(Full disclosure: Park Hyatt and American Airlines, sponsors of the Masters of Food & Wine Event, comped my airfare, hotel, and admission to the events) After an hour long drive through Buenos Aires we were dropped off at the domestic airport. We proceeded to the Aerolineas Argentinas check-in counter, where we were promptly checked in.…
Continue reading: To Mendoza for the Masters of Food & Wine: Aerolineas Argentinas from Buenos Aires (AEP) to Mendoza (MDZ)
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
"Interestingly, the purser announced that the captain had informed her that someone had their cell phone on, and it needed to be turned off. Odd, I always thought that was a myth."
I assume that they were making it up. Not as though they were singling anyone out, and anyone who DID have their phone on would assume the comment was directed at them.
That grey plane you asked about, I believe it's the Czech presidential plane. The president, Václav Klaus, was in Argentina around March 31st on a state visit -- not sure what your dates were... 
I have a pilot friend who tells me that they can hear some static in their headsets when there is a phone on...
When I lived in Mendoza, there wasn't even a Hyatt there. It was quaint and undiscovered. With the Malbec trend sweeping the globe, now it's a race to get down there. Although, I'm sure the local culture is intact....they also could really use the revenue. It used to be a very impoverished region.
Thanks for the intro to the blog Gary!
GSM phones checking in with the base station can be picked up by audio equipment. They make a "chirping" noise. If you have ever filmed digital video, and wondered what the periodic "chirp" was - you forgot to turn off your phone...
I assumed the Czech was a charter...at a conference last year in LAS the company chartered an air new zeland flight direct from Auckland and it just sat on the Tarmac for 3 days since they had to turn around and head back. It was fun to see 🙂
@ A. S. -- That would have been it! I was there on March 31.
@ Bill -- I don't think it's all that easy to drive from Santiago to Mendoza due to the mountains, and like I said in a previous post, I didn't plan the itinerary.
Looks like you had an alfajore (the cookie sandwich thing). Yum!! One of the best things about Argentina...funny that the whole trademark cookie thing is a bit like Delta and her Biscoffs 🙂
Legroom does look pretty good on the MD80. The seats are obviously old, but they look very thick compared to many coach seats these days, especially on the MD80 family. Did that seem to be the case?
@ Taylor -- That's exactly the case. The seats were surprisingly comfortable and well cushioned. Much more so than the 737 I flew on the way back, which gave me a pretty sore rear after less than a two hour flight.
How would you rate AEP? From your pics, it looked clean and had some decent shopping...
Great and very thorough review! Would you fly Aerolineas again? I am going from AEP to MDZ in November and considered flying LAN, but they have very few flight time options. Aerolineas had a lot more convenient times, but I've heard mixed reviews on the ariline.