 |
The Peso |
|
|
In most major cities you will be able to spend U.S. dollars as well as Mexican currency. If you plan to do some exploring though, you'll need pesos. In more remote areas, it is important to have small change since most businesses will have difficulty making change for large bills. Many money changers can only give you large bills, so if you plan to venture into out-of-the way places, you will need to begin accumulating small change early on by spending large bills wherever you can. If you do attempt to spend a large bill at a small establishment and the clerk hands it over to an 8-year old who then runs down the street with it, do not despair, he's just searching for someone who can make change and should return in a few minutes.
So, where to change your money? The best way is at a Mexican ATM machine. If traveling by ground, you should be able to find an ATM at the Mexican border town. If you don't have an ATM card, stop at a border town (either side) and exchange it at a casa de cambio or a bank. If traveling by air with a stop in Mexico City, you can use the ATM at the airport. Non-ATM currency exchanges at airports generally yield the least favorable rates possible (especially at San Antonio, TX). I don't think the Huatulco airport can change money. If you use a bank ATM, you will get the bank exchange rate and will only be charged the regular offsite transaction fee of your bank. You can also get a good exchange rate at a bank, but you often have a long wait in line and banks have short hours of operation and close for lunch. ATM machines that are not located at a bank, such as those small ones that are springing up everywhere, will probably incur a higher service charge. Don't get too excited by your reported bank balance; it is in pesos. Also, there may be a ceiling imposed on the reported balance.
Canadians with a 6-digit PIN number may want to change to 4-digit before leaving Canada. You can do that at a Canadian ATM machine. Canadian cash can be exchanged at banks for nearly as good a rate as the ATM machines.
Some hotels will exchange money, possibly limited to small amounts, but will probably offer poor rates.
Rates of exchange can vary, so it is a good idea to know what the current rate of exchange is. You can check the exchange rate below as provided by Olsen and Associates. Another test is to look at the buy and sell rates where currency is exchanged. If they are within 3 or 4 percent of each other, you should be in good shape.
If you are carrying much cash or valuables, it would be a good idea to have them lock it up at the hotel desk. They should count it and give you a receipt (recibo). Don't take much cash to the beach.
"When you book your hotel and you want to pay by Visa check the Hotel
accepts it. Even if you can pay your deposit by Visa do not conclude (as we did)
you can pay your final bill by this method. One hotel we stayed at would only
accept cash, even though we paid our deposit by credit card." (3/02)
British
One reader reports, "Try to take American Express
travellers cheques (available from UK post offices) instead of Thomas
Cook ones. Although we did get them changed some banks don't change them,
and to queue (even though we are British) only to find they are not accepted at
a bank and to find another one and queue again is time consuming. [Don't
forget about money card or credit card withdrawals of pesos from ATM
machines--short lines and good exchange rates. -tomzap]
Rate of Exchange
Find the current or past rate of exchange from Olsen
and Associates:
www.johnzap.com John Williams:
john@johnzap.com