Hello all,

This is my first post in this forum, as I'm usually in the Europe/US forums, which means YAY! I'm finally headed down to South America!

My mother's been planning a trip to Antarctica since September, and has just booked us for a trip this January! We will be going from Buenos Aires, meeting up with a group, and head down to Ushuaia to grab our cruise to Antarctica. Super exciting for me!

However, my question lies in the fees involved. I understand there is a landing fee to pay (per person) upon arrival in the Buenos Aires airport along with a visa fee (big question since we're both US citizens and therefore don't require a visa per the Argentinian Embassy in NY). We're leaving from Santiago, Chile, and understand there is a departure tax to pay per person as well.

We'll be traveling from and to NY's JFK.

Could someone enlighten me on the fees one must pay at the airport in either/both locations? And silliest question of all time, may I pay with US currency or must I pay with local currency?

Thanks!

There is no arrival/visa fee to enter Argentina. You will be given a tourist card good for 90 days. There is a departure tax of U$ 18, payable as you leave the country. In Argentina, you can pay in dollars or pesos.

Hiden in the fare or not I guess all airports in the world have a tax. As drdawggy rightly pointed out in Buenos Aires it is US18 which is low for universal standarts. As far as I know it is always charged upon leaving.
In Chile they charge US Citizen $100
for a visa upon entering the country this is in reciprocity
for the visa charges due upon entering the US for Chilean citizens.
I guess they also charge an airport tax when leaving two different things.

We did just that recently.
We have US passports, but live in Mexico and flew Avianca MEX-EZE and Aeromexico SCL-MEX.
No Visa fees in AR or CL and no exit fees from SCL as those are included in you AL ticket.
If you fly into CL from AR (or the US) on a US PP, you'll be charged $100. pp for a visa.
M

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

Graziella, all airports in the world have taxes, of course. It's just that this is the first time I'm flying somewhere where I must pay for the tax separately, hence my newbie questions. But I must agree with you, $18 US isn't much, but it still must be planned for.

However, what confuses me most is the $100 Chile visa. I'm checking out the Chilean consulate website for NY, and it says that "American citizens traveling to Chile for recreation, on business or to attend conferences or the like do not need a visa to enter Chile. They can stay in the country up to 3 months." Hence my confusion on visa fees for Chile. If it matters any, we're flying Lan Peru.

mikemo, when you finished your Antarctica tour, did you disembark at Punta Arenas? If so, were there any fees to pay there?

Sorry, I'm so confused about this.

It's not a visa to enter Chile, but instead what Chile calls a "reciprocity fee." The United States charges Chileans a non-refundable $100 merely to apply for a visa (with no guarantee that it will be granted), so Chile has said it will require a similar fee of U.S. citizens. When you arrive at the airport in Santiago, before you go through passport control, you need to stop at the reciprocity desk and each pay $100. They will stamp your passport as having paid and will staple a receipt to the same page. Then you go through passport control.

But if you arrive by land or sea, you don't have to pay the fee.

If it's any consolation, this is good for the life of your passport. You have the stamp and receipt showing you've paid.

Hi mcnyc, I didn't wish to sound pedantic. If I did I am very sorry and I appologize. It is true as I mentioned before that here in the States airports like Miami International have the tax hidden or included in the tickets. (I believe it is 40 dollars) The way they do it in Uruguay, Argentina, Brazil etc is more annoying. By the way in Uruguay it is much more than in Argentina. Actually both Argentina and URuguay also charge taxes when using the Buquebus a short trip between Argentina and Uruguay. ( Less than the airport )
Regarding Chile Jeff explained it better than me. I should not have called the $100 dollars fee a visa because strictly it is not.

When I entered Chile a few years ago they insisted that the "entrance fee" had to be paid in US dollars, cash only. I don't know if that's still true.

According to the webpage of the Chilean embassy in Washington:

http://www.chile-usa.org/fastfacts.htm

the fee may be paid with cash or credit card.

I'm reading the original post again. I don't see that you're flying into Chile at all. Is that right? If you arrive by sea, you don't pay the $100. You do pay the airport departure tax when you fly out of Santiago.

Thanks all for your experience and good information! I knew I could count on my fellow Fodorites!

Graziella: no worries. It's just when you're used to having the tax as part of the whole airfare (hidden in airfare taxes), you're not used to thinking, "ok, when I leave NY, I have to pay $30." This is a whole new experience for me, so thanks for your patience.

Although thanks to your warning, I'll warn my wallet re:buses between Uruguay and Argentina in the future

Jeff: Thank you so much for the link. I wished I had seen that in the Chile embassy portion, which would have lessened my confusion. I will be traveling by boat to Chile, so I guess that's one less thing I have to worry about. And since I'm wrapping my mind around departure fees, I'm ok with that. It's not the fees that will make or break us, but it's good to know what the fees are so I can be prepared ahead of time instead of being surprised.

I also found out we'll be flying within Argentina, and once we get to Chile, flying within Chile. I noticed that within Chile, the airfare tax already takes care of any departure fees. Is that the case with Argentina? I've been searching to no avail.

mikemo: thanks again for your help in the other post.

I'm so excited!

airport tax leaving Buenos Aires is US$18 per person, and you can pay with a credit card. I just got back this morning, so this is definitely the most current info available!

J_C_R,
The airport departure tax from SCL on 4 Nov was included in the price of our Aeromexico business class ticket purchased with Delta skymiles in July.
We were able to use our remaining pesos to buy wine at the duty free: some real bargains there; we didn't have the US carry-on restrictions and faced no MXN import duties on our case of vino tinto.
M