First Time Using Argie Credit Card For Travel

[jeff1234]

I’m planning to use my new Argentine credit card for an upcoming trip to Mexico but I’m new to the world of azul and blanco currency, AFIP, etc so I’d appreciate your comments as to whether I correctly understand how to best use my credit card.

First I’m using the new card to purchase air travel to Mexico and hotel there from despegar.com. Despegar says that taxes and fees included so I expect to see the exact price appear on my credit card bill.

During our trip we will also be traveling within Mexico. Before we leave I’m going to buy those airline tickets and hotel stays from Kayak.com or Expedia in USD. I’m expecting these charges to appear on my bill as the amount of USD x 8 (approximate blanco rate) +20% for fees and taxes.

While in Mexico I will charge meals and sightseeing on this card. I expect these charges to appear on my bill at the Mexican/Argie blanco conversion rate + 20% for fees and taxes

I’ll be renting a car and will buy the insurance thats offered by the rental company with my Argie card, unless someone has a better suggestion.

I will pay for the total cost of this trip with 12 equal monthly payments hoping that inflations reduces the dollars required to make each payment.

I will use Xoom to convert my USD to blue pesos for the monthly payments.

I also have US credit cards but it seems like I’m better off using my new Argie card for everything on this trip.

Advice, suggestions appreciated.

 

[bdk1]

You are almost right about everything...

Despegar: yes, it's an Argentine company and you will be charged in pesos; all the taxes and fees are included in the final price and displayed as "Res. 3550 AFIP". This means that if you pay in monthly installments (Despegar offers "hasta en 12 pagos" depending on what bank you got your card from) you will also be paying for the AFIP taxes in installments. You can get the 35% back in April 2015 if you file for taxes in Argentina.

Kayak and other expenses in USD while in Mexico (i.e. meals, sightseeing, etc.): you are right about converting the USD prices to ARS by multiplying by 8 (8.1, rather) + AFIP fees and taxes, but it's not 20%, it's 35%. An easier way to do it is simply multiply the USD amount by 10.93.

You can also get the 35% back if you file for taxes so in that case, you will be paying for all your expenses at the official rate + 35% tax - (35% * estimated inflation rate), since you'll only get your money back in April 2015 (at least). If inflation is 30%, then 30% of 35% is 10.5%, which means the real rate you'll be paying is 8.95.

To sum up:

If you're planning to get the taxes from AFIP back: multiply all your USD expenses by 8.95.
If you're not: multiply all your USD expenses by 10.93 (official rate + 35%).

 

[germano]

I don't have a Argentinien cc myself, but we use my partners Argentinean cards for traveling but the last time was in summer - so not sure what has changed since.

I’m planning to use my new Argentine credit card for an upcoming trip to Mexico but I’m new to the world of azul and blanco currency, AFIP, etc so I’d appreciate your comments as to whether I correctly understand how to best use my credit card.

First I’m using the new card to purchase air travel to Mexico and hotel there from despegar.com. Despegar says that taxes and fees included so I expect to see the exact price appear on my credit card bill.

If the cc transaction is in ARG pesos, then yes that should be the exact amount.

During our trip we will also be traveling within Mexico. Before we leave I’m going to buy those airline tickets and hotel stays from Kayak.com or Expedia in USD. I’m expecting these charges to appear on my bill as the amount of USD x 8 (approximate blanco rate) +20% for fees and taxes.

I read about the government planning to lower the tax to 20% at some point but the last time we traveled (about 3 months) ago it was still 35%.

While in Mexico I will charge meals and sightseeing on this card. I expect these charges to appear on my bill at the Mexican/Argie blanco conversion rate + 20% for fees and taxes

+35% tax plus possible account maintenance and finance fees from your bank (if you do not pay all at once)

I’ll be renting a car and will buy the insurance thats offered by the rental company with my Argie card, unless someone has a better suggestion.

You mention using xoom below - so I assume you have US cc as well. Many of them include car insurance if you pay the rental with that card (check the bank's website). So it might be better to pay directly with the US cc because that way you have the insurance included without paying anything extra.

I will pay for the total cost of this trip with 12 equal monthly payments hoping that inflations reduces the dollars required to make each payment.

Check the Argentinians bank's interest rate and fees. Usually they are very high and above inflation - except for purchases made in Argentina with special 0% interest offers. But even those usually have some finance and life insurance fees so it is not 0% in reality. All your purchases made abroad will probably have a high interest rate that will be above inflation.

I will use Xoom to convert my USD to blue pesos for the monthly payments.

I also have US credit cards but it seems like I’m better off using my new Argie card for everything on this trip.

Always monitor the "blue" rate and compare to the "dollar tarjeta" rate to see what exchange rate is more convenient for you.

 

[jeff1234]

quote name=bdk1 timestamp='1401977878' post='259086'
You are almost right about everything......[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]You can also get the 35% back if you file for taxes so in that case, you will be paying for all your expenses at the official rate + 35% tax [/background]



Thanks for the prompt reply and good info.

Do you mean: [background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]you will be paying for all your expenses at the official rate because the 35% is refundable[/background]

I had not thought about filing taxes here. I have no Argie income, just income in the US.
Do you know: if I filed a zero income return, would the govt just send me all the 35% taxes that I paid? I assume this would include those built into the Despegar purchases, right?

 

[Napoleon]

You are almost right about everything...

...To sum up:

If you're planning to get the taxes from AFIP back: multiply all your USD expenses by 8.95.
If you're not: multiply all your USD expenses by 10.93 (official rate + 35%).

Awesome post!

Possibly the most concise and helpful post this side of summing up "Visas vs Citizenship".

Keep posting. Much appreciated.

-Nappy BS

 

[Alicia karr]

Thanks for the concise info! Please keep in mind that for anyone paying taxes here in Argentina it is thought wise by some to NOT request the 35% tax refund from AFIP, as the preference (especially for foreigners) to not catch AFIPs attention outweighs any short term gains...

 

[thorsten]

Apart from the excellent post from bdk1, two more suggestions:
- check the dolar blue rate before travelling - recently there were a couple of days where the blue rate was below the official+35% rate, so if you don't get taxes back, it's not necessarily better to use an argie CC anymore
- depending on your bank, check how the quotes are calculated, i.e. are they converting the complete amount in ARS on transaction time and then charge you quotas based on this amount or is the amount to be paid dynamically calculated each month, which could be a disadvantage in case of another devaluation for example
- make sure you have a different method to pay/get cash, as problems with Argentine credit cards used in foreign countries are anything else than rare
Have fun in Mexico

 

[bdk1]

quote name=bdk1 timestamp='1401977878' post='259086'
You are almost right about everything......[background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]You can also get the 35% back if you file for taxes so in that case, you will be paying for all your expenses at the official rate + 35% tax [/background]



Thanks for the prompt reply and good info.

Do you mean: [background=rgb(252, 252, 252)]you will be paying for all your expenses at the official rate because the 35% is refundable[/background]

I had not thought about filing taxes here. I have no Argie income, just income in the US.
Do you know: if I filed a zero income return, would the govt just send me all the 35% taxes that I paid? I assume this would include those built into the Despegar purchases, right?

Yes, you will be paying all your expenses at the official rate + 35%, but the 35% is refundable. And yes, even if you don't file taxes in Argentina, you can still get the refund for the 35% taxes including the Despegar purchases, assuming you have a CUIT/CUIL number and "clave fiscal" as everything is done through the AFIP website. If you don't have one, you can get one provided you have a DNI, which I guess you do since you have an Argentinean credit card.

If you want to get the 35% back, you basically fall into 2 categories:

1. You pay "Ganancias" (income tax), so the refund is deducted from your taxes that are due next year.
2. You don't pay "Ganancias", so you need to file form 746/A through the AFIP website. They will transfer the refund to your bank account.

No matter which of these categories you fall into, I strongly suggest you do it with an accountant. It's not a super complex process by Argentinean standards, but it's worth paying someone a one-time fee to save yourself the headache.

 

[bdk1]

Thanks for the concise info! Please keep in mind that for anyone paying taxes here in Argentina it is thought wise by some to NOT request the 35% tax refund from AFIP, as the preference (especially for foreigners) to not catch AFIPs attention outweighs any short term gains...

Of course. The info I posted was assuming you have nothing to hide from AFIP, that's why I suggested talking to an accountant.

 

[nikad]

If you are just hiring services and are going to finance with the Arg CC be careful, interest rates atm are outrageous, 100 per cent yearly for peso purchases and even more if the purchase was in usd which is going to be the case. I am currently in the US and am saving more money paying with my US cash back cc,