How to Travel to Antarctica: Costs and Essential Tips for Your Adventure

The round-trip ticket from Chengdu to Buenos Aires costs 13,000 RMB. Adding the 1,900 RMB for four segments of exit row seats and the 2,100 RMB for the round-trip ticket from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, the total cost comes to 17,000 RMB.

Direct flights from China to Argentina are not available, so a transit is necessary. You have the option to transit through Europe or Africa. Departing from Chengdu, one can also choose to transit through Istanbul, as there are direct flights from Chengdu to Istanbul. Transiting through Europe can be less convenient due to the limited number of direct flights from Chengdu to European cities.

A fellow traveler also departed from Chengdu, taking the route Chengdu – Shanghai – Paris – Buenos Aires, with a stopover in Europe. Of course, Paris Charles de Gaulle Airport offers a much more pleasant experience compared to Addis Ababa.

For my journey, I chose to transit through Ethiopia, purchasing tickets from Ethiopian Airlines. The first leg is a direct flight from Chengdu to Addis Ababa, which takes approximately 10 hours. There is a 3-hour layover at Addis Ababa Airport. The second leg, from Addis Ababa to Buenos Aires, is a 16-hour flight with a one-hour stopover in São Paulo, Brazil, where passengers do not disembark.

The third leg, the round trip from Buenos Aires to Ushuaia, costs 2,100 RMB and takes about three and a half hours. I strongly recommend choosing Aerolíneas Argentinas for this segment, as Andes Líneas Aéreas and JET are not particularly reliable.