Hurtigruten to Antarctica - Flying from UK.

[BORDER REIVER]

We were wondering if anyone on these forums has taken the option of booking their UK to Buenos Aires flights through Hurtigruten?

We haven't travelled widely in the last 10 years and the prospect of booking flights and organising taxis ourselves is a bit daunting, so it seems as though letting Hurtigruten arrange it all is a good option, especially if they meet you at the airport and take you to the hotel.

We've checked out flights for booking it all ourselves and it looks like Air France is by far the cheaper option (about half the price of British Airways).

We've also taken note of some comments on here about keeping everything to a minimum and using carry-on baggage only, thus guaranteeing you WILL have all your belongings when you arrive. 55cm x 35cm x 25cm seems quite small, but so long as we can wash and dry lightweight clothing, then it's not an impossibility. As regards a 2nd piece of cabin baggage, Brit Airways do give dimensions, but Air France are a bit vague about size of a smaller item.

Any information will be appreciated. Thank You.

[NCCruzQueen]

I can only comment about getting private cars at EZE. I think our car was around $50. We hired it right outside the secure area. A lot safer than taxis from what I read. You may want to get your pesos at home before you leave or go to Banco de la Nacion on arrival. There will most likely be a line, but the safest way to exchange money.

[SarniaLo]

When we went on the Fram in Feb 2009 (from France, not the UK, but close enough?), we also booked all the pre-cruise arrangement through Hurtigruten (flights and transfer). To be honest, at the time I was probably naive and didn't imagine another solution. But if I go again (*when* I go again, hopefully), I will probably do the same, even if it's probably not the cheapest option. As you say, it saves from the hassle of having to go through the logistic of booking a flight, and arranging transfer in a city that I absolutely don't know. They did meet us at the airport and arrange the transfer to the hotel. But also, by booking the flight through Hurtigruten you make sure that any problem with your flight (delayed flight, missing luggage...) will be dealt with by Hurtigruten. Travelling by ourselves, we would probably would have planned to arrive a day or two earlier to account for any travel mishap, and visiting Buenos Aires is not the purpose of the trip (it's a great city though, but we weren't in the mood. I understand some people would feel differently).

 

As for Air France hand luggage policy, it depends on which seat category you have, but for the Economy category ("Voyageur") you can have the usual cabin luggage + one small piece which can be a small hand bag, a camera or a laptop (there is no size specification), with a maximum total weight for both pieces of 12 kg. I didn't try to travel with carry-on only since my camera bag is already the size of a standard cabin luggage! :p

[dileep]

As SarniaLo points out, one advantage with letting the cruise line book travel is that you you don't have to worry about flight delays or cancellations. You might save some money if you book your flights, but if it stresses you out it is not worth it.

 

BTW, prepaid taxis at EZE are fine. I would not change money at home. You should get better rates at the bank outside baggage claim.

[digitl]

I had a look at Hurtigruten's flight prices... and booked my own!

 

We're flying out to EZE from LBA via AMS on KLM, and back from EZE on Air France to MAN through CDG. An odd arrangement but, although we only live 10 minutes away from LBA, the return journey saves three hours and a reasonable sum of money compared with the simple return trip. Use Opodo through TopCashBack (topcashbackDOTcoDOTuk/ref/digital) to make the booking and reduce the cost a little.

 

You probably know, but just in case not, Air France (and KLM) describe the second piece of carry-on as '1 of the following: handbag, briefcase, camera, small laptop, or 1 other item of similar or smaller size'. I'm hoping the interpretation of 'briefcase' is generous enough to get my camera bag through, though I'll have to be careful to stay within the overall carry-on weight limit of 12kg. Perhaps my jacket of many pockets (Ebay, item number: 280617132602) will prove useful in spreading the load!

 

As for the dangers of missed flights or connections, we're flying out three days early. There's more than enough to do on a (second) visit to Buenos Aires (another tango show, for example) and it removes the worry. It also gives lost luggage a chance to arrive. Though that didn't work 18 months ago when it took LAN two days to get our smaller checked suitcase to us and another five days for the larger checked suitcase when they lost them in Madrid en-route to Santiago. By that time we had sailed as far as Punta Arenas on a Santiago - Buenos Aires cruise. If it happens like that this time, we have problems as not all of our clothing (we're visiting Iguazu Falls post cruise so need warm-weather as well as cold-weather clothing) will fit into carry-ons

 

I wouldn't take any AR pesos. There's an ATM in arrivals so that will be my first port-of-call before I go across to Taxi Ezezia to get transport into town.

[BORDER REIVER]

Thanks for the replies, again there's some useful information to help us.

I've read on a few forums that LAN are sometimes a bit unreliable, but I'd be happy with British Airways or Air France looking after our luggage although I still cannot work out how Air France is so much cheaper than B.A.

British Airways website is helpful with the small item of baggage - very clear 45cm x 36cm x 20 cm and they qualify that by saying "it must be able to fit under the seat in front". They also have a much greater weight allowance.

I think on reflection, because we haven't flown anywhere for at least 10 years, we will be happy enough to book everything through Hurtigruten and see who they use before deciding on whether or not to try and have cabin baggage only and carry easily washed and dried layering clothes. I've heard that Hurtigruten are excellent in looking after passengers who book directly with them.

[dileep]

British Airways tacks on a large fee that other airlines do not. I am not sure why they do it or what the fee is for. Fuel surcharges or something. I will be surprised if the cruise line books you on BA. Every time I have looked at fares, BA is the highest.

[digitl]

Every time I have looked at fares, BA is the highest.

Not sure if it's because you're booking from outside the UK, but they're often the cheapest for us. Certainly have been to California and Canada.

[digitl]

I've read on a few forums that LAN are sometimes a bit unreliable

LAN didn't exactly cover themslves in glory in getting our final peice of luggage to us, but I'm led to believe that it's Madrid Airport that is the 'weak link' (possibly read that as 'black hole'!) when it comes to matching luggage with flights.

 

At least their cabin service and on-board meals are excellent, unlike Iberia who are around 20 years behind in both departments.