All in Day's Travel: Calama>Santiago>BA

First off, writer's note: The shorthand for Buenos Aires is BsAs. I've been referring to it as BA in my planning, and I now know better. Unfortunately, I'm limited by the number of characters in the footprint title above, so BA once more it shall be.

When I left the hotel in the Calama this morning, I didn't quite realize the surprises that would spring up today. If all went well, I would've arrived in Buenos Aires around 3pm, but you're probably getting the feeling that I didn't. And you'd be right. At the Calama airport, I looked on the departures board and my flight was not listed. Uh oh.

There's only one airport in town, and being 630am, nobody was at the counters. The information lady wasn't helpful at all. Only a sprinkle of travellers were around, and fortunately there was a very nice couple who tried to help me out. The short story at this stage is that my flight had been cancelled but no one told me. This was not good as I needed to get to Santiago to make a connection to Buenos Aires. So started a few phone calls to the company I'd booked my flight through. When someone did finally arrive at the check in counter, they confirmed I was rebooked onto the 1030am flight and arrive at 1230pm. Bad news - my connection leaves at 1pm. My itinerary said I needed to pick up my bag and recheck in, even though it was a domestic flight with the same airline. Chalk it up to one booking through a third party, but two separate tickets instead of one.

Another phone call to the company, and I'll tell you who they are. Not out of complaint exactly, but more of a good tip actually since things didn't turn out as bad as they seem. You see, like many these days, I booked this flight online, on kiwi.com. I think they're based out of Montreal, and it was a good thing I did, because they guarantee their bookings and getting you to your final destination. I was unable to book the exact itinerary directly on Sky Airline's website (they sell it as two separate tickets), but I could with Kiwi which was great. And being one booking, I was able to get in touch with them to sort things out with the change in flights.

At this time, there was nothing we could do until I got to Santiago airport. Fair enough, they weren't ready to take care of the connecting flight just in case another delay or something came up. Off to Santiago I went - and after 4 days in a small town, the hustle and bustle of the terminal felt like the entire town and more was stuffed into one building. Back on my phone, it was another call to Kiwi and then the waiting game. When would I get into Buenos Aires? No idea, but I trusted I would get there.

A few hours later, they presented me with an option: a 7am flight the next morning plus they would cover that night's hotel and meals. Unfortunately I had my hotel booked (and paid for) in Buenos Aires, so they refunded the portion of the connecting flight which I missed (yup, refunded) and I headed to the Aerolineas Argentinas counter for another first - buying a ticket at the latest minute and at the airport. Yikes. (By the way, I did check with the insurance company while at the airport, so the difference in the price of the ticket should be covered - never forget to buy travel insurance, this is one of those times you'll need it).

I guess not a lot of people buy tickets at the airport anymore, it took awhile for them to issue it, and there were questions, rightfully so. Reciprocity fees (though that changed Jan 1), making sure I had a ticket out of Argentina etc. But I made it, good flight and you get a sandwich.

At the end of the day, what should have been a 6 hour travel day turned into 15 when I finally landed at EZE. By the way, if you go there, you can easily and economically take a bus transfer through Tienda Leon at Terminal B. They'll take you to their bus terminal and then transfer you into cars to drop you right off at your hotel. Lost a few exploration hours today, but tomorrow, I'll hit the ground bright and early.Read more