Foreign credit cards purchases at MEP rate

[on the brink]

I got 833 on a small visa credit card transaction sunday 10/22. Very poor considering the blue rate closed at 1150/1200 on Friday. I will continue to exchange cash.

It's been my sad experience that cuevas don't pay the newspaper rate.

On Friday, the papers listed the dollar sell-value at $1150. However, two of my cuevas paid only $960, and a third one $l050. They were located in Cañitas, Palermo, and San Isidro.

If anyone has had better luck, please let me know where to go.

 

[grosso95]

You should compare to the buy rate, not the sell rate. In times like these it is expected to get a worse rate, it is a business after all.

 

[on the brink]

You should compare to the buy rate, not the sell rate. In times like these it is expected to get a worse rate, it is a business after all.

Guess it was worded wrong - I meant what the cuevas pay per dollars. Is that the buy or sell rate?

 

[Maikito]

786.50 USD with 0%.

 

[grosso95]

Guess it was worded wrong - I meant what the cuevas pay per dollars. Is that the buy or sell rate?

Compra/Buy is the amount of pesos they give you for 1 usd.
Usually the dolarhoy rate - % up to 3% is usually normal.

Chasing the best rate is kind of a trap anyways. Unless you are exchanging 500+ usd for some reason, the lost time is not worth it to get a few thousand extra pesos. And if you exchange more than you need for short term you will probably lose more to devaluation.

I just try to find a cueva nearby that has a decent rate, not the best one. For example ayacucho cambio has a great rate for palermo but I'm not taking 30 minutes out of my day to exchange 100 usd at 1000 there instead of at 980 1 minute away from my apt when the difference is 2000 pesos.

Of course there are some that give a really bad rate, like cambio berlin next to alto palermo shopping and you have a lot of other places nearby so there it doesn't really make sense.

My current strategy is exchange usdt for usd dollar bills (3% commision charge) and slowly exchange the money for pesos as needed.

I still end up paying uber and rappi with card most of the time for convenience sake.

 

[Maikito]

It's been my sad experience that cuevas don't pay the newspaper rate.

On Friday, the papers listed the dollar sell-value at $1150. However, two of my cuevas paid only $960, and a third one $l050. They were located in Cañitas, Palermo, and San Isidro.

If anyone has had better luck, please let me know where to go.

Just out of plain curiosity, do you feel safe going to them and do you usually exchange paper dollars or like an electronic method?

 

[Maikito]

I've never done this, but I'm about to return to Baires soon. Can someone PM me about how the process usually goes in a cueva? I only ask for a PM because I don't want to flood this thread with messages of information you all know. I will be working remotely and will just have access to my cards. Can it be done electronically? Is WU my only/best option.

 

[on the brink]

I've never done this, but I'm about to return to Baires soon. Can someone PM me about how the process usually goes in a cueva? I only ask for a PM because I don't want to flood this thread with messages of information you all know. I will be working remotely and will just have access to my cards. Can it be done electronically? Is WU my only/best option.

Hello, Maikito.... Cuevas are often lottery ticket shops, or something similar. Just walk in and say that you want to sell X US dollars. Be sure to bring only the latest version of Treasury bills, those with a blue vertical stripe. Older versions get discounted.

It's a very simple transaction - just like buying a carton of milk.

 

[Caribbean Cool]

My bill at Hospital Aleman was 16,550 pesos and my Visa charge was $20.59....about 800/$....not bad since you HAVE to pay by credit card.

 

[hdanh00]

Seems like mastercard is charging the mep rate and not the official rate, so I'm guessing no rebate anymore?
It would be good considering the crazy spikes made the exchange crappy sometimes when the rebate hits a few days later.