I pay in USD. I have never gotten a complaint. I also buy and spend in USD. I bring almost $100 in ones, $100 in fives, $200 in Twenties and Use credit card at major stores and for excursions. No worries about converting. If I like USD price that is what I pay.
We typically will take US but our last trip we took pesos' thinking it would help with our dollar because it was and still is low. We found things to be more expensive because it was being converted into US before they told us the price in pesos. I don't know...personal preference.
We always use US currency. This time we took $200 in ones. We always take smaller bills, it just seems to make it easier when tipping/paying for things there.
Tip in whatever currency is easiest for you. It doesn't matter. We converted our money at the airport and took enough pesos to tip the following: $100p per day for maid; $50p for breakfast and lunch; $100-200p per dinner; $20p for the first 5 trips or so at PatyO's for drinks - but I also gave $100p upfront to those bartenders who knew me. Also tip for those working hard to bring you drinks around the pool. The service here is fantastic and they treat you like a friend when you tip well.
For the best bang for your buck, pay using the currency the item is priced in. Tours and Nightclub entry use Dollars Gift shop, convenience stores, taxis, buses, shopping/eating off site use Pesos Tips: Either is fine. Pesos are easier for the staff because they don't need exchanging, but since most people tip in USD they have to go to the exchange place anyway, so doesn't make any difference in the long run. Bear in mind a 20 peso note is worth a little more than a $1 bill, same with a 100 pesos note and a $5 USD bill
I checked with my bank (Citizens) and they said they will exchange only at the branches (not offered online) and they charge $15 for the service. That's ridiculous. I will check with my other bank (NYCB) later this week to see if they can exchange for pesos without charging an arm and a leg. Also, I read on the Desire forums that the best place to exchange for pesos in Cancun is at the airport ATM, the one just past Customs, but before the exit. Can anyone confirm this? Thanks!
@TexasFunnSun advice was posted a while back, Exchange rate is now 20.2 Pesos to the Dollar at the time of this post, rather than 15:1 at the time of his post. I did use to think that the best place to exchange was at the airport too. But I honestly haven't checked for many years, so not sure if that still holds true. We are flying out to Dallas next week, so will try and remember to check on the way back. I can certainly tell you the worst place to exchange, and that is at the front desk of any hotel. Often 10-15% lower, so where you might get 20:1 at an exchange house (Casa de Cambio) you might get 17 or 18 at the hotel. Of course the loss depends on how much you are changing, if you just want to change $20 it's not really a problem but $2,000 might be a different matter, and the hotel probably wouldn't be able to change that much anyway. Banks downtown always have a good rate, but then you have to figure in how much it costs you to get there, how long you might have to wait etc and weigh up whether it is worth any savings with their better rate. Another good option for maximum bang for your buck is one we utilise regularly. Walmart and Costco offer the best rates of all. Say it is 20:1 they will offer 21:1, but that is for buying stuff, not a straight currency exchange. If you intend to go to Costco or Walmart (to stock up on your favourite alcohol for example) then take Dollars with you.
We only brought US currency and never had any issues. I will say that the "exchange rate" seemed to be different in almost every location we went to... One place would offer 15 pesos for $1, another would be 18 pesos for $1, while some places were offering 20 pesos for $1... We found the inconsistency to be annoying, so we just kept our US cash and tipped with that at the resort and on excursions. No complaints.
You'll find all the banks and exchange houses are near identical in their rates at any one time, otherwise they wouldn't get any currency exchange business. But yes, if you're talking about the exchange rate in bars, restaurants, shops, hotels etc when you use Dollars to buy goods or services then it does vary wildly as they can set their own rates to whatever they want. Some will set a good rate to offer maximum value to the customer (rare), some will offer a bad rate to make money on it and some will take the middle road.
