budget and the value of the peso

Back when I was a travel agent, I hated discussing my clients' budgets. One reason I liked to avoid the topic was that many of them wouldn't tell me how much they were willing to spend for fear that I would try to fleece them. Honestly, that hurt my feelings as I only fleeced the ones who were mean to me. ;) The other reason I hated this topic was that many of my clients had unrealistic expectations of the cost of spending a week in New York, Paris or Tokyo. See my clients preferred expensive destinations, and I didn't really want to be the one to break the bad news. However, if you're reading this post, then you are quite possibly interested in a trip to Buenos Aires, and I am happy to give you the (mostly) good monetary news!

Let's start with the airfare. If you don't plan a bit in advance (or unless you are as lucky as a four leaf clover) you can easily get taken to the cleaners. Look, I only promised mostly good news... Now, if you are staying less than a month (and definitely not more than four months), there are some really good deals out there. The lowest rate I ever saw between Los Angeles and Buenos Aires was about $500 US. Sounds pretty good for a fourteen hour flight, right? Well, so does that elusive $99 LAX-NYC fare, or the $29 LAX-Vegas ticket on Southwest (prices are one-way, before all the "take it in your rear" government taxes and greedy airline fees). Yep, you know as well as I do that you have to buy these fares before they disappear and you start believing that they're as fictitious as the Tooth Fairy. Honestly, the average fare that I sold from LA to BsAs fell between $700-$1000 US. If you see something under that range, snap it up before someone else does. Of course, I'm only talking about stays of less than 30 days (and definitely stays of less than four months). If you're going to be down here for longer than that, you'll have to wait for a detailed airfare post.

Okay, so now that we've swallowed that bitter budgetary pill, let's get on to the good stuff, the value of the peso. One US dollar is equal to about three Argentine pesos, but as far as I'm concerned, that means nothing to those of you who haven't been here post-economic crash. What you need to know is the peso's buying power, so let's see what you can get for three pesos...

café con leche and two medialunas (croissants). (Some cafes will also include a glass of mineral water and a glass on Tang for the same price.)
a sandwich/hamburger/hot dog/choripan and a soda at a "fast food" place
three alfajores (see “fed and watered in BsAs” post)
two newspapers
a glass of fresh squeezed orange juice (approx. one pint) and an alfajor
a wash cycle at a laundromat (Don't forget, they do it for you...wash and dry is six pesos.)
a 30 minute phone call to the US
three rides on the bus or Subte and a chocolate
a ten block cab ride (base fare is about $1.60 AR)
three hours at a locutorio (internet cafe)
a basic bunch of flowers
two empanadas
two ice cream cones at McDonald's (hey, don't knock it till you've tried 'em here!)
a liter of sparkling mineral water in a sit down restaurant (two if you go to the store)
And at your local corner store (most of which are run by Chinese families), you can get the following for three pesos: a liter of beer (it's less if you return your bottle), a bottle of wine (not the cheapest of the barrel either), a package of pasta and tomato sauce, three milanesas, or a grocery bag full of veggies.

Hopefully you've got some idea of what a dollar will buy you in Buenos Aires now. (A quick side note before I go on. In Argentina, they use the $ for prices in pesos. To get you used to it now, when I say $AR, I mean pesos, when I say $US, I mean dollars.) To illustrate my point a little further...the other day I treated myself to a movie at a theater I hadn't been to before. Now, normally I frequent the cheap theaters on Lavalle street where a movie is $5.50 AR Monday through Wednesday. So when I bought my ticket at this new theater on Saturday, I was a bit miffed at the $10 AR ticket price. I had to give myself a reality check as I stood in line waiting to get into the theater. At home at the ArcLight Theater on a Saturday, I've been known to pay $14 US, and that's just for one ticket! God, I'm turning into a cheapskate! One more example before I go...Last night I went with some friends to an "all you can eat" parrilla joint to fill up on some of the local beef. For 15 pesos each, we feasted on grilled provolone, two kinds of sausage, achuras, two kinds of steak, pork chops, and endless fries and salad. When we left, we didn't walk home, we clutched our fat bellies and rolled ourselves home. Between the five of us, we split three bottles of wine in addition to the endless meaty goodness...total per person: 20 pesos ($6.60 US). And that's not even a cheap parrilla place! Yep, last time I checked $6.60 in LA bought me a turkey sandwich and a coke. Like I've said before, I'm not coming home anytime soon.