taking your $$$ further in EZE
 

Based on some great tips that many visitors have posted in various threads, I thought it would be a good idea to start a thread to discuss ways to make sure your budget in EZE goes as far as possible.

I will get this started, but urge all visitors and the other forum regulars to add their pointers & experiences…. And let’s try to keep this thread updated!!!

- avoiding tourist traps - restaurants
Perhaps the best known and most widely recommended Tourist Trap in this category is the (in)famous Cabaña Las Lilas. It is clearly no. 1 in terms of overpriced, and food/service is consistently inconsistent. You have to be very lucky (and go super early on an off day) to get good service… prices are highway robbery for Argentine standards.

Cross examine your hotel concierge when they make a restaurant recommendation. Ask them how touristy a place is…. Ask them about a local alternative. Be prepared to venture outside of Recoleta and Puerto Madero. Remember that some concierge desks receive commissions for each table they reserve, so there will be times where there are ulterior motives for a recommendation.

Another well know tourist trap is Piegari. In general, the establishments located at or near La Recova do not offer value for money.

- location location location – where to shop
Another way to save $$$ is to make sure you shop for your gifts, souvenirs and curios at the right places. For goods that may be found elsewhere, try to avoid shopping at the gift shops that are located at or near the tourist destinations…. Examples of this are the stores at and near Caminito (La Boca) that sell things like wine and clothing items. While it’s clear that some of the specific souvenirs and merchandise will only be found on location…. Other things are available at “normal locations” where the local folk shop… and you will save a bundle. Also, do not rule out the large shopping centers, as they cater to locals and visitors, so pricing cannot be too far off the real market value…

- no marked prices…? – think twice (and beware of the currency switcharoo)
Beware of places that do not have clearly marked prices and make sure you don’t pay Dollars for a Peso price. In Argentina, $ stands for Pesos, while USD or U$S or US$ should be used to denote US Dollars. Most places that don’t have prices clearly marked may attempt to modify prices when they identify you as a visitor… use common sense to see if you are getting taken to the cleaners… when in doubt, if possible do some comparison shopping and also ask for a discount (see payments & discounts section for details).

- forms of payment and discounts
While credit cards are widely accepted, some stores may offer you discounts depending on your choice of form of payment. Cash payment may yield you discounts of between 5-10% depending on the type of store and the specific article purchased. Also, it may be advantageous for you to pay in Dollars and receive a special exchange rate, some stores will offer you an implicit discount of 5-10% by improving the exchange rate vs. what you would obtain at an Exchange Bureau or Bank.

Please note that some stores do not offer discounts, so while it’s OK to politely ask for a break in price, do not assume that you will always get a break on the listed price. This will depend from store to store and also on other issues like what you purchase, and if the store is owner operated or not. Many times, employees have no say in pricing and insisting on discounts will take you nowhere.

One common misconception is that cash payments will mean the merchant is “saving” 21% VAT on the full purchase amount and is therefore able to extend a 21% discount. Please note that VAT does not work this way. This does not mean that a 20% discount is impossible, but as posted about it will depend on what you are buying.

I always ask for "cash discounts" while shopping in BA. Especially in the smaller shops, prices for goods tourists are likely to buy (like leather) seem flexible. If I'm not satisfied by their first discount offer, I often "bargain" for a better price. Something like, "Well, I really like that coat, but it's too expensive for me. Can you offer me a better price?"

These negotiations work most of the time. It's almost always a cheerful and pleasant experience. I also usually ask for lower prices in open-air markets (not for food).

The other money savings tip I have is on the tango shows. If you look at the master tango thread, you'll see I've listed places you can buy show tickets for at huge discounts.

Great thread Gaucho100K. ^

I can only add seen through the eyes of someone who lives 100 miles away from BsAs.
When we go on shopping trips to the capital we usually head for Santa Fe. The further up you go the less touristy it gets although even further down it gets nowhere near as touristy as Florida. 'Cardon' has a good range of clothing and leather goods and their prices are always the same as the branch we have in our town where tourists do not exist.
There are a few shops hidden away inside the galleries on Santa Fe which sell nice souvenirs, not the usual variety but authentic hand crafted goods from the provinces at very reasonable prices,unfortunately they do tend to come and go so what was there last year may not be there now. My Argentine wife does the talking when asking for prices I cannot say for sure if it makes any difference but most of the places have prices on them anyway.
If you fancy some lunch take a wander off the main avenue where you shall find several cafes/restaurants where the locals go.They do good plain food at reasonable prices,you can go and sit on the corner cafes on the main avenue later for a coffee, if you want to do some people watching.

Even here in our town when we went for dinner the other night the menu had no prices marked on it due to rising costs so we asked for the prices before ordering.The girl explained it is easier just to tell customers rather than having to continually change them on the menu.

We did not hesitate to shop on the street. I bought a scarf from a stall on the Plaza del Congresso. The seller showed me photos of his brother working a manual loom and I recognized one of his scaves in progress.

We also shopped the flea market and street stalls in San Telmo on Sunday. Mrs BamaVol bought a beautiful hand carved wooden nativity set and BamaVol Jr #3 bought a unique wallet. In all 3 cases, this was merchandise we did not see elsewhere and felt we were buying directly from the artists/crafters. Also bought a one of a kind cd from a band performing on the street for AR$20.

There was also a bunch of hippies selling crafts from blankets. I think maybe on Florida, but away from the crowds (next to a church possibly). BV Jr #3 bought some leather armbands and bracelets at ridiculous prices - like AR$5 each.

HIDDY, you're correct about Santa Fe. We found this to be our favorite window shopping district. Also lots of demonstration activity there during our stay - flag waving and pot beating for the most part.

We were disappointed with the Abasto. We didn't know it was a holiday and it was packed to the rafters. Also too much like a mall at home. However, it's worth the visit just to take a picture of the kosher McDonalds.

Gaucho100K, thanks for the thread.

Anybody looking for a cheap snack while shopping will find huge sandwiches in bakeries (why do they cut off the crusts?) for less than AR$4 and empanadas in shops that sell nothing but (is it an empenadaria?) for next to nothing. They'll even heat them for you.

This is really good info. I am flying to BA tomorrow...June 25 and have written some of this info down. I am spending most of my time visiting some old freinds away from the Capital.....Lujan and Junin but will spend a couple of days in BA too.

I've heard there is good shopping on Avenida Cordoba between the 4000 and 4900 block.

Good place to shop for Leather products is San Jose St. between Belgrano and Mexico.

Also, a few restaurants that rated high in the guia oleo for quality but low on price:

Monolo
1880
Cosechero
Lo de Abelardo
El Espanol
Parilla Pena
Club Eros

You will see in many stores the price for "efectivo" or cash. If you wish to use a credit card, "tarjeta" then the price will be higher. This is due to the expense to the merchant for accepting the credit card. Much higher costs than a merchant would pay in the US, plus easier to hide the income :) .

As for restaurants, for the most part the better places are in Palermo SoHo. They range from the tres chic on down, and a huge selection of cuisines. Great boutiques and galleries too.

And it is always fun to hit the discount stores on Cordoba. And here is a link to a new interactive city map that not only helps you find where an address is but also has links for restaurant search by barrio and by cuisine
http://www.mapabsas.com/?lang=es It really helps if you know how to get someplace just in case a taxi driver decides to take you the long way or has happened to me from time to time does not know how to get there.

Sam

Dont forget hotels. They can be the biggest tourist trap of them all.

For example US$160 for a Holiday Inn Express! That is an incredible ripoff.

Head to www.bytargentina.com or any other apartment rental site and book your apartment.
BA is easy to find your way around - no need for a concierge.

I know it has been mentioned numerous times but do not change any money
before you go through Customs at Ezezia. That is the easiest way to get your holiday off to a bad start on the value front.

I would recommend avoiding bytargentina at all costs. I assume you must have had a good experience but they have a terrible reputation.

Sam

I would recommend avoiding bytargentina at all costs. I assume you must have had a good experience but they have a terrible reputation.

I have used them several times and had no problems.

I think it would be more constructive to suggest alternative sites.

I would also advise travellers to be extremely careful using ATM's in BA. My card details were copied whilst using an ATM on Santa Fe. I much prefer to change dollars into pesos at a Cambio.

I find it very constructive to warn people about agents that are recommended that have gained a reputation here as being somewhat less than reputable. Indextar has a very long list of complaints from their previous customers. Consider yourself lucky.

Sam

I find it very constructive to warn people about agents that are recommended that have gained a reputation here as being somewhat less than reputable. Indextar has a very long list of complaints from their previous customers. Consider yourself lucky.

Can you be more specific? I found the entire process renting an apartment with the firms I have used extremely straightforward. In each case the apartment's owners were present with the agent and the owner kept the deposit and returned it to me on my departure. The agents always turned up on time. I couldnt see a problem.

Can you recommend other firms?

I was only commenting on avoiding Bytargentina, not suggesting that people do not rent apartments. There are many reputable firms, ApartmentsBA, Temporary Apartments, Reynolds (argentinahomes.com) Buenos Aires Habitat just to name a few. ApartmentsBa and Reynolds in my opinion have the best reputations in the city.

As for specifics about ByT it seems the most common complaint has been that the apartments do not turn out to be as shown on their web site. Photos show a well furnished, well maintained apartment and renters arrive to find barely furnished, mattress on the floor, malfunctioning plumbing, internet connections promised but never provided, etc. Other complaints that seem regular are bait and switch...people reserve one apartment and just prior to arrival are notified that it is no longer available and are promised a "nicer" apartment which turns out to be a total dump. Another typical complaint is that some of their owners "claim" missing or soiled items and keep a large portion of the deposit even when such items were not on the inventory list and ByT supports the owners. I am sure every rental agent has had some complaints but they seem to rack up far more than any other agency in town.

Sam

I was only commenting on avoiding Bytargentina, not suggesting that people do not rent apartments. There are many reputable firms, ApartmentsBA, Temporary Apartments, Reynolds (argentinahomes.com) Buenos Aires Habitat just to name a few. ApartmentsBa and Reynolds in my opinion have the best reputations in the city.

As for specifics about ByT it seems the most common complaint has been that the apartments do not turn out to be as shown on their web site. Photos show a well furnished, well maintained apartment and renters arrive to find barely furnished, mattress on the floor, malfunctioning plumbing, internet connections promised but never provided, etc. Other complaints that seem regular are bait and switch...people reserve one apartment and just prior to arrival are notified that it is no longer available and are promised a "nicer" apartment which turns out to be a total dump. Another typical complaint is that some of their owners "claim" missing or soiled items and keep a large portion of the deposit even when such items were not on the inventory list and ByT supports the owners. I am sure every rental agent has had some complaints but they seem to rack up far more than any other agency in town.

Thanks - far more informative. I have always inspected the property before signing on the dotted line. Surely anybody with any sense would do the same. I do find their website very easy to use. Some of the ones you recommend have fairly average websites.

Gaucho100K and others, are there certain services/specialty items which are considerably cheaper in EZE than in, say, the US?

For example: eyeglasses, [dental] retainer, prescriptions... etc

Also, are there any products produced in Argentina (other than the usual wine & leather) that are considerably more expensive outside Argentina?

Many prescriptions are much cheaper in Argentina. As is medical care and dental procedures in general. Cosmetic surgery is much cheaper and BA has become somewhat of destination for that. Custom suits, and shirts are very good values and you can find some excellent tailors and fabrics.

As for items produced in Argentina that are cheaper, items made of silver, furs, and the bone handled steak knives are just a few items that come to mind.

Sam