GUWonder

It's less of a tourism deal in real USD terms than it was even in 1998-2001 when Argentina's pricing in its own currency was already along a cliff's edge.

Gaucho100K

I agree with the below if you are talking hard goods, but some items such as higher-end restaurants, premium wines and other tourist related services are still conveniently priced when compared to most US and European cities.

GUWonder

My lodging costs for the hotels I've been using in BsAs for decades cost me a higher multiple of median US hourly wages than they did even in 1999-2001. But that price increase is a sign that BsAs' popularity as a tourism destination has been much higher now than it was in 1999-2001. Fortunately, there are lots of decent options for lodging in BsAs that cater to various price points in the market, so there is no reason that someone would be facing the real lodging cost price increases I've faced if willing to adjust stay patterns. [But I just tend to be a creature of habit except when I deliberately am not. ]

My F&B and entertainment costs, however, are indeed still conveniently priced and provide stellar value compared to what I get at major cities in the US and Europe. It's just not as great a bargain for us US cash players as it was in the months and years before the dollar clamp ended.

Gaucho100K

Now we agree 110% !!! ^

HIDDY

Yes and no I would say. As Gaucho100K says at the top end of the market decent value can still be had when compared to a similar capital city in Europe. However further down the quality chain the value has decreased for tourists quite a lot over the years even in comparison to cities like London.

When it comes to living here compared to Europe....well, it's a ruddy mess to be honest. I'm afraid to say despite having a comfortable life my patience has been severely tested over the last few years.

GUWonder

Ok, so McDonalds in Buenos Aires is a much worse deal post-dollar clamp for US cash users.

More seriously, I agree with you about the above.

But I was talking about my F&B and entertainment cost history, which is obviously not representative of everyone (nor even of the majority of visitors).

I know some Scots married to Argentines. They seem to mainly live in England, but not Scotland. When are you moving up to my hemisphere?

A few years of expenses up here and you may end up missing the value for money to still be had down your way post-dollar-clamp. That said, I wouldn't be keeping my cash in AR$ even now.

HIDDY

To be honest the money side of things are the least of my worries. It's all the other silly arsed things that piss me off. Like having to travel 100 miles to the capital to queue for hours just to collect a ruddy parcel.....that's assuming it doesn't go missing like the last one did. Or having automated calls from Cablevision wake me up at 7.30 am to check if we still want their maintenance people to call. I could go on and list another 100 things that make living here mentally tiring. Maybe I'm just getting grumpier the older I get.

M60_to_LGA

The 500-peso banknote will be arriving next month:

http://www.cronista.com/finanzasmerc...0518-0099.html

SoFlyOn

The $500 note (yaguareté) should be in circulation in about three weeks. It will take some time for the banks to modify their bill counting machines to accomodate the new note. The $200 note (ballena austral) will be released in October.

http://www.lanacion.com.ar/1907673-c...s-de-500-y-200

bakoboy

So is it still advantageous to change physical US$ for pesos? If so, what is the spread between the official rate (credit card) and the cash rate?

Eastbay1K

The spread isn't much, and some days the Blue is actually lower than the Official. Unless you get hit with all sorts of bank and exchange fees, it isn't worth the bother. Caveats - there are a lot of fussy ATMs, so it is a good idea to have some US$ cash on hand in case of emergency exchange, and some businesses don't take CCs or give cash discounts.

Flying Machine

I saw this and the Blue is approaching 18 ARS/USD. What are your thoughts of the current rates?

http://www.ambito.com/890860-se-reca...e-rozo-los--18

Eastbay1K

My thoughts are given the comparative inflation rates, the AR$ is seriously overvalued at this time.

HIDDY

Yes, the 5hit has to hit the fan soon. There's no way things can carry on the way they are. We all know Macri had an impossible job clearing up the mess left by you know who. I've always tried to remain positive but you know something is far wrong when your weekly shopping costs 100% more than the likes of the UK.

Gaucho100K

If the current rate of devaluation continues at this pace, we could see the Dollar hitting AR$20 by the time we get around to Xmas. We have 2 rounds of elections coming up very soon, the 1st in about 3 weeks and then in October. The results in October will have an important 'say' in what happens to the exchange rate.....

A good set of Macro-Economic numbers are (slowly) showing signs of improvement, but the pace of the real economy is many times not the pace of the Political and Electoral-Climate. Inflation is still a huge issue and there is no magical fix that doesnt have a costly political bill, so the current Administration is stuck between a rock and a hard place..... this all goes to prove that long term economic development and the Western Democracy Model can many times be on different sides of the fence....

We will see (soon enough) how all this plays out. Stay tuned.