Aerolineas Argentinas

AKL-SYD one way. I booked this flight with pretty low expectations. The flight was 90 minutes late. However this flight was better than expected. A340s used on this route are old. However the seats were comfortable and leg room acceptable. The complimentary light meal coffee and juice were tasty and appreciated. The cabin crew's English was quite good - some of the crew were young and friendly while there were a couple of more experienced and more gruff senior crew who shouted orders. All PAs are given in Spanish first then English. It was very hard to understand the English notices as the English spoken was heavily accented. There are no personal TVs and on this three hour sector no movies were shown - just the route map on the main screens. Their service is significantly lower quality than their main competitor LAN but they are also significantly cheaper. I think it would be less comfortable to fly the much longer AKL-EZE sector on this airline but for AKL-SYD they were fine.

MAD to BUE and back in economy class. B747-400 used were really old no personal screens in the seatbacks only small ceiling screens. Furthermore on MAD-BUE flight the inflight entertainment system gave up working shortly after the safety movie so no movie or Airshow at all. Meal/drink service was absolutely minimal no drinks at all during both 12h night flights. Cabin announcements unmotivated and in bad English. The old fashioned seats were very comfortable. great legrooom and recline. Bring your own food drinks and entertainment don't expect anything special from the cabin crew but enjoy the comfy seats which are much better than those ultra-thin seats which most leading carriers offer today.

SYD to EZE via AKL EZE-BOG via LIM and return. Arrived at Sydney airport at 7am for a morning departure to be told flight will be delayed until afternoon. Provided with a lunch voucher I spent the day at Sydney airport flight finally departed at around 1730. Arriving late to EZE I had missed my prebooked hotel shuttle and complained at the airline counter and they gave me a voucher for a hire car to my hotel which was nice. A340 was old seats were well worn and frayed overhead reading lights didn't work overhead baggage lockers difficult to close ancient entertainment system with flickering screen. Food was passable but nothing special cabin crew looked old and tired and mostly stayed in the galley chatting amongst themselves and were not very attentive. The pillow was so small and flat it was a waste of time as was the small think blanket. Every other flight I had within South America with this airline was very late causing inconvenience and disruption to my travel plans. My return flight to Australia was cancelled and I was driven to a hotel and picked up by bus the next morning only to face more delays uncertainty and poor communication from airline staff. This airline is a joke listen to me and many other people here when we say pay the extra money and fly to South America with LAN or Qantas but avoid Aerolineas Argentinas like the plague.

ASU-AEP morning flight on time clean and professional. Not many flights between Paraguay and Argentina and this one went into the city airport Aeroparque saving a lot of time.

Auckland to Sydney. On the way there flight was delayed almost two hours. Staff were rude requested a bassinet for my 3 month old When boarded plane was told there was nothing? Flight home delayed two hours again no bassinet. Staff did not smile when needed pressed the button and waited 20 minutes?

Plane from Auckland to Buenos Aires was old pocket at back of seat was split so mags etc kept falling out seats frayed and the nearest movie screen didn't work. Inflight service OK there doesn't seem to be a choice of meal and it is just plonked in front of one. But had plenty of room as plane was only half full. Return trip from Montivideo was hours late leaving for Buenos Aires. I had to take a bus to the international airport but as it wouldn't have arrived there till 0100 I had to take a car (shared with another traveller) for the 0200 flight which left at 0430! Plane was better than the first as everything seemed to work. Cabin staff do their job but not so friendly as other air lines. Lights out after dinner and don't see cabin staff much after that but there is water and drinks left in the galley area. Plane late into Auckland so therefore missed connection to Christchurch and had to buy another ticket as I had just got a non transferable thinking 3 hours between flights would be long enough. Air fare was about half the price of the other airline servicing that route. Not sure if I will use them again. Have to be aware of delays and we were not given any explanation as to why it was delayed.

BUE to MVD so very short flight. Excellent service very friendly staff. Even got a snack in a handy plastic bag to reuse at security next time - nice idea. On return from Montevideo arrived to check in and was offered a seat on a flight leaving one hour earlier. So great experience. Only negative was very complicated booking process. Booked online but then had to call the office here in France to make payment. Not possible either online or through Buenos Aires call centre. Very strange.

BOG to EZE on a relatively new 737. Flight left on time food decent (two services on this 6 hour flight lunch and snack before landing) although the main lunch was pretty small and all types of drinks free. This airline has a pretty bad reputation for being late but it seems they are buying new planes and things are getting slowly better. For me it was all I could ask for - cheap nonstop and good service. The only change would be to have some sort of in flight entertainment.

Buenos Aires to Bariloche return and found both the airplane comfortable and the crew very attentive. The snack and beverage services were nice too. There was a delay in the departure from Bariloche to Buenos Aires which seems to be usual in Aerolineas Argentinas. It is said that many passengers choose some other airlines instead of Aerolineas because of the habitual delays. I hope it will become more efficient and competitive in time.

Buenos Aires to Madrid - flight delayed 9 hours. Then 15 days later I flew from Rome to Buenos Aires the flight was again delayed 10 hours.