Cash or Card? Countries where you still need cash.

[SYD]

We just came back from Buenos Aires and Ushuaia. We didn't need a lot of cash and mainly used card. We caught Ubers everywhere, incl to / from AEP / Eze so that was paid by card

Yep. Used Uber there (and Chile, Uruguay) and know that CC/DCs work but it still looks like cash is king if you go to a Cambio.

18mths ago we’d cash $50 and leave with a wad of notes. That was ~350 pesos to the USD. Now it’s 1300+ .

Fortunately, we found an ATM in Uruguay that happily spat out fresh crisp USDs prior to getting to Argentina!

 

[kpc]

Yep. Used Uber there (and Chile, Uruguay) and know that CC/DCs work but it still looks like cash is king if you go to a Cambio.

18mths ago we’d cash $50 and leave with a wad of notes. That was ~350 pesos to the USD. Now it’s 1300+ .

Fortunately, we found an ATM in Uruguay that happily spat out fresh crisp USDs prior to getting to Argentina!

I think the rate difference between Cambio and card is not that big now to make it worthwhile but YMMV.

 

[SYD]

I think the rate difference between Cambio and card is not that big now to make it worthwhile but YMMV.

That’s what we thought but will double check.

The “official” Cambios are shockers - much worse than CC. The touts in Calle Florida can be dodgy but there are shops nearby that were quite good.

 

[Zero]

I've been told that the Amex exchange rate in Argentina is much better than Visa/MC even when taking into account Amex's forex fee

 

[NamarrgonFlyer]

Need cash in Fiji on the outer islands... even if you want to use a taxi on the Mainland - cash is the only option. But also if you want to buy souvenirs from the locals.

Some of the CC merchant fees the resorts add are also extortionate - up to 5.5% extra for MC/Visa/Amex ! Which is crazy as they all seemed to use ANZ terminals that are the same as in Australia.