XLPQSX121212: Patagonia/Quest Antarctic Circle Dec 12, 2012

[twernham]

We are travelling on the Pre- and Post- Cruise add-ons, that include flights from Buenos Aires. I know these are not offered by G-Adventures any more, so I am not sure if there will be many people with us on these.

The internal flights offer a rather poor luggage allowance of only 15kg.
However, it does appear that the overweight baggage allowance charges are about £7.50 (about $10) each wzay for each item.

Does anyone know if it is safe to assume that an overweight bag (say 20 kg) will be accepted at check-in? We are away for almost three weeks, and 15kg is not much!

[twernham]

I meant to add the URL for those interested in the luggage allowance:
http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/arg/main.asp?idSitio=EU&idPagina=52&idIdioma=en

[origcavy]

<<<Does anyone know if it is safe to assume that an overweight bag (say 20 kg) will be accepted at check-in? We are away for almost three weeks, and 15kg is not much!>>>

I would think it would be but I wouldn't go over 20 kg (44lbs). Many people on the TripAdvisor forum have said that sometimes they charge the overweight fee and sometimes they don't. There are also some great packing lists on that forum. Nobody is going to be dressing fancy and you can definitely re-wear clothes as needed.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g1 ... tures.html

Do remember that hand baggage is also extremely limited (5kg). NO liquids are allowed on the flights from BA to USH. Toothpaste, deodorant, shampoo, etc... all liquids must be in the checked bag.

http://www.aerolineas.com.ar/arg/main.a ... dIdioma=en

[azzastan]

As far as the airline check baggage, that's why we choose to fly with LAN airlines with a generous 23kg of checked luggage.... perhaps if they try and charge you excess baggage, start crying and tell them you have all your ski gear for Antarctica... they may or may not let it through.... lol. (LAN have a policy about luggage, if you caught another flight with a more generous allowance, in some cases they have to acknowledge that). And with the Gels and Liquids, LAN also allow them onboard as long as they meet the TSA requirements. (Plastic bag, 100ml containers). Sounds like aerolineas are crap!

[smoore19]

Hello there Julia and Greg, Shaun from canada. Doing the same as you early morning flt from BA, staying in albatross.

Hello All

Julia and Greg McDonald from the South West corner of Western Australia. We will be joining for the cruise, we got our joining information today. We are flying from BA on the early morning flight and our pre-cruise hotel is the Hotel Albatross.

Thanks for the information about paying the reciprocity fee for Argentina online. We did complete the task after a couple of tries. It seemed the payment section of the website did not like Firefox.

We are also camping but did not go for kayaking as one of us paddles around in circles so we would have made an ideal meal.

We booked just after the cruise was released over 18 months ago so we are just about there. This is our early retirement present.

[azzastan]

OMG! LAN are changing 3 of my 4 flights! Grrrrr! Starting to get excited now. Myself and Kim are getting the following flight on Thuesday 18th Dec LA4438 935 Buenos Aires - Ushuaia. Kim is staying at Antarctic backpackers and I am staying at the Lennox hotel until the 21st where we all stay at the Albatros.

On wed 19th we are doing a tour with cannal fun - National part trekking and canoeing.
Thurs 20th - Lakes off road

Can't wait to meet everyone. I will have my Australian mobile if anyone wants to catch up before, break the ice.....lol... Pvt message me at azzastan@internode.on.net.

Hope everyone has safe travels to/from Ushuaia See you all soon.

Had no issues with the reciprocity fee

[nocturnal]

Seems I may be the only one who has been having issues paying the reciprocity fee online...I haven't been successful at all! So, I am going to hope that the Dec 28 effective date is correct and I can pay this at the airport. Wish me luck

[hwu125]

@nocturnal, From what I've heard, they are in fact adhering to that date, so there should be no problem! Good luck!

@azzastan, Don't worry, my flights have been changed by LAN a whopping four times already! I've spent more time on hold over the phone than I will be spending, flying with them.

And I just wanted to take a moment and wish everyone a safe and stress-free journey. I look forward to meeting all of you on board!