USD/ARS Exchange hits new record high!
Dec 14, 2023, 5:02 am
#376
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Germany
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Posts: 428
I am arriving in Ushuaia next week and the hotel is no longer cancellable. Will now have to pay $90 a week instead of $40 as expected - because the rate was shown in Dollar.
May still be able to make a new booking via despegar or other Argentinan agencies that quote in Pesos. Or hotels that are quoting rates in ARS for foreigners.
Dec 14, 2023, 10:22 am
#377
Original Poster
Join Date: Apr 2009
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From Ambito
The blue dollar falls this Thursday, December 14 to $935 for the purchase and $985 for the sale. Thus, the gap approaches 20% and scores minimums since March 2020. It happens after the economic announcements of Minister Luis Caputo, among which a strong rise in the wholesale exchange rate was highlighted.
In this context, the informal dollar drops $85 to $985, according to a survey by mbito in the caves of the City. In this way, it records the largest daily drop in almost two months when on October 25 it dropped $100 in one day.
In this context, the informal dollar drops $85 to $985, according to a survey by mbito in the caves of the City. In this way, it records the largest daily drop in almost two months when on October 25 it dropped $100 in one day.
Dec 14, 2023, 1:30 pm
#378
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Houston, US
Programs: BAEC, One Pass, AA Advantage,Enrich, Miles & More, Flying Blue
Posts: 44
Yes, at least for everything that was quoted in USD.
I am arriving in Ushuaia next week and the hotel is no longer cancellable. Will now have to pay $90 a week instead of $40 as expected - because the rate was shown in Dollar.
May still be able to make a new booking via despegar or other Argentinan agencies that quote in Pesos. Or hotels that are quoting rates in ARS for foreigners.
I am arriving in Ushuaia next week and the hotel is no longer cancellable. Will now have to pay $90 a week instead of $40 as expected - because the rate was shown in Dollar.
May still be able to make a new booking via despegar or other Argentinan agencies that quote in Pesos. Or hotels that are quoting rates in ARS for foreigners.
if you know of any sites that quote in peso would love to know what are those. thanks!
Dec 14, 2023, 3:41 pm
#379
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Germany
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 428
Booking.com doesn't make sense imo. I've contacted a few hotels and they are all converting dollar to USD at the check-in date. Either using the official rate (fair, but still bad for us) or using the MEP rate (which is basically scamming tourists, but only 30% more now).
Dec 14, 2023, 8:49 pm
#380
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Houston, US
Programs: BAEC, One Pass, AA Advantage,Enrich, Miles & More, Flying Blue
Posts: 44
A friend of mine recommended https://www.despegar.com.ar/, but I haven't tried it yet
Booking.com doesn't make sense imo. I've contacted a few hotels and they are all converting dollar to USD at the check-in date. Either using the official rate (fair, but still bad for us) or using the MEP rate (which is basically scamming tourists, but only 30% more now).
Booking.com doesn't make sense imo. I've contacted a few hotels and they are all converting dollar to USD at the check-in date. Either using the official rate (fair, but still bad for us) or using the MEP rate (which is basically scamming tourists, but only 30% more now).
looks like despegar site is also not as cheap, or the prices could have gone up after yesterday. Generally not too far off from Booking.com
You are right about the hotels using USD. i just called Sheraton BA and was told that all rates are quoted in USD as the base and then converted to pesos at the time of payment. So i'm going to cancel and rebook using points as that comes out cheaper.
Btw, looks like the blue dollar rate is down 7% today. gap getting narrower as i get closer to my trip unfortunately
Dec 15, 2023, 1:29 am
#381
Join Date: Aug 2004
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Interestingly Visa currency conversion rate quotes something in between BNA and "blue" rate today: and the spread between BNA and "blue" is only 20 %.
https://www.cronista.com/MercadosOnline/monedas.html
https://www.visa.co.uk/support/consu...alculator.html
For those having booked the kind of places like Cavas Wine Lodge it looks like they will really pay the amount in USD which could be well over 1000 - little sympathy for them. I never speculated on these things and always staying at simpler but still pleasant places book in ARS on spanish language websites. Booking a car on the local website with Enterprise https://enterprise.com.ar/ is a bargain - always.
https://www.cronista.com/MercadosOnline/monedas.html
https://www.visa.co.uk/support/consu...alculator.html
For those having booked the kind of places like Cavas Wine Lodge it looks like they will really pay the amount in USD which could be well over 1000 - little sympathy for them. I never speculated on these things and always staying at simpler but still pleasant places book in ARS on spanish language websites. Booking a car on the local website with Enterprise https://enterprise.com.ar/ is a bargain - always.
Dec 15, 2023, 11:53 am
#382
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,336
Despegar is a good option, but you need to book an hotel that is rated in pesos and allow you to pay for the reservation in full, not half or just a little percent. Another option is call the hotel and see if they can process the book at the current time and pay right away. Not many places will have a fixed price in Pesos and allows you to make the payment right away. I was lucky with one, I book directly with their website and make the payment Tuesday before midnight, next day the price went up 2x and 3x on some dates for the same place.
Dec 15, 2023, 3:56 pm
#383
Join Date: Jan 2016
Location: Germany
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 428
Can you share which one you booked? Looking for one in BA right now, as the one via booking.com went up from 30 to about 70 USD due to the currency fluctuation
Dec 18, 2023, 6:52 am
#384
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: South Florida
Programs: AA EXP, HH Diamond, Marriott Platinium
Posts: 1,336
Sorry I didn't see you question, the place I was talking is located in Patagonia (Esquel), not in BsAs. As today, check AirBnB, you may find a better deal on some locations. For now is better to prepaid any reservation that you see in pesos, because if you just reserve it, by the time you arrive the official rate (800 at the moment) may go up, while with the previous government it was locked at a good rate for months (365).
Dec 22, 2023, 5:29 am
#385
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Milei- You are now free to buy dollars. Blue transactions are now legal.
From the Buenos Aires times: You are now free to buy dollars. Blue transactions are now legal.
Javier Milei stated on Thursday that after his emergency mega-decree comes into effect, buying and selling US dollars on parallel markets is no longer a crime.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/econ...-dollars.phtml
Javier Milei stated on Thursday that after his emergency mega-decree comes into effect, buying and selling US dollars on parallel markets is no longer a crime.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/econ...-dollars.phtml
Dec 22, 2023, 9:03 pm
#386
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,455
From the Buenos Aires times: You are now free to buy dollars. Blue transactions are now legal.
Javier Milei stated on Thursday that after his emergency mega-decree comes into effect, buying and selling US dollars on parallel markets is no longer a crime.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/econ...-dollars.phtml
Javier Milei stated on Thursday that after his emergency mega-decree comes into effect, buying and selling US dollars on parallel markets is no longer a crime.
https://www.batimes.com.ar/news/econ...-dollars.phtml
Dec 23, 2023, 1:15 am
#387
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So using the cuevas did seem a little strange earlier this month. In BA, it certainly FELT legal. I mean, all you had to do was go into a Western Union on Florida with crisp $100 bills and you were good. In Mendoza, it was A LITTLE sketchier. My hotel conceirge told me what street to go to. He recommended one place that was actually closed, but a jewelry store a couple doors down was happy to do the exchange (at a better rate than the cambio guys on the street). In smaller cities, you had to meet someone who knew someone who changed money.
Dec 23, 2023, 12:32 pm
#388
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,455
I don't remember the Rolex sign, but it was in a smallish mall,. The place the hotel conceirge recommended was a "Pago Facil" on Gral. Espejo 2 1/2 blocks east of the Plaza Independencia. (This was apparently the "cambio" neighborhood in town and there were a couple guys on the street looking for customers.) When that storefront was closed, we wandered into the small mall on the same side of the street and found the modest jewelry store that changed money for us -- at better rates than the street guys. In general, modest jewelry stores are good places to inquire about changing money in Argentina. But whether any of that will matter now with Milei's new pronouncements I don't know.
Dec 24, 2023, 11:30 am
#389
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Join Date: Mar 2000
Posts: 17,455
So I don't trust what the foreign media says about the financial situation in Argentina (like the idea that 40% of Argentines are living in poverty is just not true), but I am curious about this report that prices skyrocketed in the stores this month after Milei adjusted the official exchange rate. Did this happen? We were in Argentina in early December right before this change was made and prices were extremely cheap in the stores on Argentine-made products with our blue exchange rate (like 2 1/2 times the official rate). I assumed that dynamic was not sustainable.
https://www.ft.com/content/3bba65ac-...e-8bde8735dcff
https://www.ft.com/content/3bba65ac-...e-8bde8735dcff
Dec 24, 2023, 11:36 am
#390
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So I don't trust what the foreign media says about the financial situation in Argentina (like the idea that 40% of Argentines are living in poverty is just not true), but I am curious about this report that prices skyrocketed in the stores this month after Milei adjusted the official exchange rate. Did this happen? We were in Argentina in early December right before this change was made and prices were extremely cheap in the stores on Argentine-made products with our blue exchange rate (like 2 1/2 times the official rate). I assumed that dynamic was not sustainable.
https://www.ft.com/content/3bba65ac-...e-8bde8735dcff
https://www.ft.com/content/3bba65ac-...e-8bde8735dcff