Seeking info on money matters in Argentina (ATMs, credit cards, etc.)

I would be grateful if any recent visitors to Argentina could tell me the current situation with the local currency and with using U.S. credit cards.

Ideally we would just like to use our credit card (no foreign transaction fee) for most purchases and hit ATMs and withdraw smaller amounts of pesos as needed, rather than carry larger amounts of U.S. cash. Our Argentine ports are Buenos Aires, Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn.

I have seen confusing information about the "blue market," about buying pesos from shady characters on the street, and ATMs being unreliable and running out of cash. I suspect that some of this info is dated, so any recent experiences would be helpful.

We will also be in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and I believe ATMs and the use of credit cards will be dependable in those countries. But if anyone has information to the contrary, I'd appreciate a heads-up.

Thanks to all,

Roger

I would comment but our experience was 12 months ago.

However, you are spot on for the countries other than Argentina.

Ecuador uses the U.S, dollar as it currency. All other ports you will need currency.

I would be grateful if any recent visitors to Argentina could tell me the current situation with the local currency and with using U.S. credit cards.

 

Ideally we would just like to use our credit card (no foreign transaction fee) for most purchases and hit ATMs and withdraw smaller amounts of pesos as needed, rather than carry larger amounts of U.S. cash. Our Argentine ports are Buenos Aires, Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn.

 

I have seen confusing information about the "blue market," about buying pesos from shady characters on the street, and ATMs being unreliable and running out of cash. I suspect that some of this info is dated, so any recent experiences would be helpful.

 

We will also be in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and I believe ATMs and the use of credit cards will be dependable in those countries. But if anyone has information to the contrary, I'd appreciate a heads-up.

 

Thanks to all,

 

Roger

Exactly what we did for all purchase currency needs, and used ATMs for cash as required.

You may like to take a look at this two reviews, one of Buenos Aires and the other, Ushuaia. We were there on Celebrity Infinity...

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/05/30/one-way-to-do-buenos-aires-part-1/

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/12/30/one-way-to-do-ushuaia/

We found the comments about the blue market to be grossly out of date. This situation did exist several years ago during their financial crisis. It is now an urban legend. We did have friends who travelled at this time and they had amazingly low prices because of the black market exchange and because their hotels had been reserved in the local currency.

There are many money changers on some streets. Their goal is to hook you in and then take you to an office. We did not use them. We were told that their rates were slightly better, just slightly BUT the big issue was counterfeit bills and other such rip offs.

It is a PITA to use FX exchange offices in Argentina. We changed our Uruguay money for Argentine prior to taking the ferry to BA. It was a snap. We did change some money USD cash in Argentina but it was a big deal. Forms to fill out etc. We did not use any ATM's. We used our credit card for our hotel stays. Doing this excluded us from the 17percent VAT. We used ATM's in Uruguay and Chile with no issue whatsoever in either finding one or using one.

We used ATMs in Ushuaia and BA with no issues. I had also read about the problem of ATMs running out of cash, but we didn't have that experience.

The best suggestion I followed was to open a Charles Schwab account and use their ATM card. No ATM or foreign transaction fees. Now, before we travel out of the country, we transfer a few hundred dollars into the account from our regular checking account. If there is any left over after the trip, we just spend it back down to a few bucks once we return. There's no cost to open the account and no maintenance fees to keep it open. Saves around $5 - $10 every time you use an ATM.

I would be grateful if any recent visitors to Argentina could tell me the current situation with the local currency and with using U.S. credit cards.

 

Ideally we would just like to use our credit card (no foreign transaction fee) for most purchases and hit ATMs and withdraw smaller amounts of pesos as needed, rather than carry larger amounts of U.S. cash. Our Argentine ports are Buenos Aires, Ushuaia and Puerto Madryn.

 

I have seen confusing information about the "blue market," about buying pesos from shady characters on the street, and ATMs being unreliable and running out of cash. I suspect that some of this info is dated, so any recent experiences would be helpful.

 

We will also be in Chile, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and Ecuador, and I believe ATMs and the use of credit cards will be dependable in those countries. But if anyone has information to the contrary, I'd appreciate a heads-up.

 

Thanks to all,

 

Roger

We just arrived home last week from a 14-day Zaandam SA cruise. We found that credit cards were readily accepted in Chile, Uruguay and Argentina in most shops and larger restaurants. Many but not all street /market vendors would accept US cash but some of course were local currency only. Generally a gratuity could not be added to a restaurant charge so we would leave a tip in local currency. We often tipped tour guides with US cash, especially if the tour was paid for in US dollars. Based on our experience, flat-rate transportation arranged inside a cruise or airport terminal could be paid for with US cash or credit card but cabs with meters were local currency only. We purchased enough currency for Chile and Argentina to meet our needs, from a local currency exchange before leaving home so we did not use an ATM while we were away. We did leave home with a fairly large amount of US cash but used money belts while travelling to and from SA. When touring locally we carried only small amounts of cash and utilized the safe in our cabin or at the hotel.

Keith

You definately do not want to use your credit cards for meals or for hotels in Uruguay. If you use a foreign credit card you will not have to pay the 17 percent VAT. It is often included in the menu price, and then they back it out of your bill. Not so if you use cash.

Same in Argentina and Chile, but for hotels only. I think the savings were 17-21 percent. Cannot remember the exact VAT rate. I don remember that both hotels in Argentina backed it out. Same with hotels in Chile. Even the small B&B's we stayed at in Chile reduced the rate when we paid with our foreign credit card.

This was our experience last Jan/Feb.

You definately do not want to use your credit cards for meals or for hotels in Uruguay. If you use a foreign credit card you will not have to pay the 17 percent VAT. It is often included in the menu price, and then they back it out of your bill. Not so if you use cash.

 

Same in Argentina and Chile, but for hotels only. I think the savings were 17-21 percent. Cannot remember the exact VAT rate. I don remember that both hotels in Argentina backed it out. Same with hotels in Chile. Even the small B&B's we stayed at in Chile reduced the rate when we paid with our foreign credit card.

 

This was our experience last Jan/Feb.

Do want, right?

The info here is generally correct. The differential between the "blue" aka "black" market exchange rate for the USD has dwindled to about 2% in Arg. Accordingly, it makes sense to use a credit card that has no foreign currency transaction fees as the rate you will get for your USD will only be about 2% less than if you had paid with pesos obtained at the blue rate.

Caveat: Some merchants including many, if not most, restaurants will give a 10-20% discount for payment in peso cash (and some merchants will also accept USD at a decent rate of exchange). It's a tax thing....like in evasion. Accordingly, it still makes sense to obtain cash if not inconvenient and if you plan on making large purchases or dining out extensively.

I believe it is true that payment with a foreign credit card will also allow avoidance of the Vat tax in Uruguay hotels and restaurants. Not sure if same is true about hotels elsewhere, but that is not the case in Arg restaurants. So, it makes sense to pay restaurant tabs with plastic in Uruguay and cash in Arg - assuming you get a discount for Arg peso cash.

As for getting cash in Arg, the problem is that Arg ATMs charge outlandish fees (5-7%) per transaction in addition to any fees your card issuing bank may charge for using an ATM owned by another institution. Withdrawal transactions are capped at about 3000 pesos.

That kind of fee may be okay if you only need a small amount of cash for taxis, tips etc, but If you are going to need much more than that for significant shopping/dining tabs while in Arg, you may want to consider going to an "informal" exchange house aka cueva (not a guy on the street corner on Av Florida). You can easily and safely acquire pesos at the current blue rate at any cueva. See ambito.com for the correct rate for selling a USD - take 20 centavos off the high rate (now 17.95 pesos) to calculate what you should get for each USD.

If you are overnighting in Bs As, simply ask your hotel desk clerk, barman, porter (or O'Henry- ian "man about town") where you can exchange money. Cuevas, often found in travel agency offices, are ubiquitous and safe. If you can't get a local to point you to a cueva, go to the rear of the hotel Alvear Palace building on Posadas St in the Recoleta - there's a famous and reliable cueva inside the mini-mall there...a travel agency with large painting of cows on its outside window.

Sorry...yes you definately DO want to use your credit card for hotels. And for meal in Uruguay.

There was no reduction on VAT in Argentina or I believe Chile for restaurant meals. Only in Uruguay.

As I recall we did not have to pay VAT on our car rental in Uruguay. But we did pay it, as I recall, in Chile.

Thanks, everyone, for the good information. Very helpful!