Antarctica Travel Forum

Two of us will be traveling to Antarctica on the Orlova in mid-December 2007. Our origination city is in the eastern U.S. Our tour company recommends an overnight in Buenos Aires, but a quick check on airline travel web sites revealed that we can get to Ushuaia without the overnight in BA. Even if doing so means an overnight in Ushuaia on top of the one already planned (probably much needed for rest), it seems as if we could save nearly $1,000 in airfare and hotel by NOT staying in BA. Our goal for this trip is Antarctica, not playing tourist in South America. Any comments from travelers who have done it either way -- with and without an overnight in BA?

This is a repeat post. I replied to the first one. Hope it helps.

Well, hotels in BA are expensive and it is time comsuming to get to an from the airports, so unless you have to stay there I would recomend you dont. Ushuaia is not that cheap either, but probably less expensive than BA. There is not a lot to do in Ushuaia but you can easily keep yourself occupied for a day or two. The biggest advantage of getting to Ushuaia early is that when I went Aerolineas Argeninas went on strike and had we tried to fly in the next day there would not have been a flight and we would have missed our boat. So it is just a bit ef extra insurance if anything goes wrong.

Hi there:

If your overnight flight gets you to BA in the morning and then you board a domestic Aerolineas Argentinas flight to Ushuaia, I can see how you might want to skip the overnight in BA. I will tell you this, however - Buenos Aires is a FABULOUS city and, although you aren't going to "play tourist" in South America I think you are really missing out by not spending a few days there on your way through.

Here are a couple of other things to keep in mind, which you may or may not know already:

It is not going to be as easy as you think, flying internationally and then "grabbing" your domestic flight to Ushuaia. This is because of a few things: One, usually, domestic flights leave from Jorge Newberry, the domestic airport, not the international airport where you will come in. Now, recently, when I was there in Dec. '06, Newberry was under construction and some domestic flights went into the international airport. Some, but certainly not all. So, you could be looking at a transfer between airports which takes an hour, minimum, if I recall. Second, is Aerolineas Argentinas. This airline does NOT run on schedule. Not even close. Their published schedule is barely even a guideline. As an example, we got to the airport at 7:30 a.m. for an 8:45 flight that did not take off until 1:00 p.m. Every single domestic flight with them ran late, usually by a couple of hours. (As an aside, be vigilant while waiting to board - it isn't uncommon for them to change the gate three times before boarding the plane). And, as the previous poster alluded, they are prone to strikes. So, all I'm saying here is you may wind up deadly tired from the overnight international flight, transfer to Newberry (if necessary) kill hour after hour waiting for your flight to Ushuaia to actually leave and possibly wind up with a night in BA anyway.

So, not trying to be a downer - believe me, this trip will be FABULOUS. But I'd rethink skipping BA unless it really does save a thousand bucks!! Have a blast! Please feel free to email my virtual tourist email if you'd like more info about BA or Antarctica.

We are traveling on the Orlova Dec 10 - 20th. Is that the trip you are on?
We opted out of extra days in South America - time off was hard to come by. We fly out of Dulles International (IAD) to Miami (MIA) then to BA (EZE), change airports (AEP), we have about a 5 hour window and then fly to USH.

Where on the East Coast are you?