My advice: Don't Use Argentina Currency

[Mercruiser]

We are on a DIY Patagonia trip in Chile and Argentina. We have been in Argentina for 2 days now, presently in El Chalten, an Argentina tourist town by the famous Fitz Roy peak.

 

This evening, we went out to a wonderful dinner (langastino starter, steak, trout, malbec wine, bottled water, chocolate mouse). The total bill was 76500 pesos.

 

At the "official" exchange rate, our dinner bill would be $93.88 USD.

 

The restaurant, and just about every business in El Chalten, is offering an exchange rate on US cash of 1000 peso = $1 USD. So the restaurant would charge $76.50 in US cash.

 

I put the bill on my USA Visa credit card. It charged through as $72.87 USD.

 

The worst way to pay this dinner bill would have been to exchange currency at the official rate, using an ATM or bank. I'm glad I used my credit card instead.

Every business in this tourist town accepts credit cards for anything, without any observable limit. Earlier today, we bought cookies at a bakery, using a credit card. The total amount $0.69. The bakery employee didn't bat an eye.

 

I've been using US $5 notes for meal tips. The servers seem quite happy to have US currency. We went to a steak house last night. I paid the bill on a Visa CC. But the server suggested the tip in cash. I said it would have to be in USD. He said "that is even better".

 

The Argentina pesos devalue very fast because of 120% annual inflation. Consequently, US currency makes a good store of wealth compared to local currency.

 

Hint: Set up text alerts with your CC company on foreign transactions. You will get an immediate text alert on your phone, telling you the amount in your local currency.

[Sea42]

Thanks for the information!

[Mercruiser]

Fitz Roy peak (on the right) from our hike yesterday

 

[Sea42]

11 minutes ago, Mercruiser said:

Fitz Roy peak (on the right) from our hike yesterday

 

Beautiful!

[seaver]

10 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

 

Hint: Set up text alerts with your CC company on foreign transactions. You will get an immediate text alert on your phone, telling you the amount in your local currency.

How do you do this?

[Mercruiser]

31 minutes ago, seaver said:

How do you do this?

Log in to your credit card account. Search for "Alerts" and then find the alert for foreign transactions. Set it to send you a text message to your phone whenever there is a foreign transaction on your card. These text messages arrive almost instantly and contain the amount in your local currency, eg $56.45 USD.

 

You can probably find specific instructions by googling:  how to configure text alerts for Citi

substituting your credit card issuer's name. 

 

 

[seaver]

1 hour ago, Mercruiser said:

Log in to your credit card account. Search for "Alerts" and then find the alert for foreign transactions. Set it to send you a text message to your phone whenever there is a foreign transaction on your card. These text messages arrive almost instantly and contain the amount in your local currency, eg $56.45 USD.

 

You can probably find specific instructions by googling:  how to configure text alerts for Citi

substituting your credit card issuer's name. 

 

 

Perfect! Thanks so much.

[mcmarya]

Not sure if it is still true, but the immediate alert you get for the amount in USD is based on the official exchange rate.  The actual amount you are charged may be lower on your credit card statement.  Credit card companies have used an mep rate which is sort of between the blue dollar and official rate, again not sure if that is still true.  For us, that rate was applied before the transaction was posted to our statement.  The final amount was lower than the alert amount.

[Mercruiser]

On 1/14/2024 at 11:46 PM, mcmarya said:

Not sure if it is still true, but the immediate alert you get for the amount in USD is based on the official exchange rate.  The actual amount you are charged may be lower on your credit card statement.  Credit card companies have used an mep rate which is sort of between the blue dollar and official rate, again not sure if that is still true.  For us, that rate was applied before the transaction was posted to our statement.  The final amount was lower than the alert amount.

I'm using a Citi card. The $72.87 text is also the rate that's showing in the mobile app transactions list 3 days later. I was hoping to see even more of a discount if Citi was doing what you had experienced previously.

[sillymas]

Some credit cards charge you an higher amount using the less favorable official exchange rate, and then adjust it to the lower amount using the MEP exchange rate a few days later.  Some charge you based on the MEP rate instantaneously.  I used a MasterCard for a purchase, and my charge alert showed that it used the MEP rate.

 

It looks like your Citi card used the MEP rate, so I doubt you'll receive further discount.

[mpk]

On 1/13/2024 at 4:18 PM, Mercruiser said:

I've been using US $5 notes for meal tips. The servers seem quite happy to have US currency. We went to a steak house last night. I paid the bill on a Visa CC. But the server suggested the tip in cash. I said it would have to be in USD. He said "that is even better".

 

What's the normal tip percentage in Argentina?  I read in a couple of places that it is 10%, has that been your experience?

[Mercruiser]

Yes, 10% in Argentina and Chile.

[Chef retired]

Thanks helpful

[lynncarol]

We were in Argentina for a week this past November, on our own. Based on previous advise, we went to a Cambio and exchanged a 50 dollar US bill into pesos, only to find the locals really wanted their tips in dollars. Also, as mentioned previously, when using a US credit card, the amount charged will be lower.  However, we learned that it took several days for this to happen.  If we checked immediately after a purchase, it still showed an amount reflecting the 'official' exchange rate. So...just be patient. The lower charge will eventually show up on your card. 

[Mercruiser]

Here is another anecdote from our Argentina travels.

 

We went to a seafood restaurant for king crab in Ushuaia. While I'm eating, I have this view of the cashier counter at the restaurant. The man behind the manager is paying with a big stack of Argentina peso notes (probably 1000 peso notes worth $1 USD each.)

 

The lady behind the counter counts all the notes. She recounts them several more times. Then she summons a manager to recount the notes. Finally, she puts the stack of notes in one of those currency counting machines, lower right, that you see at banks and casinos. The whole process took about 8 minutes.

 

While the manager is counting and recounting, another man (not in the picture) gets the attention of the lady behind the counter. He pays with USD (I can see the green notes). He was done in less than a minute. Meanwhile the guy in the picture is still watching the repeated recounts.

 

I paid with a credit card. I was done in a couple of minutes.

 

Edited February 22 by Mercruiser

[Fa-Li]

Good information!  I wanted to add that in several places in Argentina, especially in the southern part of the country, they wanted the US Dollars to be in pristine condition.  No rips, no writing on them, and as crisp as possible.  I had a shoddy looking ten dollar bill that a vendor said he couldn't take.  I switched to a crisp one and he was much happier.  If I had known this before we went, I would have made sure I got new bills from my bank at home.

[Torquer]

Contrary to what is written above, we just returned from a cruise ending in Argentina, and checked our credit card statement and am very disappointed in the rates.  This was a Fidelity Visa card (which has no foreign transaction fee).  For all of our charges, the rate was worse than 1.00 USD = 1,000 pessos.  For example:

19,195 pessos - We pay $19.60 USD

12,000 pessos - We pay $12.25 USD

3,600 pessos - We pay $3.64 USD

 

So the credit card exchange rate might be dependent on which credit card issuer you use, due to the weirdness with the Argentinian Peso right now.  We had less than $200 dollars of total charges so I can't be too upset by it, but if we had spent a few days post cruise including hotels, it could be a large amount.  Bottom line, if you are going to spend a lot in Argentina, check with your card's issuing bank to understand the exchange rate you will get.

[sillymas]

3 hours ago, Torquer said:

Contrary to what is written above, we just returned from a cruise ending in Argentina, and checked our credit card statement and am very disappointed in the rates.  This was a Fidelity Visa card (which has no foreign transaction fee).  For all of our charges, the rate was worse than 1.00 USD = 1,000 pessos.  For example:

19,195 pessos - We pay $19.60 USD

12,000 pessos - We pay $12.25 USD

3,600 pessos - We pay $3.64 USD

 

So the credit card exchange rate might be dependent on which credit card issuer you use, due to the weirdness with the Argentinian Peso right now.  We had less than $200 dollars of total charges so I can't be too upset by it, but if we had spent a few days post cruise including hotels, it could be a large amount.  Bottom line, if you are going to spend a lot in Argentina, check with your card's issuing bank to understand the exchange rate you will get.

 

The Dolar Blue rate today, March 9, is USD $1 for around 965 and 995 pesos.  Did you check what was the exchange rate when you were there?  Since you just returned from Argentina, it looks like the exchange rate you received is not bad.

 

Your advice of checking the credit card exchange rate while you're there is a good one.  Try several cards, and go with the one which gives the best rate.

[Mrs f.]

On 3/6/2024 at 5:24 PM, Fa-Li said:

Good information!  I wanted to add that in several places in Argentina, especially in the southern part of the country, they wanted the US Dollars to be in pristine condition.  No rips, no writing on them, and as crisp as possible.  I had a shoddy looking ten dollar bill that a vendor said he couldn't take.  I switched to a crisp one and he was much happier.  If I had known this before we went, I would have made sure I got new bills from my bank at home.

I find that to be in many countries.  Also when we were in Malaysia and my husband went to an exchange place, he got a better rate using a crisp  $100 bill.  

[Mercruiser]

I ran into the pristine bills issue just a couple of times in a 6 week visit. I am surprised that they care about this. US bills are worth their full face value as long as you have >50% of the bill. Read it here: 

https://www.bep.gov/services/mutilated-currency-redemption

 

I've lived in the USA all my life and never had anyone refuse bill that had an ink spot, until I was in Argentina, which is especially ironic given that their own currency devalues at great speed. 

Edited March 18 by Mercruiser

[Torquer]

6 hours ago, Mercruiser said:

I ran into the pristine bills issue just a couple of times in a 6 week visit. I am surprised that they care about this. US bills are worth their full face value as long as you have >50% of the bill.

I also don't understand why they care.  But several of the tour operators we used on a recent cruise said they wanted cash in US dollars and they had to be very clean with no marks on them.  So before the cruise we spent 15 minutes with our very patient bank teller getting the exact denominations of bills we needed, since the tour operators can't give change, and trading back and forth bills to get clean looking ones.  No tour operator or merchant on our trip to Chile, Argentina, or Uruguay refused any of our bills.

[mcmarya]

The 50% of the bill rules applies in the US but not in Argentina.  The person who accepts your USD needs to make sure he can turn around and use it in his country, not in the US.  Banks in foreign countries are not likely to accept imperfect US currency.

[terry&mike]

We have just traveled thru Rwanda, Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania (we are still on the same trip, currently in an apartment in Antalya, Turkey), and found the same in regards to USD. The requirement in these African nations is bills 2014 or sooner, no marking or writing, no rips of any kind (or in Rwanda and Kenya, the option to use local currency in any condition). We knew this before leaving the U.S., so were prepared.