How to get to Argentina

Though some visitors reach Argentina overland from a neighbouring country and a tiny handful arrive by boat, the overwhelming majority of travelers first set foot on Argentine soil at Buenos Aires’ international airport, Ezeiza.

In general, airfares to Argentina tend to be quite high, but they do vary widely depending on the routing and the season. The highest fares are between December and February, around Easter and in July and August, Argentines’ winter holiday season. You’ll get the best prices during the low season: March to June and September to November. Note also that flying at weekends often hikes return fares.

Flights from the UK and Ireland

Several airlines offer regular scheduled flights from the UK to Buenos Aires, via another European city, São Paulo or the US (trips via the US can be marginally less expensive but are usually longer). There are no longer any direct flights from London to Buenos Aires. British Airways (http://www.ba.com ) now stops in Rio de Janeiro. Iberia (http://www.iberia.com ) via Madrid skimps on the creature comforts but is often cheap. Adult fares from London to Buenos Aires usually start at around £650 in the low season, rising to well over £1000 in the high season.

There are no direct flights from Ireland to Argentina. If you’re trying to keep costs down, consider flying to London with an economy airline and making a connection there. For less hassle, though, and only a fraction more money, you’re better off flying direct to New York or Miami and catching an onward flight from there.

In addition to fares, it’s worth paying attention to the routes used by different airlines. The shortest and most convenient routes from London, often via São Paulo or Madrid, entail a total traveling time of around sixteen hours. Apart from minimizing the length of the flight, another reason to check the routes is that many airlines allow you to take stopovers on the way – sometimes for free, sometimes for a surcharge of around ten percent. Potential stopovers include Bogotá, Rio and São Paulo in South America; Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Miami, Newark, Los Angeles and Washington DC in the US; and Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Paris and Rome in Europe.

Flights from the US and Canada

Several airlines, including American Airlines (http://www.aa.com ), United (http://www.united.com ) and Aerolíneas Argentinas (http://www.aerolineas.com.ar ), offer daily non-stop flights from the US to Buenos Aires. Typical fares start at around US$900 from New York, Chicago or Washington in low season, rising to US$1800 in the high season. Flying times to Buenos Aires are around eleven hours from New York and Chicago, and nine from Miami.

There’s less choice if you’re flying from Canada, with Air Canada (http://www.aircanada.com ) offering the only flight into the country – from Toronto via Santiago de Chile (with connections from other major Canadian cities). You’ll be able to put together a considerably more flexible itinerary if you look for connecting flights with a US carrier. There are no longer any direct flights from Toronto or Vancouver.

Flights from Australia, New Zealand and South Africa

The best flight deal to Argentina from Australia and New Zealand is offered by Air New Zealand (http://www.airnz.co.nz ), which usually has a connection in the US. LATAM (http://www.latam.com ) in conjunction with Qantas (http://www.qantas.com ), has a stopover in Santiago and Auckland. In Australia, flights to Argentina leave from Sydney, plus a couple a week that depart from Melbourne. There are no direct flights from New Zealand, so you will need to go either via Sydney or with LATAM via Santiago. Flights from South Africa to Argentina leave from Cape Town and Johannesburg and usually go via São Paulo, taking sixteen or seventeen hours; South African Airways (http://www.flysaa.com ) leaves from Johannesburg, for example.

Airfares depend on both the season and duration of stay. Fares from Australia normally start around AUS$2000 in low season. The lowest return fares from Cape Town or Johannesburg cost around ZAR8500.