Currency to bring to Mexico?

[Morozee]

I'm traveling to Mexico in about a month for the first time. Should I be bringing US dollars as well as Pesos for things like tipping, buying souvenirs and tours/guides? Should I bring equal amounts of both, or will I likely be spending more Pesos? I don't imagine there are a lot of places outside of the resort where I would be using a credit card, or am I off base here? What about if I need more cash, are there ATM's and whatnot? Any other tips regarding money or anything about traveling to mexico would be appreciated! By the way, we are going to Huatulco if that makes a difference. Thanks!

[Madman]

[Coach]

^^^ lol.....Bring US dollars

[Morozee]

Originally Posted by MattyC

^^^ lol.....Bring US dollars

And no pesos whatsoever?

[John Doe]

Either US dollars or pesos should be good as everyone seems to take both. When I went last year, they were valuing the US dollar as 10 pesos. You might want to check what the exchange rate is, as you might get a better rate with using just pesos.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by Morozee

And no pesos whatsoever?

Pretty much everywhere takes US dollars and theyre just easier to keep track of than pesos. If youre going to be riding the bus at all, usually they give you change in pesos

[GoinAllTheWay]

Wow,was about to start the same thread.

In terms of what is more cost effective, not really worrying about how easily accepted either currency is, what is the better buy?

Financially speaking in terms of cost, what makes more sense to buy, American $ or peso?

[jjbouma]

It all depends on what they are currently valueing 1 USD for right now. When I went they were taking 1 USD to equal 10 pesos, but now it's about a 1:15 ratio.

Either way, lots of people use credit cards for stuff liking booking trips and tours.

I used mainly American dollars, then got change in pesos and ended up taking some pesos out of the bank.

[Sainters7]

Originally Posted by Madman

x2

I still haven't fully recovered from when I was there last summer.

[redforever]

Right now, the peso is the lowest it has been against both the US and Canadian dollar for a long time.

Whenever we go to Mexico, we take a couple of hundred US dollars, small denominations, to start out with.

From there on in, we use ATM's, they are everywhere and usually you get a better exchange rate with your bank than you do locally.

Most places take VISA and other major credit cards as well, unless you do side treks to more isolated places. In some of the more isolated places where they do accept credit cards, some will charge you the premium they have to pay to offer you the service of paying with a credit card.

Be careful that you know the exchange rate between US dollars and pesos. When you get change, they will give it to you in pesos, so if you dont know what the current exchange rate is, you could get rooked.

[Nancy]

Originally Posted by redforever

Right now, the peso is the lowest it has been against both the US and Canadian dollar for a long time.

Whenever we go to Mexico, we take a couple of hundred US dollars, small denominations, to start out with.

From there on in, we use ATM's, they are everywhere and usually you get a better exchange rate with your bank than you do locally.

Most places take VISA and other major credit cards as well, unless you do side treks to more isolated places. In some of the more isolated places where they do accept credit cards, some will charge you the premium they have to pay to offer you the service of paying with a credit card.

Be careful that you know the exchange rate between US dollars and pesos. When you get change, they will give it to you in pesos, so if you dont know what the current exchange rate is, you could get rooked.

ATM's all the way. Just stick to the ones in the real banks down there.

[ken0042]

Originally Posted by redforever

Whenever we go to Mexico, we take a couple of hundred US dollars, small denominations, to start out with.

It's not quite the same in Mexico, but when I went to the Dominican I brought $50 in $1 bills and another $100 in $5 bills. Always having tipping money in US currency was well appreciated, and got me great service.

[conroy22]

Originally Posted by redforever

Right now, the peso is the lowest it has been against both the US and Canadian dollar for a long time.

Whenever we go to Mexico, we take a couple of hundred US dollars, small denominations, to start out with.

From there on in, we use ATM's, they are everywhere and usually you get a better exchange rate with your bank than you do locally.

Most places take VISA and other major credit cards as well, unless you do side treks to more isolated places. In some of the more isolated places where they do accept credit cards, some will charge you the premium they have to pay to offer you the service of paying with a credit card.

Be careful that you know the exchange rate between US dollars and pesos. When you get change, they will give it to you in pesos, so if you dont know what the current exchange rate is, you could get rooked.

It depends where you go. I just came back from Puerto Vallarta and didn't bring any pesos with me, other then the leftover money I had from previous years, I just brought Canadian cash. The exchange rate is usually about equal, and Mexicans used to just give everyone about 10 pesos/dollar, regardless if it was canadian or american. However this year the exchange rate for the US dollar was 14. something and the Canadian dollar ranged from 12.-13. something if you go to a bank. The airports and money exchanges on the street give you horrible rates, but the banks were really good when I went! Also, instead of places and people making american and canadian money equal, alot of store owners and venders would pull out their calculators and calculate how much things would be in canadian and american if you didn't happen to have pesos.

[prarieboy]

It's Mexico. Bring Pesos. It's just easier.

The people you are tipping/paying with American dollars will have to go to the bank at some point to convert them. Why not save them them the trip.

Some people have suggested using the bank machines which is a great Idea conversion/convinence wise but keep in mind they tend to spit out larger denomination bills.

If you do nothing else go to your bank and pre order a bunch of small denomination peso notes. 10's, 20's, 50's.

The average person you deal with is likely reluctant to part with small denomination bills to break your $20 US or $200 Peso for a small purchase.

[redforever]

Originally Posted by prarieboy

It's Mexico. Bring Pesos. It's just easier.

The people you are tipping/paying with American dollars will have to go to the bank at some point to convert them. Why not save them them the trip.

Some people have suggested using the bank machines which is a great Idea conversion/convinence wise but keep in mind they tend to spit out larger denomination bills.

If you do nothing else go to your bank and pre order a bunch of small denomination peso notes. 10's, 20's, 50's.

The average person you deal with is likely reluctant to part with small denomination bills to break your $20 US or $200 Peso for a small purchase.

No they don't, they can use them however they wish, especially smaller denominations that you would be giving them for tips. The US dollar is acceptable anywhere. And they all know the US dollar.

I would not take a bunch of Canadian cash and expect them to take it. Most are not familiar with our paper money, some think it is funny money.

Even in Cabo, where it is very Americanized and the locals are more familiar with Canada, the US dollar or pesos were the going money. Things might be changing but I would be reluctant to go to Mexico with only Canadian money.

Actually, these days, I dont like to travel anywhere with large sums of cash period. I prefer to use my banking card and my VISA.

We have never had problems exchanging any larger type peso bills.

[Smell My Finger]

Don't bring CDN it means nothing down there. Greenbacks only. Buy some peso's down there for convienience. Mexican's love American $ for when they go to the USA on vaction etc. If you buy stuff from vendors with American rather than peso's they will give you a better deal esp the jewlery shops.

[OBCT]

Some good advice in this thread. My thoughts...

Just got back from Mazatlan.

The exchange rate once we arrived was ~13.00 pesos / $1.00 USD, or ~10.00 pesos / $1.00 CDN most everywhere. You could likely do better than that by exchanging some money before your trip.

In terms of how much Mexican money you'll need, it somewhat depends on what you'll be spending your time doing. I took the bus all over the place (extremely efficient system btw), and they only accepted pesos as payment AFAIK, so we had to do some exchanging. There were other situations where pesos were easier (ie. tipping and bartering down things some times), especially when walking the "less-touristy" areas of the city.

If you're sticking to the most "touristy" hotspots, then US $ and/or credit cards will be accepted practically everywhere I'd think. We found that CDN $ was accepted more often than we expected in Mazatlan, but at the same time, I wouldn't ever want to get stuck anywhere in Mexico without some US $ or pesos!!


In short (my experience)...
small stuff -- pesos often easier
most stuff - US will work
certain "bigger" stuff -- CDN $ might be fine

I'd probably take 50% pesos, with some (25%?) US $ as well.

[ok, ok,....I get it]

maybe you should just opt for:

[BuzzardsWife]

we just spent 2 weeks in mexico..we took NO American money, only pesos, and the bank machines spit out pesos too..not once were we asked for american money..only pesos

[redforever]

Originally Posted by BuzzardsWife

we just spent 2 weeks in mexico..we took NO American money, only pesos, and the bank machines spit out pesos too..not once were we asked for american money..only pesos

No, of course they never ask for American money. Their peso is good anywhere in Mexico, that is their national currency.

Like I said though, we like to take a bit of American with us, for tippping etc. We never buy other stuff with American.

We take pesos out of bank machines as we need it, but we always try to spend it all before we get back. If we come back with American money, we just keep it until the next time we vacation. You can use American money pretty well anywhere you travel.

But if you are not going back to Mexico right away, who wants pesos hanging around and it is just a pain to go to your own bank when you get home and change it back to Canadian dollars.