Just two months after instituting a reciprocal visa fee for tourists to Argentina (meaning an extra $131 per person for Americans), the government of Argentina seems to be determined to rankle as many people as possible.

The latest is “the biggest inflation surge to start the year in two decades,” according to the Wall Street Journal, as Argentina Confronts Soaring Inflation. The worst part of this, for locals and tourists alike, is a 25% rise in beef prices. Chronic overspending is to blame, which has led to a big soap opera of the former head of the central bank being fired for not handing the government the bank’s foreign reserves to spend, his refusing to step down, then his being forced to step down when he was barred from his office. Kirchner’s yes-woman replacement is not sitting well with economists or the business leaders.

Bad government policies are mostly blamed for the beef inflation since price controls and export bans have led to a reduction in cattle, from 61 million in 2007 to 50 million today.

Good news for us is, the peso has dropped against the dollar to a nearly 4-to-1 ratio from around 3-to-1 in years past. So prices are rising, but so is the value of the dollar or euro for those coming in from elsewhere.

Your cruise stop in the Falkland Islands may cost extra though. Argentina is trying to force ships to get permission from Buenos Aires to pass through Argentine waters to get there. This move has gotten the support of Hugo Chavez, which tells you how well it’s going to play out with more sane leaders…

Keep an eye on international news if you’re planning a trip to Argentina. Hopefully an international recovery—or new elections—will right the ship before things get ugly.

[photo from Living in Patagonia blog]

There are a lot of elements that go into the price of a flight, from staff costs to government fees to landing gate charges at airports. One big variable—and the ones most airlines use to justify all kinds of add-ons and extras—is the price of fuel. Well how much does it really cost to carry each passenger a thousand miles through the air?

Spirit Air is doing its best to figure that out and share it with its customers. It has published a handy dandy chart showing how much it costs them in fuel to go a certain range of distance. You can see the full breakdown at this link, but here are a few examples:

• A short hop of 400 to 599 miles costs them $21.67 at current fuel rates
• Going 800 to 999 miles is a shade over $30
• Their longest hauls of 2000+ miles costs $78 per passenger in fuel

So to put that in real terms, for Ft. Lauderdale to Cancun, fuel is only around $22. Flying all the way to Lima from there, fuel is more than $78 per passenger. All these rates assume an 80% load factor, so if the flight is jammed full the actual cost per person would be a bit less. I’m not sure how cargo is figured in. And what if my seatmate weighs twice as much as I do? Should those who can’t fit in a regular airline seat multiply by two?

Think about this next time you see a $300 “fuel surcharge” on your legacy airline flight to Europe. Where’s that money really going? Why isn’t it just included in the price of the ticket?

When you see these fuel prices though, it makes Spirit’s cheap fares look even better, especially if you’re part of that $9 fare club. If you can snag one of those rates, you are flying for less than the cost of the fuel, never mind all the other costs the airline bears. So smile when you pay that checked baggage fee or a swipe your credit card for a cup of coffee in the air. Chances are those fees might not even get you back to even.

If you just want to get from point A to point B and have plenty of cash left over for spending after arrival, Spirit Air serves many Latin American destinations besides Cancun and Lima. They’ll get you to Nicaragua, Honduras, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, and four locations in Colombia.

More on airlines serving Latin America. Thanks to SmarterTravel for the original post on this.

You can read all kinds of predictions on where the travel market is headed this year, but just as economists and weather forecasters can keep their job while still being wrong half the time, most of these writers have just a smidgen more forecasting ability than you do. With everyone waiting later to book and the prime spring break vacation season not upon us yet, it’s hard for anyone to know how this year will go in the luxury travel world.

I like this post from the blog of an upscale travel PR agency I’ve met with before, KWE Group: 2010’s Upside-Down Pyramid: All Hail King Consumer. Among the big themes are a marketing message that’s easy to understand, authenticity, customization, and quality that’s worth paying for—at the right price.

It’s geared to those serving you rather than you the traveler, but I think you’ll probably recognize some factors that are driving your travel decisions and I’d love to hear your thoughts on how the industry is doing. Forget airlines, we know most of them are lost causes. But have the high-end hotels you’ve stayed with or the tour companies you’ve hired been making the right adjustments in these turbulent times?

Up the road from Los Cabos, some new golf resort communities are springing up. We’ve got the lowdown on them in this new Mexican real estate article we just posted: Golf Communities Sprout in La Paz, Mexico.

This probably sounded like a better idea when there was a flood of California real estate bubble money flowing south, so the developers spared no expense in designing the golf courses and working out the water issues with desalinization and specialized turf. Homes are going up in phases, with the developers targeting those retirees and vacation home owners who find themselves priced out of Los Cabos—or just wanting to get more for their money.

If you’re interested in buying real estate on the Baja Peninsula but your eyes bulged out when you saw the prices in Cabo, read our article and follow the links on golf real estate in La Paz.

According to a new consumer study from American Express, the travel market is going to remain soft for the near future, with hotels and airlines competing hard for a smaller population of vacationers.

Among the general population, the greatest number of consumers said their top priority expenses one year ago were vacations (25%) and dining out (24%). Today, only 7% named vacations as a high priority and dining was named as a high priority for only 8%. Those 7% who still have vacations as a high priority are definitely in the driver’s seat when it comes to getting the most for their budget.

The real takeaway in the report for travel marketers? Go after the young professionals and the affluent. (The typical Luxury Latin America readers, of course.)

“When young professionals who plan to spend more were asked what they would be spending it on, two thirds said clothing (65%), and more than half said dining out (54%) and travel (53%). The affluent who expect to spend more said it would be on travel (56%), dining out (47%) and clothes (43%)”

According to this survey that came out in August, many consumers still haven’t gotten the message that this is a historically great time for travel deals. You know better, so check out our luxury hotels in Latin America then start wheeling and dealing.