Locals cant pay their rent, electric bill, phone bill or fill their gas tank up using dollars. Many shops in local areas wont take dollars at all and those that do will probably be looking to gain on the exchange rate.
Much better to pay in Pesos, most vendors take US dollars but they will use the 10 to 1 exchange rate to make it easier/faster for them to figure out your change. i know this doesn't sound like much of a difference but if your staying for a week this little difference will soon add up fast.
From what I can understand it is just better overall to pay in pesos So is it better to exchange the money as soon as you get there? Or better get the pesos from an ATM?
What I do is exchange what I plan on using for a day or two at any of the Cambio's. Or use the ATM, lots of folks do that.
who wants to be a pesonaire. so in all fairness to the mexican people who work in the hotels etc it is better to leave a 10peso bill under the pillow as a tip rather than a 1dollar bill. we were informed that it was better to carry dollars over rather than the peso seems that by exchanging our pounds for dollars then being hit by a 10-1 ratio we could lose out big time then. although we have got dollar bills for the sake of tipping but now reading this thread the peso would be the best way to show gratitude am I correct in saying that?
Tip in USD or British Pound or Canadian. All the Cambios I have been to recently have an exchange rate of 12.10%, 11% and 17.10% respectively. So a 10 peso coin is less then 80 US cents. And if you meant to write a 100 peso bill that is equivalent to less then 8 USD. It's your call, but everyone I know who vacations here tips in USD.
Ah thanks for that toriB.......yes 100peso bill was what I meant. now going but what I have been reading on here if we leave something like a 5 dollar bill or 100 peso daily in the room then we are treating a good service fairly, and we normally tip a good service with a little extra at the end having never been to mexico is this a reasonable thank you as customs and cultures are different worldwide.
i'm going to keep both US and pesos and just use them both. probably use more pesos once i get more comfortable with the exchange rate
Here is the simple way to ask your questions about exchange.. XE.com: USD to MXN rate: 1.00 USD = 12.5402 MXN I imagine most shopkeepers give 10:1 therefore pesos make more sense. Besides shouldn't travelling be about experiencing a different culture, including the money? I kind of like seeing silly single colour American cash when I go to the states myself!
Let me try to summarize, and correct a couple of posts about the rate. Tori B says the casa de cambio have a rate of 12.10%. I hope she means $ and not %. This is a GOOD number the day of her post but probably a bit lower today. Steve's $12.51 is weeks old and not applicable. The dollar has been tanking of late. Canadian DE Fan's site is not the real world if you want local accuracy. No offense is intended to anyone, especially my friends Tori & Steve. The real world here is the rate you can walk into a bank and get. The current Banamex rate is $12.14 pesos for one US$. If interested, Banamex.com.mx and it is on the home page. Compra is the bank rate for Banamex buying dollars and Venta is their price for selling dollars. Since they are buying your dollars, you get the lower of these two rates. Be sure to note the posted rate where you exchange as sometimes they post the Venta rate in big numbers and the Compra in smaller ones. The merchants, more than likely, will be taking dollars at a 10 to 1 rate. Simply put, you are paying about 20% more to pay in dollars. Larger restaurants often have the price on the bill in both pesos and dollars so you can see clearly what their rate is. And, as stated earlier, your change will come in pesos and not dollars. The point is why pay $12 in dollars for what you can buy for $10 if you pay in pesos? If you can not get whacked for a transaction fee, do like Gonzo and exchange as you need. The way the dollar is going of late, I think I would buy $200-$300 or so worth of pesos on Day 1 as odds are you will get more today than 3 days from now. As to avoiding confusion, I think the least confusing way is to, for example, see something priced at $500 (pesos) and say "would I pay $50 for that?" If you think maybe, then pull out a calculator or cell and do the math. Simply divide $500 by the exchange rate you got and that is your price in dollars. Or just take $500 and subtract 10% twice and you will be really close. The casa de cambio pays less than a bank but they are everywhere and the lines are short, if at all. Don't waste time at a bank unless you are going to make a major expenditure. There is a big yellow place in the party center, but on the lagoon side, called Plaza Fiesta. They have a huge selection of everything known to man. BUT they price in dollars. If you are on a one stop souvenir hunt, you can do it there but ask the exchange rate, aka "tipo de cambio". The only thing you should concern yourself with, IMHO, is not getting stuck with a lot of pesos at the airport unless you can eat or drink or shop them all away there. AND NOT PAYING 20% TOO MUCH BECAUSE IT IS LESS CONFUSING. LOL Good luck and have fun.
