This is not the first post I hoped to make about this adventure.
I’m excited to be off on a trip from the tip of South America, in Ushuaia, Argentina, cruising along the Chilean coast, and ending in Santiago. I planned a lot of nice activities in Ushuaia ahead of the cruise. But, news-flash, a union-led strike focused on labor reforms has intentionally “paralyzed” the country by shutting down all forms of domestic transportation.
When we checked in for our flight at Miami International Airport, the Aerolineas Argentinas staff was literally whispering to us that there would likely be a strike, and our flight to Ushuaia might be – or was – cancelled. They could not make any adjustments. We had no emails from the airline or updates from the State Department alert service we follow when traveling abroad. And, we had very little time before getting on a 9+ hour flight.
I quickly bought tickets on another flight departing tomorrow (I’ll sort out reimbursements and insurance later) and, after boarding, consulted with our flight crew about hotels before rapidly booking a room at the Marriott closest to the international airport. Whew. That seemed the best course of action. Once we landed in Buenos Aires, we discovered even the ticket counters are shut down until midnight tonight, pretty much everyone is on standby, and any hotel room is now a very hot commodity. The notice of the second flight cancellation arrived a few hours into our first flight. I could get no results from the links provided, and from the size of the crowd at the airport looking for answers, neither could anyone else. Two brave airline employees finally approached the crowd and told everyone to come back 19 hours later, at midnight, when the strike is suppossed to end, and no, they wouldn’t help with any accommodations. A State Department alert appeared almost 12 hours after the strike started, and focused on the huge protests expected in the center of town.
BTW – Aerolineas Argentinas’ business class was one of the very worst we have ever experienced. Incredibly uncomfortable. They only topped Icelandic Air, which holds the bottom spot, because the food was so awful.
So, we have crashed at the Marriott and are thankful we are not trying to sleep on the airport floor.
