Way to get dollars if you need them

EMR

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I am sure many people already know this but a buddy of mine did not so I thought I would post. Sometimes getting dollars or any significant amount of dollars is difficult and expensive in BA. If you have an American Express Platinum or Centurion card, you can cash a personal check from out of Argenitna (US Acct for example or British Acct) for up to 5,000 USD a month at the American Express office in front of Plaza San Martin. Normal limits are 10k but Argentina limits it to 5k. They do not charge any fees and give you the cash right at the window. I have used this several times and it has been a life saver.

You must take your passport, Amex platinum or centurion card and checkbook.

I believe the limit for gold is 1,000

Hope this helps someone
 
the fastest way i find to get dollars to ba is to get online with western union and you can send them to yourself from your credit card or bank debit card immediately although you do pay a fee and you must go and pick it up but western unions are all over buenos aires
 
Again, with the amex deal no fees at all and they give you dollars not pesos. Very easy to do.
 
I noticed some of the ATM offer dollars as well as pesos. One of them was the CitiBank ATM. Not sure what the limit is. With my card the exchange rate is very good and no fees (e*Trade).
 
Joe said:
I noticed some of the ATM offer dollars as well as pesos. One of them was the CitiBank ATM. Not sure what the limit is. With my card the exchange rate is very good and no fees (e*Trade).

WHICH Citibank ATMs? :confused:

Interested in case I need this in the future.
 
Question for Joe is if he actually got dollars or just saw the option on the ATM. Many ATM's say dollars or pesos, but dollars do not work. I have tried the citibank on florida across from galerias pacifico and many of those ATM's in the area, they say you have a choice but you do not, the dollars are not available, so Joe, did you actually get dollars out?
 
Napoleon said:
WHICH Citibank ATMs? :confused:

Interested in case I need this in the future.

The one I used was on Santa Fe (maybe near Uruguay). I assumed it was all the Citibank ATMs - maybe bad assumption?

I also did not actually try to get dollars (just saw the option) in response to another question. I will try tomorrow and see if it really works. Update tomorrow!
 
Yeah, I would bet you cannot get dollars. Most of the Atm's I have used show dollars as an option but when you go try, it does not work and only pesos. Let us know, that is why the AMEX option is best, you can get up to 5k a month and no fees.
 
EMR is indeed correct. I tried CitiBank and just got a message that said something like unable to do this transaction when I requested 100 US dollars.

I also went into another bank that had an ATM that even had a sticker on it saying US dollars can be withdrawn but same "unable to do this transaction".

The card I am using is tied to a US dollar account as well.

I will try the AmEx office, but I only have a regular AmEx card issued by CitiBank. Will see if I can get dollars.

Off Topic: I lived in Japan for a number of years and Japanese doesn't have the 'C' sound, so 'C' are pronounced with the "Shi" sound. "Shiti Bank" is the correct pronunciation in Japanese - but actually Shiti Bank was the only place you can use your foreign ATM card so it wasn't a Shitty Bank to me.... But I had to make a two hour journey by train and subway from the boonies to the big city (Nagoya) to periodically get cash - the struggles of the expat...
 
somebody told me that it is only for those depositing into their accounts in dollars as well. It sounds like you're all using US issued cards so obviously the accounts are in USD. Perhaps it is a function only for Argentine bank account holders using the cards from those banks...? I have an account with Itau and I have been asked when using it is it my pesos or dollars account. Even at Coto.
 
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