Make a 9:30pm flight out of Buenos Aires?

[rocket scientist]

We are planning to sail to Antartica on Orient Lines Marco Polo January 2008. There is a post cruise tour to Tierra de Fuego National Park (NP) in Ushuaia. Approximately what time will we return to Buenos Aires on the day of the NP tour? I want to book my airline tickets and need to know if I could make a 9:30pm flight out of Buenos Aires. The alternative is to stay another day in Buenos Aires. Any comments?

[Mercury]

I think you mean " what time will the NP tour return to Ushuaia" (not Buenos Aires). If I remember correctly, the flight from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires takes 4 hours so you would have to take a flight out of Ushuaia no later than 4:30pm. (There are very limited flights between Ushuaia and Buenos Aires so there may not even be a flight around this time). You would also have to hope that this flight is not delayed at all. You would also have to hope that the NP tour is not delayed for any reason.

 

I personally would not do the NP tour or alternatively, fly back to Buenos Aires only the day after the tour. That way you will save yourself alot of stress. Hope this helps!

[2552phxcrzr]

We did not travel with Marco Polo, so my comments may not apply.

 

Are you on a charter flight with Orient Lines from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires? If so, they should be able to give you the information you need re: arriving in BA.

 

If not, your tour of TdF will end in Ushuaia and you will have to fly from there to BA. There are very few direct flights from Ushuaia to BA, and even fewer that go into EZE, the international airport. You will need to factor the time to transfer between airports if your flight from Ushuaia to BA ends at the domestic airport (can take as long as an hour, depending on traffic, assuming you have a driver ready to pick you up). As well, many of the flights b/w Ush and BA are connecting flights, or at least make a stop elsewhere, which increases the flight time between Ush and BA from about four hours to longer. Also, keep in mind that if you're on Aerolineas Argentinas for your domestic flights, they don't have the greatest on-time record.

 

Our expedition cruise did not have a tour at the end (it was before we boarded the ship) so we hopped a 9:50 flight that was delayed an hour, made a stop in Rio Gallegos, and arrived in BA after 3:30p, just to give you an idea. (Our original direct flight from Ush to BA was cancelled three months after we bought those tickets, and we were switched by the airline.) Considering Antarctic weather and ocean conditions could cause delays in arriving in Ushuaia to begin with, we opted to stay overnight in BA so we would not have to stress about making our 11:00p international flight on the same day.

 

Good luck with your arrangements. Antarctica is a spectacular, mind-boggling place to visit.

[texastraveler]

if you have to use aerolineas argentinas, just be aware that they are notorious for being late and making changes. in january, we were 5 hours delayed from buenos aires to ushuaia and coming back, about an hour delayed and then went into a different airport in buenos aires than scheduled, thus requiring a bus trip to the international airport.

 

good luck

[Jade13]

We did not travel with Marco Polo, so my comments may not apply.

 

Are you on a charter flight with Orient Lines from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires?

If not, your tour of TdF will end in Ushuaia and you will have to fly from there to BA. There are very few direct flights from Ushuaia to BA, and even fewer that go into EZE, the international airport. You will need to factor the time to transfer between airports if your flight from Ushuaia to BA ends at the domestic airport (can take as long as an hour, depending on traffic, assuming you have a driver ready to pick you up). As well, many of the flights b/w Ush and BA are connecting flights, or at least make a stop elsewhere, which increases the flight time between Ush and BA from about four hours to longer.

 

What is the LAN Schedule from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia? I think some companies have included park tours after the cruise plus chartered flights back to BA (4 hours?). It sounds like they would go into EZE and then you would have to switch airports. Do most people just find a late flight back to the US?

[diebroke]

Many expedition ships provide charter flights to Ushuaia from either Buenos Aires or Santiago as part of the expedition price and offer special deals on scheduled commercial flights from your home airport to Buenos Aires or Santiago. The charter flights are timed to return to Buenos Aires or Santiago to connect with the cruise arranged commercial flights back to the States. (My understanding is that most flights from Buenos Aires to the States depart in the evening.) The flights into Ushuaia from either gateway city take 3.5 - 4 hours and arrive early afternoon. Since they arrive before the ship is ready to receive passengers, they must do something with you before boarding. Also, on your return, you must disembark the ship first thing in the morning to allow them to begin servicing it and since your return charter flight is the same one bringing the next trip's passengers to Ushuaia, they must do something with you until your return flight departs in mid-afternoon. One of those things they do while you wait is a tour of Tierra de Fuego National Park. We did our tour on the front end of our expedition. It was nice, particularly since there was nothing else to do but paled in comparison to the sights in Antarctica.

In our case, I opted to make my own airline arrangements (to Santiago via Buenos Aires) to stay with my frequent flyer airline. The cruise provided charter flight did not arrive in time to make my connection home so we had to stay over an extra night in Santiago.

In hindsight, I wish I had skipped the cruise provided activities after disembarking the ship, skipped the "free" charter flight, & bought my own ticket to Buenos Aires from Ushuaia. It would have cost more money but gotten us home a day earlier.

After 6 or 7 days in the spectacular scenery of Antarctica, any other natural sight was anti-climatic and after 2 rough days in the Drake, we were psychologically ready to get home.

If I had chosen to make my own arrangements to from Ushuaia to Buenos Aires, I would have faced the problems identified by h2so4. The non stops flights are to the Buenos Aires city airport which involves a lengthy ground transfer to EZE, the international airport. The flights from Ushuaia to EZE are mostly 1 stops or change of planes.

Having said that, spending an extra day in Buenos Aires is not all that bad. We did it on the front end and really enjoyed the city. The challenge for us is that after an indescribable, fantastic experience in Antarctica, we were ready to get home when the ship docked.

[Jade13]

I asked A&K since I am booked with them and their charter leaves around noon (or maybe we go to the airport at 12:00 after the park tour) and gets into BA by 5:30pm. They tell everyone not to book a flight home prior to 9:30pm. Their cruise fare (and $600.00 fare for international flights) includes the transfer to the international airport. I don't know if this would apply to your situation, but you need to call the company that you booked with.