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Originally Posted by Brandinho1
(Post 33693645)
A little off topic but the PH in Mendoza reeked of smoke in certain areas of the hallway as this hotel is attached to a casino. Something to bear in mind.
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The fees on xoom transferrs (cash pickup $5) are likely to be a lot less than WU. though the currently listed exchange rate at 178.6ARS/USD may be less than ideal
Always have multuple quotes when wandering Fred |
Originally Posted by HIDDY
(Post 33694057)
I have to say no smoking in inside areas of the like of cafes, bars, restaurants etc is in my experience 100% strictly adhered to by their patrons. Sure it wasn't the smoke from asados you were smelling?
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I am heading to Argentina for two weeks on December 2. Are there limits on sending USD via Western Union and picking up in Buenos Aires?
Otherwise, any recommendations for in-person blue dollar exchanges near the Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires? |
On various chats, people talk of monthly limits with WU, but as far as I can see there is nothing in writing. I have asked WU but they did not reply.
Just for info, WU is offering just over 216 to the dollar - fees depend on whether it is cash pick up or bank transfer. The Blue is at 200. WU is basing its rate on the CCL Libre, according to my financial guy who understands these things more than I do. |
Originally Posted by malagajohn
(Post 33714910)
On various chats, people talk of monthly limits with WU, but as far as I can see there is nothing in writing. I have asked WU but they did not reply.
Just for info, WU is offering just over 216 to the dollar - fees depend on whether it is cash pick up or bank transfer. The Blue is at 200. WU is basing its rate on the CCL Libre, according to my financial guy who understands these things more than I do. |
Originally Posted by MGW2000
(Post 33716522)
Many thanks. I assume there is a practical limit given cash on hand at various pick up points in Buenos Aires?
the thing to do is to go to the main outlet of WU downtown or one of the big Pago Facil / WU outlets located in Carrefour hypermarkets |
What is the best way to exchange at the airport? It appeared that there is a WU outlet at EZE airport? Are there any cambios that offer blue dollar rates at the actual airport? I ask because we will have a few hour layover in EZE before we head up to Iguazu and wanted to get some pesos before getting on our next layover.
Thanks |
Originally Posted by malagajohn
(Post 33692438)
Come down with some cash and use the services of Western Union to top up as you need
Credit cards from outside the country use the official rate which is not good for the user ATMs also use the official rate apart from the crazy charges - ok , I know some people get charges refunded but the rates are only good for the government. The talk in the street is that the special virtual bank account mentioned by Gaucho100K will exchange at 180 to the dollar - But as he says the detail is nowhere to be seen and likely to be a hassle if you are on a 2 week vacation. Nice quote from Twitter: It should be spread among tourists, that they souldn't extract pesos from ATM's, or go to a bank or exchange office, because they will get 50% value of their dollars. Just take a walk down Calle Florida or San Martín and you will find "little trees" that will give you real value |
Not all WU outlets do FX transfers - if there is a WU outlet at the airport , I have never seen it.
Official FX at the BANCO NACION is the only place to do stuff ( apart from arranging previously with friendly drivers) |
Originally Posted by malagajohn
(Post 33714910)
On various chats, people talk of monthly limits with WU, but as far as I can see there is nothing in writing. I have asked WU but they did not reply.
Just for info, WU is offering just over 216 to the dollar - fees depend on whether it is cash pick up or bank transfer. The Blue is at 200. WU is basing its rate on the CCL Libre, according to my financial guy who understands these things more than I do. |
Originally Posted by Gaucho100K
(Post 33752936)
You finance guy is correct, the CCL is however quite volatile - and is not an option for visitors unless they go through WU. Anytime WU pays more than the Blue Rate, it is clearly the best option out there although you do have to go out to a WU office to settle up. Guess there is really no free lunch.... :D
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Very good point about the rate being "gross" and the need to consider fees. In the end, my experience shows that most visitors prefer bringing down hard cash and trading on the blue rate. There is not clear right & wrong way to approach this, there are always varied options and each person needs to decide what suits them best.
Thanks for sharing the details of this, I have no direct experience with these services (being a local), so this is very valuable for visitors looking to come down to Argentina. Gracias !! Alex / Gaucho100K |
WU fees ex EuropE are much lower than ex USA
I really dont knoiw why. Right now its 3.90 GBP for a Peso cash pick up of the equivalent of 500 GBP If you do a bank transfer to your account the fee falls to GBP 0.90 The rate on Wednesday afternoon was 287.6 pesos to the pound. |
Originally Posted by timbre
(Post 31907575)
I have a mostly curiosity question about the currency controls.
I believe that the Argentinian government has fixed the US Dollar to Arg Peso exchange rate for banks ... meaning that ATM and Credit card transactions are processed at that rate. I recently attended an event at a hotel ... they quoted me a price in US$ and made me sign a form agreeing to the price. However, when they brought me the bill it was in Arg Pesos ... which, of course, is normal in most countries. However, they used an exchange rate of more than 5% more than the government rate to calculate the amount of Arg Pesos I had to pay. This seems terribly wrong to me. Is this acceptable practice under the government regulations? It's been a few years since I visited with the great disparity between the official rate versus the blue rate, so my memory is a bit hazy. In the past, i seem to recall bringing USD to exchange at the blue rate (or sending to myself via Xoom) and then paying the hotel bill in ARS after the bill was presented to me in ARS. Is that still the common practice? Interestingly, my recently made reservation with the Park Hyatt in Buenos Aires had this notation: TOTAL RATE IN SELECTED CURRENCY WILL VARY WITH FLUCTUATIONS IN EXCHANGE RATE |
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