Traveling abroad 2021

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    I have set my mind on going home this month. For now, I have found a great fare with KLM/Air France through Google Matrix ITA. One novelty is that the basic fare (€676 Buenos Aires to Milan) only includes 1x hand luggage and an unspecified 'personal equipment' (purse) for a total of 12 kg. If you want also 1x 23 kg suitcase, you have to pay €50 more and from the 2nd piece onward, it's €80/piece.



    I will have to get a PCR 72 hr before leaving and sign a DDJJ 48 hours before traveling.


    Laboratorio Aclimu - $6000 - with optional English results at no added cost

    Laboratorio Rossi - $8400

    Aeroparque o Ezeiza - $6000

    Central Lab.- $6500 or $7000 (domicilio)

    VZ Lab - $6500 or $7500 (domicilio)

    WiriLab- $6000 (Palermo Hollywood) or $6500 (domicilio)

    DaxLab $7000

    Imat - $7430

    Diagnostico Maipú - $7000

    Stamboulian - $ ???

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    Quote from Rice

    Outrageous pricing on the PCR, serafina .


    Once you’re in Italy, will you be able to stay long enough to get both doses of the vaccine?

    They don't vaccinate tourists, in Europe (except in San Marino)


    I could take domicile in Italy and enroll in the public healthcare temporarily, but I am not sure that it's worth it for 40 days. And of the tax implications.

    Instead of going to visit your Mom in Italy, serafina , what about meeting her in the US, where you could get both Pfizer shots in 22 days? I don’t know if there is a “give shots to anyone who wants them” stated policy, but I haven’t heard or read of anyone being turned down.

    Quote from Rice

    Instead of going to visit your Mom in Italy, serafina , what about meeting her in the US, where you could get both Pfizer shots in 22 days? I don’t know if there is a “give shots to anyone who wants them” stated policy, but I haven’t heard or read of anyone being turned down.

    Florida gives them to anyone who wants them....


    the only problem is that flights to Miami are now around 2,000 dollars return for a seat at the back of the bus...

    The US is willing to provide free vaccinations, but the government can’t control the outrageous cost of flights and hotels. Many Argentines spend upwards of these figures for shopping trips to Miami: I wonder if they spend the same for their health.


    serafina, since you hold an Italian passport, surely the health officials will allow you to receive the vaccine while you’re there, not caring if you’re there as a tourist or undocumented farm worker, but considering this another chance to stop the spread and save lives?

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    Quote from Rice

    serafina, since you hold an Italian passport, surely the health officials will allow you to receive the vaccine while you’re there, not caring if you’re there as a tourist or undocumented farm worker, but considering this another chance to stop the spread and save lives?

    I believe they are not yet in the stage where they have a surplus of vaccines to hand out.

    Right now, the only provision is for those who are formally resident abroad (hence, no longer enrolled in the national healthcare system and not entitled to basic healthcare coverage) but that have been stuck in Italy, unable to go back to the country where they reside or because they are spending a few months in Italy for some reason (for example, to assist a sick relative but also to simply renovate / maintain their property in there).


    This new provision was introduced at the end of May because the Ministry of Health recognized that those people, who are effectively living in Italy, were excluded from the national vaccination campaign but could pose a risk to others if not vaccinated.

    However, today I investigated further and this requires a stay of minimum three months in Italy - otherwise it is just a vacation. You have to sign a sworn declaration and you are facing a suit if you lie. Lovely, shitaly!


    I don't mind the self-isolation period of 10 days (which was eased today for people coming from other European countries and low risk countries - Argentina is still high risk), I would appreciate a vaccine, but my country has always made very clear that you are either all in (pay taxes, get free healthcare) or are out. Once you are out, you're on your own. The only stuff they did based merely on holding a passport, was minimum pensions for the elders... something that I do not agree with since there are people who have an Italian passport but never lived (nor worked = contributed) in Italy. There are many in Argentina...


    The situation is also valid for Argentinians abroad. Thanks to Cristina, every Argentinian is entitled to a basic pension. This applies merely based on nationality and age and not on residency. I have a friend in the US whose Argentinian grandma (born in Argentina, she left in the '70s) currently receives a 300 USD monthly pension in the US (paid in USD to her US bank account). The same pension will be given to her daughter (born in the US, never lived in Argentina), once she reaches the required age. So far, she is too young, but when the time comes, she plan on getting her Argentinian citizenship and pension.

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    Here's a useful post I spotted on a Facebook expat group:

    Quote

    Hi all! For those of you who live in Argentina and have the luck of traveling abroad to visit family or just to escape for a bit...I thought I would follow up on my previous exchange about what it was like to leave Argentina to travel to the U.S. in April. (NOTE: I am an American with legal residency here and my children are both Argentine and American citizens). I just arrived back from a visit with my family in California last week. I had both bad luck and made a HUGE mistake so I thought I would share some of my observations so that others know what to expect.

    1. You need to do the Travel PCR test to come back to Argentina within 72 hours of travel. While technically there is free COVD testing in the U.S., it isn't really free if you are traveling and have that time deadline. The U.S. considers traveling a luxury and therefore it is not covered by insurance or by the government. (For example, if you think you have COVID you can get tested for free, but it does take several days for the results). I am American and I tend to follow the rules, so I just paid for 3 of us to take the PCR travel tests @ USD 170 per person. GULP.
    2. Leaving Argentina my 9 & 11 year olds were allowed to have their cheeks swabbed for the PCR test. That was not the case in the U.S.! They had to do the nostril test! Luckily, they have improved their method and the swab only goes halfway up both nostrils.....instead of all the way up.
    3. Please do not make the mistake I made! I missed my flight out because I thought it would be easy to fill out the JJDD at the airport on my smart phone. I couldn't figure out why it kept getting rejected. Apparently while the form says that the negative PCR test has to be uploaded at a certain size, what it DOES NOT INDICATE CLEARLY is that only a PDF will be accepted. I was trying to upload JPGs. When I called the travel agent to tell him that I missed my flight because of this, his response was "Oh, the same thing happened to me." Umm....would have been nice to know in advance! I went home and did the JJDD on a computer and it was easier to fill out and attach the PDF. The JJDD has to be done within 48 hours of the flight so just do it at a computer.
    4. I did notice that when I filled out the JJDD and said I was a resident of Argentina that it automatically filled in that I was visiting outside of Argentina for 2 years! A glitch in their form, but whatever. It was still accepted.
    5. For the first time EVER, American Airlines asked to see the permission from the father of my children to travel without him! I am always asked for this permission while leaving Argentina, but in the past 11 years I had never been asked for that documentation while leaving the U.S.! Obviously I only had it Spanish, but luckily there was an American Airlines agent that read it and gave me the go ahead. Phew!
    6. When you arrive in Argentina you need to pay $2,500 pesos to do a quick PCR test. Then you have to wait until your name is called and you are cleared to leave the airport. That was actually pretty quick. Maybe 30 minutes.
    7. I get calls every day from the government about whether I have symptoms or not during my isolation period. There is an option to take the test again after 7 days and then get the Alta OR they government calls you every day until the 10th day. If you tell them over the phone you don't have symptoms then they give you the Alta on the 10th day. I refused to take the test again since I have been fully vaccinated and tested negative 3 times in one week. So they are just going to keep calling me. At least they are very pleasant when they call?
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    Thanks for sharing!


    Definitely don't make and bring any minor children before leaving :)


    For those going to the EU, there is also an EU form to be filled in. In the US, they accept the antigen test (cheaper) but in Argentina they want the PCR test to exit and enter.

    Most countries have an online tool where you can select where you are traveling from, where are you stopping over and the reason of your travel - and it will return the instructions (forms, isolation, kind of tests(s) to be done).


    Yesterday they lessened the requirements to move between European countries (no more self-isolation for 10 days).

    An update on our friend in quarantine in the seedy BsAs hotel: after repeated requests to be given another covid test (at own expense) were denied, she has given up and will simply wait for the remaining 3 days of her 10-day quarantine to end.

    You seem desperate to get 'home' so I hope you get something sorted out soon serafina. Even though it's been around six years since being back in the UK I have no such urge to be back so I am prepared to wait until I can travel without any extra hassles....God knows when that'll be though. Funnily enough my wife wants to travel to the UK asap. Probably to buy shoes and clothes!! ^^

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    I have spent my morning trying to figure out the traveling requirements. Not only you have to comply with the requirements to leave your departure country and to enter your destination, but also those of your transit country.


    I am going through Paris on the outbound flight and through Amsterdam on my way back. Since Argentina is considered a very high risk country with 'variants of interests', I get the strictest requirements... In France, they require a PCR test done less than 36 hours before boarding or a PCR test less than 72 hours + an antigen test done within 24 hours. It is not clear if *before boarding* means before boarding in Argentina on my way to Paris, or before boarding in Paris for my last leg to Milan.


    For all you newbies, the PCR is the swab up your nose whose results takes hours, whereas the antigen test is the nose swab known as 'quick test' which is ready within minutes (30') but is less accurate.

    The PCR test takes 3 hour in Ezeiza, but no lab in Buenos Aires can be as quick - except Diagnostico Maipú which guarantees results on the same day if you get swabbed in the morning.


    However, given that I have to

    1) upload the PCR results to fill in online the DJ required to leave Argentina (to be presented in Ezeiza to leave)

    2) be at the airport at least 2-3 hrs before take off to check-in

    3) arrive in Paris 13+ hours later with a test done lass than 36 hours prior

    It is proving quite hard to meet all of the requirements. I don't want to go to Ezeiza five hours before departure nor to run like crazy to upload the PCR results for the DJ at the airport and perhaps have it in print for when I land in Paris.


    I will call Central Lab tomorrow to see if they can guarantee a quicker turnaround. So far, my swab has been booked for June 22 at 7 AM, which means that I should get the results on my departure day very early in the morning, right before leaving. I have read on the Internet that they are usually quicker, but can they guarantee it? Otherwise, I could take an antigen test at EZE before leaving, so that I get the results while I am flying, ready to show in Paris.


    My flight leaves at 1:30 PM on Wed 23, so that doesn't help. I understand that people flying in the afternoon/evening may have more options.

    You are amazing to carry on and jump through all these hoops to get to Italy while Argentina is still a red country with infection numbers going in the wrong direction. I would be crawling into bed, pulling the covers over my head, and waiting as long as I had to, to avoid all the red tape.


    My hat is off to you, serafina . You are one determined person!