Aerolineas Argentinas

A340-200 SYD-EZE. I felt like I have stepped back in time when flying with this airline. They need to update the seating in the older aircraft. Very little attention is paid to safety carry on bags were left unsecured on seats during take-off. Seats were broken and reclined without pushing the recline button. Despite the seats being broken passengers were permitted to use them. There was no personal entertainment and it is strictly bring your own. Before and soon after take-off the cabin became very cold. Approx 1 hour into the flight the seat belt sign was turned off for the first time shortly after staff delivered the food. There was no choice of meal (chicken or red meat) let alone a vegetarian selection. After dinner the food trays were collected and the lights turned off and all passengers were expected to sleep. The staff must have also turned up the temperature as the aircraft cabin became very hot and stuffy. The flight was 14 hours and passengers were expected to sleep 10 of those hours. Approx 2 hours before landing the lights were turned back on we were fed again and the cabin became very cold. Trays removed just in time to land in Buenos Aires. Staff were seen at the rear of the craft playing on laptops and not offering any drink runs to passengers.

FCO (Rome) - EZE. The lack of IFE was an obvious flaw but my tablet computer lasted the whole journey so it was ok. The food wasn't great but the white wine was superb. Staff were very nice and even though I was Australian flying from Italy they all spoke perfect English. Flying Aerolineas was very much what it was like to fly domestic in Australia in the nineties - not great but bearable.

I recently flew with AR on the new direct SYD-EZE service. I must say after reading the previous reviews here that I was pleasantly surprised. Flights were on time cabin crew were friendly (more so on the return leg) seat pitch in economy was actually very good cabin was clean and tidy. Yes there are no back of seat entertainment screens but for the price you cannot expect 5 star services. If being entertained is an issue bring your ipad or a good book! Food was OK. On the return flight after dinner service sandwiches were self- served from the rear of the cabin and it would be beneficial here to at least offer a selection (for us veggies rather than the ubiquitous ham and cheese). Overall the flight was as good as any for the price – in fact the worst part was actually going through customs at EZE which took well over an hour. I thought I had landed at LAX! Overall I would recommend this airline if you are after a well-priced airfare – just don't expect 5 star amenities services for a 3 star price.

I flew from Lima to Sydney via Buenos Aires. My flight in Buenos Aires was delayed 1.5 hours but Aerolineas did not communicate with us at all! They announced a couple of times in Spanish thank you for your patience but that was it. Finally when we boarded it took another hour to take off! The people on my flight were complaining of the terrible service they had already experienced with Aerolineas. When I arrived in Sydney I had missed my connecting flight and so had half of the passengers I was with. We all had to pay for new tickets to our next destination which cost me $170 to Melbourne! Their entertainment was poor they played the same movie over and over and when passengers asked for help staff ignored them! Pretty bad service is an understatement.

SYD-EZE-SYD. Plane is an older A340-200 - without personal IFE - just a main screen. Economy class seats were generously sized and I was offered an emergency exit seat from SYD-EZE. EZE-SYD was a standard economy class seat. Plane departed on time from SYD-EZE and again EZE-SYD. Staff friendly and always walking around. Food was edible but there wasn't much of it. A small self-serve bar in the galley provided water and snacks during the flight. Both flights the plane landed on time and overall was a pleasant experience. Despite being limited in features I got from SYD to EZE and back cheaply comfortably and if you bring your iPad/iPod you'll be entertained. If there was no price difference between AR and LAN/Qantas etc. consider going on the latter. But AR isn't a bad airline provided you've got some personal entertainment on the long 13-15 hour flights. One final point - the AR website is incredibly hard to navigate and use. Calls to their SYD call centre go without answer.

Well after hearing a lots of negetive comments about Aerlineas airlines I was a bit apprehensive but the fare was almost half from MEL-RIO. I found the service better and aircraft was old but with more legroom. The crew was also good and trying to help passengers as it was a long flight of 16 hrs. Food was OK and they should improve their entertainment service. Overall we enjoyed and would definitely go again.

They delayed my flight by 3 days and were incredibly rude and unapologetic. I was supposed to fly from Sydney to Buenos Aires via Auckland and Santiago. I turned up at the check in counter in Sydney and was told the flight would be delayed because the plane hadn't arrived yet from Auckland but it would only be a couple of hours. When I returned they said the plane would not be arriving after all and that we would not leave Sydney for another two days. Staff were rude and unhelpful and once we were taken to the accommodation we didn't hear from them again except for a piece of paper under the hotel door telling us to be ready at 5am. After two days we went back to airport there was no staff member there and we had to go from counter to counter trying to find out which flight we were on. After finally checking in and going through immigration we were at the boarding gate when we were told that we would not be flying out after all as there was no plane to meet us in Auckland. No staff representative. I ended up changing to LAN Chile who were excellent.

Return flight (Sydney-Buenos Aires). The fare was really competitive. Flight left on time from Sydney to Buenos Aires. Food was below average (Fish and rice for dinner and very small sandwiches for breakfast and middle snack). On board entertainment is the worst entertainment I have witnessed. Flight attendants were nice. On my way back flight delayed 30 minutes. Food was good (Chicken and rice for lunch. Croissant tea and fruits for breakfast and small chicken sandwich for middle snack). On board entertainment was better than the first flight. Pros: Excellent price - On time flights - Friendly staff. Cons: No personal entertainment nor good screens - Bad food on first flight - Staff didn't allow me to use my iphone in flight mode - not very tidy (though not dirty).

SYD-EZE on July 21. While the aircraft was old and it lacks personal inflight entertainment it was well maintained. Good legroom. Crew were friendly and efficient. Left on time and arrived one hour early. All and all a good experience and extremely good value for money. I'm looking forward to my return in a few days.

Flew AKL-EZE/AEP-GIG-AEP/EZE-AKL. Both long-haul legs were close to being on time but the baggage wait in BA was around 40 min (thus missed the transfer bus to the other airport in BA and had to get a cab). Upon arrival at AEP I was checked-in for the flight to Rio as normal. But 20 min after the schedule boarding time everyone was informed that AR decided to switch the departing airport back to EZE (and this is already at 10pm). So had to re-clear the custom collect our baggage wait for 30 min for the bus take the 1 hour bus ride to the other side of the town re-check in and re-clear the custom at EZE (which took 1 hour). Finally landed in Rio at 3.30am 4 hours late. No compensation was offered whatsoever. The return flights were relatively stress-free. Overall the cabin service was above average but planes are antiquated with no personal entertainment but a leaky roof. Breakfast on the 13 hour long-haul consisted of two pieces of cold bread and a banana. Much cheaper than LAN but definitely not worth the money paid.