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Banking Credit Card real-world rate "MEP" transaction repo (Dec2023)

StatusNomadicus

StatusNomadicus

Well-known member
16Dec2023 credit card (MasterCard) rate for a large pizza at Teque Pizza (surprisingly good BBQ Chicken Pizza, 7/10 overall)

6400 Pesos / $6.98 USD = 917 ARS/Dollar, MercadoPago ticket (i'm just going to round these to a whole number from now on, for future comparison simplicity)

hope no one had any property damage from that heavy rain last night! https://x.com/BowTiedMara/status/1736374840167133694?s=20
 
StatusNomadicus said:
16Dec2023 credit card (MasterCard) rate for a large pizza at Teque Pizza (surprisingly good BBQ Chicken Pizza, 7/10 overall)

6400 Pesos / $6.98 USD = 917 ARS/Dollar, MercadoPago ticket (i'm just going to round these to a whole number from now on, for future comparison simplicity)

hope no one had any property damage from that heavy rain last night! https://x.com/BowTiedMara/status/1736374840167133694?s=20
Click to expand...
Finally you found a good pizza! How did you find it? Thanks for posting on price. What a storm!
 
17Dec2023
-pizza/empanada/cheese sticks: 6100 Pesos / $6.65 = 917

18Dec2023
-coffee x4 and tostado: 6,600 Pesos / $7.20 USD = 917
-groceries at DIA supermarket: 6,993.45 Pesos / $7.63 USD = 917

(anyone else think it would be helpful, if Argentina keeps Pesos and makes them actually usable, to use a different symbol? it's so annoying seeing $ all the time. i know other countries do it, but there's a Pound symbol, a Euro symbol, a Yen symbol, etc. and for a country that uses USD sooooooo much, it's super confusing and must make things inefficient on some level. it does on my micro-level, at least. and i imagine fir you guys who have been here a long time and there was a sort of 1:3 ratio, it must have been daily confusion to switch your brain back and forth. maybe something like how ₱ is already used would be good?)
 
StatusNomadicus said:
17Dec2023
-pizza/empanada/cheese sticks: 6100 Pesos / $6.65 = 917

18Dec2023
-coffee x4 and tostado: 6,600 Pesos / $7.20 USD = 917
-groceries at DIA supermarket: 6,993.45 Pesos / $7.63 USD = 917

(anyone else think it would be helpful, if Argentina keeps Pesos and makes them actually usable, to use a different symbol? it's so annoying seeing $ all the time. i know other countries do it, but there's a Pound symbol, a Euro symbol, a Yen symbol, etc. and for a country that uses USD sooooooo much, it's super confusing and must make things inefficient on some level. it does on my micro-level, at least. and i imagine fir you guys who have been here a long time and there was a sort of 1:3 ratio, it must have been daily confusion to switch your brain back and forth. maybe something like how ₱ is already used would be good?)
Click to expand...
Thanks for today's update. Strange how the exchange rate stayed the same even after 2 days. I know it weekend but still usually it moves more. I wonder if it will move much this week.

I don't think Argentina ever change the $ symbol. We have been using that for so long. I don't think the government cares if expats get confused! LOL.
 
18Dec2023 (PM around 21:00-22:30, earlier post was daytime)
-1 beer, 3500 Pesos / $3.75 USD = 933
-1 burger/2 beers, 18,000 Pesos / $19.27 USD = 934

(jumped from 917 to 934 yesterday)

note on Paseo La Plaza on Corrientes on the way to the Obelisk https://maps.app.goo.gl/1XNJuU6nqT6HCyLo6

...it is dog-friendly and the security guard keeps the nasties away from trying to sell you Kleenex while you're eating, but the prices are bonkers...too much for me. but super clean and food/beers have been good!

will post a MasterCard credit card actual rate tonight/tomorrow. 934 is better, but still not accurate for the MEP or Turista numbers here https://www.ambito.com/contenidos/dolar.html
 
Betsy Ross - I think these daily reports are really helpful @StatusNomadicus but maybe start a new thread or post on the MEP thread for greater visibility so people look. I don't think many people read these news article threads vs. Expat thread. Maybe you can start a new thread and request Moderators to move these. Also, I think on the MEP rates posted on Ambito the credit card companies still charge 3%. Even if you're credit card doesn't charge a forex fee Visa/MC/Amex take their cut. I think that's why it's different.
Click to expand...
Agreed, it was getting messy and I kept losing which thread I was posting in 😛 I was thinking about making a Twitter/X.com page that you could save and scroll, with a daily # for real-world MEP using my card(s), like how @ValorDolarBlue does on Twitter https://twitter.com/ValorDolarBlue

If that ends up being popular (X/Twitter is way less censored than Instagram/Facebook/Meta/etc. so it's my only social media now, other than this ExpatsBA.com forum), Mods can delete this thread and just have a quick-button to the main X/Twitter pages (Dólar Blue and MEP credit card) that users here want.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12Dec2023 935
13Dec2023 960-962
14Dec2023 945-963
15Dec2023 917
16Dec2023 917
17Dec2023 917
18Dec2023 917

19Dec2023
~18:30 beverages 7,180 Pesos / $7.99 = 899
~19:00 bakery for empanadas dinner and dessert 6,500 Pesos / $7.23 USD = 899

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(last night's 899 was the lowest i've seen so far since i've been tracking!)
and @Betsy Ross the only number i can get to make sense on https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html is to enter "0.5%" in the fee section, but then again i didn't do that last night at the time of spend, and i'm using MasterCard for these tests instead of Visa, until i hit my credit card spend to get 50,000 AA miles
 
Last edited:
StatusNomadicus said:
Agreed, it was getting messy and I kept losing which thread I was posting in 😛 I was thinking about making a Twitter/X.com page that you could save and scroll, with a daily # for real-world MEP using my card(s), like how @ValorDolarBlue does on Twitter https://twitter.com/ValorDolarBlue

If that ends up being popular (X/Twitter is way less censored than Instagram/Facebook/Meta/etc. so it's my only social media now, other than this ExpatsBA.com forum), Mods can delete this thread and just have a quick-button to the main X/Twitter pages (Dólar Blue and MEP credit card) that users here want.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12Dec2023 935
13Dec2023 960-962
14Dec2023 945-963
15Dec2023 917
16Dec2023 917
17Dec2023 917
18Dec2023 917

19Dec2023
~18:30 beverages 7,180 Pesos / $7.99 = 899
~19:00 bakery for empanadas dinner and dessert 6,500 Pesos / $7.23 USD = 899

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(last night's 899 was the lowest i've seen so far since i've been tracking!)
and @Betsy Ross the only number i can get to make sense on https://usa.visa.com/support/consumer/travel-support/exchange-rate-calculator.html is to enter "0.5%" in the fee section, but then again i didn't do that last night at the time of spend, and i'm using MasterCard for these tests instead of Visa, until i hit my credit card spend to get 50,000 AA miles
Click to expand...
@StatusNomadicus, thanks for taking the time to do this. Very cool of you.
 
Cardiac Arrest said:
The rate has skyrocketed up
Click to expand...
well, i'm not sure much has changed. the Peso lost value, but the Blue Dollar went up, so it's like like things are that cheap from when you were here (unless you remember specific prices and the exchange rate). a burger costing 5000 Pesos is like 6 dollars after tip, so even In 'N Out in california has comparable burgers (Redding CA location had double-doubles for 5.75 if i remember correctly).

@Bobbie Burgers if you're a twitter/X user, let me know how the page looks for you, and if there's a different text format or style that would be easier to glance at

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP
 
StatusNomadicus said:
well, i'm not sure much has changed. the Peso lost value, but the Blue Dollar went up, so it's like like things are that cheap from when you were here (unless you remember specific prices and the exchange rate). a burger costing 5000 Pesos is like 6 dollars after tip, so even In 'N Out in california has comparable burgers (Redding CA location had double-doubles for 5.75 if i remember correctly).

@Bobbie Burgers if you're a twitter/X user, let me know how the page looks for you, and if there's a different text format or style that would be easier to glance at

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP
Click to expand...
Dont use Twitter but I will take your word for it that it looks good!
 
StatusNomadicus said:
well, i'm not sure much has changed. the Peso lost value, but the Blue Dollar went up, so it's like like things are that cheap from when you were here (unless you remember specific prices and the exchange rate). a burger costing 5000 Pesos is like 6 dollars after tip, so even In 'N Out in california has comparable burgers (Redding CA location had double-doubles for 5.75 if i remember correctly).

@Bobbie Burgers if you're a twitter/X user, let me know how the page looks for you, and if there's a different text format or style that would be easier to glance at

www.twitter.com/ArgentinaMEP
Click to expand...
Yes I just saw it. You're a rock star. I don't use Twitter much at all. It's good to see it in a real time format like you're doing. Even when I charge I don't look at my own receipts and stuff. Sometimes it doesn't hit right away and I forget. Thanks for taking the time to do this.
 
Bravo for doing this. If you can keep it updated here too for people that don't have Twitter. None of my friends use Twitter. I'm not sure what you were implying for who doesn't use Twitter. I don't know anything about it. I just don't use any social media type things.
 
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