I offer some advice for your visit to Buenos Aires. 1. Bring a debit card or credit card for obtaining cash from the Banelco ATM machines which are located on the main streets and in banks. Transactions can be done in Spanish or English after entering your PIN. You can withdraw pesos ($10 denominations) or US dollars ($50 or $100 denominations). It is possible to withdraw more than the normal $300 limit per day. One piece of plastic is all you need.
2. Do not carry a lot of cash or all your credit cards when going around the city. 3. If you bring US currency, be sure the bills are new, unmarked and not torn in any way. Otherwise, they will not be accepted. I had a problem paying for food with a torn $50 bill and had to exchange it with someone who was returning to the US. 4. Small stores, buses and subways, post offices only accept the Argentine currency. Milongas will accept US dollars, but prefer that you pay in pesos. The waiters return $1 bills they get from the tourists to me for my change. Argentina circulates the $50 and $100 US bills. Smaller denominations are not used. 5. Travelers cheques are bothersome since you must go to the American Express office to cash them. 6. Banks are open Monday through Friday from 9:00am to 3:00pm. If you need coins (monedas) for taxis, buses or subway, try to get a roll of $1 coins at the bank. 7. In order to use a credit card for a purchase, you may be asked to show another form of identification so that they are certain the card was not stolen. Have a photocopy of your passport with you. Anyone who uses a credit card here must provide their official document number. Credit card fraud has been reduced. 8. Do ATM transactions during the day if you are withdrawing a large amount of money. Don't carry it around with you all day and to the milongas. Take only what you need for the day. 9. Expect to encounter people asking you for money--on the street, in the restaurants, on the subway. You will have some idea of the serious economic crisis Argentina is facing. People are trying to sell you something to earn some money to survive. 10. Some stores offer a 10% reduction in price for cash payment. Pichi
