Peso's or Dollars?

This is a great question if you're heading south of the border.


Whether  US dollars, or Mexican Pesos is probably the question I’m asked most often by travelers to Mexico.

Rules have changed. In 2010, the Mexican government made banking changes and limits were imposed for how much US currency you could exchange or use for purchases.

For the best buying power.....Withdraw Pesos from an ATM. You have to know what types of service fees your bank will charge ahead of time and you have to have a 4-digit PIN code.  Also, you can’t deal with a cheapo bank that doesn’t allow international transactions. The trade off for this homework is that you’ll receive the most current International currency exchange rates with the lowest exchange fees.
Use Pesos for purchases where possible – this will give you the best rate of exchange (most prices are listed in US dollars). This can work to your advantage as long as you understand how it’s going to work ahead of time.  Hotels will give you the most accurate exchange, shop keepers and open-air markets will exchange more favorably to themselves, and taxis – well they just exchange 10:1 (today’s exchange is $1 USD : $14.02MXN).
This is also why we always tell people to pre-book excursions and shuttles.  A $80 tour to Tulum doesn’t sound like a lot, but they’ll convert it to Pesos before they process the charge (and the exchange rate usually isn’t to your benefit) and then your bank will convert it again (at an accurate rate though) but they’ll ding you an International Currency Conversion Fee (add another 2.5%!).  Tours and shuttles can all be pre-booked and are always 10%-20% lower than the posted price but after you add the exchange and Visa fees, you can increase your savings by that much more.


Happy Traveling,


Ron Trimper
The Way To Go Travel
Vacation Specialist
888-750-0825
816-392-5880
www.thewaytogotravel.com