American Airlines (AA, Dallas/Fort Worth) has stopped accepting cash at its ticket sales centres in Argentina, effective December 28, 2023, it said in a statement.
The South American country’s new government, under Javier Milei, weakened its currency, the Argentine peso, by over 50% in early December as part of radical measures to reboot the country's economy - measures that have also impacted the local aviation industry.
Customers are now required to use credit cards, debit cards, bank deposits, or wire transfers to make transactions at the ticket sales centres located in American Airlines' offices in Buenos Aires and Cordoba.
As of January 11, 2024, Argentina's official currency exchange rate was ARS815 pesos for USD1 whereas the unofficial black market rate was about ARS1,100 for USD1.
This is not the first time American Airlines has stopped taking cash payments in Argentina. In 2015, it announced the same measure due to repatriation issues, CNN reported at the time. Three years later, the carrier halted all cash payments at Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini airport.
American currently operates flights to Buenos Aires Ministro Pistarini from Miami International, New York JFK, and Dallas/Fort Worth. The company also has an alliance with Chilean-based ultra-low-cost carrier JetSMART (JA, Santiago de Chile), including both firms' services in Argentina.
It is uncertain whether the ban applies only to Argentinian peso cash payments or also to USD cash payments. ch-aviation contacted American Airlines for comment and clarification.
