The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get there

[bPeteb]

Hi all

We are in the enviable position of possibly finding ourselves on a Christmas cruise to Antarctica this year.

As soon as we found out about we started looking at flights to Ushuaia and we've been a little startled by the prices at that time of year. Ok, a lot startled.

We hypothetically need to be in Ushuaia on December 20 and would then fly out on either New Year's day or Jan 2.

Qantas is over $3500+ for Y (!) early in December to EZE and then AEP-USH (or EZE) is about $675. Nothing of course yet available for dates later in the month.

Does anyone have any experience on this route as to whether fares will/might come down?

We'd prefer to fly Qantas (for SC and points) and trans-Pacific, but we've worked out we can fly to EZE in the opposite direction with Emirates.

Thoughts anyone?

cheers
Pete

 

[opusman]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Have you checked if the QF fare can get you all the way to USH?

 

[bPeteb]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Have you checked if the QF fare can get you all the way to USH?

Not via their online booking engine opusman.

I've now worked out that LAN flies from Santiago to USH via Buenos Aires so we don't need to fly with Aerolineas Arg down there. If that's the case then it makes sense that we should be able to book right through with QF and LAN but who knows. When/if we get the green light the serious planning will begin.

 

[zig]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Is the flight from AEP to USH included in your cruise price by any chance? Quite a few of the cruises I have looked at include that flight in the cruise pricing, the flight is quite often a charter just for cruise passengers.

 

[bPeteb]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Hi zig
No, the cruise is actually on a ship called The World. We have a friend who owns an apartment on the ship so there's no fare as such for us.

 

[JohnM]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

It's the busiest time of the year down there - and I mean BUSY - so, naturally, fares are going to be high. If the offset is a freebie on the boat, even paying full airfare sounds like a great deal to me.

 

[bPeteb]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

It's the busiest time of the year down there - and I mean BUSY - so, naturally, fares are going to be high. If the offset is a freebie on the boat, even paying full airfare sounds like a great deal to me.

Exactly John, we know how lucky we are to have a friend like this. Considering the cost of Antarctic cruises, it doesn't really matter what the airfares end up being.

 

[MrHyde]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

One option could be NZ to EZE from AKL. They announced recently that they will start flying that route in Dec 2015, so there could be some cheap launch fares on offer. I haven't seen any pricing by them yet as I'm also looking at doing an Antarctic cruise around that period.

 

[ausfox]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

I sailed(literally) from Ushuaia to Antarctica over the end of 2013 into 2014. The fares were absolutely maxed out and then my friends at Qantas flicked me to a LAN flight. Loyalty? If you fly via Buenos Aires check that your flights are not from different airports. Requiring a goodly transfer. Some ticketing goes into and out of the same airport the name of which escapes me due a an exposure to a fine Bordeaux. Ushuaia is interesting for about two days. I am envious as I enjoyed the experience immensely. Fair seas to you

 

[JohnM]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

EZE (Ezeiza) is the INT airport and quite a way out of Buenos Aires; AEP (Jorge Newberry is DOM) and is very close to B A. They are well-separated but there are various shuttle services.

I'm not sure whether any DOM flights leave from EZE, but it would be convenient if some to USH did.

 

[ausfox]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

A couple of pax on board had come into/out of EZE. Due to the late arrival into EZE and early departure from AEP we booked into a BA hotel for a few hours. Used taxis for trip into town and to AEP.

 

[williamsf1]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

I have just returned from Antarctica , and all I can say is OMG what a experience!! I was on the Silver explorer ( Silverseas cruises) and they looked after everything from my arrival into BA to my return. They use a LAN charter flight departing from AEP airport both ways ( only 112 pax on a A320 so lots of room for all ).

As for your trip on " the World" it is a larger ship so will be fairly limited to the locations it can visit , and the regulations only allow 50 people on shore at a time at each destination. Also good luck on your crossing of the Drake passage , our outbound was very rough ( most of the Pax and crew were sick!)

When I was doing my research other cruises and on flights to/from BA ( AEP) to USH the rates were fairly expensive ( compared to US or Australia flights) $900+ rtn . One way flights in South America are VERY expensive on LAN/TAM and it actually worked out cheaper to book returns for other flights and throw away the other sector. If you can find for $675 ( is that return ?) I would book it and be sorted !

Strongly recommend flying to AEP and not EZE

USH itself is a nice place to visit for a day or 2... you can do day trips from there if staying longer

Happy to answer any questions you may have about Antarctica

 

[JohnM]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

and the regulations only allow 50 people on shore at a time at each destination.a

It is indeed awesome. I was there in late 2013 and it was 100 at a time. Our ship was small with 92 pax and we could all go ashore together.

Have the rules changed or maybe in your larger ship they did batches of 50?

Link to TR below.

 

[williamsf1]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

It is indeed awesome. I was there in late 2013 and it was 100 at a time. Our ship was small with 92 pax and we could all go ashore together.

Have the rules changed or maybe in your larger ship they did batches of 50?

Link to TR below.

100 is the max allowed for some places, however we visited a number of restricted locations and research stations where the numbers were lower

 

[bPeteb]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

I have just returned from Antarctica , and all I can say is OMG what a experience!! I was on the Silver explorer ( Silverseas cruises) and they looked after everything from my arrival into BA to my return.

As for your trip on " the World" it is a larger ship so will be fairly limited to the locations it can visit , and the regulations only allow 50 people on shore at a time at each destination. Also good luck on your crossing of the Drake passage , our outbound was very rough ( most of the Pax and crew were sick!)

When I was doing my research other cruises and on flights to/from BA ( AEP) to USH the rates were fairly expensive ( compared to US or Australia flights) $900+ rtn . One way flights in South America are VERY expensive on LAN/TAM and it actually worked out cheaper to book returns for other flights and throw away the other sector. If you can find for $675 ( is that return ?) I would book it and be sorted !

Strongly recommend flying to AEP and not EZE

USH itself is a nice place to visit for a day or 2... you can do day trips from there if staying longer

Happy to answer any questions you may have about Antarctica

Very jealous. Here's hoping it happens for us this year!

We were very lucky to spend just over three weeks on The World last year sailing from Tahiti to NZ (Travel Blog: Where in the world is The World?). There was only about 100 passengers (owners and guests) onboard when we sailed from Papeete but I understand they were at capacity - about 450 - on the last expedition to Antarctica.

They're doing two expeditions this summer - 11 nights 'just' to Antarctica that ends on NY day 2016 and then another longer expedition that also includes South Georgia and the Falklands that sails on NY day. I believe the plan is to bring the onboard numbers down to a more manageable number of approx 200 for each sailing. They have 16 (I think) zodiacs onboard plus sea kayaks that are used for their expeditions.

We're already onboard again this year for just under four weeks for the ship's Greenland expedition in August/September. North and South polar circles in one year. What an amazing privilege.

re. the Santiago-Ushuaia flights. I was checking Skyscanner and I think the 675 was with Bravofly? We're not in a position to book anything yet, but even sites that I knew something about were showing mid-700s return for early December. Possibly the later in the month the more expensive they get.

JohnM, I have your blog open right now. It's still a bit quiet at work this week

 

[williamsf1]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Very jealous. Here's hoping it happens for us this year!


They're doing two expeditions this summer - 11 nights 'just' to Antarctica that ends on NY day 2016 and then another longer expedition that also includes South Georgia and the Falklands that sails on NY day. I believe the plan is to bring the onboard numbers down to a more manageable number of approx 200 for each sailing. They have 16 (I think) zodiacs onboard plus sea kayaks that are used for their expeditions.


re. the Santiago-Ushuaia flights. I was checking Skyscanner and I think the 675 was with Bravofly? We're not in a position to book anything yet, but even sites that I knew something about were showing mid-700s return for early December. Possibly the later in the month the more expensive they get.

If you have the option , I would take the South Georgia / Falklands + Antarctica journey ..... The issue with Antarctica is the weather is very changeable and the sea ice flows can restrict operations, however they can change the destination easily ... our ship was certified up to 1m of sea ice.

I don't think I would get on a sea kayak in Antarctica ..... On one of our landings we had a leopard seal take a serious interest in one of the zodiacs .. They have been known to take a bite out of them !

As for the flight costs ... if you can get them at that rate .. I would be booking as soon as you are confirmed on the cruise

 

[JohnM]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

I don't think I would get on a sea kayak in Antarctica

There were quite a few keen kayakers on my cruise (I didn't but all available kayaks were booked). They all seemed to have a great time with no incidents.

If they offer sleeping out on the ice for a night, I can recommend that.

 

[bPeteb]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

If you have the option , I would take the South Georgia / Falklands + Antarctica journey ..... The issue with Antarctica is the weather is very changeable and the sea ice flows can restrict operations, however they can change the destination easily ... our ship was certified up to 1m of sea ice.

I don't think I would get on a sea kayak in Antarctica ..... On one of our landings we had a leopard seal take a serious interest in one of the zodiacs .. They have been known to take a bite out of them !

As for the flight costs ... if you can get them at that rate .. I would be booking as soon as you are confirmed on the cruise

Sadly we don't have that option, our friend, the apt owner will be waiting on the dock in Ushuaia to kick us off. She's being generous enough

 

[JohnM]

Re: The cost of getting to Ushuaia, and maybe even the alternatives of how to get the

Sadly we don't have that option, our friend, the apt owner will be waiting on the dock in Ushuaia to kick us off. She's being generous enough

As I understand it, the fly into S Georgia/join a cruise there option is very new and very limited.

The Drake Passage can be a bit of fun. Our first night out of USH was pretty rough and not too many people surfaced for breakfast. Luckily, I don't get seasick.

The return was a millpond. Luck of the draw.