one way ticket to BA

[jjvernon]

Hola todos!
Me llamo Jessica, soy de los EEUU, llegando a BA al fines de mayo en busca de trabajo y aventura!

I'm arriving on a one-way ticket to BA with no plans but with great ambition. I've never lived in a big city before so I am slightly intimidated as I am a solo female traveler. My budget is very limited, but I am hoping to find enough work to support myself indefinitely. I am (almost) fluent in Spanish and am working on my tefl teaching certificate. Ideally I would like to spend a month or so in BA then work my way into the mountains, with my sights set on some serious snowboarding in Bariloche.

Any help/suggestions/feedback regarding cost of living, season passes, and employment is greatly appreciated. Two months and counting....

Que emocion!!!

Gracias y nos hablamos pronto!!!
-jessica

 

[Recoletaguy]

I can't wait to read the replies. Until then, I'll ask about arriving in Agentina on a one way ticket. I didn't think that this is possible. 'Season passes' to what?

 

[HeyBA]

People earning pesos here, unless they own their own business, do not seem happy.

Bar/restaurant work, a typical expat haven, seems to pay between 100-150 pesos per all-night shift.

Teaching English seems to pay about 40 pesos per hour of class time.

People relatively recently out of school seem to find it hard to find white-collar work that pays a living wage. People with extensive experience in something seem in general to be able to take a serious pay cut from what they would make back home and survive.

With the continual inflation, although it seems to have slowed a bit recently, the costs expats pay are about as expensive as the middle of the US, at least in my mind.

Don't want to be a wet blanket, but I would take every opportunity to earn in dollars and euros now, even for drudge work, and save it all up. Then get here, live cheap, and see if you like it.

This board can tend to be overly negative at times, but there's an increasing vibe among expats here that BA is less and less worth it, that it's first-world prices with third problems regarding infrastructure, crime, etc.

I've been here 15 months. I probably would have chosen somewhere else if I had the chance, or more to the point would have done a longish visit to BA, say three or four months, and then packed off somewhere else. But then life kind of happened and mine is here for now.

So, here's some practical advice, rent a room first for a month or two before looking for a different place. This will save you some money and prevent rip-offs

Also, customs and immigration here won't care if you have a one way ticket, but the airline might when you board. Their purported logic is that the airline has to pay for your return if you're turned back at customs. What sometimes happens is that they say, oh we can't let you board without a return flight, then they say you either can't get on the plane or you have to buy a return flight from them on the spot. A good way to deal with this is to go on-line and buy a buquebus ticket to Uruguay and print it out. If asked for proof of onward travel, you can produce that.

 

[jjvernon]

Hey, thanks for the honesty. I am definitely planning to spend about $1000US a month, but am hoping to supplement most daily living expenses (food, housing) via employment (teaching English is my first plan of action). I don't want to stay in BA for too long, just long enough to get a feel for the bustle of city life and get my dance moves tight I would like to be in the mountains for most of the winter but know that i will certainly see cost increases to be in the touristy areas like Bariloche (i've heard the season passes at Cerro Catedral are running close to $2000US which is insane and I absolutely cannot afford that!). I am hoping to possibly land a job at one of the resorts since I am a native English speaker with strong Spanish ability. Does anyone know if resort employees get a free pass (most colorado resorts do that..)

I have looked into the onward travel since I had the same issue flying one way into Costa Rica. no way they are getting me to buy a return flight on the spot, so bus ticket it is!

I'm not looking to make good money necessarily, but more to break even and be able to enjoy some domestic travel within Argentina.

I am so grateful for you input. Please keep the comments coming!!!
Hasta pronto,

jjv

 

[clooz]

I talked to two people last week who had both done toefl, arrived, found work teaching, and a couple of months later are enjoying life here.

 

[PhilipDT]

Hey, thanks for the honesty. I am definitely planning to spend about $1000US a month, but am hoping to supplement most daily living expenses (food, housing) via employment (teaching English is my first plan of action). I don't want to stay in BA for too long, just long enough to get a feel for the bustle of city life and get my dance moves tight I would like to be in the mountains for most of the winter but know that i will certainly see cost increases to be in the touristy areas like Bariloche (i've heard the season passes at Cerro Catedral are running close to $2000US which is insane and I absolutely cannot afford that!). I am hoping to possibly land a job at one of the resorts since I am a native English speaker with strong Spanish ability. Does anyone know if resort employees get a free pass (most colorado resorts do that..)

I have looked into the onward travel since I had the same issue flying one way into Costa Rica. no way they are getting me to buy a return flight on the spot, so bus ticket it is!

I'm not looking to make good money necessarily, but more to break even and be able to enjoy some domestic travel within Argentina.

I am so grateful for you input. Please keep the comments coming!!!
Hasta pronto,

jjv

You can come in on a one way ticket just fine, no onward travel necessary, you'll only be hasseled in the states, not here in buenos aires.

As for living in the mountains....it is more expensive, seasons pass as you've seen run all the way up to $3000. Resort employees do get passes but I'd try and secure employment now. I have some american friends who teach down here at leñas in the off season. It's a really good gig, good tips, subsidized housing and a minor wage. If you can grab a PSIA/AASI cert in the last few months of the season there it would be invaluable. Level 1 should be a gimmie.

Anyway the best advice I can give you is:

MAKE THAT 1 WAY TICKET A RETURN TICKET OR ALWAYS MAKE SURE YOU HAVE AT LEAST U$D 2500 ON HAND FOR A TICKET IN CASE YOU WANT TO LEAVE.

 

[Dmiller]

I too bought a one way ticket to BA. There were no problems at all in the states or in BA. The one advice that i can give you is to not think in dollars. The first month i was thinking in dollars and my money vanished. You have to think in pesos!!!!

 

[expatinowncountry]

You seems young and with the right positive attitude... I say... what the hell come and see this part of the world with your own eyes. Patagonia is expensive but if you can get a season job (and there are no problem with the volcano ashes) you will really enjoy it.

Welcome to BAexpats!

 

[Nicole_Ramirez]

Keep in mind the volcano ruined our last winter season and many hotels are offering discounts to try to get the tourists here. I don't know how easy it would be to find a job at a resort in Bariloche. Many people have been laid off. But try, it is beautiful here.

 

[starlucia]

If you arrive with a few months of rent money set aside, you should be fine. Teaching English will support daily expenses (food, entertainment, cell phone), but not daily expenses plus housing. And definitely not expenses, housing, plus domestic travel.

Let's do the numbers: assuming you find immediate work with an institute -- at 40 pesos an hour, teaching 20 hours a week, you would receive about AR$3,200 at the end of the month. If a room share costs $400 USD (AR$1,746) per month, that would eat up over half of your monthly salary, leaving you only AR$1,450 to live on for the next 30 days. That's impossible. But taking the housing factor out of the equation, you can get by on AR$3,200 a month.

If you want to start familiarizing yourself with the cost-of-living in peso terms, www.discovirtual.com.ar and http://www.buenosairesdelivery.com/ will allow you to see the current prices of groceries and dining out. And http://www.omnilineas.com/ will give you an idea of what bus tickets cost these days.