Marambio

I'd rather talk about the currency situation. Football-wise, the only words that come to my mind are shame, shame and more shame. Don't get me started.

Gaucho100K

Eastbay.... watch your sense of humor, you dont want me to get out my Moderator Club, or....????

Gaucho100K

A relevant part of the current currency instability is expectation-driven. This new Emerging Market Status, plus the approved IMF package all contribute to calming markets... these are not in itself silver bullets but they are certainly a positive contribution and constitute a step in the right direction. The Peso has recovered some during the past trading session and the Bond & Stock Markets had a good day yesterday.... so there is room for some (moderate) optimism that the worst is already behind us.

HIDDY

The good news is both can only get better. Just the type of wake up call that was needed. ^

Eastbay1K

Aren't the wake up calls going on strike Monday?

malagajohn

Any direct flights to Nigeria? Someone has given me a coupls of suitcases to take to the nice people there?

bakoboy

What is going on in Argentina? In just two months the peso has gone from 20:1 USD to nearly 29:1 USD. Are things just crazy cheap in USD terms or are prices rapidly escalating?

HIDDY

Very few things here are 'crazy cheap' compared to the US and Europe. At the moment I can only think of two...a packet of cigarettes and a bottle of VAT69 Scotch whisky.

bakoboy

How fast do prices adjust to a 50% decline in currency value? Is the 480 peso bife de lomo that cost $24 USD in April now cost 720 pesos?

hfly

I have been visiting Argentina for decades, lived in Brazil and live in Turkey. Generally at times of large devaluation, it really depends on what you are talking about.

You tend to find that top hotels and restaurants (with foreigners) try to maintain their prices as much as possible in dollar terms at least at first. Conversely you often find that if you go "local" prices in dollar terms tend to decline as businesses try and stay in business and maintain their prices in local currency as much as they can, you do tend to find that anything imported, or even items that are often expired from the country raise in price in lock step with the devaluation.

Of you get into massive and long term devaluation and hyper inflation many things start to "index" whereby if the currency loses 15 percent in a month you tend to find that everything increases in line but not equal to the amount lost so prices rise as do salaries in local currency, but almost always at a slightly lesser rate. Which causes long term bigger economic problems.

The biggest danger to proceed comes though if this is sustained for awhile and then they stabilize the currency line when Menem brought in the Peso, which at the time was essentially tied to the dollar, there was still a bit of inflation, so prices in dollars after awhile got ridiculous this has also happened in Brazil and Turkey several times. So you would find a locally made for straps like a liter of milk to from a dollar to 50 cents to a dollar, to a dollar fifty top two dollars in a year or two.

Gaucho100K

The answer is.... it depends. Peso prices will normally run behind the devaluation, but... the devil is in the details. You have to get the timing just perfectly right to get full advantage of the devaluation. Its easier said than done. Probably not worth spending your vacation doing the numbers all the time, but, this also depends on what type of travel person you are.

hfly

In line with what Gaucho said, price multipliers in Buenos Aires even at the most stable of times could be very flexible. That beautiful cowhide rug that you would cost $1200 in the US, and seemed a steal, at $400 at a posh store in downtown BA, was actually never more than 80 or 90 dollars of you knew where the mostly Armenian wholesalers were in a commercial district and spoke Spanish.

wandering_fred

Am I correct in suggesting that hotel prices in more rural (but urban) areas will rise much more slowly than in Buenos Aires?
(ie Mendoza - Cordoba etc)

Just wandering
Fred

Eastbay1K

If they're US$ based pricing, they've already shot up in peso terms.

iahphx

Lots of sanctimonious attacks on me here, but hey you guys are (for obvious reasons) mostly Argentines and Argentine lovers. It's the same reaction I get in the Flyertalk Costco thread (do you guys know what Costco is?) when I objectively tell them their favorite store is not "all that." But that's OK. I can take the criticism. I would suggest, however, you try to take a more unbiased view of the situation and not pretend that everything is all sunshine and roses in your country and that tourists to Argentina will experience some problems that are atypical of those encountered in other "modern" countries. And that given these problems, it might be wise not to put Argentina on the top of your travel bucket list right now because the country does not deliver particularly good value to travellers. Certainly the current crazy currency situation -- which has now happened countless times since my first visit 30 years ago -- would suggest a reality check. But carry on, and good luck.

EDIT: As an example of unbiased travel reporting of use to "first time visitors," I might compare a recent trip I took to South Africa with my recent experiences in Argentina. Like Argentina, South Africa has some serious problems (crime probably being on the top of the list). But unlike Argentina, South Africa is currently a fantastic tourist destination. Indeed, I would tell any Northern Hemisphere traveler considering a long trip south to pick South Africa over Argentina. Why? It's more interesting, dynamic and better value. The food and wine in Stellenbosch is better than in Mendoza (gasp) at half the price. You can rent a car and drive yourself around South Africa on better roads with reliable gasoline supply for a quarter of the price. Comparable hotels are half the price. Kruger and the Garden Route are more unique, enjoyable and affordable nature destinations than Iguazu and Perito Moreno. And there are early but encouraging signs that South Africa's future development path will hopefully be more like Chile than Argentina. So there's a vitality and energy there that suggests the future will be brighter than the past -- something I don't feel in Argentina. I think anyone who has visited both recently will agree with me.

Should I also compare Madrid or Barcelona to Buenos Aires at the current exchange rates? Probably not.

And don't mistake my comments for anything other than constructive criticism. I greatly enjoy my visits to Argentina. I've now visited probably about a dozen times. And I will be returning again soon. But I think objectivity is way more useful to readers than boosterism.