Money in Buenos Aires
 

Hello,
I am flying into Argentina soon. I want to know if it is possible to obtain pesos at the airport in Buenos Aires and pay for them with a credit or ATM card.

Thanks in advance
Jeff

If you want to pay with an ATM card you can just obtain pesos from an ATM machine, I believe there is one at Buenos Aires international airport but as we didn't use such, would be best if someone else confirms.

We happened to have some US dollars we needed to use (left over from a previous trip) so we went into the bank that's in BA international airport and changed our money there. We got a much better rate there, incidentally, than was being offered at the little exchange bureau also in the airport. The bank may also allow you to obtain cash from your credit or debit card.

Oops, posted before I finished.

What you could do is take some of your own currency with you in order to be able to change some at the airport should you find there is no ATM machine or that you can't use your credit card or ATM card at the bank.

But I would suggest that you take the majority of your required local currency funds from ATM machines on arrival within the city.

We had no problem using our UK debit card at a variety of ATMs in Buenos Aires.

Hi, Jeff!

Yes, you will find ATMs in our international airport. The exchange rate should be reasonably good.

In this website you can find the prevailing Aussie dollar/Argentine peso exchange rate:
http://www.dolarhoy.com/indexx.php#australiano

If you wish to bring cash, I feel it would be better to bring American dollars.

Avoid like the plague the place Kavey calls "the little exchange bureau also in the airport". They are crooks. Their name is "Global Exchange".

I can't verify ATMs as the airport web site doesn't provide enough speicifics.

This is from the English Version of FAQs

10
Which are the business hours for money exchange offices?
Money exchange offices are open to the public according to the flight schedules. At Ezeiza International Airport, Banco Nación – located at the Arrivals Sector of Terminal A- is open for exchange operations 24 hours a day.

This is what is shown for money exchange:

> Money Exchange
Banco Piano
> Terminal A > Departures > 1º Floor > Public Sector
> Terminal A > Departures > Ground Floor
Phone: (54 11) 5480 2765

Global Exchange
> Terminal A > Departures > 1º Floor > Pre-Boarding Sector
> Terminal A > Arrivals > GF > Baggage Claim Sector
> Terminal A > Arrivals > GF > Baggage Claim Sector
> Terminal A > Arrivals > GF > Public Sector
> Terminal B > Arrivals > GF > Public Sector
> Terminal B > Arrivals > GF > Baggage Claim Sector
Phone: (54 11) 5031 4043

Avrooster,

I was slow posting, so I listed the Global Exchange before I saw your response.

At least we all now know where the crooks are located.

They are in the Baggage Claims sector, because they prey on unsuspecting tourists who are waiting for their luggage and decide to gain some time by changing their currency into pesos while they wait.

Have a great time in our country.

I tried to use the ATM's on arrival at EZE, but they were all out of money! Luckily, I had pre-arranged my transfer, so I was ok waiting to get funds in Buenos Aires.

I believe tourists should always bring at least a little cash.

Anyway, at http://www.tiendaleon.com.ar/home/home.asp
you can pay for your transfer with your credit card.

Another good currency converter site that many business use is www.oanda.com

Use Fx converter and you can see the prevailing exchange rate for any two currencies.

One solution is to pay the transfer to your hotel,I mean the remise with a credit card. Use Manuel Tienda Leon. Once in the city, you look for a convenient ATM and that is it...
Manuel Tienda Leon has a web site is the name of a company that offers remise service ( like a taxi on a pre fixed rate) and also the bus service. I am not sure but I guess that the bus can also be paid with a credit card. You can check with them

AV, I didn't recommend the bureau de change, I said that we went to the bank where we got a far better rate than the bureau was offering! :)

Please show me where I said you recommended it!! LOL!!!

Aah ok!
And I can well understand why you call them crooks but then again, they state their rates upfront so it's incumbent on the customer to do a little research and have a rough idea of a reasonable exchange rate in advance, rather than just assuming all bureaux will offer a "fair" rate!
Or are you telling us there's more and they are actually cheating in some other way?
Their rate was 2.82 against the 3.31 we got from the bank!
OUCH!

Beware of relying too much on ATMs in Argentina. In Novemebr we were in Salta rapidly running out of cash as the guys who fill up the ATMs had gone on strike for a week. The queues at the banks were unbelievable. Also we had a lot of problems all around teh country with ATMs not working and part way through our stay the ubiquitous Banelco network reduced the max withdrawal to 300 pesos. An exception was Citibank where it is possible to withdraw up to 4000 pesos.

Believe it or not, Kavey, many people change with them.

In fact, I have warned people at the airport who were about to change with them and they went ahead and changed anyway, which is discouraging, to put it mildly.

The good thing about using ATM's in town ( BA) is that there are so many banks, that if one machine is not working or the line is too long, there is another bank half a block away.

We use BNP Paribas .. rarely have they run out of money.. .

AV, you can't help some people. And to be honest, Fools and their money are easily parted and part of me thinks fair play to the bureau. If people are so lazy they can't be bothered to either walk a few minutes further to the bank or find out roughly what rate they should be getting, maybe they deserve to be fleeced!!!

;)

I disagree, Kavey. It's not OK to fleece dumb people, even though they may deserve it.

Instead, the people who own "Global Exchange" should be locked up in Sing-Sing and the key should be thrown away.

Without being upset with me please let me get something straight. As soon as you exit customs I thought there was a Bank de Nacion on the right. Now I am believing that it is only a window. As our money will be in our money belts, etc. we would like someplace more secure. So, where is the lobby. We will want to put your pesos back in our money belts. After all the advice you have given we are trying to be as careful as we can.

Mucho gracias!!