Blue dolar/ Black market & withdrawals fees in Argentina 2018
 

I already know that inflation hits hard Argentinian economy. Shame..

So, any recent stories/ experiences about the currency fluctuations? And how are you dealing with this matter in Argentina? Do you carry USD/ Euro and exchange locally? Do you withdraw money from the local ATMs?

Heard (in a week I will have first hand experience) that the commission fees are crazy high!

XE & local exchange offices in the border town of Encarnacion in Paraguay give 1 USD for 37 Pesos Argentinos.

The latest online sources (=Google) mention that the blue market is non-existent any more and exchanging officially is your best bet. I also found several websites that post the today rate of blue dolar. Pretty much the same with XE & what is offered locally.

What is your experience fellow traveller??

Thanks a lot

Nikos

Yes inflation had obviously hit Argentina hard - again!

I was in BA in January and then in the northern parts (along R40) in May-June this year.

In BA i got around 5 % more than the XE.COM rate when exchanging in those «half official» cambio shops downtown. But I was warned that they sometimes put in a fake note in the middle of the stack. Although this luckily never happend to me afaik. But be aware!

What the situation is now is hard to say. Inflation has hit hard even the last few months.

The fee for withdrawing cash in an ATM is ridiciously high, was around 200-250 pesos the last time I was there (June 2018) but they had set the max withdrawal amount higher. I think it was 3500 arg pesos at that point.

I would bring some USD in and get them exchanged, and elsewhere use a card when purchasing something. Such as fuel, rooms (I often used Airbnb and that payment goes automatically from the bankaccount) And if I did some other bigger purchases I always tried to use a card. I just had some small amounts of pesos to pay for food, coffee and snacks. As minimal as possible through an ATM I would say.

Great follow up. Thanks a lot snakeboy.

I will report soon with more updates about this matter.

Arrive there with US cash in your pockets.

Report from Argentina:

So, about the money situation and how it works right now:

You can either withdraw using your debit/ credit card. I tried it first thing after the borders and the commission asked was 219 pesos which is equal to approximately 6 USD or 5 EUR. Not that steep as usually reported but it could be the bank or my card. I am using a Greek debit VISA & the bank was the only one in Clorinda, the first little town after crossing from Asuncion/ Paraguay.

At this town, there was no Casa De Cambio, so I had to exchange from the street guys. Their rate was really fair; I got 36 pesos for 1 USD. I am not sure how many fakes he gave me though..

So, in big cities you can go at any casa de cambio & exchange your local hard currency. Black market/ blue dollar is non-existent..

Alternatively, use your card to make purchases at the stores or withdraw. Those with DKB (german bank) or Schwalbe's (American bank) or N26 (EU) probably will be able to withdraw without paying any cent as a commission. Only problem is that they only allow 4000 pesos as max amount (nearly 100 EUR or 115 USD).

I need to try also the gas station & the casino tricks to see if they are "widely accepted" as well.

Thats all for now!