aerolineas argentinas

[kl281071]

Hi,
Has anyone flown with this airline from BA to Sydney?. I have booked and have heard of horrow stories re late or cancelled flights or double bookings?

 

[davonz]

the stories you have heard are probably true..
I have flown with them 3 time already, mostly because i usually only decide a week or 2 before i leave when i am going to there is no seats on Lan or Qantas.. where aerolineas has seats..

I am going home for xmas, when i came here in feb, i had return date for 30th Nov.. Then a month ago i got an email from my travel agent saying that my return date was now, 1 nov, then a week later she got another email from aerolineas saying it was 5th nov, then another week later 27th nov.. she told me to go see them, which i did last week, and they couldnt even find my booking/ticket.. After 1 1/2 hours i now have my seat on 2nd dec.. the reason they gave for date changes was because there flights have changed, basically they changed flight days i think..

Last year, our flight was delayed by 30 hours, there was something wrong with wing, the thing that pissed me off was that we waited in departure lounge for 4 hours without food or water before they told us what was happening.. So they packed us off to a hotel for the night and told us we would be leaving hotel at 5 in morning for 7am flight.. so we all go to reception of hotel waiting for bus, and at 6:30 was told we were not going until 9am, so go have breakfast.. this happened the whole day.. every couple of hours we were told we were going now in a couple of hours, so we couldnt leave hotel and go do something during the day.. Anyways we were spose to leave at 4pm on thursday, and finally left at 1am sat morning.

When we finally arrived it was 10pm friday night here, and my accomdation was already gone, and aerolineas didnt want to put me up in a hotel for the night.. they did but only because i caused such a fuss.. When something like this has happened with other airlines they have always put me up in a hotel, without having to be asked..

 

[Aussie1]

Yes I have to agree with davonz. Its usually a drama flying with Aerolineas. My wife and I have done that trip 4 times now and most times there have been a delay. My recent flight from Syd to here (2 weeks agao) was ok though I have to say... no delays and the TV actually worked for the first time!!
The thing is it is by far the cheapest way to get between the 2 countries. Qantas would definately be the prefered option if you can afford the extra cost.
Good luck and say hi to Oz for me!!

 

[StevePalermo]

A couple of years ago AA were delaying flights one weekend, a labour dispute I think, and not giving out any information. Eventually, after at least a couple of days of being ignored, the 'passengers' rioted in the Check in area and trashed all their offices. It made great tv! Just don't expect any kind of customer service from this airline.

 

[Lucas]

Aeronineas Argentinas best airline ever, I've been flying for nearly 40 years with them and never got any problem, the airline was one of the top airlines world wide until globalization took over on the 90's and this flag airline was sold to a Spanish consortium then the troubles started the company was emptied unscrupulously by the new owners, all the infrastructure was degraded and sold or incorporated to the Spanish carriers they did not make any inversion to support the airline and finally they send it into bankruptcy, now it's back again in the hands of the national state and as a national flag airline as begun a total rebuild practically from scratch, lamentably it still running for the time been by the same Spanish company Marsans, who sent it broke in the first place, damn Spaniards.

 

[fifilafiloche]

I flew only once with Aerolineas Argentinas and i just LOVED it.

The flight was the cheapest i could find from Madrid (450 Euros) and i got a first class service in tourist class.

At the desk i asked for a front sit so that i could spread my looong legs and i was given it, right in front of the sit of one of the flight attendant.

Unlike european attendants that would just ignore you, the argentine one showed herself very friendly and started to chat, as if we were sharing maté like old friends. She talked about the company, her family, Argentina, joked all the time. If i needed some more wine, she would bring it within a minute. Need some more food? Once again, no problem. I felt totally spoilt.

For the first time in years i could actually sleep in a plane and the 12 hours of direct flight passed very quickly. I felt sorry it didnt last more, i felt like in a family.

Once again, the emotional side of Argentina. If you click well with a service provider, you ll be treated like a king, if you don t, expect a very unpleasant experience, like the one i had with a custom officer after leaving the plane.

 

[tangobob]

While I agree with the last post, I have had the most appaling delays with Aerolineas, technical problems that stopped me getting my luggage off, and even blacking out the plane.
That said they are probably the cheapest and they have an impecable safety record.

 

[citygirl]

My experience with Aerolineas is similar. Once you're on the plane, the service is fantastic and they have a great safety record.

However, the trick is getting on the plane They are notorious for late and canceled flights. Every time I've flown them, the flight was either canceled at the last minute or at least 5 hours late. If I HAD to be somewhere on a certain date, I wouldn't fly them. If your schedule permits flexibility, then they are a option due to the lower costs & great service.

 

[mendozanow]

The safety records are based on reported incidents, and anyone familiar with the airline industry knows how undependable the reporting rate is for airlines like Aerolineas is. The reporting rate for North American and European airlines (and LAN relative to Latin America) is very high, which skews the ratings, whereas it is low in Argentina. Things like crime rates, legal and administrative infractions and most other things are either often covered up or ignored in Argentina, as many here know.

 

[gouchobob]

Until they were nationalized about a year ago they were on strike more often than not. This problem seems to at least been solved by the nationalization, so their schedule might be a little more reliable than before. My guess they will hang around until a future government runs short on cash or economic realities finally intrude. The operation has been badly managed in the past and I strongly suspect the government running it won't be an improvement.