Argentina Flights

August 25, 2009 6:03 AM

Is there any way around the foreigner-pricing for internal flights within Argentina?

I'm trying to fly from Buenos Aires to El Calafate and found that airfare is almost 40% higher if you are not from Argentina. Is there a way to book a flight for the local price - or this price difference included in the taxes and fees?

Has anyone had experience booking w/ a travel agent in Argentina and getting a local fare without hassle once you arrived at the airport?

posted by nyu2 to Travel & Transportation around Argentina (3 answers total)

AFAIK (not a travel worker, yada yada): not likely. They will check your ID at the airport, and if found to be of a resident fare while being a foreigner, they can charge you the difference on the spot at their discretion. It might be possible to find an, er, "accomodating" travel agent here to do the trick for you, this being Argentina and practially every, um, "service", being available for a reasonable exchange of something under the table. And that's all I'll say without my lawyer.

(As for the mindboggling fare differences: zombie airline, obscene government cash injections, thieving unions, don't get me started rant.)
posted by Iosephus at 6:53 AM on August 25, 2009

Tha airport's Wiki page seems to list a few different airlines flying to/from BA - do they all list different fares? Perhaps finding a cheaper foreigner fare on a different airline might help.
posted by mdonley at 7:18 AM on August 25, 2009

As Iosephus suggests, it's not that they charge foreigners more--it's that the price for Argentine citizens is subsidized by the government. In my experience, they check.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:00 AM on August 25, 2009