Flight Check: Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires on Aerolinas Argentinas

Rio is a surreal city, but its airport is modern and easy to navigate. Photo / 123RF

Greg Fleming flies from Rio de Janeiro to Buenos Aires on Aerolineas Argentinas

The plane: A Boeing 737-300.

Class: Economy.

Seat: An aisle seat about three quarters back.

Entertainment: None, but this was only a three and a half hour flight.
Lots of airlines fly this route but Aerolineas Argentinas is part of the Star Alliance network and we were catching the Buenos Aires to Auckland direct flight later that night.
I had never flown on this airline but after this flight would have no hesitation.

Service: This flight - about three quarters full - ran like clockwork - we even got in a little early.

Complimentary sandwiches, an oatmeal bar and beverages were served not long after takeoff. The sandwiches (cheese and ham) were wrapped (no options available). After some pretty average experiences with plane food getting to South America, this was refreshing and the sandwich was good.

Service was dispensed in record time by the two air stewards - the rest of the flight was smooth and uneventful.

I'd never seen this before - but our pilot got applause for the perfect landing.

Airport experience: Both airport experiences were good. Rio is a surreal city - and Uber drivers have clearly modelled their driving on that Fast and Furious movie set in the city - but the airport was modern and easy to navigate.

A very kind Aerolineas Argentinas check-in woman allowed us to repack an overweight bag without getting back in the queue.

We tried to find some Brazilian food but had to settle for Subway - an interesting experience with the language barrier - how do you say - "not so much ham" in Portuguese?

Once we landed in Buenos Aires we had six hours to kill and ended up buying a lounge pass. There were lots of lounges to choose from but the Latam VIP lounge in Terminal B looked good and they were okay with us staying the full six hours (normally the limit is three).

it was expensive (around $100 each) but, after a hectic few weeks travelling we were exhausted - and couldn't face hours on a hard plastic chair. We slept, showered, ate, and worked - super-fast Wi-Fi - in readiness for our 13-hour flight back home.

The bottom line: Great flight, good service, and on time - what else can you ask for?