wrong.

Ah, you still need proof of flight for Brazil in BsAs? I didn't even have a flight reservation into Brazil at that point (in Lima) and still got it fine, no questions. Might be different though.

When was this? LC said he applied for his about 6 months ago. Could be a timing thing or just that specific embassy in Lima. Hearing this surprises me anyway. They like to be as unhelpful as possible.

When I applied for mine (2 years ago or so), they wouldn't take your paperwork unless you had EVERYTHING they asked for. Copies of credit cards, bank statements, itinerary and a few other things.

i applied for mine in Lima around april of 2010. also, i had most of that stuff (didn't have my official yellow fever doc due to me being a tard but had a medical form showing i got it).

you got lucky, because the consulates don't check your documents very closely. but flight is required, and you gave out incorrect advice.

Both times that I've gotten the visa, they were very specific about asking to see if I had everything. They never actually verified that I had everything though, especially the second time.

Any thoughts on where I should take the wife this weekend for belated Valentine's Day? Haven't been eating in Capital much for the past couple years. Any spectacular new places?

Also, a restaurant I mentioned a few times a few years ago when it opened, El Baqueano, got a NYTimes review http://travel.nytimes.com//2011/02/1...staurants.html

Getting argentine pesos in Canada seems hard. What's the best way for me to do that?

If I just pay for things in USD, will I get raped?

I'd like to ideally get vigged for less than 5% the real exchange rate. Will banks hook me up in Argentina?

I'm going to be in Argentina for 3 months.

Were you looking for someplace other than El Baqueano? I loved that place and would happily go again. I highly recommend it. I also found it very affordable for what you received.

A few months ago I went here:

http://www.arambururesto.com/

Not sure but think it is pretty new. I thought it was excellent but if I were to pick one over the other I would pick El Baqueano.

Most places want rent in USD; if you pay in pesos you're paying the conversion fee twice.

Most people get money (pesos) from ATMs. It's 3% for currency conversion plus the ATM fee. I use Citibank machines with my Citibank card to avoid the ATM fee. I've never checked to see how their rates compare to the reported exchange rate at the time, but in looking at my bank statement the amounts never struck me as unusual. There are also money exchange houses. At the airport it's lol-bad but otherwise they should be reasonable, but I don't know the exact cut that they take. You'll need to have your passport with you (not just a copy) to use them.

you can also find a creditcard that has 0% forex fee and pay most of your expenditures by card.

To be honest, they should've been separate posts. The wife was pretty underwhelmed by El Baqueano when we went bc she thought it was all weird, but she's become a little more of an adventurous eater (note for new visitors to this thread: Portenos are very unadventurous eaters) after living with me. I want to go back to El Baqueano because I think the tasting menu is just amazing, but I figure I should consider something upscale that she might like

Arambu looks interesting. Might have to check it out -- it must be new over the past year and a half bc I've never heard of it.

I'm probably leaving this summer, so I'm trying to figure out which tasting menus I really want to do again before I go. Baqueano and Thymus are definitely on the list.

Don't know Thymus. I will have to check it out. But another one is Chila in Puerto Madero. A bit pricey but IMO worth it. 2 birthdays ago we had a great meal and a legendary CCR experience. They have a great selection of different meats that I really like, deer, lamb, molleja, quail, duck which were all great but probably the fish dishes were best which is something remarkable for Buenos Aires.

guys, I'm from Canada so there's definitely no forex-free card and I feel like I'm going to get raped if I use ATMs. I guess I'll go to my bank and ask.

bring as much cash as you think you'll need. Try to avoid withdrawing IMO..13 pesos every withdrawal adds up pretty fast

If you're only using the ATM for food and entertainment money, those ATM fees are never going to be more than a rounding error on your total expenditures for a 3 month trip. I'm all for pinching pennies but at some point you have to consider whether the risks of carrying additional cash and spending the extra time changing your money (ie, finding and actually transporting yourself to an exchange house and possibly waiting in line) is worth the savings.

700 pesos was the max withdrawal at a generic ATM the last time I used one which was quite a while ago. If that's still the same and 13 pesos is the ATM fee then that's just less than 2%. If you go out a decent amount but don't do anything crazy, you probably go to the ATM 6 times in 3 months at most, which is about 20 USD.

Of course there might also be a difference in the rates offered between the two options, but I'm assuming that they are about the same.

Just my 2 cents.

go to a Citibank ATM and max withdrawal is 3k pesos or higher.

Don't forget that most guys who are there will go out for dinner close to daily so you also need money for that. So 6 times atm will not cut it for most people.. I went to the bank every 3-4 days fwiw, going out a lot and for dinners almost ever day

actually I realized that I was basing my estimates off of my own habits without adjusting for the fact that I do 1000 pesos at a time (citibank). But even still, it takes some effort to spend 100 pesos per day consistently. But going out to eat daily and having wine, taking cabs everywhere, and partying a lot would get it done. That's what I'd consider crazy though.

Yea it's all about perception. For some thats crazy, others that come will do these things because they wanna have an unforgettable 3 months. On the same token i don't agree with your 100pesos a day. When going out, 100 pesos isn't a lot (unless you drink drafted beer). whisky-coke and other similar drinks easily go 30pesos/consumption. Dinner can be as cheap/expensive as you please tho.

That's why i suggested taking as much cash as they might wanna spend. Rent is in usd, you keep that apart and it will only take one time going to the bank and waiting for the liberty of having pesos at your house w/o having to run to atm's all the time. Don't know how it is there now but last year atm's in Palermo during the weekends were a pain in the ass (out of money, so often you had to run to 3 different to get some money, if you could find one that worked at all)

Sorry, but this is just bad advice. Almost all ATM's allow a cap of 1000 pesos/transaction now. If your bank is scalping you for a 3% FX fee, switch banks. Now. You should get a fairly tight interbank rate from ATM withdrawals. All Argentine ATM's charge you approximately 16 pesos a pop, and then your home bank can possibly charge you another $3USD (or something in that realm) fee on top of that. I need to go to the ATM considerably more than you...obviously different lifestyles, but unless you eat pasta at home every night and don't consume any alcohol, you are going to spend more than that.

Best is to open a bank account in the states that rebates ATM fees, like Charles Schwab. That will save you a fair amount on fees, as they don't charge a fee themselves, and will rebate the 16peso fee that is charged by the Argentine bank. It's not a bad idea to actually have a couple of banks at home, just in case there is an issue with your ATM card.

There are some new credit cards that are now waiving FX fees, which typically run around 3% on foreign purchases. The AmEx Platinum card is going to start waiving that fee by the end of next month (then again it has a $450 annual fee, but has a lot of other perks also). I think there is a new British Airways card from Chase that also waives those fees. I'm sure there are others, as well.

I would suggest bringing USD's for your rent and security deposit. Get spending money from ATM's, as I personally do not like having a wad of cash lying around.

Also, at EZE if you want to exchange some cash for pesos, there is a Banco La Nacion on the right just after the baggage scanners. They will give you a fair exchange rate. Don't use any of the other casa de cambio places in there or you will get scalped.

Just my 2 cents.

Our mtt crew of 4 is doing dinner at El Baqueno on Wednesday at 10pm and thought we'd extend an invite to any 2+2ers who'd like to join.

Afterwards we'll be grabbing cocktails at The Doppel Bar so if you can't make dinner consider stopping by later on

Going to look into reservations for El Baqueno...if you think you might come let me know so I can reserve enough space.

Cheers

i'm in. are you going for the 7 course tasting menu? if you choose for that it has to be served for the whole table is written on their website.

you have to do the tasting menu at Baqueano or there's no point.

if y'all were doing it a bit earlier than 10pm, i'd try to make it, but 10 is a bit late for me to get back home to the provincia.

Can any of you Brazilian visa holders tell me what exactly I need to roll up there with when I apply?

flight reservation/confirmation
lodging contact info
bank statement?

i cant seem to find much on the interwebs