Pesos?!?

[Passepartout]

I forget about using credit cards in Mexico. I’m not there nearly enough. This needs to change.

I could help you remedy that situation and show you some of Fern's favorite haunts.

 

[pittle]

My brother has always called extra Pesos "seed money" - so that he needs to go back to use them! He has fallen on hard time the past 7 years, but is coming to PV this November when we are there and said he has enough Pesos to pay for the taxi to the resort in his "stash". He probably only got 10 Pesos per $ back then. but will take Pesos home in anticipation of coming to PV again next year.

 

[bobpark56]

I have not found that to be the case at all, as long as you use a known bank ATM (such as Scotiabank, Banamex, BBVA, etc.). We always get cash at the airport when we travel to Mexico, and checking the CC charge after our trip, we have always gotten the intra-bank exchange rate (or whatever it is called).

Kurt

I agree with Kurt. Santander bank also has good ATMs. Don't be shocked if the ATM wants to charge you $30 or so for the transfer. That's 30 pesos, not 30 dollars. We have found that bank ATMs away from the airport often have a bit lower fees, but you are saving just pennies then.

 

[bobpark56]

Once we get our Pesos from a Bank ATM, we do get smaller bills at the front lobby of our resorts as needed for tips and bus fare. Often the ATM machines give you just 500 and 200 Peso bills as we tend to get 5000 or 6000 Pesos at a time and keep most in our room safe. We just take out how much we think we will need when we go out.

One suggestion that sometimes works is to ask for an offbeat number of pesos, say 2850 instead of 3000. That will get you at least 1 each 200, 100, and 50 peso bill. I have found that Santander ATMs usually give me one third or so of the bills in denominations smaller than 500. No 50's or 20's though

 

[rpennisi]

I get the large peso bills changed to smaller bills at the front desk, not a problem.

 

[macmanrider]

Going to Cabo on Sunday with my hubby for 6 nights. When we went last year it seemed that most merchants preferred dollars over pesos. Is that what you have found, too? Running to get some pesos now. Figure I should have some for tipping and vendors who prefer pesos. How much should I get?!? And how much do you tip for various svcs? Staying at Fiesta Americana.

We go to PV Mexico we exchange $2500. At Wells Fargo and take the pesos with us. Sure they want us dollars because they short change you. So you get 20 pesos for a dollar. I always treat it as $10 pesos is 1 dollar. So when I'm buying something I don't spend too much sure they get a little more but not much and tipping anyone that I use for service I tip $200 pesos but the bar I tip $400 pesos and sometimes more. 200 pesos is $20us to them but only cost you $10.

 

[Passepartout]

We go to PV Mexico we exchange $2500. At Wells Fargo and take the pesos with us. Sure they want us dollars because they short change you. So you get 20 pesos for a dollar. I always treat it as $10 pesos is 1 dollar. So when I'm buying something I don't spend too much sure they get a little more but not much and tipping anyone that I use for service I tip $200 pesos but the bar I tip $400 pesos and sometimes more. 200 pesos is $20us to them but only cost you $10.

You Sir, are a dream come true for Wells Fargo. If you 'treat $10 pesos as one U.S. dollar', you effectively double the value of everything in Mexico that you value this way. If you tip a bartender $200 pesos, you are quadrupling the average daily wage he's getting. You're certainly free to throw around your money any way you want, but it sure skews the economy when it becomes expected.

Jim

 

[macmanrider]

That's fine $200 pesos is close to $10 us. For a 18 day stay will worth it too me. I have a great bartender juna.

 

[macmanrider]

Going to Cabo on Sunday with my hubby for 6 nights. When we went last year it seemed that most merchants preferred dollars over pesos. Is that what you have found, too? Running to get some pesos now. Figure I should have some for tipping and vendors who prefer pesos. How much should I get?!? And how much do you tip for various svcs? Staying at Fiesta Americana.

 

[macmanrider]

We get ours at wells fargo as thats our bank we get them before we go for 2 weeks im pv $2000 gives you almost $4000 in spending in pesos. Have fun only deal in pesos and tell them you don't have us dollars.

 

[rpennisi]

We get ours at wells fargo as thats our bank we get them before we go for 2 weeks im pv $2000 gives you almost $4000 in spending in pesos. Have fun only deal in pesos and tell them you don't have us dollars.

I believe you forgot to add a zero to your dollars to pesos figures. $2000 US would convert to almost 40,000 MX pesos.

 

[bobpark56]

Airport ATMs generally offer unfavorable rates, <snip>.

That didn't used to be true...if you used a bank ATM. We used the Santander bank ATM at CUN and in the Zona Hotelera for years and were never charged more than about a dollar and a half. But this year the Santander ATM in Puerto Aventuras wanted a 6% ATM fee. So I cancelled that transaction and got my pesos from the bank ATM at PA's Super Chedraui...only to find that their rates had increased as well, to about $4.50.

 

[pittle]

We just got back from 3 weeks in PV at the Buganvilias. We got pesos at the ATM machines in the Mega. Hubs used 4 different ATM machines. Bancomer, Santander, and BBVA 6000 pesos deducted $311 from our bank accounts. Scotia on the other hand, took out $346 for the same 6000 pesos. So, we got 19.29 pesos per dollar at 3 of the ATM's and 17.34 pesos per dollar at Scotia. He only used Scotia because the others were out of cash the first Sunday morning that he went there early for supplies. He made a point to check out the others on future trips.

We use a CapOne ATM card that does not charge us transaction fees. But the various banks can - so, do not choose Scotia.

 

[Passepartout]

We got pesos at the ATM machines in the Mega. Hubs used 4 different ATM machines. Bancomer, Santander, and BBVA 6000 pesos deducted $311 from our bank accounts. Scotia on the other hand, took out $346 for the same 6000 pesos. So, we got 19.29 pesos per dollar at 3 of the ATM's and 17.34 pesos per dollar at Scotia.

Good Dollars (and sense) info. Thanks Phyllis- and Scotia is off the list. I've always used Bancomer after a bad experience with Santander- also on a Sunday morning. So I now make it a habit to just use Mexican ATMs during banking hours.

Jim

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

That didn't used to be true...if you used a bank ATM. We used the Santander bank ATM at CUN and in the Zona Hotelera for years and were never charged more than about a dollar and a half. But this year the Santander ATM in Puerto Aventuras wanted a 6% ATM fee. So I cancelled that transaction and got my pesos from the bank ATM at PA's Super Chedraui...only to find that their rates had increased as well, to about $4.50.

If you are using a Bank of America card, until a couple of years ago BofA and Santander had a working relationship and there was no ATM fee for withdrawing pesos from your checking account, and you got a good exchange rate as well.

BofA is now affiliated with Scotia Bank, so that is now where we do withdrawals.

 

[easyrider]

Currently, there doesn't seem to be a problem using USD in Cabo everywhere we have been. I used a $100 bill at Costco because I needed smaller bills for tips. The problem for some people is the change comes back in a mix of USD and pesos.

Other areas of Mexico it is better to have pesos, imo. Cabo is a bit like California and has developed into a large city. Everyone seems to speak some English. Toll roads and nice highways are the norm. I can't believe how much this area has grown.

Bill

 

[davidvel]

Currently, there doesn't seem to be a problem using USD in Cabo everywhere we have been. I used a $100 bill at Costco because I needed smaller bills for tips. The problem for some people is the change comes back in a mix of USD and pesos.

Other areas of Mexico it is better to have pesos, imo. Cabo is a bit like California and has developed into a large city. Everyone seems to speak some English. Toll roads and nice highways are the norm. I can't believe how much this area has grown.

Bill

Generally we find you get a much better exchange rate buying pesos in advance, than what they give when you pay in US$.

 

[T_R_Oglodyte]

Cabo is a bit like California and has developed into a large city. Everyone seems to speak some English. Toll roads and nice highways are the norm. I can't believe how much this area has grown.

Bill

In most of the tourist areas of Cabo, after waking up from a nap I could easily think I was somewhere in a town in southern California or Arizona.

When we travel, I like to use local money because I think it adds to the travel experience. Travel has much to do with learning about other areas, and working with the local currency is s small, but significant way, of extracting myself from home and putting myself into the local country.

It's also more efficient and convenient for the local merchants and service people. If I use pesos from the bank ATM, I get a good exchange rate. But if I pay in dollars, the merchant is probably going to get a less favorable rate. And if I use dollars for tips, then those people need to convert the money into pesos. It's a hassle for them to do that. Life is easier overall if one person, me, goes to a bit of effort to stop off at my bank ATM to get pesos, rather than forcing 10 to 20 other people to do essentially the same task.

Also, the local people will often not receive a rate as good as I received. That's especially the case if the individual isn't wealthy enough to have a bank account, so they have to go to a cambio to do the exchange.

 

[macmanrider]

I believe you forgot to add a zero to your dollars to pesos figures. $2000 US would convert to almost 40,000 MX pesos.

Yes i did im sure there was alcohol involved. Plus now you can only exchange $500 us at the bank a day. So that's 4 trips to the bank not worth my time and yes we tip well. $200 pesos to the bartender right we we get there.

 

[macmanrider]

Currently, there doesn't seem to be a problem using USD in Cabo everywhere we have been. I used a $100 bill at Costco because I needed smaller bills for tips. The problem for some people is the change comes back in a mix of USD and pesos.

Other areas of Mexico it is better to have pesos, imo. Cabo is a bit like California and has developed into a large city. Everyone seems to speak some English. Toll roads and nice highways are the norm. I can't believe how much this area has grown.

Bill

We like costco in pv we go there to get pizza the pizza in pv is not the best. And the cabs wait for you. But we pay with pesos.

 

[easyrider]

We like costco in pv we go there to get pizza the pizza in pv is not the best. And the cabs wait for you. But we pay with pesos.

Costco will exchange dollars to pesos. Currently they are at 18.5 to 1.

Bill