You’ve heard the expression, “What a difference a day can make.”
To Buenos Aires it can now make a $1,000 difference.
That’s because on January 17, American introduced a new discount Business Class fare-type to the city, which comes with a 99-day advance-purchase requirement. American currently offers this fare from Houston, Miami, and New York. Look for it to spread.
Screenshot from AA.com:
Until now, the norm to Buenos Aires and other destinations in South America has been booking no more than 50 days out to get the lowest fares. If this new fare structure is successful, look for Delta and United to match it to Buenos Aires and other South American destinations.
Best Lie-Flat Business Class Seats
Miami-Buenos Aires: AA flights 907 and 900 use the new B777-300ER, which offers the carrier's new lie-flat seat (78 inches long, 26 inches wide, 15.4-inch touchscreen monitor).
AA's other Miami-Buenos Aires flights and those from New York use B777-200s, which are in the midst of getting the new seat. The tell-tale sign that a B777-200 does have the new seat: There's no First Class cabin.
Houston departures require a connection in Dallas or Miami. Some flights have the new seat (same tell-tale sign as above).
How to Upgrade to First Class
Book a flight using a B777-300ER, which has AA’s Flagship First Class suite. Cost: 50,000 miles and $1,100 co-pay round-trip. The published First Class Miami-Buenos Aires fare is $8,719, while the 99-day advance-purchase Business Class fare is $2,890, a savings of $5,820 (67%). Miles can be purchased directly from AA or transferred from Starwood (40,000 Starpoints needed).
Buenos Aires?
It’s perhaps the most European of South American cities, and the city known for the tango. It just received a big cultural boost: Late this year it will host an Art Basel art fair.
[aside headline="Trend Watch" alignment="alignright" width="half" headline_size="default"]These premium fare changes further reflect a general decline and change in many international Business Class fares recenlty, a trend started by Delta on European routes in 2012. See recent fare trends for West Coast to Europe here, Nairobi here, Tel Aviv here, India here, and for New Zealand here.[/aside]
Construct an itinerary around the city's top neighborhoods: Recoleta (Eva Peron is buried in the cemetery), Palermo, Puerto Madero (cutting-edge art), San Telmo (cobblestoned streets), and La Boca.
Consider a side-trip to Argentina's wine country; Mendoza, a two-hour flight from Buenos Aires, is the Napa Valley of Argentina. But also take a look at Salta in the northwest, an up-and-coming wine region with fabulous scenery—the Andes as the backdrop to a landscape of canyons and crags. Salta itself is a lively city of churches, markets, and gaucho traditions.
Remember: Buenos Aires is also a good jumping-off point to other South American cities.