Long time readers will know I’m a huge fan of Aerolineas Argentinas and their luxurious Club Condor cabin. From the fax machine, to the individual screen with four movies, to the audio selection with 12 channels of varied musical genders, there’s no way to get bored on an Aerolineas Argentinas flight.
Anyway, presently their only destination in the US is Miami, though starting December 15, 2013, they’ll be gracing the skies between Buenos Aires and New York JFK daily, with the following schedule:
AR1300 Buenos Aires to New York departing 11:59PM arriving 9:04AM (+1 day)
AR1301 New York JFK to Buenos Aires departing 3:25PM arriving 4:40AM (+1 day)
With such an early arrival in Buenos Aires you may be able to make it into the city by lunch, assuming you don’t have have too many things to negotiate import taxes on. 😉
Anyway, this is rather exciting since Aerolineas Argentinas is part of SkyTeam, and they’re otherwise quite weak in South America.
The service launches right during the peak season, and award availability is incredibly easy to come by. Virtually every single day has business class award space.
Air France’s Flying Blue website is the best place to search for award availability, and if they show “Classic Award” space it should also be bookable using Delta SkyMiles, though you’ll have to call.
If you’re looking to book a ticket using Delta SkyMiles, it will run you 100,000 miles in business class or 60,000 miles in coach. There are mild fuel surcharges of around $150 roundtrip, though that’s entirely reasonable compared to what’s charged in other markets.
Anyway, if you’re still looking to travel to South America this December/January, this is by far your best bet, in my opinion.
(Tip of the hat to Rapid Travel Chai)
Looks like no space at all available now for the coming month. Disappointing. Not thrilled with my current NYC-EZE path -- any thoughts on which airlines most likely to open space close to departure? Anything that doesn't involve both MIA and PTY for > 5 hours and two Copa flights....
Follow up with the cancelation: I called Delta and tried to get a supervisor but the rep said that after explaining the situation to the supervisor they couldn't open up saver award in business to give me the same I had gotten with Aerolineas Argentinas. So I ended up booking the same flight, one stop in Atlanta, for 95k miles each but in coach. Oh well...
@ Mariana -- I think it's perfectly reasonable to request that they then open up saver award space on the Delta flights, even if it's not presently available. A supervisor should be able to do that without much trouble.
Please let me know how it goes!
LUCKY, WARNING!! Delta just cancelled my three business tickets for December 22, January 1 with Aerolineas Argentinas because they said AA is not honoring these tickets
Huge mistake for me. I canceled my booking with United (one way) and Avios (return trip) because these new dates worked so much better and now I am totally stuck with no reasonable award ticket to Argentina.
You should pack lunch and dinner cause that plane is going to be like 20 hours delayed. Would not be surprised if it breaks down while boarding.
And if you have the points, fly the JFK-AMS-EZE route. You'll get there much quicker.
@Joao. It won't work. They don't connect them. Hahaha
The real question here is: why? They are awful!
But I guess points are points to some...
don't do it, unless customer service is not a concern. they broke my checked-in suitcase (one of the wheels was missing) on a flight i took in july, and i'm still in a battle with them to get compensation.
i emailed and tweeted them, though, come to think of it, i should probably check if faxing my claim works better.
@ charles -- If I'm not mistaken you're thinking of Avianca Flight 52?
Perhaps I would take this flight if I could remind the pilot to make sure he has enough fuel on board. if memory serves me I remember a flight crashing near JFK because the pilots ran into circling traffic and didn'y declare an emergency when they were out of fuel. A dry flight?
Hey Lucky, I'll be flying AR1304 on 12/22, is there a number where I can fax you?
@ jyoti -- Sorry, I should have been more clear. If you plan on redeeming Delta SkyMiles then you would call Delta to book. If you want to redeem Air France Flying Blue miles, you would call them to book.
Delta charges the same for one-way awards as they do roundtrips, so if you only want a one-way you may be better off booking through Air France, which allows one-way awards for half the cost of a roundtrip.
If you are actually flying to Argentina and not connecting onward to another destination, the only downer is the $160 reciprocity fee that US citizens must pay before departure at the government's web site (AR's retaliation for the visa fees that US charges their citizens). As far as I know, this policy is still in effect.
Hi Lucky,
Great timing on this - I'm flying into SCL and out of EZE back to NYC in January 2014, so this post was super helpful.
Stupid question about booking, but in your post, you said:
"Air France’s Flying Blue website is the best place to search for award availability, and if they show “Classic Award” space it should also be bookable using Delta SkyMiles, though you’ll have to call."
Do...
Hi Lucky,
Great timing on this - I'm flying into SCL and out of EZE back to NYC in January 2014, so this post was super helpful.
Stupid question about booking, but in your post, you said:
"Air France’s Flying Blue website is the best place to search for award availability, and if they show “Classic Award” space it should also be bookable using Delta SkyMiles, though you’ll have to call."
Do you mean if I have delta skymiles (not miles in my flying blue), I can call Air France Flying Blue and still use my sky miles, or do I have to call Delta and do so?
I am flying only one way, from EZE to JFK, does Delta still charge a RT ticket in points for only OW?
Thanks!
@ Amol -- That's good to know, thanks for the heads up!
The ex-New York departure time is extremely odd/inconvenient for a deep South America flight! It leaves way too early for you to actually get a sleep on the red-eye flight, and arrives in BA at an ungodly early hour. Generally the great thing about the overnight LatAm flights is that you can work the whole day, make it to the airport for a late flight, get some sleep at your actual bedtime, and arrive somewhat refreshed to start the day.
As someone who has had the unique experience of flying in Aerolineas Condor Class... Twice ... Let me tell you :). A). Usually only two channels of the movies work and that's the video. No guarantees on the audio. B) the music usually is "unavailable". C) The dinner and breakfast were served three hours apart, breakfast being served 3 hours before landing stating they wouldn't have enough time to "clean the plates before landing..." For...
As someone who has had the unique experience of flying in Aerolineas Condor Class... Twice ... Let me tell you :). A). Usually only two channels of the movies work and that's the video. No guarantees on the audio. B) the music usually is "unavailable". C) The dinner and breakfast were served three hours apart, breakfast being served 3 hours before landing stating they wouldn't have enough time to "clean the plates before landing..." For all two of us in the condor cabin. In any event, if you wanna get down there, make sure to just plan ahead by bringing snacks and an iPad pre loaded with movies. Special tip. Ask for rows 1 or 2. They are using leased three cabin aircraft, and they are "first" class seats :)
Lucky, I'm on the phone with DL right now and the Medallion rep says that after December 5th, AR is changing Econ to X and Biz to O. That would affect this flight.
@ Amol -- Seems that "T" is actually the economy award fare bucket.
@Matthieu do you friends live in 2002? (:
havent used a fax since i was a little girl
@ Lucky -- thanks. EF says U is Economy, but I'll trust you!
I can't wait: I'm faxing this to my friends right now :)
@ TravelinWilly -- You're missing a joke. See the link in the previous sentence for the reference. ;)
@ Amol -- It's "U" for business class.
Lucky, do you know the booking class/inventory bucket for Biz?
"...with 12 channels of varied musical genders..."
Did you mean "genres" or am I missing a joke (which happens a lot)?