Bringing Greenback to Argentina
 

My husband has heard that with the currency situation in Argentina, dollars (well hidden) have power when it comes to shopping and bargaining. Can anyone weigh in on this?

Try the bank of Avrooster, a frequent poster here. I heard tell he has some great rates!!!

Hi, Robbie!

Unlike Crellston, avrooster is not a banker.

You can check the true dollar/peso rate here: http://www.ambito.com/economia/mercados/monedas/dolar/

This means that paying in cash pesos versus paying with your credit card you can spend well over 30% less.

For Americans, there is something called XOOM.
https://www.xoom.com/argentina;jsess...anguageCode=en

I suggest some research on the subject, for instance here: http://tinyurl.com/ckc8kzd

Have a great time in our country with your DH Robbie and be careful with that cash.

Excellent Links, AV Rooster. They will be useful to those planning their trips and to those of us already in BsAs. Thing change so frequently here, that keeping up (as with those links) is valuable.

Gracias.

Hip, hip, hurray!

I got praise from a world-famous TA BA Destination Expert!

I'm sorely tempted to correct her spelling, but I'll abstain, considering she is such a wonderful lady.

LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A typo, my friend, is not as bad as a misspelled word - for which I am embarrassingly notorious.

Robbie: We have found that changing most of our dollars into pesos allows us more fluidity of movement...as long as we keep some dollars aside for bargaining for more expensive items. If you can get a good exchange rate, then having the pesos, which is in fact the local currency, is easier and better than CC or ATM or bargaining with shopkeepers or restauranteurs, in general. IMO.

All ver helpful, gracias. Marnie's info makes sense but where do you look for a good exchange rate other than the pre planninig required for avrooster's links??

After 5 great days in BA, here´s what we´ve found about money. If you have time before you leave, try Xoom. I called them several times but could not get an answer to my question about where besides the airport one can pick up one´s money. For whatever reason, the connection was awful. So we travelled with lots of greenbacks. As it turned out, it worked out well. When we made a greenback cash purchase at a local shop (DH bought shoes, belts, a wallet) they gave us anywhere from 7.5 to 8.0 pesos to the dollar (the official rate is around 5.01, Xoom offered 7.5). The locals have been hit by terrible inflation (15% according to the government, 26% according to local estimates)so having stable dollars is great for them and benefits us as well. In restaurants we used a credit card (British Air Visa) that does not charge a conversion fee.

That's great, Robbietravels!

Are you still in BA?

Should we expect a trip report from you?

Go on having a great time, if you are still here.

I think Xoom has an outlet in Recoleta.