http://www.buenosairesherald.com/art...airports-ports

Since Global Exchange was the only place where you could change foreign currency (at outrageous rates) in regional airports, I wonder how will a tourist who lands in, for instance Salta without any local currency pay for the taxi ride into town?

No matter what our government does, you'll have a great time in our country.

"Each foreign traveller will be allowed to change up to US$500 dollars on arrival in Argentina, the Central Bank said."

If they want dollars, why would they not let people change as many as they want?

One explanation could be that they don't want tourists to bring cash, because if they do, they could soon find out that there is a much better rate for cash dollars than the "official" one.

If tourists use only credit cards, the government would be sure to get at the "official" rate all the dollars they spend.

My advice to my forum friends who are coming this spring and summer (ours) is that, if they have a well-connected friend who can help them SAFELY get the "informal" rate (see: http://www.ambito.com/economia/mercados/dolar.asp ) they should bring in cash all the money they expect to spend here. They would save, at this time, over 25%, plus any discount they could get for paying in cash for their purchases at smaller businesses.

No matter what, you'll have a great time in our country.

No matter what, AV, thank you.

~Marnie

So when will Banco Avrooster be open for business???

Well, Crellston, like I said above, if you "have a well-connected friend" ......

I'm sure you have at least one.... LOL!!!

I usually get local currency from ATMs. I am planning my first trip to SA, and have seen nothing in the guidebooks to suggest I should do something different in Argentina. Could you explain the background here? Do I gather this is a country with official and unofficial exchange rates? I expect to enter from Brazil at Iguazu, if that makes a difference.

Yes, thursdaysd, Argentina "is a country with official and unofficial exchange rates".

On TA you can read A LOT on the subject, such as:

http://tinyurl.com/8mvr3hd

Have a great time in our country.

I'm famous! LOL!!

See reply number 2 here:

http://tinyurl.com/9hgtxyh

Have a great time in our country.

avroster - thanks very much for the link - most enlightening, if depressing.

I booked this trip (flying into Rio Oct 16 and out of Santiago Dec 10) largely on impulse last week, and am now trying to plan it (I'll be posting a request for help with planning shortly). Not surprisingly, there's nothing in the guidebooks, even the latest Lonely Planet, published Aug 2012, about the currency situation, and this was the first I'd heard of it.

I have a friend who grew up in Argentina, and whose sister still lives there, and she wasn't aware of it either. She said that when she lived there they used Travel Agencies to exchange currency when there were controls in force. Does that still work?

Also, there were references to purchase limits in the TA thread. Is there a daily or weekly limit to how much I could draw from ATMs? I will certainly look into using Xoom. I gather that I should avoid touts on the street in BA, but that ones at the land borders might be OK? Can I exchange Brazilian, Uruguayan and Chilean currency for pesos? I take it I can use US credit cards in hotels and restaurants, but at the official exchange rate?

Sorry for all the questions, but in a decade of travel this is the first time I've run into this situation.

I suggest you get in touch with your friend's sister and ask her if she has the right contacts to help you exchange dollars for pesos safely when you reach Buenos Aires. If she does, bring in cash the money you expect to spend in Argentina. The potential savings are mentioned in one of my posts above.

Yes, there are limits to the amount of money you can withdraw at one time from ATMs. There is a LOT on the subject on TA.

I would avoid touts, but that's easy for me to say, because I have better ways to exchange money. You'll have to see for yourself. You can exchange any currency for pesos, but the "spread" will be much larger than for dollars.

As indicated in a post above, you can use CCs anywhere, but your dollars with be taken at the official rate.

Have a great time in our country.

Thanks, unfortunately my friend's sister doesn't live in BA.