Argentinian Pesos - Western Union

Ballard

I learnt yesterday that Argentina operates two exchange rates. The ‘red’ official rate and the ‘blue’ rate on the black market. The difference is huge (250-480) and debit/credit cards would be the official ‘red’ rate.

This means that for the first time in absolutely yonks I’ll be avoiding my usual cards and getting cash.

From what I can see, the best way seems to be Western Union. I haven’t used their service before but have the app. I believe that I can send myself cash to collect from a WU office and get the blue rate but I’ve never done this. Does anyone have any experience of WU, particularly in Argentina? I read that this option is used by locals so queues of an hour or more are standard there.

Finally, a niche question… does anyone know whether it’s possible to collect ARS in Uruguay? I start my trip there so it would be handy if I could pick the cash up there and possibly avoid queuing.