(Here's a heads up so you don't arrive in Buenos Aires surprised like Clark Griswold at Wally World)

For those reading this in the states and thinking about making the trip down to Buenos Aires I should let you know that as of January 1st the Argentine Government put into place a $131 US Dollar Entry Fee for all US Citizens at the Ezeiza International Airport (EZE) [best flight tracker]. 

The Argentine Interior Department had this to say... "The payment of this "reciprocity fee" IS NOT a Visa since Argentina does not require visa to nationals of the mentioned countries when traveling for tourism or business purposes". The Argentine Government set this entry fee on equal amounts to those Argentine citizens must pay when requesting a Visa to travel to those countries." - View Chart

The countries they are referring to are Australia, Canada and the USA. The fees for Australians and Canadians is U$D100 and U$D70, respectively. For Americans, it is a one-time fee that allows us to enter the country multiple times over the period of 10 years. I'm not sure what the final terms are for Australian and Canadian Citizens. 

I just had a friend come down from the states recently and she confirmed that she had to pay the $131 US Dollar Fee going through customs. 

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Apart from saying goodbye to mom & sister at the airport, Rochester to JFK was obviously the easy part of the excursion. After a quick flight via JetBlue I grabbed my bags and headed over to a different terminal to check in at Mexicana Airlines. Side note: I hate lugging bags around anywhere. As soon as I set my bags down to check in the lady at the front counter asked for my visa to Argentina (aka my biggest fear about the trip). Luckily, she was corrected immediately by another lady saying that it wasn't necessary anymore. Regardless of the time frame, my heart was already in my throat and sweating profusely for the next 15 minutes was inevitable. I was then advised to go buy 2 TSA approved locks for my bags because they tend to get "looked through" in Mexico City. I wasn't about to call her bluff. So, $26 bucks later I found myself with 3 stewardesses, a security guard and 2 other passengers trying to figure out how to set the lock on the damn things. Finally, with bags secured and packed away I met my friends Stacy and Adrienne for some beers before the flight. As I came down the tunnel to board I noticed a monster of a man wearing an immigrations (ICE) badge and a stewardess standing over my black duffle bag at the plane entrance. Commence sweating. Turns out my bag was vibrating as they loaded it, so they brought it up for me to inspect (in front of everyone getting on the plane).

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