Euro or Dollar?

[Cede]

Hello. I will be in Argentina for a month. Coming from Europe I was wondering what is easiest and most advantageous to exchange nowadays: dollars or Euro? And where (bank, ATM, Western Union, shops,...)?
Thank you.

 

[Rich One]

$100's unmarked new dollar bills.
To cash at a Cueva (black market) as needed each day/ week..!!

 

[mike29187]

Euro or Dollar either is fine. Lots of places to change in BA.

 

[Macanudo]

Today's official Euro rate shown at https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/euro.html is lower than the informal blue rate https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/dolar-informal.html so unless someone on this forum can confirm that the cuevas are paying more for Euros than for Dollars, you are probably better off bringing dollars. Also check Western Union to compare rates for using them compared to the cuevas. If you do decide to use Western Union, bring some Dollars or Euros or both as a back up plan in case things change while you are here.

 

[tangobob]

Try Azimo, the rate is better than any Bank or Cambio. You pick the money up at a local office.

 

[Sybille]

You have to take into account that you always lose money when you have to buy dollars first. I don't know whether a better peso exchange rate can make up for that.

 

[Cede]

Thank you already for your replies!
It seems still not to be clear what is best, but as we start in Euro, it's maybe not necessary to change in dollars before buying pesos. As someone wrote, we will also lose money through the exchange Euro to Dollars.
Is it also easy to find places to exchange outside a bank in other towns? Like Salta or Bariloche?
And then a related question: When trying to pay with a credit card, I noticed that some places accept only a Visa card. Is this common, or are Mastercards also accepted?Tx

 

[another]

Mastercards yes,AMEX not so much. Exchanges in smaller towns are harder to find and the rate is often lower than in BA. You are better off exchanging in BA before heading off. A lot of small businesses don't accept CC and not even debit - some markets, etc.

 

[Cede]

So that's good news for the credit card .
Regarding Western Union, I'm not sure I understand how it's working: you go there to exchange money or to take money from an account that you created in Argentina before coming? ...

 

[another]

There is a separate thread for the WU - you have to send the money from your own country ( or ask a relative to do this ) and you pick it up here in pesos. If you are not familiar with Argentina at all and don't speak some reasonable Spanish then it's not worth the hassle, especially if you only here for a month. The blue rate is the same as WU or might be even higher now.