Lan Airlines Paying In Cash

[TeConLeche]

I have read a lot of threads about buying airline tickets with cash to take advantage of the blue rate, but in terms of logistics, most only mention Aerolineas. Does anyone know of a LAN office that will accept payment in efectivo?

Also, my boyfriend will be visiting on a tourist visa. What are the odds that we can fly from BA to Salta and back on the resident rate without issue? Per suggestions from other posts, we would print our boarding pass in advance and take only a carry-on. The rate difference is huge (1722 vs 2897 pesos).

Thanks!

 

[Nicole_Ramirez]

We bought tickets last week and paid cash in their office. This was in Bariloche, so don't know if it's any different in BA.

 

[thomsono1912]

http://www.gringoinbuenosaires.com/hacking-argentine-air-travel/

Here is a good article on domestic air travel for tourists in Argentina...

 

[che]

We recently reserved them online and then with that confirmation number paid with cash at Rapid Pago or one of those.. Go to website and it is no problem.

With regard to your boyfriend, IMO he has zero chance of making it on resident rate. They will check DNI at airport.

 

[TeConLeche]

I wasn't aware of services like Pago Facil, but as I dug further into the LAN website, there it was. It seems so easy (though I have yet to make the payment). Thanks for turning me onto that!

During the reservation process, it only asked for our passport info, and that's it. If my boyfriend does get stopped at the airport, I'm assuming they'll just make him pay the difference in fares. It won't be any worse than that, will it?

 

[westofwall]

We recently reserved them online and then with that confirmation number paid with cash at Rapid Pago or one of those.. Go to website and it is no problem.

With regard to your boyfriend, IMO he has zero chance of making it on resident rate. They will check DNI at airport.

--You are incorrect. I have done it many times as have many other posters on this board. You can easily find examples by searching the archives.

--No, this doesn't mean there is zero risk and I'm sure people have been caught and may again be in the future. But I'd put your chance of success at far higher than 0, probably at 80% or better, IF you don't check a bag and print out your boarding pass ahead of time so that you can go straight to the gate.

 

[thomsono1912]

Google 'hacking argentine air travel', there is an excellent blog post that talks about this. The method worked for my trip to Bariloche. You won't get caught unless you try to check baggage, nobody past the check in desk cares how much you paid, nor is that info posted on the boarding pass. If you pay with cash using rapi-pago then you get the blue rate as well. You just need to check in online whilst your abroad and print the boarding passes so you can repeat the process for returning.

 

[demokritos]

Does anyone know if you can pay for aerolineas flights in cash in pesos as well, if you don't have DNI/residency permit? This would be for an international, not domestic flight (aerolineas seems to be the only airline flying direct to Bogota from EZE).

 

[TeConLeche]

I've gotten so much great advice from this forum and wanted to share the outcome of my experience

Buying tickets in cash - no problem. On 2 separate occasions I bought the tickets online from Lan, and then at the point of payment indicated I wanted to pay in cash. The website then provides a receipt that I simply printed and brought to a Pago Facil office. At the office, I presented the receipt and gave them the cash. They then gave me a receipt showing I had paid. Within an hour or so I received an email confirmation from Lan that the tickets were purchased. Not sure how it works with Aerolineas, but with Lan it was very easy.

Flying on the resident rate without DNI - I traveled to Salta and Mendoza, and for neither trip did they ask to see a DNI. Our reservations only had our passport numbers too. As recommended on the forum, we printed the boarding passes ahead of time and traveled only with a carry-on. And when we saw the lines at check-in, we were especially glad to be able to go right to the gate! Also, someone reminded us to have the hotels print our boarding passes for the return trip - that worked wonderfully.

An extra tip - the airlines recommends that you print 2 copies of your boarding pass, as they will take 1 copy at the gate. We forgot to do this one time, and instead simply emailed the boarding passes to ourselves and had the PDF ready to show if necessary. Not as easy as just scanning a boarding pass on your phone as in the US, but a workable back-up.

Thanks again for all the advice - this site is awesome!!!

 

[nlaruccia]

You can pay in cash for airline tickets but you will still have to pay a 20% surcharge.