Best price on airfare to Buenos Aires?

November 13, 2006 8:48 AM

How can I find inexpensive airfare to Buenos Aires? I just used Kayak to price tickets, and the cheapest were in the $1200-$1300 range.

I'm traveling from Austin and would like to stay for a couple of weeks in mid-December. My travel days are flexible.

posted by medpt to travel & transportation (12 comments total)

I flew to Buenos Aires last January 2006, and I kept checking Orbitz, and changing the dates around, and I eventually found a ticket that was $900 and something. The January tickets I remember were several hundred dollars cheaper than the December tickets. Good luck.
posted by ClaudiaCenter at 8:52 AM on November 13, 2006

Anecdotally, the cheapest ticket I have ever found between BsAs and the States was last December. It was an American Airlines ticket (originating in BsAs) and it was booked about 10 days in advance. Probably a total fluke. It was "cheap" -- $750.

Beyond that, this is a great time to use any miles you may have accummulated. Even if you don't have enough for a ticket, some airlines (American, for one) let you use mileage+cash to get a ticket and it still turns out to be a good deal.

You may also want to price the flight out of NY or Miami (or possibly LA) and then see separately if you can find a cheap ticket to one of those airports.

What were you hoping to pay? Probably 90% of the time I see tickets, they're in the $900-$1200 range.
posted by veggieboy at 9:22 AM on November 13, 2006

I flew to BsAs last year in January for around $750 - December will probably be more expensive because of Christmas. We bought our tickets through Intratours. Who consistently have pretty good deals. Also keeping an eye on TravelZoo and Sherman's Travel is a good idea.
posted by youthenrage at 10:24 AM on November 13, 2006

Yeah, it's expensive going to B.A. -- that's why I've never been back, even though I loved living there in the '60s and am dying to experience the steaks and pizza again.
posted by languagehat at 10:25 AM on November 13, 2006

PS - That flight was out of Dulles in D.C. with a connection in NYC. The cheapest flights to anywhere in the Central/South America region will either leave out of LA, San Diego or Miami if that helps you at all.
posted by youthenrage at 10:27 AM on November 13, 2006

Farecompare.com (AUS->BUE) ~ $860 (inc. taxes and fees)
posted by unmake at 11:14 AM on November 13, 2006

Farecompare.com (AUS->BUE) ~ $860 (inc. taxes and fees)

If you drill down you can see there are "no seats available"
In any case it says the flight is on Varig which doesn't even fly out of the U.S so that whole thing seems very suspect to me.

I've been monitoring prices to Buenos Aires for the past 6 months or so for a possible upcoming trip. I've never seen it go much below $900, usually around $1100.
posted by vacapinta at 12:12 PM on November 13, 2006

I visited Argentina this past may- found a Varig ticket on farecompare, bought it (through Orbitz), and flew from New York to Sao Paulo, where I was delayed overnight, and from there flew to B.A.

When I went, I chose Varig because it was about $100 less expensive than the next-cheapest (direct) flight. Mistake, that was.
posted by unmake at 2:13 PM on November 13, 2006

A ticket last January/February for MSP-EZE was about 900, United. March, BOS-EZE, was 850. I just got done buying tickets to Brazil for January at 1100-1200 apiece, so you aren't getting unreasonable prices.

You may want to be wary of the Varig recommendations; they were in serious financial trouble, went through a buyout, and I'm not up on what their current status is but they were not an option for my Brazil tickets, international or domestic.

Cheaper tickets might be possible through the S. American airlines, including Aerolineas Argentinas (but their service in-flight... ech), TAM (Brazilian), or GOL (Brazilian, no-frills, but non-Brazilian purchases must be purchased with American Express).
posted by whatzit at 2:44 PM on November 13, 2006

I flew there in June for about $900 and couldn't find anything cheaper. Maybe check native-friendly travel agents? I justified the price of the ticket by how cheap everything else was in comparison. Your rationalizations may vary.
posted by milinar at 7:42 PM on November 13, 2006

Using ITAsoftware's monthlong search, I have found the following, all taxes and fees included:

$912, Dec 6 to Dec 22, Delta (DFW-EZE)
$912, Dec 11 to Dec 26, Delta (DFW-EZE)

To get these fares, I'd call Delta (1-800-221-1212) instead of spending 7 hours on the Delta website trying to get these prices, tell them you want to fly to Buenos Aires from Dallas with the EXACT fare basis code listed on the "fare details" page: TLXVIATL.

Now these fares are from Dallas, yes. But I imagine that even if you factor in a flight to get to Dallas or the cost of gas, you'll still come in under the $1200+ fares.

Bring us back some yerba mate!
posted by mdonley at 3:11 AM on November 14, 2006

Hold up! I used the website I mentioned above to check flights leaving from New York, Miami, Los Angeles, and Dallas-Fort Worth, and *BAM,* here's a fare for $804! Miami to Buenos Aires, via Santa Cruz, Bolivia, on Lloyd Aero Boliviano^. But still, that's like $400 less than you were expecting.

And here's one on LAN Argentina (previously "Aero 2000")^ for $865, also from Miami.

LAN Argentina seems much more stable than LAB, and the flights are nonstop. LAN Argentina is not the same as Aerolineas Argentinas.

Buena suerte con los precios de los vuelos!
posted by mdonley at 5:40 AM on November 14, 2006