Foreign credit cards purchases at MEP rate

[Eva12]

I am a European living in Argentina and I want to book flights on a non-Argentinian website (Aeromexico). If I book these flights from Argentina with my Visa credit card in Arg pesos will I get the MEP exchange rate even if the airline isn't an Argentinian local Airline?

 

[lunar]

I am a European living in Argentina and I want to book flights on a non-Argentinian website (Aeromexico). If I book these flights from Argentina with my Visa credit card in Arg pesos will I get the MEP exchange rate even if the airline isn't an Argentinian local Airline?

My assumption is that your card will be simply charged in euros at the official rate. In this scenario, Argentine pesos are merely used as a reference, and no actual conversion to or from pesos will occur.

 

[hdanh00]

My assumption is that your card will be simply charged in euros at the official rate. In this scenario, Argentine pesos are merely used as a reference, and no actual conversion to or from pesos will occur.

It needs to be processed through an Argentina payment processor. Some airlines use that, like avianca, emirates.

 

[lunar]

It needs to be processed through an Argentina payment processor. Some airlines use that, like avianca, emirates.

If she purchases from a Mexican site with a foreign card, there will be no Argentine payment processor involved. Prices are displayed in Argentine pesos solely for convenience. I bet she can switch the price display to euros on the webpage and the prices will be shown in euros.

 

[hdanh00]

If she purchases from a Mexican site with a foreign card, there will be no Argentine payment processor involved. Prices are displayed in Argentine pesos solely for convenience. I bet she can switch the price display to euros on the webpage and the prices will be shown in euros.

Yeah I understand that. My example like emirates (Dubai owned) uses Argentina’s payment processor when the country is switched to Argentina. It all depends on the airline if they uses it or not.

 

[Redpossum]

Bought a new fan and vacuum cleaner, came out to 93K pesos, paid with US Visa debit card, charged to account at 112 USD so about 830 ARS to the dollar.

Not bad at all, IMO.

 

[Argentino45]

Hello, I've been seeing that Mastercard is giving a worse exchange rate than visa

 

[carride]

Hello, View attachment 9267View attachment 9268I've been seeing that Mastercard is giving a worse exchange rate than visa

That is because the Mastercard.us calculator only shows past dates. It does not let you see today's rate. It is showing you 866 for yesterday transactions which is the same as what Visa did yesterday.

 

[Argentino45]

That is because the Mastercard.us calculator only shows past dates. It does not let you see today's rate. It is showing you 866 for yesterday transactions which is the same as what Visa did yesterday.

Thing is I bought something today on MasterCard and it gave me that rate, does it change later?

 

[carride]

Thing is I bought something today on MasterCard and it gave me that rate, does it change later?

Yes my mastercard always shows the "offical" BN rate at the moment of the transaction, which is known to be approx double the MEP. A few days later I always get a credit which brings the real transaction rate down to what the calculator shows from that previous date.

Now the mastercard calculator allows me to choose today's date of nov-23. Earlier today it only allowed me to choose nov-22 or a previous date. I use my Mastercard and Visa often, though most of the time I only reference the Visa calculator. I have never noticed much difference. Typically the calculator (and my card statement) conversion rate is 4-7% below the MEP rate of the date of the transaction.