We're taking peso's. Does anyone know if you have to book them in advance in the UK like you do Tunisian Dinars or are they available over the counter ?
I used exclusively US cash and my credit card last trip. Only saw pesos when I took the bus and I gave that change to the maid. Even when I got really sick and the doctor had to come, he charged me in US dollars too. When paying with your credit card, you can ask them to charge you in US and sometimes (CAN) dollars too. That's a smart way to go so you don't get ripped off when your brain is broken and you can't do currency conversions in your head. Because they will try to scam you!
If you're from the US then by all means take USD, but for the familiarity factor alone. If you're not from the US then Pesos is the way to go and the cheapest way is to withdraw them from the ATM just like you would at home. Lots of places here still use the 10 Pesos : 1 USD conversion when it has actually been over 12 for 3 years or more. Everytime that happens you are losing out by 20%.
Just FYI, if you buy something in Mexico and charge it to your CC the charge will be in Pesos regardless of what you ask, Pesos are the only legal currency in Mexico. When you ask them to charge you in USD or CAD on your CC rather than Pesos you are ripping yourself off by paying at least 20% more for your purchase. The vendor simply figures out the purchase in USD at some horrible conversion rate (probably $1=10 Peso) and then enters that bogus amount of Pesos into the CC system.The amount of Pesos is then translated by the CC company into a converted amount for your home country, which is what you see on your CC invoice. I'm not saying vendors are out to rip you off, for the most part they aren't, but if you don't live in the US and don't pay in Pesos then you are allowing yourself to be ripped off
We always take $300 - $400 USD cash. Use it mainly for tips and souvenirs. It could also come in handy if you needed to bribe yourself out of a tight spot (that has never happened to us BTW). Use your credit card where you can. The last time we were there (June 2010), AMEX gave us an 8.5 peso / CAD exchange (that was after their surcharge). Right now the CAD is worth more than USD, so its even better for us canucks. One more interesting thing we learned today. The following is cut and paste from our E-Tickets (Air Transat out of Canada) for our flight next month - it is very vague, but it implies that exchanging USD for pesos at banks/cambios/hotels might not work too well: NEW RULE FOR THE EXCHANGE OF U.S. CURRENCY IN MEXICO . PLEASE NOTE THAT THE MEXICAN GOVERNMENT HAS PUT IN PLACE A NEW RULE THAT APPLIES TO THE EXCHANGE OF U.S. DOLLARS TO MEXICAN PESOS. THIS NEW MEASURE APPLIES TO MONEY EXCHANGED IN BANKS AND IN CURRENCY EXCHANGE OFFICES ONLY AND DOES NOT APPLY TO WITHDRAWALS MADE FROM AUTOMATED TELLERS (ATMs), OR TO PURCHASES AND TRANSACTIONS MADE WITH CREDIT CARDS OR DEBIT CARDS. . IT IS POSSIBLE THAT CERTAIN HOTELS AND/OR BUSINESSES MAY REFUSE THE PAYMENTS MADE WITH U.S. DOLLARS IN CASH. THEREFORE, WE RECOMMEND THAT CLIENTS CARRY A CREDIT CARD, A DEBIT CARD, AND/OR MEXICAN PESOS AND/OR CANADIAN DOLLARS Heather & Lyle
