Nightmare in Argentina

If you can possibly avoid it, do not take a connecting flight through Argentina to get to Paraguay.  But if you must do it, make sure your connecting flight leaves on the same calendar day. 

In my case, I opted to connect through Argentina because I read online that no visa was required to change planes like it is in Brazil.  Wrong!  Although, it's much harder to obtain the visa for Brazil, Argentina does require a visa, which you must buy at the airport.  (FYI: if you're flying with a cat, they won't accept you in Peru.)

Although my connecting flight was 11 hours later, because it fell on the next calendar day, the immigrations office said I would need to buy a visa.  I paid 41.89€ plus an immigration commission of 2.41€.  Then, just before the terminal exit doors, I was taken out of the line as I was waiting for the final scan of my baggage.  The man ushered me over to a desk and asked to see the health certificate for my cat.  Then he hit me with 3 more fees.  One was for my cat, the second was for a 10 yr. Argentina passport, and I don't know what the third thing was.  They said they would only take cash, so another man took me find a cash machine to get pesos, while the first man held my passport hostage.  I was fleeced another 5.07€ EZE airport commission, 85.92€ some EZE fee, and 97.59€  some Argentina fee.  After I paid cash to the bank, I returned to the desk, but the first man was gone.  The second guy (who had escorted me to the cash machine), typed something into the computer, then gave me back my papers and started hurrying me past the scanners.  Luckily, I noticed my US passport sitting on the desk, and grabbed it before following him out the door to my bus.  (In Argentina, Aerolinas Argentinas flies into EZE airport, then you take an hour bus trip to AEP airport to fly out to PY.)  I didn't realize until I was on the bus, that they didn't bother to give me the 10 yr Argentina passport, (containing all my personal information) which I paid for out the nose!  And when I looked at my passport, I realized that the first fee I paid was for a 3 month Argentine visa.  That's when I knew I'd been scammed.

If anyone knows who I might write to either get my money refunded or get my Argentine passport, please let me know.  Maybe the US Embassy in Argentina?  The Argentina Embassy in the US?  The EZE airport authority?  Argentina immigration?

Up until that point, I was happy with Aerolinas Argentinas.  The airplane was roomy and the dinner meal was delicious.  My nightmare in Argentina was just beginning, however, and things got even worse when I tried to fly out at 5 a.m. the following morning. 

At check-in, I turned over my luggage and reminded the lady that I had a cat.  On the first leg of the trip, they had me carry my cat all the way to the boarding gate and then hand him to an employee who put him in cargo.  Since check-in did not take my cat with my luggage, I assumed it was the same procedure as with the first flight.  I headed off with my heavy backpack and my cat through what seemed like miles of terminal.  I unloaded and reloaded everything at the scanner, went through the immigration line, then sauntered through the gift shop (the only way forward), and finally made it to my gate with 45 minutes to spare. 

Almost immediately, an airport employee came running up to me saying I had to go all the way back to check in my cat.  I asked her why the lady didn't do it before.  We argued a bit, then I asked her if I could put my heavy backpack on the plane or in another room, so I didn't have to carry it all the way back and forth again.  She said "no."

So, I went back through all the motions, then went to baggage check-in to see the same lady who forgot to check my cat the first time.  This time, she walked me back through a winding hallway, for a stamp and signature of my passport from a mysterious man in a tiny back office.  She tried to charge me again for the cat, but somewhere in the shuffle, it was forgotten and my cat went off to be boarded.   

By then, she was hurrying me through the terminal to catch my plane in the 15 minutes remaining.  I had to go back and take everything off in the scanners and suit up again, then go through the immigration booth, where they insisted I fill out another form and delayed me another 5 minutes.  By this time, I was panicking.  I started telling the check-in lady that it was her fault and asked how I was going to get my cat and my luggage back if I missed the plane?  She told me not to worry about it.

When we finally got to the gate, the plane was gone, of course(my backpack was getting heavier by the minute).  I was taken back through immigration and the scanners.  I was diverted through the winding hall again into that office where the man stamped my passport again.  Now, I was crying uncontrollably because it was all so stupid and unavoidable.  I was worried that my cat would be permanently scarred from all this traveling.  The lady-at-fault said coldly, "If you don't stop crying, I'm going to call the police."

I was numb as we walked back to baggage claim.  My cat and my luggage were waiting for me, thank God.  She then led us to the [Moderated] office and we (me and my cat) cried while the staff decided what to do with us.  I had spent all my pesos, thinking I was leaving the country that morning and now I had no money for food, transportation, or accomodation. The dark-haired lady gave me 2 choices.  At their expense, I could take a taxi back to the first terminal, check into a hotel for a few hours, and fly out on a different airline at 3 p.m. The other option was to stay in a nearby hotel and fly out the next day at 5 a.m. with A.A.  At this point, I couldn't think straight.  I was too distraught to make a decision.  All I could think about was my poor cat.  They left me sitting there wondering what to do. 

A few minutes later, the check-in lady [Moderated]) told me my taxi was leaving in 5 minutes.  She said I had to take the 1st option.  There was no other option.  I protested that it was too much for my cat (to go from taxi to to a hotel near the other airport, then taxi to the airport again all in one day) and that I was too exhausted move all my luggage.  Heartless [Moderated] didn't care.  She put me in the taxi. 

I was still begging her to fly out the next day, when luckily, the dark-haired lady appeared.  She told me that option 2 was fine and made the arrangements for me to fly out the next day.

I'm happy to report that I left Argentina the following morning with nary a problem.  I never want to go to Argentina again!

[Moderated: No defamatory comments please]
During my nightmare (when they took my luggage for boarding, but then returned it to baggage claim after I missed my flight), the handlers damaged my hard plastic guitar case.  The neck end is cracked as if someone either threw it to the ground or smacked it into heavy luggage.  [Moderated] printed me a damage claim form and told me to make my claim in PY.  PY claims told me I was supposed to do it in Argentina! 

So my nightmare isn't over.  I've just had a little more time to sleep and prepare for another battle.