Hi, just started planning a 3+ week trip for Feb/March & am realizing that the logistics of this trip are not easy with so many domestic flights etc. Wondering if anyone has used a travel agent located in Brazil or Argentinia to plan the internal travel, make recommendations, book hotel & air & provide transportation where needed.
So basically plan a custom tour, not a fan of tour packages where there is not much flexibility. Any recommendations? Thanks!

Sorry, but I have no suggestions to make for agencies. Whilst have travelled extensively in South America, I have never felt the need to use a travel agent or tour operator. I would be very wary of using an operator in Argentina or Brazil simply because ei would not enjoy the same financial protections I would if I used an organization in my home country. It would also be significantly more expensive than the DIY approach.

That said, although there may be a lot of flights and moving around to consider, it is pretty straightforward just to look on google flights for air travel, booking.com or Expedia for accommodation. (I only ever book refundable accommodation, just in case things go awry , (which they often do in South America). Air travel in SA is notoriously unreliable but I am not sure how much use a tour operator would be in those circumstances.

I did start planning a similar , 3 week trip ( Argentine and Chilean Patagonia) for this year but decided against it. Even though I wasn't looking at Brazil, I felt that the logistics of getting around, meant that I needed more time for a relatively relaxed trip. You may well be a fast tourist but for me, that would be too much ground to cover.

If you do find a SA based operator , make sure to pay only by credit card .

Good luck

Thanks catch23, usually do it on our own too but wasn't sure how easy it would be in South America! Was the language not a problem?

I don't feel it is any more difficult travelling in South America than anywhere else in the world. Certainly a lot easier that places like Japan or Korea where people seem to have very little interest in speak language other than their ow. I speak Spanish to a reasonable standard, as I do a few other languages, but am not fluent. Learning a few of the basics will enhance a trip immensely as people really seem to appreciate the effort being made. That said, one of the things that has put me spending much time in Brazil is the thought of having to spend a lot of time learning Portuguese!

Many places that tourists visit will have someone that speaks English, if not then there is always the Google Translate app.

Rather than going to the expense of asking a tour operator to organise a tour for you, as you are used to DIY, I would consider booking the basic inter yourself and then organise some guides /tours locally. I looked at doing this in parts of Patagonia, notably Torres del Paine . I have to say though that even DIY tours, guides and accommodation was extraordinarily expensive in that neck of the woods!

Agree very much with catch23. If an experienced traveler used to DIY independent travel, South America is perfectly doable. As mentioned, domestic flights and hotels are easily bookable yourself. We took some inter-city buses in Patagonia, and the tickets were a bit of a pain to book online (had to use Google Translate, websites looked like they were from the 1990s, and sometimes trouble using a US credit card), but we figured it out. We didn't rent a car as we weren't comfortable doing so, but many tourists do.

We booked a couple day trips with local agencies, but there's zero need to use an agency for a comprehensive trip.

As a new user I just came across this question. Let me say: Chile and Argentina are one of the most easily travelling by your own. Nowadays it is easy to book all accommodation in advance, you can look up any bus-timetable, but you also can easily drive by your own with a rental car or even camper. And also the flights can looked up easily. So where is the problem?
We travelled all around southern America by our own, booked and organized by ourselfs.
So if you have a temporary itinerary, let us know, day by day. Then we can help you much better with tips and suggestions.