Buy pesos at airport ATMs?

[DandyDon]

The 'Oanda' Interbank rate was:

Except that's not necessarily the ATM rate. YMMV

 

[gopbroek]

Except that's not necessarily the ATM rate. YMMV

It is for me, typically @ -0.1 to -0.05 pesos for the last 5 years no matter what ATM I use. I never accept a convenience exchange rate and let Schwab handle it

 

[edoralive]

If you don't have $25.00 USD in your pocket upon landing, THAT represents the largest problem of all.

Fair enough. We've learned a lot since that trip.

 

[ggunn]

Dollars. I will have US$, I won’t have pesos yet, getting pesos on top of all the other stuff I am trying to keep track of would be a pain, and the difference in cost is minuscule.

 

[cvchief]

It is for me, typically @ -0.1 to -0.05 pesos for the last 5 years no matter what ATM I use. I never accept a convenience exchange rate and let Schwab handle it

You know I thought about a Schwab account, but supposedly my Scottrade that is now a TD is gonna be a schwab sometime soon.

 

[DandyDon]

You know I thought about a Schwab account, but supposedly my Scottrade than it now a TD is gonna be a schwab sometime soon.

How many typos in that? It what?

 

[cvchief]

How many typos in that? It what?

dos. solamente dos.

 

[gopbroek]

You know I thought about a Schwab account, but supposedly my Scottrade that is now a TD is gonna be a schwab sometime soon.

You will be assimilated

 

[Dan G]

Last night at the Banamex ATM in Mega, using my 'travel' Schwab checking account, I got an exchange rate of $19.84 : 1 USD and the ATM fee was $30.74 MXN. Banamex gets the $30.74 (which I get refunded at the end of the month) and my bank (Schwab) determines the exchange rate. Unless they were pulled out since December, there is a cluster of bank ATM's near the restrooms in the ticket counter side including a Banamex (Chase?) machine.
If I hadn't had Pesos already I would have had a travel companion watch my bags and gone out and over to the other entrance and hit the Banamex machine.
The reported Wells Fargo rate of 18.9 : 1 is a clip of about 5%, it is lousy. If they are clipping 5% on exchange rates I would wonder what else they are clipping you on.

I just opened a Schwab account this year based on everything I have read on SB over the years. Their customer service explained that as long as the ATM fees are a separate transaction, the fee will be automatically refunded. I have noticed that when I have used ATMs in the past in MX, there is a fee deducted from my cash withdrawal which would not qualify for refund because it is not separate. Is there anything you do while making ATM withdrawals that can address this, or am I just stuck with that fee? Thx.

 

[gopbroek]

They have always refunded my fees. I use bank ATM's (Banamex, Santander, Scocia, HSBC, ect) and am charged for the ATM fee ($30-60 MXN) but then my account is refunded the fees at the end of the month