Tips on currency when travelling abroad.

There are 13 replies in this Thread which has previously been viewed 1,935 times. The latest Post (March 11, 2025 at 7:38 PM) was by Rice.

    There's penty of advice kicking about for foreigners changing dollars into pesos once they arrive here. However there's not much info when it comes to what Argentine based folk do when abroad? Obviously taking a shedload of Argie pesos to exchange is a waste of time. So how do you prepare financially when travelling? Carry dollars to exchange into local currency at your destination or just use Argentine bank cards to pay for all your expenses?

    If you have UK id plus an address for someone to receive post mail, I would start with a prepaid card. Like Revolut. Then find a way to get money on to that, even if you top it off with cash when you first arrive.

    These days I think you do have the option to have all foreign transactions using Argentina Visa/Mastercard reconciled with your dollar account at your Argentina bank. Instead of first XE to pesos, then taxed 30%for foreign usage (The turista/tarjeta dólar rate). There should be no tax when using your dólar account. Your physical bank representative is the best person to tell you if this true or not. Guessing they take a 1-3% foreign transaction fee.

    Dólar tarjeta: se consolida la nueva manera en la que los argentinos pagan los viajes al exterior
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    Thanks for the info. The missus still has a UK bank acount however it's been temporarily suspended due to the last card not beng activated. That'll be the first thing we'll be sorting out soon as we arrive as there's still a decent amount of money in it. I've got a couple of bank/building society accounts with bugger all in them.

    Good idea about the dollar account. I've got one with the BBVA here so might look into that and see what they suggest. Also got some Euros to get rid of so they'll come in handy in Frankfurt.

    I use my foreign cards to pay when I travel abroad, and also to extract cash from ATMs. Tbh, cash is used less and less in Europe. Some airport stores are cashless, and I have seen many cashless cashiers in supermarkets, too.

    Quote from serafina

    I use my foreign cards to pay when I travel abroad, and also to extract cash from ATMs. Tbh, cash is used less and less in Europe. Some airport stores are cashless, and I have seen many cashless cashiers in supermarkets, too.

    serafina , do the cashless shops also charge extra for the convenience of using a credit card? That wouldn’t seem right.

    Quote from Rice

    serafina , do the cashless shops also charge extra for the convenience of using a credit card? That wouldn’t seem right.

    I don't think this would be legal in the EU. We pay the same price regardless of the method of payment, at least in-stores. Some smaller shops may advertise that they don't accept card payments for payments less than €1.

    In Heathrow, I remember looking for a manned cashier in a convenience store and I was told they only had cashless tills. It was such a novelty to me that I couldn't figure it out by myself. I thought all the employees were on the store's back at the same time by mistake!

    Furthermore, we don't tip in Italy so no need to bring small change with you.

    Depending on each country the Visa/Mastercard contracts with the merchant have language not allowing % surcharges, though not specifically against cash discounts from the advertised price (only because past consumer protections fought). In general they discourage the merchant from having different prices.

    There has definitely been a big change here during the past year. First, the tax went up, then restaurants started charging for using a credit card. And now waiters expect a 20-25% tip. So a restaurant meal can easily cost 35% more than the prices printed on the menu.

    Don’t get me wrong - - waiters certainly deserve to make a living wage, and far too many are underpaid. But I would like the restaurant to pay their staff decently, and price food accordingly. Even better if the menu prices included the tax, so you’d know what you would be paying when you ordered your meal.

    Quote from Rice

    There has definitely been a big change here during the past year. First, the tax went up, then restaurants started charging for using a credit card.

    A restaurant surcharge is against the merchant contract with Visa and Mastercard, in US. See the link I posted. Though they say individual contracts could be different. The link shows how to report merchants who break those rules.

    Exactly. The restaurant owners can post more reasonable prices if they don’t pay a decent wage to the waitstaff, who then depend on tips to live?


    As for credit card surcharges, in the Visa rules you posted, aficionado , this caught my eye:

    “[Merchant must] Disclose the surcharge as a merchant fee and, for both in-store and online transactions, clearly alert consumers to the practice at the point of entry, the point of sale or transaction, and on every receipt.”

    I’m going to start looking for a sign at the ‘point of entry.’