[Scott]

@RoyK345 when MEP for tourists was first introduced I used a Barclaycard Avios Mastercard and received the refund a few days later. As JDB mentioned, I was charged an FX fee on both the initial transaction and on the refund. This isn’t how the system was intended to work (I’m not aware of any other card that charges FX twice) but it was a small sum so I didn’t pursue it.

Best to stick with a FX-free card anyway. I recently used my Halifax Clarity Mastercard and was pleased to find that they now exchange at the MEP rate up-front rather than messing about with refunds. This is how Visa initially implemented their system, but then changed to the refund system after they found it was being abused.

[Scott]

The ability to view new/recent posts/threads since you last logged in, a bog-standard feature on 99% of forums, is a glaring omission here and should be the first thing to be added before any other nice-to-haves.

[Scott]

Your first four words were sufficient, no need to try justifying your illicit behaviour to me, sir!

[Scott]

It’s BA policy to only check luggage through if all flights are under the same booking reference.

[Scott]

@davefl your situation is indeed covered by the OneWorld rules – the class of the long haul determines the lounge access while you wait for your short haul sector.

[Scott]

@JDB exhibiting his tendency to cognitive dissonance once again. He’ll gleefully churn out dozens of posts lecturing on the evils of even contemplating ‘illegal’ activities, yet was happy to openly boast on here about how easy it is to use unofficial[*] currency exchanges in Argentina [* in case it’s not clear, that’s a euphemism for, you guessed it, illegal]

[Scott]

@JDB this seems to be what many of the Argentinians who voted for him are saying.

However, how do any of ending public education, or restricting women’s access to abortion, or allowing people to carry firearms, or ceasing prosecutions for crimes against humanity help the economy?

There were options other than Peronists, e.g. Bullrich in the first round. The only glimmer of hope is that he doesn’t have the support neither in Congress nor at a ferderal level to implement many of his hare-brained schemes.

Edit to add: But from a totally selfish point of view, let’s hope the MEP rate for remains for a little while yet 🙂

[Scott]

It’s a targeted offer according to T&Cs. If you haven’t received the email, you don’t qualify.

[Scott]

@Di Just be aware that some lodgings, I’m particularly noticing this in the lake district, are converting their U$D price using the MEP rate, rather than the official rate, so they get the benefit instead of the customer.
I’ve just had a place tell me that were they to convert at the official rate they would have to double their advertised U$S price in order to get the ARS amount they’re looking for. Well, duh. At least if they did the customer would know up front whether it was within their budget.
You may spot this in the small print of their T&C page, or if the conversion method isn’t mentioned at all, it would be worth confirming before booking.

[Scott]

@Frequentflyer42 – sorry, but I think some personal responsibility is called for. Armed conflict in the middle east is hardly a new occurrence. Surely nobody would book a trip to Israel in the same way that you would to, say, Spain, and expect the airline to take the financial hit should the situation escalate.

I hope things calm a little by Xmas and you’ll be able to take your trip.

[Scott]

As another data point on Aerolíneas Argentinas, I booked flights this week on their own website with Halifax Clarity Mastercard and transaction went through OK (as per post up-thread, I entered my postcode without spaces just in case of any issues.)

Getting the MEP rate resulted in an effective rebate of 57% against the official ARS-GBP rate. When I was there early this year the rebate was around 42%, so quite an improvement.

Also noticed this time it’s gone through as a single transaction, rather than one transaction at official rate followed a few days later by a rebate. Transaction was made Wed night and by Fri night was showing as cleared at the ‘good’ rate.

[Scott]

Waste of time, please don’t implement.

[Scott]

What do they other posts say? I’m sure if you search further you’ll find a good few more telling you the same thing.

[Scott]

Do you mean Argentina’s summer, so our winter? Be aware that just this week, in late spring, the falls are flooded with the walkways closed off to visitors, the lake district is experiencing heavy snow, and outside of summer it’s standard to find much of the trekking in southern Patagonia off limits to all but well-equiped hikers/climbers due to snow and ice on the trails.

[Scott]

If you are considering cancelling the reward flight back, how about booking direct to Edinburgh on Easyjet or Ryanair, rather than via LHR on BA/IB? Granted the times of the budget flights aren’t always ideal, and there are one or two days in the week when these airlines don’t have a flight.

[Scott]

TGLoyalty wrote:

No where tbh it’s either safe or not, interesting to visit or not. I leave my politics at home and enjoy visiting other cultures…

Genuinely shocked at this attitude. No matter how abhorrent the human rights abuses, the torture, rape, murder of segments of a population, whether on grounds of race, gender or political views, you’d quite happily implicitly support the regime because you enjoy the culture?

[Scott]

The only advice I’m going to give you us to cut out all the emotional crap from your communications with BA (and indeed any further posts on this topic.)

If you present the facts simply and get directly to the point you’re more likely to receive a positive response.

[Scott]

OP comes on, has a big shouty rant, doesn’t ask question or for advice (so I don’t even understand the point of the tje post), then disappears. Meanwhile many nice helpful regulars on here rack their brains to work out what has happened. I admire your patience but given the tone of the original post, I wouldn’t be wasting my time on it.

[Scott]

No, One World policy for connecting flights is that lounge access is based on the LH segment:

“Lounge access will be determined on the international long haul ticketed flight (either First of Business Class) regardless of the ticketed class of travel on the international short haul or domestic flight. “

[Scott]

JDB wrote:

@Vit …There are presidential elections next month….

Next Sunday actually, and from a tourist cost point of view, I don’t know if it’s better if Milei wins (pledged to scrap central back, introduce dollarization) or one of the traditional candidates (economy remains on the same downward path.)

[Scott]

@Vit, you don’t pay the hotel in USD, you pay in ARS. Hotels generally price in USD and convert at the official exchange rate on the day of payment. If you use a foreign-issued card then no VAT will be charged.

Similarly in Uruguay, foreign visitors don’t pay VAT on hotels (not charged at source), nor gastronomy and hire cars (deducted from the bill.)

[Scott]

No additional fees for open jaw.

However since RFS was rolled out for long-haul earlier this year, the cash element of a First fare is different from CW (where you can select from a range of Avios/cash combinations.) Previously the surcharge was the same for both cabins.

[Scott]

I don’t know if they actually publish the special rate. Mastercard’s own site has an explanation: https://www.mastercard.com.ar/es-ar/consumidores/beneficios-para-extranjeros-english.html

They do take their ‘cut’ so you don’t get full MEP, but still very favourable unless you want to deal in cash (and if so, I found the Western Union rate to be very good, better than the published Blue.)

[Scott]

See here: ARS – USD

BNA is the central bank rate, Blue is what you can get on the street, MEP is when paying with a foreign card.

[Scott]

As you’re using a 241 you have to make the booking via BA but if you select the relevant Iberia flights it should price at 104,000 Avios + £500 for two people.

You need to make your way to MAD on a separate flight, otherwise you’d be liable for UK APD.

On the return it is possible to book EZE-MAD-LHR if you prefer to have a connected flight for delay/luggage purposes. The additional cost of Avios + cash should be similar to booking it separately, although I haven’t done this stage myself.

Assuming availablity exists for your dates (IB only release 2 Business Class per flight) it’s very straightforward to do.

If availability has been snapped up for one of your dates consider MVD too, as those seats are less popular. Worth a visit in its own right, and easy to get to BsAs (although if travelling elsewhere in Arg, may not be practical.)