seeksocean

I have been looking at the overnight first class bus schedule and the first class fully reclining seats are on the lower level. Does anyone out there know which 6 seats would be the best to choose? Also, is there another first class busline that is recommended over Andesmar and are there others that have a more liberal luggage allowance?

One more question. It seems easy enough to just buy the tickets on line at the www.andesmar.com site. Is this recommended over having an agent buy them? Thanks!

crellston

Andesmar is a good outfit, probably the best we used during our time in the country. I don't recall anyone ever checking the weight of our bags and personally wouldn't worry about it. From memory the toilet on the buses was on the lower deck right opposite the entrance so my choice would be seats towards the back of the cabin (less disturbance). Not sure of the seat numbers

seeksocean

Thanks! I look forward to the trip. Did you buy your tickets on line?

crellston

seeks - no we didn't try online booking as we were in Argentina for 3 months so we tended to arive in a place by bus stay a day or so and then decide how long to stay and then return to the bus station to by tickets for the next destination. We did however use the website to check availability.

We did find that the full Cama seats did tend to get booked up several days in advance (semi-cama were almost always available on the day). We did try semi-cama once on the trip from Bariloche to Puerto Madryn it was OK but the experience was enough to persuade us not to try it again for such a long trip!

I am not sure but I think I read on this forum somewhere that there was aproblem with online booking if using a non Argentine credit card . Maybe others could comment??

seeksocean

I know I had problems trying to book Pluna Airlines with a non-SA credit card. But, I did notice on the Andesmar site they had a place to say what the origin country was. So, maybe I can book the bus on line. Apparently, since we are going there around Christmas time, it should be easier (?) to get seats. I do know that you can book them a month in advance.

flintstones

The ones downstairs are safer...

seeksocean

Thanks Flintsones! How about the booking? Do you know if I can do it online myself with a credit card from the USA? I know that I can't book them until one month in advance of my trip.

crellston

Seeks - Have a look at this site. It does seem to allow online booking for for foreigners:

http://www.omnilineas.com/

I would stress that I have not used them

seeksocean

Thanks! I ahve this site too. It doesn't really prompt one to actually purchase the tickets on line though. Or maybe I don't have the navigation of their website figured out? Regardless, I can call them. Has anyone done the Sendas Bus, or is all basically the same?

Huentetu

Sendas is the luxurious option but Andesmar is also very good. Omnilineas is a service which buys your tickets for you. You need to go to their office and pick them up once you are in BA unless you book your hotel with them. In that case they will deliver the tickets to your hotel. It makes it slightly more expensive because of their fee, but you do secure the bus you want on the date you want. Many bus lines in Argentina allow booking from abroad.
Christmas is a very crowded time on buses all over South America as local residents move around to be with family. As the option to book ahead exists in Argentina, I would book.

drdawggy

All bus companies are NOT the same and all levels of service are not the same. Andesmar has a good reputation...I am not familiar with Sendas.
CamaSuite is the preferred level of service....regardless of company...

seeksocean

Can you book ahead sooner than one month from the date of departure.

not_enuf_vaca

Looking up my planned trip I see this "Bed Executive Service"- I take it this is full/reclining class? ...also even though it is the Andesmar site, it says flecha bus? It that as good?

seeksocean

I am still wondering if it's better to buy online or through an agent and if I have to wait until one month prior to my date of the bus ride to purchase the tickets? Thanks!

crellston

Flecha bus is part of the Andesmar group. We travelled on both and apart from what appeared to be a slightly older bus (Flecha) there was no difference.

Seeks - I have just played around with the Andesmar site and got to the page where it you enter your cc deatils and saw the following staement

"Financing in installments only with credit cards issued in Argentina. Foreign credit cards only in one payment".

As this clearly indicates that they DO ACCEPT foreign cc online - please ignore my previous comment!!

I would book online with Andesmar rather than an agent.

seeksocean

Thanks Crellston! Still wondering how far in advance I can book. Any idea on that? At one time I had read that it was not sooner than one month before the travel date.

seeksocean

I answered my own question. It's one month before departure.

Orlando_Vic

ttt

Orlando_Vic

The best seats, IMO, are number 1 & 2, left front row in the lower section. Why? It's a long trip and you may want to be near the restroom at night. Those seats are the closest, except for the single seat opposite 1 & 2 on the right side of the aisle.

We just got off an Andesmar bus this morning from Mendoza to Buenos Aires (Retiro). It was a smooth ride and, surprisingly, I got plenty of sleep. I have nothing but positive things to say about them.

One word of caution about the Retiro station. We were advised (by a local) that Retiro is a sketchy area and that one should be careful, particularly at night, because there are some people (petty criminals) with less than the best of intentions looking for travelers they can take advantage of.

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Vic's travels: http://my.flightmemory.com/vogilvie