Hello everyone! Welcome to the flight report from my last international trip. I took a 2-week vacation to the US and Canada, and this was the return flight from NYC to Argentina.
I bought this flight ticket many months ago. About 2 months before my flight date, Aerolineas Argentinas announced they will be discontinuing the EZE-JFK route effective on August 10th. I think it´s such a pity because only American Airlines offers this direct route year long. Delta started offering this flight this year but only as a seasonal route.
Let’s get to the report…
On the day of the flight, I took the subway from my hotel in Chelsea to Jamaica Station in Queens where I connected with the AirTrain to JFK. Both rides were fast and smooth.
TWA Hotel in Terminal 5
I got of the AirTain on Terminal 7
I went straight to AR check in counters, I had already checked in online, but I don’t know why, they didn’t let me access to my boarding pass. On the counter, the agent tried to charge me for my checked luggage (70USD). I had already purchased it some month ago, but as I got rebooked on my domestic flight, this didn’t appear on his system. I contacted immediately with AR customer service on social media, they responded right away sending me my reservation which I showed to the agent and then I could check my luggage without paying for it again.
Then I went through TSA security check. There was a huge line, I had to wait like 20 minutes to get to the check point.
Terminal 7 is pretty small with only a few operating airlines. At the time there were an Air Canada flight to Toronto, an Aer Lingus flight to Dublin, an ANA flight to Tokyo, and my flight to EZE.
Aerolineas Argentinas Airbus 330-200 LV-GKO, 20.3 years old
As I had to spend midday on the airport, I brought myself a delicious sandwich I bought on a NYC deli. There weren’t many food options on this Terminal. And of course, they´re not cheap.
Less than an hour before the flight a huge number of Argentineans started gathering near the gate. I think most of us passengers, were Argentineans, I could only spot a few foreigners. 30 minutes before the departure time the ground staff called for boarding. First passengers with special assistance and with small children, then passengers on business class, and the economy pax were divided by zones.
I was on the back of the aircraft, so my zone was the first to board.
Inside AR economy cabin
The seats looked quite comfy and there were a blanket and pillow.
I was on 40H, the legroom is acceptable, I´m 1.75m.
The A330 are equipped with IFE screens. On the departure flight from EZE such system was not working. But this time they did work.
When the closing doors announcement was made, my seat companion left for an empty row. In my area there were many empty seats, but the front of the aircraft was full.
While taxing they played the Security demonstration video. The video features Argentina´s national football team head, Lionel Scaloni (World Cup Champion 2022).
On the way to the runway, I could spot Aer Lingus and Kuwait aircraft, also operating on Terminal 7.
They set up this blue mood light for take-off.
We took of at 16, just 30 minutes delayed.
As soon as we reached cruise altitude the IFE started working.
Flying path to EZE, just 10 hours away
The IFE system offers a limited selection of movies, TV series and music. They include some Argentinean options.
Free headphones were offered.
An hour after take-off, lunch was served. There were 2 options, pasta or meat. I went for the meat option, it included a meat and potatoes dish, a vegetables quiche, a bread roll and a caramel flan. Everything was ok. I wasn’t that hungry. There were some free alcohol options for drinks.
After lunch I watched a couple of films. This flight has a strange time, it departs past in the afternoon, but arrives at 3am or earlier, so you really can´t get much sleep.
Security card
Before trying to get some sleep I went to the bathroom near the galley. There were water glasses available
A little detour to avoid Venezuela´s air space. Argentinean carriers are banned from using Venezuelan airspace due to political reasons.
At 1.30 Argentinean time they turned on the wake-up mood lights and minutes later breakfast was served. It included a hot drink, juice, a yogurt, a cereal bar, crackers and cream cheese. I think that its crazy they serve breakfast at this time, since NYC and Buenos Aires are just one time zone away. They should be offering some light dinner, or I don’t know…Keep in mind that Argentineans are used to eat dinner quite late compared to other countries.
Finally at 2.30 am the captain announced our descent, and 30 minutes later we landed at Ezeiza International Airport. The weather was so foggy you could barely see.
Disembarkement and migrations were quite fast as I could use the e-gates.
Arrival area
This is the new departures terminal, it opened last year.
As soon as I got outside, I went to catch for my shuttle to Aeroparque to catch my last flight.
I hope you enjoyed this FR!
Cheers
Thanks for sharing this rare look at AR’s long-haul product. They don’t look significantly worse than the US carriers in terms of hard product other than lack of Wi-Fi, but definitely have opportunities to improve by adding an aperitif service before the first meal and adding a hot component to the second meal given the flight length.
Wow, these seats look like they haven’t been swapped out since the plane was delivered in the early 2000s (not a bad thing for seat padding), but then have quite large modern-looking IFEs. Your neighbor might have also been less than impressed to find that his USB-A was taped over as non-operational.
Hello! Thanks for your comment. I think each A330 in AR has different seats. The seats from aircraft i flew on the departure from EZE looked way more modern. The only issue was that the IFE screens were not working. They sent an email one day before the flight to let us know this.
Its odd how old the seats look. Because the rest of the plane seems to be modern.
AR has always been a mystery for me. Sometimes I'd like to try them but others Im afraid of ruining my trip for 13h of hell.
Thanks for sharing!
Hi! Thanks for your comment. If i had to choose between AR and another southamerican carrier (LATAM, Avianca, Boa) i would choose AR. But between AR and other european airlines I would go with the european one lol
Hola Viajero90,
Wow, That cabin in vintage! I love it...it definitely appeals to my Aviation Geekiness! Those thick seats look so comfortable compared to the ultra-slimline ironing boards so many airlines have now. It's nice to see that at least the cabin amenities are more up-to-date with newer IFE screens and USB ports (when they work, anyway...looks like the neighbouring seat wasn't so lucky!).
Always cool to see a review on Aerolineas Argentinas as they're pretty rare. Nice to see one of your reports again and thanks for sharing!