If you’ve decided you want to take a trip to Argentina, whether you’re already travelling or as a 2 week holiday, you’ll need to consider more than just what to pack and where to stay.
Argentina is currently in the midst of hyper inflation, which means their currency isn’t exactly holding strong. In any other country you could expect to exchange your money and get a few cent either side of what you exchanged. Not in Argentina. If you exchange your money in any of their financial institutions or national banks, you can expect to get HALF, if not less for what you gave them. This would make for a very expense trip.
As of May 2023, if you exchange €1 you will receive in and around $200ARS.
Thankfully there’s a way around this mess to make your money go much further. Introducing the Blue Dollar. This is essentially a rate that exists in Argentina that will give you double that of the national banks. So €1 will now be worth in and around $400ARS.
How do I get this rate you ask? Simple. Western Union. This is a financial institution that allows you to take out Argentinian Dollars at this more favourable rate.
All you need to do is set up an account with them. This is super simple. Send money from your bank account to your new Western Union account. You’ll see the exchange rate they offer as you send the money. Head down to your local Western Union branch and take out the money you’ve transferred.
This is how you ensure you get the Blue Dollar rate. Easy.
It’s worth noting that sometimes these branch’s may not have all the money you wish to withdraw, so multiple trips to multiple branches may be required. However with that being said, this never happened to us, but may be more likely in bigger cities.