Cheap Flights From Argentina to Europe?!

[esensies]

Thanks to this Albertito "president" and the rest of the political garbage, you literally pay double in airfare because of taxes. Long-gone are the flights to Europe for US$600. I really want to go, because I've never been, but I don't want to spend $1000+ on a 40-hour flight. Any tips on getting the lowest prices possible? Ideally, I'd like to arrive in London, but I'm willing to move to other parts if the price is right. I know UK has eased on all its COVID requirements, but not sure about EU. I'm a U.S. citizen and have a U.S. credit card, so if that helps, please let me know how I can get the lowest price.

 

[sts7049]

play around with Google flights. from here, I'm guessing the cheapest outbound would be to get to Miami first. but maybe a lesser demand route like on aeromexico would open up some options.

you might look at various airlines websites to see if any last minute deals might get published.

generally though, it's gonna be tough to find something the fits your definition of cheap because of high demand

 

[sts7049]

also if you are a US citizen you could look for a good travel credit card with a sign on bonus that gives you some points to use towards the cost.

 

[ArgentinaVet]

If you are really pressed for cash look for flights to Europe originating out of GRU or GIG airport in Brazil and book a separate ticket on FlyBondi to position there.

 

[antipodean]

Thanks to this Albertito "president" and the rest of the political garbage, you literally pay double in airfare because of taxes. Long-gone are the flights to Europe for US$600. I really want to go, because I've never been, but I don't want to spend $1000+ on a 40-hour flight. Any tips on getting the lowest prices possible? Ideally, I'd like to arrive in London, but I'm willing to move to other parts if the price is right. I know UK has eased on all its COVID requirements, but not sure about EU. I'm a U.S. citizen and have a U.S. credit card, so if that helps, please let me know how I can get the lowest price.

Book a one-way flight to Sao Paulo or Rio. You can usually get cheap flights with Aerolineas, Air Canada, British Airways, Swiss, Jetsmart or FlyBondi for this leg - but ojo, prices can really vary for this leg. Then book a return flight to Europe from Brazil where deals as low as $400 return can be found from time to time... be sure to use the USA version of the website if paying with a USD card to avoid currency conversion fees. Finally book a one-way flight back to Argentina from Brazil, again using the USA version of the website - flights with the aforementioned airlines easily go as low as $120 for this leg. Note your browser will probably direct you to an Argentine or Brazilian version of the airlines website depending on where you are booking from, so you need to manually change this to the USA version by clicking the flag / selecting the country which is usually located on the upper right-hand side of the airline's homepage.

If your dates are flexible enough and don't mind a stop-over in Brazil you can generally save some money this way - but especially if your are looking for premium/ business cabin long-haul flights to Europe which often cost the same as an economy fare to Europe if originating in Argentina...!
I'd suggest planning a night there (or having some extra vacation there) or 6 hour+ connection time either way, just in case... since you will need to clear immigration and customs there and re-check in for your next flight if on a separate ticket and you have luggage or can't check-in online.

EU is pretty much completely back to normal COVID-wise.

 

[DK72]

Book a one-way flight to Sao Paulo or Rio. You can usually get cheap flights with Aerolineas, Air Canada, British Airways, Swiss, Jetsmart or FlyBondi for this leg - but ojo, prices can really vary for this leg. Then book a return flight to Europe from Brazil where deals as low as $400 return can be found from time to time... be sure to use the USA version of the website if paying with a USD card to avoid currency conversion fees. Finally book a one-way flight back to Argentina from Brazil, again using the USA version of the website - flights with the aforementioned airlines easily go as low as $120 for this leg. Note your browser will probably direct you to an Argentine or Brazilian version of the airlines website depending on where you are booking from, so you need to manually change this to the USA version by clicking the flag / selecting the country which is usually located on the upper right-hand side of the airline's homepage.

If your dates are flexible enough and don't mind a stop-over in Brazil you can generally save some money this way - but especially if your are looking for premium/ business cabin long-haul flights to Europe which often cost the same as an economy fare to Europe if originating in Argentina...!
I'd suggest planning a night there (or having some extra vacation there) or 6 hour+ connection time either way, just in case... since you will need to clear immigration and customs there and re-check in for your next flight if on a separate ticket and you have luggage or can't check-in online.

EU is pretty much completely back to normal COVID-wise.

Thanks. Interesting. I will look into this next time.

Question: what is the reason to book one-way flights to Sao Paulo? Why not a normal return flight which fits the flight Sao Paulo to Europe / US?

 

[IamWaldo]

Cheapest direct flight from here to Europe is to Madrid or Frankfurt, they are pretty okay moneywise.

 

[Crema Americana]

I can sympathize. I want to see my family for Christmas after 3 years not being able to travel and now all these taxes and restrictions on payment plans plus the high prices due to demand... it's rough.

 

[antipodean]

Thanks. Interesting. I will look into this next time.

Question: what is the reason to book one-way flights to Sao Paulo? Why not a normal return flight which fits the flight Sao Paulo to Europe / US?

If you book return, you pay Argentina prices and some Argentine taxes on both legs as opposed to one as airlines need to declare the entire sale here. If you can get a good price and pay it in blue dollars, it can also make sense to buy a return - you just need to figure out what way of buying makes it cheapest overall for you which means exploring all angles.

 

[FrankPintor]

Having paid earlier this year for two eye-wateringly expensive tickets, even though they were not taxed by Argentina, I can say that beating up on Alberto is fun, but the high ticket prices aren't only his achievement. There are other factors at play: not enough planes / personnel / airport slots after the pandemic, plus the Russian war in Ukraine pushing fuel prices up.

In my case, someone who isn't in Argentina (a family member) paid for my tickets online. There was a discussion in the forum about whether one could do the same here, i.e. pay with a foreign CC (no problem doing this), and not have trouble with AFIP at the airport for not paying the tax (the consensus was that I was worrying too much, it doesn't happen).

Another way to escape taxes would be to take a ferry to Montevideo and fly from there. Or take an LCC flight to Brazil or Colombia - Viva / Ryanair have flights to Colombia.

Finally, I've been told that some airline offices in Buenos Aires accept cash payment in Pesos. The airlines don't really mind accepting Pesos you might have got at the Blue Dollar rate, since they have they own ways of exchanging them for hard currency at similar rates. However, I don't know which airlines still have offices here (there were lots of closures during the pandemic), and which accept cash payment.

I use kayak.com to check prices and schedules (LCCs might not show up, though) and book directly with the airline, so that they're responsible if things go wrong.