMPANY

I will butt in the thread on Salta s behalf:
nobody regrets visiting Salta and the whole area, even the ones who were not very convinced during the planning. When people make a second trip to Argentina, Salta is the area they go back, and this time for a longer stay.
It is their landscapes,their culture,their typical Spanish Colonial style lodgings, their cuisine but essentially the people who live there who are proud of their land more than anybody else in the country. This being said by a "porteña" means a lot.

That's what I mean by "qualified help".

Thanks for the information, Milla. I've looked up the Andes Company, and it appears that the flights have to be purchased in Argentina. They don't seem to have a way to buy them through their web site.

EdEdwards, I can't say specifically for the Andes company, but there seem to be a lot more things in Argentina that have to be done through agents than I am used to with my other travels. Maybe you could phone or email and ask about an agent you could use.

A lot of helpful information has already been given, but I will add another helpful tip for using the airports in Argentina. Having a preprinted internet boarding pass saves a lot of time in lines since the internet check in lines are SO much shorter (often no line) compared to long regular check in lines. My recommendation would be to allow more time between international flights since schedules often change and the added stress isn't needed on a trip.

I also would recommend Salta and NW area for unusual beauty, culture, great wines and food, wonderful local town square markets with local wares, and a totally different experience than the hustle and bustle of BA. There are many posts here that well describe the area.

Santiago is a great destination, and from your travel plans it seems you like big cities. Salta and NW would be a totally different experience than another international city. Save Chile for another trip and enjoy more than just Santiago since Valparaiso, Vina Del Mar and other places are interesting too. Both countries have far more to offer and enjoy than just their largest cities. It would be a good excuse to return to SA--my favorite travel destination!

I think it's good to have an Internet boarding pass if you can, but my recollection is that this wouldn't have helped for either the Buenos Aires-Iguazu-Buenos Aires flights, or the Air Canada flight.

Did use internet boarding passes for BA to/from Iguazu as well as BA to Salta and JuJuy to BA on AR airlines as well as international flights for arrival and departure. I have not used Air Canada, but the saved a lot of time in the airports (especially EZE)using preprinted boarding passes with other airlines.

EdEdwards

ANDES is a rather new company and probably the tickets cannot be booked on line. Thought that they had implemented it but it seems they have not.

Agree with CollegeMom: make Santiago an excuse to come to S.America again and then directly to the Lake District and maybe the glaciers to end the tour, NOT in July though.

milla

EdEdwards: in case you don't know, "milla" is a top independent local travel agent.

I suggest you research her by typing "Isabel" in the TA Argentina forum's search feature: http://tinyurl.com/nw9f4

Have a great time in our country.

Several questions:

1. What is the easiest way to transfer from Ezeize Int'l to Jorge Newbery?

2. Arriving EZE on a Saturday at 10:30; departing from AEP at 1:00 - do we have enough time?

3. Sofi, we will be in BA 24 January for a week +; would like to get in touch with you for guidilng.
How do we contact you?

Jay

Yikes, landing at 10:30, getting through immigration and through luggage and to the next airport, really leaves very little time for a transfer, considering you have to travel the significant distance between airports, and check in for your next flight.

And in general, I reiterate that times can change a great deal for flights. My Air Canada flights had at least three significant changes, in both hours and days. LAN and Aerolineas Argentina both change fairly often too.

We're actually landing at AEP at 12:20, but coming from Iguazu we will not have to clear customs, only get baggage. Then our flight from EZE to Santiago is at 5:55 -- so it's a total of over 5 hours, which should be enough even if the plane is 2 hours late and the traffic is 2 hours instead of 1 (unlikely on a Sunday, I've been led to believe). So, having figured in the risk of further delays and potentially needing to rebook, we've decided to take our chances. We've made much tighter connections before! Also, I found a site that details flight delay records for most specific flights, not just routes. I've found that the LAN Argentina flight arriving at AEP is on time over 90% of the time, and on average, if late, is late much less than 1 hour. We'll keep our fingers crossed.

Ed, Does the site include changed flight times as well as on time? LAN changed our flight departure and arrival times at least twice after we booked to/from Iguazu.

Could you share the URL of that website, Ed?

Sure: it's flightstats.com

For instance, looking at my flight from IGR to AEP, I find that it's on time more than 90% of the time, and that's better than 96% of all flights. When it is late, is averages 36 minutes, which with a standard deviation of 51 minutes -- which is poor performance for a late flight, better than only 15% of other flights. So, there's better than a 90% chance it will be on time when I fly, but if it is late, on average it will be about a half hour late, and (if my memory of statistics serves me) about an 80% chance it will be no more than 1 hour late.

Now, it doesn't say anything about changes in posted flight times, which remains some concern. But we'll have to take our chances.

BTW -- you have to drill down on the links aggressively to gete all this information about a specific flight, after you get an initial list of all flights leaving from a specific airport.

I think the main issue is that it's much more common for flight times for LAN and Aerolineas Argentina and Air Canada to be changed, than not, including up to the day before departure. When we were selecting our flights within Argentina, my friend had specific requirements about which aircraft and which times, and we chose the flights accordingly, but only one of the four flights and I think none of the aircraft stayed the same, and all the changes for the domestic flights occurred in the final week. Some changes were relatively minor and some weren't. And as I mentioned, my Air Canada flight changed several times (although not in the last month before departure).

So it's particularly true for the poster traveling in January that she should expect changes, but I would not expect flight times for next month to be the same either. However, if you are confident with your plan, by all means proceed.

Isn't everything in life a calculated risk?

For sure. But in this case, given the lack of quantified information about flight time changes, I wouldn't know how to calculate the risk. If I were to extrapolate from my very limited, personally known information about Argentinian flight changes, and use that as the basis for the calculation, I'd see the risk as too high for myself.

Jay (Luvntravln):

1- The easiest way to go from EZE to AEP is to take a taxi or have a transfer arranged. It would take about an hour to get from one place to the other

2- It’s very tight… To take your flight in AEP you are required to check in one hour before your flight leaves, that means you only have less than an hour and a half to get there. The ride shouldn’t take more than an hour considering it’s a Saturday, however from the moment your plane lands, it will take you at least one hour to get off the plane, do immigrations, pick up your luggage and go through customs.

3- I take part in this travel forum so as not to get out of practice, since I may not be working until next year as my baby was born in December and I am a full time mom now. I used to work for travel agencies which hired my guiding services, if you are interested I can give you the name of the company I've worked for and which I recommend highly.

Hi Sofi, thank you for the information. Yes, I would be interested in the company name; I would also be interested in how to contact you in BA if you have returned to part-time work in Jan/Feb 2010. Cheers, Jay

Jay: For EZE to AEP don't take just ANY taxi. Choose ONLY among the services which can be PREPAID in an official-looking booth, before you board the car. There is a lot on the subject in this forum and elsewhere.

HI Jay, I highly recommend Wowargentina (their site is www.wowargentina.com) I have worked for a good number of agencies for more than 7 years and this is the one I found to be the most professional and responsible. The owners are a young couple who do an amazing job, I'm sure they will assist you with everything you need and answer all the questions you may have.
In case you want to contact me feel free to do so at sophie-2506@hotmail.com
We'll stay in touch!