Travel

The easiest way to reach Mar del Plata (Mar del Plata) is to fly to Buenos Aires, International Airport Pistarini (Ezeiza, code EZE), which receives numerous flights per day from cities in USA, Europe and Latin America.

For ground transportation from EZE to the hotel in Mar del Plata and return from Mar del Plata to EZE
buses from Tienda Leon have the following schedule:

As we get closer to the date of the meeting, we will let you know if we have special buses running from Ezeiza to Mar del Plata on Monday, August 11. We will have a special bus for the last day of the meeting, August 21, departing from Mar del Plata at 11:00 and arriving at Eseiza at 17:00.

Most of the flights from US, Canada, and Europe arrive to EZE in morning hours; when booking your flight, we recommend that you choose such a flight. If anyhow possible, book the flight arriving to EZE between 10am-12pm. Regarding departure, if you plan to leave Argentina on August 21, book a flight with departure time from Argentina after 8pm. All participants and lecturers with financial support from PASI are required to use US carriers, following the NSF guidelines. In some cases, mostly for the travel between points outside of US, use of foreign carriers is allowed. However, before booking a ticket on a foreign carrier, contact the Organizers.

Please book the travel on your own. Supported participants and lecturers will be reimbursed for their travel expenses immediately after the workshop.

What follows below are suggestions for travel in the case you plan to arrive to EZE on a day other than Monday, August 11.

If your plan is to travel immediately to Mar del Plata from EZE, there are few options, listed below. If you need additional assistance, please email to cepac@andrew.cmu.edu.

Travel by bus directly from EZE. One reliable company to use is Tienda Leon (see schedule above). Traveling by bus in Argentina is very comfortable and economical. One way bus ticket from EZE to Mar del Plata is approximately 110 pesos, or about 36 US$.

Travel by bus via Buenos Aires. In this case you need to transfer to the main bus station (Retiro) in the Buenos Aires (Capital Federal) and take a bus from there. There are numerous companies traveling to Mar del Plata, such as Flecha Bus (recommended). During the daytime, the buses depart every half an hour or so. Typically no advanced booking is needed. You can transfer to Retiro using a taxi or a bus (see Tienda Leon link above, and more about taxis below).

Travel by plane. This requires transferring to the second airport in Buenos Aires (Aeroparque). Flight information can be found at Aerolineas Argentinas. This option is not encouraged due to increased cost, (possibly) lengthy transfers to and from airports, and frequent flight delays..
In Mar del Plata, you can transfer from the bus station to the conference site using taxi. The cost should be less than 20 pesos.

If you plan to visit Buenos Aires before travel to Mar del Plata , we recommend that you reserve ground transportation to Buenos Aires from EZE in advance - Tienda Leon allows for reservations to be done via phone or via their web interface.

Alternatively you can use a radio taxi which can be found outside of the terminal building (black taxi cabs with yellow letters). A good option here is 'Taxi Ezeiza', which has a kiosk in the center of the arrivals hall. They require payment in advance (fixed rates depending on your end point) and they will give you a receipt that the driver tears off as his "proof" that he drove you. They are reliable and a bit cheaper than the other companies.

Transfer via taxi to Buenos Aires costs 60-70 pesos. DO NOT consider using unauthorized transportation which may be offered to you outside of the custom area.

If you plan to visit Buenos Aires after the PASI, we will be able to help you with the travel arrangements while in Mar del Plata.

Money issues:
Do not change money inside of the custom area at EZE. As soon as you leave the custom area, the exchange rate improves significantly. An alternative is to use your bank card. (Note that most of the (US) banks charge 1-3% commission for use of bank cards outside of the country). At the time of writing, the exchange rate is approximately 3 pesos for 1 US$. Please note that the symbol for local currency (peso) in Argentina is $; the US dollar is typically specified as $US.

We do NOT recommend to use the kiosk that stands next to the baggage claim caroussels. That is a private company that has some special deal with the airport and the exchange is about 20% lower than the correct rate. Before you exit the customs for the arrivals hall, there is a teller from Banco de la Nación Argentina. The same Bank office has access from the arrivals hall after you exit customs. Banco de la Nación has the correct rate (indistinguishable from the rate you find downtown). There is no comission and the rate appears in an electronic display (simple multiplication transaction). This is the most efficient exchange, but requires that you bring US currency with you.