5 Tips for Newcomers

[Napoleon]

4) Worse thing you can ever tell an Argentine woman is that she's dirty (hair, fingernails, clothes, whatever). They pride themselves on cleanliness.

Worst thing you can say to ANY woman surely?

Whaaaa????

But I like'em a little dirty.

 

[trennod]

http://www2.comoviajo.com/website3/Monitor/Inicio.aspx

Como viajo is a travel planner web site that well also help to get you from a to b, as long as you can navigate the very basic spanish.

And on point 1, getting on the good side of your portero certainly wont hurt, but heard a good few horror stories which suggests be very careful with trusting them...

 

[surfing]

Never carry your passport with you in the street; go to any locutorio and get a color copy made. Never carry more cash or credit cards than you need for a specific outing.

 

[fifs2]

Worst thing you can say to ANY woman surely?

God thanks for this - snorted my coffee all over the keyboard at this one...

 

[scotttswan]

For Citibank, it's even possible to withdraw up to 4.000 pesos at once (at least with my card). There's only one such ATM per Citibank : two or three have a BANELCO or LINK logo and one has no logo (that's this one that can be used to withdraw more).

For people who have a high withdrawal limit & an USD account abroad, better go to Colonia and withdraw USD from any ATM (300 USD limit per withdrawal).

Yeah Citibank isn't limited to 2k i've taken out 4k before. There is also a Citibank down town that doesn't have any citibank machines in it. As French jurist says you need to make sure it isn't a Banelco one.

 

[Marche exile]

Here’s 5 tips that may make life a little easier for newcomers:

1) Almost all banks here have a daily withdrawal limit of 1000 pesos, ca. 220 USD, which is pretty low, especially if you need cash for rent and deposits as soon as you arrive. However at Citibank you can withdraw 2500 pesos! Here link to locations: https://www.argentina.citibank.com/laar/sucursales/mapa.htm

2) Get a Sube card as soon as you arrive. It costs 10 pesos and you can use it on trains, buses etc. I got mine at Sube office at Corrientes y 9 de Julio after 2 minutes of queuing (a rarity in BsAs). All you need is your passport.

3) Most people I know use Craigslist to find accommodation. Here’s a better site: http://www.compartodepto.com/. Try to find a place close to the main avenues, it makes life a lot easier, especially if you don’t have a car.

4) Football - Don’t limit yourself to only seeing Boca games. From my experience it’s really difficult to get tickets (unless you’re willing to pay a lot), the atmosphere is pretty unfriendly and there not even that good. I recommend going to see Racing Club, all round better experience.

5) You may notice that McDonalds never advertise Big mac meals on the menu. Why? Because the Argentina government want to hide inflation, currently running at about 25 % (http://en.mercopress.com/2012/02/08/why-you-can-t-find-a-big-mac-on-argentina-s-mc-donald-s-menu) But it is available, only 26 pesos!

Also, links to websites that I found useful:
Buenos Aires map (much better than google maps): http://mapa.buenosaires.gov.ar/
BaAs bus routes:http://www.omnilineas.com/argentina/buenos-aires/city-bus/
Booking flights: http://www.despegar.com.ar/homes/viajes.html

You are a star! Cheers.

 

[Zissou]

Other banks will let you take out 2000 pesos (never tried for more) the thing is you need to do it as a whole new transaction. I've done it at both Galicia and Santander Rio.

 

[HettieinBA]

Just wanted to say thank you for all these tips. We arrive in 7 weeks and this forum is a godsend!

 

[jimdepalermo]

Another tip: looking for stuff in Argentina, use the Argentine version of Google: http://www.google.com.AR and then click "Páginas de Argentina."

 

[bobg]

Never carry your passport with you in the street; go to any locutorio and get a color copy made. Never carry more cash or credit cards than you need for a specific outing.

I recently got one of the new passport cards which is small enough to carry in my wallet. (Which by the way is not a substitute for a passport in many cases so far as the US government is concerned.) Does anyone know if it can be used instead of a passport when exchanging currency at banks in BsAs (which I do sometimes so that the pesos can be changed back into dollars)?

Thanks, Bob