Aerolineas Argentinas Bookings

[paulm]

Hi all

After some advice regarding booking with Aerlineas please.

1/ How far in advance to they sell tickets – looking at March 26 and don’t appear to be on sale yet.
2/ Is it best to book as soon as available or is there a perceived best time to buy to get best cost
3/ I have done a few example searches for other dates and the if the website is set to UK residence the rates are much higher (in GB£) compared to setting the website to Argentina and getting a rate in ARS – will it let me book this in ARS/ is there any downside to setting location to Argentina ?

Appreciate any comments.

[yonasl]

For 2. We had a very nasty surprise with them with a trip we were planning well in advance (like you seem to be). Bus is Aires calafate was around £220pp months before the date so thought it could only go up but it eventually halved.

I would only buy if I can refund given tbe high probability prices can change quite a bit as you approach the date you want.

Also, they kept changing the times and there are no many options of redress.

[paulm]

Thanks yonasl, appreciate the comments

[yonasl]

* Buenos Aires to Calafate …

Just to give more colour. I Remember the flights were around 100pp but suddenly went up a lot to double that months before. I thought maybe all the Americans were following my steps and going there too but found it strange as I could select a seat anywhere on the plane.

A month or so before the trip aerolíneas started shuffling the times (felt like they were cancelling the routes that weren’t full). And then prices were back to £100pp.

Would love to know what you learn from your experience but while in Colombia flying with Avianca was cheap and a pleasure (want a seat? £5 want speedy boarding? £2) aerolíneas charges you a small fortune for each add on.

[davefl]

yonasl wrote:

aerolíneas charges you a small fortune for each add on

And has a ridiculously small luggage allowance of 15Kg, so add approx £16 for uplift to 23Kg.

[JDB]

@paulm – we book lots of Aerolíneas tickets every year and in answer to your questions:- 1. They sell tickets about 10 months in advance, but expect schedule changes in the ensuing months. 2. The timing of when to buy is unfortunately how long is a piece of string. It’s going to depend on the specific route/date/flight. 3. Booking in ARS on the app usually seems to offer the best price. It’s worth considering Premium Economy (the highest cabin on domestic routes) which offers proper seats (but no proper catering or alcoholic drinks), better luggage allowance, priority boarding and perhaps most important avoiding terrible check in queues. Refunds are extremely slow if you cancel.

[paulm]

Thanks JDB