Currently hot topic among travelers to Argentina is the foreign tourist dollar exchange rate. Tourist credit card payments will be processed at almost the dollar Blue rate. Actually, it will be the dollar MEP rate which is close to the dollar blue rate. But what about the tourist card payment at the dollar blue rate? Read this article before you make any card payments in Argentina because the situation changed in April 2025! Check out the video below.
Read also: the best hotels in Buenos Aires
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What is the foreign tourist dollar?
In Argentina, there are many exchange rates. Those exchange rates do not follow the official exchange rate that you can find on XE.com or the National Bank of Argentina.
However, the situation became a bit simpler again since April 2025. There is no foreign tourist dollar anymore when paying by credit card. The exchange rate you receive when paying by card is slightly lower than when exchanging cash.
See the video below for the latest update:
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How does it work the tourist dollar in Argentina?
From April 2025, paying by credit card is the same as the official exchange rate from the national bank. In general the rate you receive when paying by credit card is a bit lower. The exchange rate is directly applied when paying. You can see the exchange rate you can receive on my post “best places to exchange money in Buenos Aires”. Also, you will see other options to exchange your curreny and try to make a litte bit of profit on it.
Lifting of currency restrictions
From April 2025, paying by credit card follows the official exchange rate from the national bank. In general, the rate you receive when paying by card is a bit lower compared to exchanging cash. The exchange rate is applied directly at the moment of payment.
You can check the exchange rate you can receive on my post “best places to exchange money in Buenos Aires“. There you will also find other options to exchange your currency and try to make a little bit of profit on it.
Read also: where to stay in Buenos Aires? Neighborhood tips.
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What about the Dollar Blue?
At the moment, it is best to bring cash when traveling to Argentina and exchange it on Calle Florida for the Dollar Blue. Even exchanging at official banks or offices gives a better rate than paying with your credit card, although the difference is small.
The Dollar Blue still exists in Argentina, and as a tourist, you can exchange money at that rate.
Is paying with credit card safe in Argentina?
Yes, the payment systems in Argentina are secure and the banking system is very solid. In all the years I have lived in Argentina, I have never encountered any scam when paying by credit card. The payment terminals are trustworthy and follow strict security measures.
Of course, as everywhere in the world, it is always smart to keep an eye on your card during the transaction and make sure they process the payment in front of you. But overall, paying by card in Argentina is safe and reliable.
What about tipping, small purchases from individuals, etc.? Do they accept US Dollars cash? (It seems that they would prefer this as they can hold them until needed and get a better exchange rate.) Thanks!
Some stores accept USD cash. Normally they advertise this on the outside of the store. But ARS is the currency to use.
Hi Glenn maye you can help. We arrived today and we realized that restaurants and even shops offered a discount up to 20% if we pay in cash instead of credit card. The AR system is already something special but why do they prefer Pesos? It’s a bit complex for beginners because we don’t bring bundles of cash to Argentina to exchange US dollars for pesos only to enjoy the discount they offer. And withdrawing money by credit card seems to become very expensive, today we met a woman who paid a fee of 12 dollars at the ATM for 50 US dollars …
Hi Glenn,
Thanks for all of the information, find it very helpful but also quite confusing!! Travelling to BA from Britain in February, been looking at hotels. I have no idea wether to pay for the hotel in advance at a rate I am happy with to avoid an unpleasant surprise later on or to wait and pay on arrival, any tips as to the best way to go about bookings?
Cheers,
Andrew
Hi Andrew, if the rate per night in a stable currency is ok. I would pay in advance. At this moment the rate between the Argentine Peso and Dollar Blue rate / Tourist Exchange rate is small.
Hi, Glenn, you “saved us’ in B.A. two years ago. Do you think I would get the “Tourist Rate” on my Visa card from Aerolineas Argentinas for flights soley withing Argentina? Thanks.
Hi Joseph, thanks for contacting me again 🙂 If you pay in ARS you should normally get the Tourist Rate. But you can see that at the checkout of the payment page.
Hi Glenn
I’ve just returned from BA and can share my experience of using my UK issued Mastercard Credit Card.
Every transaction was processed immediately at around £1=ARS 1230 (ie The Tourist Dollar Rate adjusted to GBP), so no need to wait for refunds as you described above.
Reading your articles ahead of arriving in BA were very helpful: keep up the good work !
Would you get the blue dollar rate if your booked a domestic or international flight from an Argentina airport? Thanks
I believe not. But depends on the calculation and price that the airline uses.
Thanks Glenn. I will be in BA in October and was there in May last year. I was wondering if I purchased a ticket with AA to Bogota using my visa card for payment if the blue dollar rate would apply? Thanks again.
I am currently in Argentina where I bought a few things with my credit card to check the exchange rate used. So far I h
have been payed 930 per dollar. Is there a web site where the tourist exchange rate is listed on a day to day basis? Thank you very much!
Hello Glenn,
I just checked the rate of the Blue Dollar January 29/24.
Yesterday was U$1 = ARS 1,195
Today is U$1= ARS 6,487!!!! Is this true??
This is insane
Thank you
Never mind Glenn, It came to normal now. About 1,200.
Hi – we are travelling from the UK to Argentina and just thinking of using our credit card (pounds) as our main way to pay for things. I noticed this statement in the article above: “There is no foreign dollar exchange rate for the EURO. It will follow the USD rate.” could you expand on this please? Does that mean that we will be charged at the official rate for using a pounds credit card rather than at the MEP rate for a dollar credit card? Or will we be charged at the dollar mep rate and then our credit card company will convert from dollars to pounds? Its a little confusing! All help appreciated and we have just downloaded your app! Thanks
Hi, thank you for downloading my app :-). About the exchange rate with a credit card, I would suggest buying something small and see later on your bank statement which rate they used. It changes many times and maybe it is already different again. Testing is in my opinion the safest way.
Hi Glenn: under the section subtitled “Two Important Things,” are you saying that the credit card company is using the Tourist Rate of 917 ARS while the tourism company is using the MEP Rate of 1010 ARS? If this is the case, by using a foreign credit card, everything would cost 110.14% of the listed MEP Rate price ((1010÷917) x 100), or 10.14% more. If this is what is happening, this is terrible! It seems that the situation in Argentina is changing rapidly – I think you are going to be kept very busy keeping up with things! Keep up the great work Glenn!
I have the same question.
I do not understand this part
“ the company charges you at the MEP rate, you will lose money because of the new regulations. The company wants to receive 10 USD worth in ARS at the MEP rate to buy USD. So, they will charge you 10100 ARS. If you paid then with your credit card, you have paid 11,01 USD.”
Shouldn’t the MEP rate be better all the time with a credit card?
Hi Stephane, a company in Argentina exchanges their ARS to USD via MEP. Which is a stock exchange rate. However, that rate changes quickly too based on demand.
Secondly, the tourist exchange rate does not follow the MEP rate. It is mostly lower than the MEP rate.
In practice this means that companies will tell you “this service costs 100 USD”. They convert the USD x MEP rate = ARS you will pay. However, your tourist exchange rate can be lower. Meaning that the 100 USD will costs at the end 105 USD maybe.
Don’t all these tourist places understand that they are killing their business by charging large amounts in dollars without a good reduction based on the blue dollar? Hotel prices have become insane without the significant difference between the official rate and the blue dollar rate! I have planned a trip to Argentina in November but will cancel my whole itinerary if the real USD prices don’t become more affordable. Who will pay real USD 1100 for the Melia in Puerto Iguacu?
Hi Hubert, it are strange times here with the US Dollar. Prices are increasing in USD, and people lower consumer spending. Some businesses are dropping their prices again. I believe we have to wait some time in hope that the situation cools down and prices too.
She are due to arrive in early Feb 2024 for 5 weeks visiting ARG / CHILE. What a pain all the currency conversion is!!!! Thank you for providing this information to us tourists / visitors.
Question: We have pre-booked all accommodation via Booking.com – Example of one accommodation with a ” You will pay X Hotel is USD (1,232 USD) according the exchange rate on the day of payment. The amount displayed in AUD (1,829 AUD) is i=just an estimate based on TODAY”S exchange rate for USD” – Which will be the “exchange rate”? Official, Foreign Tourist,Dollar Blue or MEP? We are confused.
Should we cancel our Bookings?
Hi, normally if you pay with your international credit card the system will use the tourist exchange rate. They will ask to pay in ARS. It depends on the hotel which rate they will use. Normally the official but I am not sure.
Hi Glen,
I’ve used my debit visa card in the first 3 days here but I see a exchange rate at 930 pesos / 1 dollar instead of the $1,033 on the newspapers. Is this going be refunded after few days to match the current rate?
Best
Normally you will receive a refund. But the rate in the newspaper can be blue rate. Which is not the one the card uses.
Hi Glenn!
A question about all this and the above. Very interesting. We are in Argentina now and have to pay for a language course. The prices are in US dollar but the school offered us to pay in Pesos. The school uses the blue market Dollar rate (which is 1 to 1000 today!) if we get cash at Western Union, we don’t get this 1 on 1 rate but less ,I think I saw the MEP rate to be at 930? So we actually have to withdrawal more money to get to the same amount the school is asking from us. They do want to give us a discount around 15-20% if we pay cash… But if I read this I think it might not be worth it going back and forth to a Western Union, waiting in line, with the risk they don’t have that amount of cash in the house etc. etc.
Could you help us out?
Hi Pien, this indeed now a common practice and a result that you. Sometimes you pay more with card. Going to WU is a good option but I am not aware when there are long waiting lines. But a better option indeed.
Hi Glenn, thanks for your information. I’m still a little bit confused and I hope you can guide me. My trip is this next 12/20. I have already booked a place but I don’t know what to do in terms of if it’s better that bring 100 USD bills or just use my Visa credit card. I’ll be spending 20 days there. Thank you.
Hi Jacobo, it is always good to have USD cash with you. The difference – at this moment – between the Dollar Blue and Tourist exchange (credit card) is almost 0%. Paying with the credit card or USD cash is the same … for now. Everything changes quickly here.
I appreciate your reply.
Hi Glenn. Am I correct that I can tip people in US dollars while traveling to Buenos Aires? Small bills are acceptable to folks? I will only be there for 3 days before a cruise and hate to exchange money if I don’t need to. Thanks!
Hi Sue, sure that will be just fine.
Is there any chance of the Tourist dollar receiving the same devaluation or will everything from now on only affect the official ARS? Because if Milei introduces another devaluation for ARS only, we would end up with having a worse exchange rate with the tourist dollar, right? Wouldn’t that kill all of argentinas tourism?
Hi Lars, there will be a monthly gradual devaluation of 2% from now. At this moment, there is only a devaluation on the official exchange rate. The tourist exchange rate will probably stay where it is now, for now. All things can change day-by-day.
Hi Glenn,
If in the past I paid $20 USD for cleaning service in BA, would I now pay double ($40USD) with the recent devaluation? Or still $20 USD? I’m sorry, this is all so confusing to me.
It depends if the cleaning service increased the price in ARS and if you paid the price linked to the National Bank rate yes or no.
If the cleaning service linked their prices to the dollar. Then indeed the price will increase. If they keep in ARS and increase gradually, then the price increase should be small. But I expect that all prices will match the new exchange rate of 800 ARS. If you than pay from USD to ARS, the price will go to 40 USD probably.
Hi Glen,
Great blog, some really useful tips! Still worried about being ripped off, because some of the quoted prices are steep 😱, so I’m relying on getting that ~40% ‘discount’!!!
For example, if I’m quoted hotel price in US$, but they say I can also pay in peso cash at the official exchange rate +21%vat , I’m not making any saving, or am I? Do you still get charged vat if you pay in peso cash?
Do I want to avoid paying in US cash for hotels? If I pay by peso cash, am I still getting a good rate paying at official exchange rate?
They also mentioned if I pay by card, I get charged 40% more because charged in dollars. Do you usually have a choice to pay in peso by card, is that usually possible? Will I still get MEP rate if I pay by card in US$ or is it just for peso?
Thanks!
Hi Linda, to get the 21% VAT exemption you need to pay the hotel with an international credit card. Normally the hotel should charge you in the official currency ARS. But of course they can apply the blue rate to it which will end up the same in USD.
However, you can pay in ARS cash but than indeed the 21% VAT will apply. And they can still charge you at the blue rate.
As mentioned in the article, it becomes more and more difficult to get a major discount.
Today – December 12th, 2023 – the new government will announce new economical measurements. Which can have an effect on tourists.
I keep everybody here up to date about the tourist exchange dollar.
Would love a full update on the new changes in December impact tourist in early 2024 travel dates!
How will blue dollar and tourist dollar follow this devaluation?
The difference is small now. Official is 800, blue 960 and tourist 945. For now, the benefit negligible.
The way I see it, everyone in argentine got 54% wage cut. The problem here now, as devaluation of pesos will continue by 2% every month, that it is good for exports, but bad for imports. So business wins here. Second thing here is that the common people will search for dollars even more, when you know that your purchasing power is lower every month. I suppose, give it some time, a month, and the blue dollar market will rise again.
Hi Glenn,
Do most cafes and restaurants give a discount for paying in cash?
Regards,
Aidan
Linda,
In response to your hotel question, I’ve been staying at Marriott and IHG hotels for the past month. Before the official rate doubled yesterday from 400.50 to 820 pesos, it was 100% cheaper to pay pesos. He’s how the hotels calculate the peso price.
Let’s say on the Marriott app that a hotel room is $100. You multiply that dollar amount (100) by the official rate (820) which equals to 82,000 pesos, roughly $82 dollars. All hotels doubled in price today. The official rate was 400.50 yesterday so do the same math $100 × 400.50 = 40,050 pesos roughly $40 dollars. I had hotels booked this whole month I’m canceling all of them and getting an airbnb.
All the math mentioned above for hotel prices will change whether you pay in cash (pesos) or foreign credit card. Cash will add a 21% tax/fee. With credit card, you will not pay the 21% tax.
So your hotel bill above is 82000 pesos total. You divide 82000 by the visa rate which is 945 today and you get $86.77 per night total no taxes and fees. It used to be half that yesterday.
Thanks for your blog! Very helpful. I have the first experiences. I paid 20k ARS and my bank (UBS) charged me 19.15CHF so ~22USD means ~910ARG . The official rate for blue dollar was this day ~970, I managed to change for 950. So I got 7% less than Blue, and 4% less than I was able to negotiate. Western union offered 920 that day. So I would say first option cash, second Credit card, third official exchange office. I also tried Revolut and pay in USD, don’t do it! I was charged official rate ~400.
Cheers!
Hi Glen,
The difference between the blue Dollar rate if you physically exchange money and MEP via your credit card seems to sit around 15%. How does this work out when paying for a hotel stay? I understood that when using a foreign card for hotel stays they don’t charge VAT. If so, this would off-set the 15% margin which I mentioned above and could potentially make it even more appealing to use a card or am I missing something. Thanks.
Hi Maarten, to get the VAT discount you need to pay with an international credit card. It all depends which rate the hotel uses. The official or blue. If they use the official… then you are lucky. If they use the Blue rate you will end up at the same amount in USD but no VAT.
Maarten,
You gotta do the math which one is cheaper. As I mentioned in another comment, I’ve been staying at Marriotts and IHG hotels in BA for the past month. There was an few days 2 weeks ago where the credit card rate was around 767, so say your hotel bill is 50,000 pesos. Add 21% for cash and it’s 60,500 pesos total (roughly $60) Or, you could use card and get charged 50,000 pesos on your card, you divide that by the visa rate of 767= $65.19. So in this scenario, paying cash WITH the added 21% would be cheaper by $5 per night. Trust me, it’s a hassle here keeping up with the exchange rates as they change daily and you’ll be doing a lot of grade school math 😆
This is the rate Visa uses. It’s 100% accurate as I’ve tested it out many times.
https://dolar-turista.fiservargentina.com/
Visa and Mastercard charges show up instantly for me. I use Chase bank. But I’ve notice Visa is accurate with the above website but Mastercard is not. The day I tested it the rate was 895 and Visa was spot on, but Mastercard was at a 820 after my calculations. If you have Visa, you Visa.
“Afterward, you can use the credit card everywhere. The best is at restaurants and local stores. They will charge you at the official exchange rate and get the most profit. On top of that, almost no risk of paying double because it’s the official exchange rate.”
I’m not sure I understand the above, in particular “charge you at the official exchange rate”. When I travel overseas, I get charged in the local currency. Then my bank converts it to dollars at their rate. So presumably I’m paying in pesos, an exchange rate is n/a at that point. What am I missing?
Hi Morgan, restaurants and local stores are having “normal Argentine Peso” prices as also locals are going there. So, they will ask for 36.500 ARS for a dinner. Which is officially 100 USD but you pay with your credit card 50 USD for example. At tourist activities such as tango shows, bike tours, boat tours, etc… they will ask 73.000 ARS. Because they know that you have a benefit with your credit card. At the end you will pay 100 USD but first you will get charged 200 USD with afterward a refund. The rate of that refund you don’t know. It’s based on the exchange rate of that day.
Hello! I have an upcoming trip to Bs.As. and Patagonia and am in the process of researching accommodation. What is the best site / app to book hotels in Argentina these days? Airbnb is dollarized, must be paid up front, and won’t refund VAT. Booking.com and Agoda offer direct pay to properties, but they, too, seem dollarized (at least for Patagonia). In fact, when I asked about exchange rate, no one seems to want to deal with the official rate, essentially bringing the peso price to the same level as the dollar price.
Hi Susan, what you say is correct. Almost everything for tourist these days will get charged at the “unofficial” rate = same as US dollar. They need to accept Argentine pesos cash or by card, but indeed at the higher rate. That’s how it goes here these days.
Thanks for the reply, Glenn!!
Thanks for all the useful infos
I have a Mastercard (HSBC) and a Visa (Scotiabank) from Canada.
Any idea if there was a website online I could try a small charge in ARS (like a dollar) to make a test and see how much both cards charge me before making more purchases?
Thanks a lot
Just came back from BA and was solely using VISA card; exchange rate was about 372.45ARS for USD (454.39ARS for GBP). Be aware that this is an exchange rate used by VISA and your bank may charge other fees on top – that’s where the difference may be; worth noting that cashpoints would charge you 24ARS service fee but I’m not sure what the withdrawal limit is. Also take into account that places with good exchange rates had loooong queues in front of them; And, some places, like Recoleta Cemetery, was only accepting cards.
Was in Ushuaia and BA mid to end April 2023- Charged as much as i could on JPMC Visa, conversion was instant to about 20-30 Pesos lower than Blue Rate and no transaction fees. Amex charged full amount first, then issued a credit about a week later to bring it back to the 20-30 Pesos discount on Blue Rate. (Note: depending on the card, the provider may charge another transaction fee).
I was in BA last month and received multiple refunds on my Amex, but there’s one transaction for 450 dollars that I never received a refund – now I’m scratching my head trying to figure out what to do.
Also take into account that places with good exchange rates had loooong queues in front of them; And, some places, like Recoleta Cemetery, was only accepting cards.
I have been in Argentina for a month, and using your card, there is no way to get a tourist rate. You need to come with cash, go to Uruguay, or use some sort of money program to send money to yourself and you get close to blue rate but they will take at least 30 pesos off the blue rate. That rate is still better than the official. So I just send myself cash, and that’s how I do it.
As of yesterday, this doesn’t work anymore. Visa is back to the official rate. Be careful! Don’t use your card if you don’t want to pay double!
Hi just wanted to share my experience, my bf and I have been using our Charles Schwab Visa card and have been getting a rate the Blue rate! We aren’t sure if it works for buying things online 🤔
Hi Maria. Were you using the Schwab VISA debit card? I was told by Schwab to choose the Argentine peso option and not the US dollar option when signing off on the transactions in order to get the MEP rate. Is this information correct? Thank you for sharing.
That’s correct. Always pay in ARS. However, make first a small payment and check if the MEP rate gets processed on your credit card.
Hi Glen,
How can I test my credit card to see if MEP rate gets processed before arriving in BA? What small payment can I make in the US to test this? Is it better to use a Master Card or an American Express card in BA?
Thank you.
Hi Jane, unfortunately you cannot check the MEP rate with a credit card payment outside. However, you can buy a small thing on MercadoLibre but you need to have a delivery address.
hey Glenn, glad I found your blog and appreciate all the helpful information. checked a few other blogs as well about blue rate payment and still wondering whether it’s working and even more whether it’s also working with an EU/EURO Credit card. Maybe you (or someone else) has an update on that?
Hi Benedikt, normally it should work. But sometimes not. Debit cards for example no. Amex also not. Touristic activities are mostly in USD.
Appears the Credit Card will use a blue (or close to) rate is not happening. Can others please keep updating their experiences as to if they get a close to blue rate or a refund? Thanks.
Anyone know if you can while in Buenos Aires send money to yourself via Western Union using your ATM or credit card
This is fake news. Bought a ticket for Teatro Flores in AR$ online using Mercado Pago, got charged the (ripoff) official rate. I would still advise to use cash for everything while in Argentina!
Just tried it in the Jumbo supermarket with my Maestro Card. I was charged the common official rate, curious if I’ll get a refund later.
paid with mastercard on 13 Dec and the tourist rate still not applying!! Western Union is an option but for some countries (like South Africa where I live- I’m from here) you do need to be there to transfer as the app doesnt work.. and of course the idea is to avoid carrying so much cash ufffffff
Thank for sharing your experience. Some are reporting getting a refund on MC payments. Have you since received a refund? Thanks.
Hi there Maria, could you perhaps elaborate a bit more on what you mean when you said, South Africans need to be there for the app to work. I’m still here in SA and want to transfer funds to myself and collect it in BA via WU. Do you mean the app does not work while we are in SA?
Hi Maria, I’m also from South Africa and curious if there’s any update…
Dec 7 and onwards: Several of us made credit card payments at hotels and restaurants, all charged at official rate. One of us got refunds on certain (but not all) transactions to the tune of 45% of the transaction amount. Neither the merchant not the credit card company recognize the refund so we’re wondering if Mastercard corrected the ARS to USD rate on those transactions…
Western Union is giving 330 pesos to the dollar on any WU transactions sent to Argentina. Have sent money recently and will again to myself before i travel down there.
One of the WU places that will give you money is Pago Facil at 825 Montevideo Buenos Aires. I called them to see if they could handle a 500 dollar exchange and they said no problem..
Only issue is walking around BS As with a wad of 1000 peso notes in your pocket or bag.
They are lying. They run out of money constantly. They have massive lines (1-2 hours) and you don’t know if they are out of money until you get to the front of the line. Also, they may hand it all to you in 100s. I’m here right now and experiencing it.
Update Dec 11 2022: still not working with Visa Credit Card. Paid the entrance to Recoleta cemetery with card (only option) and it used the official exchange rate.
You should talk about the option of using Western Union to transfer money to yourself. Western Union uses the blue dollar rate. It is very practical , easy to do and avoids you carrying piles of us dollar cash. There are Western Union offices everywhere in Argentina. Thanks
Hi Gilles, in the article “where to exchange money in Buenos Aires” I explain that option 😊
I’m in Argentina and it’s still not working, 3 weeks after it was announced. Given that the banks in Argentina are essentially owned by the government, I doubt it will ever be put in effect given there general lack of competence in nearly everything.
Unfortunately, it is still not working. So I‘ll keep on exchanging at the „cuevas“. It is shameful that the government announces the new exchange to be effective as of November 4th and it is still not working. I am sure that the problem lies with the Argentine government.
do you have any suggestions for paying for car rental in Argentina? They all seem to want paying by credit card which would probably mean the terrible official exchange rate.
thanks
Graham
Hi Graham, search on Google for a local car rental and ask to pay cash. In smaller cities they do it often.
I am in Argentina now November 18 and have been testing this for a couple weeks….it is not working on my USA Credit Cards (Visa or MC)
Shane, thank you for this update. and Glenn for your post. I will be travelling to Buenos Aires. My brother-in-law mentioend this new rate for foreigners using their credit cards, but clearly this seems easier said than done.
Hi- Love your site.
Usually get hotels near Ave Florida so I can find a blue dollar Cambio. But this time for a special reason I have a hotel near Ave San Juan and Ave Passeo Coln – San Telmo. Do you know of any trustworthy “cueva” around that area.
Or I guess I am in for a long walk
Kind regards
David T – Tasmania
Hi David, there is exchange office in San Telmo. A “cueva” is more around Av. Florida.
Just go to any western union. My niece got a rate of 304 for one USD
I used my Master Card few times this week (Nov. 7 to 11 ) and the exchange rate i got was 162. I have stopped using the card and I am only using cash that I received thru Western Union.