Using argentine bank visa in the US

[shoush]

hi, I'm sure there may be postings on this already but i haven't been able to find the exact answer, so...
I'm meeting my fiancee (argentine) in California for a wedding. (I'm currently in Canada and he's in Argentina) and he's bringing his bank visa from Argentina to Cali to buy all his major purchases because he says that, that when he pays off his bank card in pesos they will give him the official bank rate.
he's sure of this, but I find it hard to believe that it could be that easy!
has anyone done this? would the bank really give the official rate?
hmmm, just sounds too good to be true!

 

[PhilipDT]

It is that easy. For now....

 

[Ashley]

yeah...that's how most argentines that have to travel for business etc (and can't get hold of enough currency through afip) do things. The only real issues with it are that a) most argentine credit cards don't have great limits, so financing an entire trip using just a visa could be tough b) some credit card companies will "block" large purchases abroad until you get specific authorisation (despite your available limit)...its apparently a security thing but can be very irritating when you're trying to buy something for a few hundred euros and the poor sales guy has to phone up the visa authorisation line in Arg. Other credit cards don't have this at all (I think it depends on the bank) c) CFK is aware of people doing this and has already started to make some noise about purchases abroad on credit cards. My primary concern would be her tendency to make major changes on the fly and closing this loophole during the trip! (I'm not sure how feasible this is as it would pretty much prevent Argentines from going abroad on business)

 

[nikad]

He can use his Arg cc in the US and then pay at the official exchange rato for the balance in dollars. Moreover, he can pre pay his cc with more pesos than his limit to be able to spend more money at that rate. He must let his bank and cc company know he will be abroad just so they authorize all transactions. He can also get a PIN to be able to withdraw US bills with the cc.

 

[Iznogud]

Best practical advise: tell him to include plenty of time and patience to troubleshoot any last minute surprises when using the card.