Advice from avrooster
 

We will arrive BsAs 9/10/13. Best to use US $ for negotiating prices? Using LAN AEP-MDZ, MDZ_IGR via AEP, IGR-AEP. Problems with that do you think?
Thanks

Welcome to the Argentina forum, Mr. Million Miles, Sir!

The problems with LAN have been at least postponed, as LAN obtained a court injunction, so that should be OK, AT THIS TIME.

About your "Best to use US $ for negotiating prices?" I suggest you read the fifth reply dated this morning in my http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...r-168624-2.cfm

Have a great time in our country with DW Sandi. Some day, we will do the river barge thing in France!

Thanks for the reply av, you seem to be the maven for all things Argentina.

Just keep the questions coming, Mr. Million Miles, Sir!

How likely is it to get bogus pesos from the Arbolito? We have booked a Sheraton in Iguazu and paying in pesos sounds good, the rate in USD is $295.00, booked thru Booking.com. How risky to get pesos for dollars on "the street"? We are hesitant to cancel as there are no rooms available for our dates. Is it your policy to negotiate per transaction?
We leave for BsAs tomorrow, arrive Tue. early AM.
Thanks

If you are going to be in BA on a working day before going to Iguazú, you should be able to do better than selling dollars to "arbolitos".

If you are staying in BA before leaving for Iguazú, where are you staying, if I may ask?

You obviously should NOT cancel your Booking.com reservation unless the Sheraton guarantees you'll get at least the same accommodations and price by reserving directly with them. Be careful with this, as the Iguazú Sheraton is often full.

If you keep your Booking.com reservation, do you HAVE to pay with your CC, or can you pay in cash? If you CAN pay in cash PESOS when you leave, it doesn't make any difference how the reservation is made.

Have a great time in our country with DW Sandi.

I sent a reply earlier, don't know what happened to it. Firstly, thanks for your prompt and useful answers, they are appreciated.
We are staying in an apartment in BA from 10 Sept. to 16 Sept., 3 nites in Mendoza then 2 nites in Iguazu, 2 nites in BA and then home. We prefer apartments over hotels for lengthy stays and it's 1/2 the price of a hotel.
The Booking.com confirmations state that we pay out in the local currency so that'ss what we'll do if we can find a good exchange rate.

Great!

If you wish, as soon as you are here, e-mail me to albertovgalloATyahoo.com indicating the phone number of your apartment and I'll see what I can do for you about exchanging dollars for pesos, as in this trip report: http://www.fodors.com/community/sout...-avrooster.cfm

We have also stayed in apartments in Paris, Rome and NY.

I am planning a trip in Dec and would like to stay in the Sheraton Iguazu. It is the only hotel on Booking.com that I have encountered that is non refundable. It gives you no free cancellation option where you might pay a bit more.

I assumed that they would charge my credit card immediately after hitting submit. So is this not the case and I can pay in pesos when I get there? It doesn't look like you can cancel a reservation.

ovahimba: How about trying the Sheraton's website http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...caleCode=en_US or calling them? They should have a toll-free number.

My advice, as a former hospitality industry exec is to use the various hotel search engines to find out room availability and cost.

Armed with that knowledge, I advise calling the hotel itself. Obviously, they like it when you reserve directly with them.

They may or may not offer a "free cancellation option where you might pay a bit more."

The problem with the Iguazú Sheraton is that, due to their unique location, it enjoys full or nearly full occupancy the year round and therefore are not exactly prone to being flexible.

Have a great time in our country.

Avrooster, thanks for the information. On the Sheraton website there is an option for no penalty cancellation up to 3 days before check in. I'll have to check other hotel websites to see what is available.

On second thought, Mr. Million Miles & whoever it may concern:

Tourists staying at apartments could ask their greeter about nearby reliable "blue" rate exchange dealers. The same goes for people staying at hotels, except they could ask the concierge or reception staff.

Make the exchange deal knowing beforehand the prevailing rate, by looking at "dólar cueva" here: http://www.ambito.com/economia/mercados/monedas/dolar/

Obviously, do not expect the rate shown there. After all, these boys have to make a living. If this page says 9,20 pesos per dollar, 9 would be reasonable, but 8 would be unacceptable.

The larger the amount, the better rate you should get. Hundred dollar bills in good shape are best.

Have a great time in our country. It can be nearly 40% cheaper than with credit cards.