BUYER BEWARE!!! Viator's transfer from EZE into Buenos Aires!
Mar 25th, 2015, 02:34 PM
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BUYER BEWARE!!! Viator's transfer from EZE into Buenos Aires!
In a recent thread, a well-meaning forum member posted this link, indicating he felt this airport/BA transfer service was cheaper than a cab:
http://www.viator.com/tours/Buenos-A...-5239EZEAPTHTL
I did a little research and this is what I found:
Viator (their website proudly proclaims they are a Trip Advisor company) offers a SHARED arrival and/or departure transfer and a PRIVATE arrival and/or departure transfer. Obviously, from the international airport into town, or the other way around.
The SHARED transfer costs forty dollars PER PERSON.
As I explained in this thread http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-traveller.cfm in my post of Mar 24, 15 at 3:56pm this transfer is quite expensive, UNLESS you travel by yourself and the transfer is NOT shared with anyone else.
Later on, I decided to research the PRIVATE transfer and this is what I found:
If the service carries just one or two people, the cost is $103,98; for three, $131,97; for four $215,96; for five $214,95; for six, $215,94; for seven, $ 216,93 and for eight $215,92.
This pricing is weird, to put it politely, because, as you can see above, it costs MORE to transfer FOUR persons than to transfer EIGHT persons.
But that is beside the point. The point is THE COST of this transportation.
The best private transportation available in our international airport charges 498 pesos, which, if paid with your CC is about 57 bucks, at the official rate of exchange http://www.tiendaleon.com/resultados/busqueda/remis/
This is for carrying up to three people (maybe even four, but I'm not absolutely sure).
So, if you are a party of three (as they say in restaurants), Viator (a Trip Advisor Co.) charges 2,3 TIMES what Manuel Tienda León charges.
Furthermore, again if you are a party of three and instead use http://www.taxiezeiza.com.ar/eng/tarifas and pay with pesos obtained with cash dollars sold at the "blue" rate, the trip into town would cost you about 32 dollars, or 76% less than Viator. Or Viator would cost you over FOUR times what Taxi Ezeiza charges, if you prefer to see it that way.
So, BUYER BEWARE of a firm which says about itself "Traveling like an insider starts here" and "Low Price Guaranteed."
Have a great time in my country and maybe save some money by asking here, before paying for overpriced transportation.
http://www.viator.com/tours/Buenos-A...-5239EZEAPTHTL
I did a little research and this is what I found:
Viator (their website proudly proclaims they are a Trip Advisor company) offers a SHARED arrival and/or departure transfer and a PRIVATE arrival and/or departure transfer. Obviously, from the international airport into town, or the other way around.
The SHARED transfer costs forty dollars PER PERSON.
As I explained in this thread http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-traveller.cfm in my post of Mar 24, 15 at 3:56pm this transfer is quite expensive, UNLESS you travel by yourself and the transfer is NOT shared with anyone else.
Later on, I decided to research the PRIVATE transfer and this is what I found:
If the service carries just one or two people, the cost is $103,98; for three, $131,97; for four $215,96; for five $214,95; for six, $215,94; for seven, $ 216,93 and for eight $215,92.
This pricing is weird, to put it politely, because, as you can see above, it costs MORE to transfer FOUR persons than to transfer EIGHT persons.
But that is beside the point. The point is THE COST of this transportation.
The best private transportation available in our international airport charges 498 pesos, which, if paid with your CC is about 57 bucks, at the official rate of exchange http://www.tiendaleon.com/resultados/busqueda/remis/
This is for carrying up to three people (maybe even four, but I'm not absolutely sure).
So, if you are a party of three (as they say in restaurants), Viator (a Trip Advisor Co.) charges 2,3 TIMES what Manuel Tienda León charges.
Furthermore, again if you are a party of three and instead use http://www.taxiezeiza.com.ar/eng/tarifas and pay with pesos obtained with cash dollars sold at the "blue" rate, the trip into town would cost you about 32 dollars, or 76% less than Viator. Or Viator would cost you over FOUR times what Taxi Ezeiza charges, if you prefer to see it that way.
So, BUYER BEWARE of a firm which says about itself "Traveling like an insider starts here" and "Low Price Guaranteed."
Have a great time in my country and maybe save some money by asking here, before paying for overpriced transportation.
Mar 25th, 2015, 06:42 PM
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Well, their "expert" info is often faulty, their reviews are frequently fraudulent or coerced, certain of their banned members are allowed back under different names, so why should this part of a company that seems to want to corner tall travel markets be of another quality?
Mar 26th, 2015, 10:03 AM
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Thank you, Marnie WDC!
Nothing PRIVATE about my investigation.
It's all there. Just check the links and do the math.
Have a great time in my country, but be sure to ask here, before purchasing wildly overpriced "low price guaranteed" tourism products.
Nothing PRIVATE about my investigation.
It's all there. Just check the links and do the math.
Have a great time in my country, but be sure to ask here, before purchasing wildly overpriced "low price guaranteed" tourism products.
Mar 27th, 2015, 04:35 AM
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Thanks, AV, for your super sleuthing. It's always nice to have good cost-saving tips in hand before travel to any destination.
I am going to disagree with Samba's contention though that Trip Advisor "experts" often provide faulty information. Ok, in the spirit of full disclosure, I serve as a TA Destination Expert along with Marnie and several others. So there may be a bit of defensiveness on my part. That said....
The experts for any given location may have opinions about a locale that others (including other Destination Experts) may disagree with. This is common. For example, I just read that the breakfast pastries at a restaurant I recently visited are not very good. I found them outstanding. People's tastes vary.
On rare occasions, DE's may also provide outdated or faulty information. Such errors are usually caught and corrected by others in the same thread.
It is true that some reviews are falsified. However, if you throw out the outliers (those with extreme negative or positive comments that seem at odds with a majority of reviews), a person can usually arrive at a pretty fair assessment of the venue under review. I use TA reviews as a guide for hotel and restaurant selection when we travel, and I have found that using the formula I listed I get an accurate picture of where I would like to stay and eat. I just used TA reviews to select a hotel in San Francisco, for example....and found it to be exactly as the reviews suggested.
Ok, enough on this topic. AV, thanks again for providing good information about how to save a bit of money getting from the airport to town. ( I have not spell checked this, so forgive any typos or misspellings in advance).
I am going to disagree with Samba's contention though that Trip Advisor "experts" often provide faulty information. Ok, in the spirit of full disclosure, I serve as a TA Destination Expert along with Marnie and several others. So there may be a bit of defensiveness on my part. That said....
The experts for any given location may have opinions about a locale that others (including other Destination Experts) may disagree with. This is common. For example, I just read that the breakfast pastries at a restaurant I recently visited are not very good. I found them outstanding. People's tastes vary.
On rare occasions, DE's may also provide outdated or faulty information. Such errors are usually caught and corrected by others in the same thread.
It is true that some reviews are falsified. However, if you throw out the outliers (those with extreme negative or positive comments that seem at odds with a majority of reviews), a person can usually arrive at a pretty fair assessment of the venue under review. I use TA reviews as a guide for hotel and restaurant selection when we travel, and I have found that using the formula I listed I get an accurate picture of where I would like to stay and eat. I just used TA reviews to select a hotel in San Francisco, for example....and found it to be exactly as the reviews suggested.
Ok, enough on this topic. AV, thanks again for providing good information about how to save a bit of money getting from the airport to town. ( I have not spell checked this, so forgive any typos or misspellings in advance).
Mar 27th, 2015, 06:30 AM
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Wow, the above post really comes from the "top of the heap"!
As most readers know, drdawggy is the dean of the posters about Argentina, both here and on TA, even though he no longer posts much here.
That said, I disagree with him about PART of his post.
In the forum he mentions, I have repeatedly observed obvious conflicts of interest, which the forum moderators have refused to act upon. One has to wonder why?
Years ago, there was a Rio de Janeiro expert who used his influence to help his girl friend rent her apartments.
He is still around, after going through several different nicknames, just like SambaChula says.
So, while most of the local experts of that forum provide great unbiased opinions to readers, I feel not enough is done to get rid of the bad apples which are present in any barrel.
Even more to the point, I feel that NO ONE who sells tourism services in a certain location should be named an "expert" about that place, because the conflict of interest is inevitable.
However, I hasten to admit that, much like drdawggy, I also use that forum "as a guide for hotel and restaurant selection when we travel, and I have found that using the formula I listed I get an accurate picture of where I would like to stay and eat."
BUT, every time I can prove they sell wildly overpriced services, I'm going to tell y'all about it, so you can have a great time in my town.
BTW, Doc, my microscope did NOT find any spelling mistakes in your post. Bravo! LOL!!!!
As most readers know, drdawggy is the dean of the posters about Argentina, both here and on TA, even though he no longer posts much here.
That said, I disagree with him about PART of his post.
In the forum he mentions, I have repeatedly observed obvious conflicts of interest, which the forum moderators have refused to act upon. One has to wonder why?
Years ago, there was a Rio de Janeiro expert who used his influence to help his girl friend rent her apartments.
He is still around, after going through several different nicknames, just like SambaChula says.
So, while most of the local experts of that forum provide great unbiased opinions to readers, I feel not enough is done to get rid of the bad apples which are present in any barrel.
Even more to the point, I feel that NO ONE who sells tourism services in a certain location should be named an "expert" about that place, because the conflict of interest is inevitable.
However, I hasten to admit that, much like drdawggy, I also use that forum "as a guide for hotel and restaurant selection when we travel, and I have found that using the formula I listed I get an accurate picture of where I would like to stay and eat."
BUT, every time I can prove they sell wildly overpriced services, I'm going to tell y'all about it, so you can have a great time in my town.
BTW, Doc, my microscope did NOT find any spelling mistakes in your post. Bravo! LOL!!!!
Mar 27th, 2015, 08:39 AM
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@drdawggy--I too was a DE for a certain city/area and I know that particular country quite well. The DEs were at one time consistently promoting sex tourism, that forum allows private tour guides to troll for clients, one DE spent a total of a week in his area of "expertise", and the most prolific contributor is often WRONG on facts and certainly on "opinions" about safe/unsafe areas, because he has spent so little time in country and in such a limited area. This, in addition to what a rooster says above, which I observed as well. I am not discussing opinions, but facts. For example, I anticipate one recent poster's vacation is not going to be as expected, having been told, by an 'influential' DE that gets his "E" from the internet, that s/he would get plenty of beach time in a certain city, when that month usually brings constant daily rain with little break.
On the other hand, the DEs and other contributors on the a Boston forum are excellent. However, it may be hard to tell if you are posting your questions to the former to latter type of forum there. And if 'the system' is flawed in one field, the forums, then one could have reasonable doubt about other ventures under the same roof.
On the other hand, the DEs and other contributors on the a Boston forum are excellent. However, it may be hard to tell if you are posting your questions to the former to latter type of forum there. And if 'the system' is flawed in one field, the forums, then one could have reasonable doubt about other ventures under the same roof.
Mar 27th, 2015, 08:45 AM
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Oh and as to:
"On rare occasions, DE's may also provide outdated or faulty information. Such errors are usually caught and corrected by others in the same thread. "
It has been more common (on the forum being discussed) to have the correction itself removed or indeed, the poster of that correction banned from the forum.
"On rare occasions, DE's may also provide outdated or faulty information. Such errors are usually caught and corrected by others in the same thread. "
It has been more common (on the forum being discussed) to have the correction itself removed or indeed, the poster of that correction banned from the forum.
Mar 27th, 2015, 10:14 AM
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About SambaChula's "It has been more common (on the forum being discussed) to have the correction itself removed or indeed, the poster of that correction banned from the forum.", that is exactly what happened to yours truly and the reason why http://tinyurl.com/pqe3486 no longer posts on that forum.
Mar 27th, 2015, 11:30 AM
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SambaChula: No PM system in this modest (but authentic) forum, so do you think you could e-mail me to albertovgalloATyahoo.com the link to your former screen name on the "forum being discussed"?
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mar 27th, 2015, 11:34 AM
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SambaChula, I appreciate your laying out your case in such a straightforward way. I frequently disagree with AV, yet we remain friends because, much like you, his disagreements are grounded in fact or reason without making personal attacks. I respect people who can disagree without being disagreeable.
My own experiences on location forums are limited. Perhaps I should not generalize other than to say that the BA forum is much like the way you describe the Bostom forum. It is informative and the DE's includes people from a variety of backgrounds. To my knowledge no one is as inexperienced as on the forum you describe.
I am surprised to hear that sex tourism is promoted on any TA forum and equally surprised that people are allowed to solicit for their tourist related businesses. Perhaps it is because others report them, but self promotion posts on the BA forum disappear rather quickly. I don't recall anyone promoting sex tourism in BA either. I don't have a problem with a local business owner serving as a DE for an area provided he or she does not promote his or her business when answering questions.
Peace and blessings to all.
My own experiences on location forums are limited. Perhaps I should not generalize other than to say that the BA forum is much like the way you describe the Bostom forum. It is informative and the DE's includes people from a variety of backgrounds. To my knowledge no one is as inexperienced as on the forum you describe.
I am surprised to hear that sex tourism is promoted on any TA forum and equally surprised that people are allowed to solicit for their tourist related businesses. Perhaps it is because others report them, but self promotion posts on the BA forum disappear rather quickly. I don't recall anyone promoting sex tourism in BA either. I don't have a problem with a local business owner serving as a DE for an area provided he or she does not promote his or her business when answering questions.
Peace and blessings to all.
Mar 27th, 2015, 12:05 PM
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The PM system in the "forum being discussed" allows people to covertly promote their business.
I strongly suspect the famous drdawggy is using a spell-checker, but won't admit it. LOL!!!!
About his "Peace and blessings to all": Amen.
I strongly suspect the famous drdawggy is using a spell-checker, but won't admit it. LOL!!!!
About his "Peace and blessings to all": Amen.
Mar 27th, 2015, 01:05 PM
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http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic..._of_Bahia.html shows an example of a guide who regularly solicits clients, the removal of a comment by the last poster 'alive' (ie not banned for criticizing) to protest, and the guide (Ivan=quecoi= Ixsal=anythingX= Ivanx_11, among just a few aliases), referring to himself in the third person.
Mar 27th, 2015, 01:23 PM
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@avrooster, my screen name is still mentioned in the Welcome message and over 3K posts. The most knowledgable poster IMO on that specific forum (not me) is no longer allowed to post. The objector mentioned above is on the edge. Leaving 'the guide', as the only poster left with any local knowledge, free to post and solicit as he pleases. So it goes over there.
Mar 27th, 2015, 03:36 PM
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The PM system does allow people to contact others. However, only one of the current DE's owns a business and he does not need to solicit business. I assume if random business owners use PM's to contact prospective clients the sender would be banned if the recipient notified TA.
Mar 27th, 2015, 04:09 PM
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Well, I must say this thread has achieved at least one thing, which is getting the famous drdawggy posting here again, after quite a while. YEARS, maybe?
As usual, agreeing to disagree, I count TWO experts involved in the tourism business and what businessman "does not need to solicit business"?
As usual, agreeing to disagree, I count TWO experts involved in the tourism business and what businessman "does not need to solicit business"?
