Mega question

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wildbill9

wildbill9

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Location
arkansas
# of dives
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We want to get pesos to pay for everything. Seemed easy, just go to the mega supermarket, great exchange rate. So of course that is the plan, and since we want to buy fixens for breakfast it's a twofer I want to get cash off my debit card. Do I do this at the register as I check out or so they have bank backed ATMs that I use? I don't want to look quite like the dorky tourist I will be. Tanks and I promise a trip report when I come back. Will even add pics if I can figure out how
 
take a bank card to the ATM at Mega, change to Pesos and go shopping.....
 
bsppc:
take a bank card to the ATM at Mega, change to Pesos and go shopping.....
Click to expand...
Whichever ATM you use, be sure it's a bank owned one. They are less susceptible to fraud.
 
Yes, when you get to the top of the stairs at the Mega if you look forward you'll see a bank of ATM's on the far wall by the Pizza and Deli area. Pick a bank-owned ATM and use your debit card there to withdraw Pesos for shopping and everything else. For my card there is no fee charged by my US bank to withdraw. The fee the Mexican bank-owned ATM charges is set as a transaction fee regardless of the size of your withdraw and will display before you confirm your withdraw on the ATM... It was 37 Pesos or something (less than $2 US at the time). Fees your US Bank may charge you can vary. I can't remember what the ATM max withdraw was there - may have been 7000 Pesos or something ($350 US) depending on the ATM. I just kept cancelling and then plugging in lower and lower amounts until it allowed the withdraw. One thing about Pesos... It seems like you have a boat load of them but with the exchange rate where it is 7000 Pesos can go pretty quickly.
 
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On Sunday in Mega the Banamex ATM was broke so I used the Santander ATM, I believe the fee around $25MXN, which my good friends at Schwab will refund, looks like Schawb gave me a rate of 17.5 to 1 which was only 0.05 pesos (0.28%) down from the Oanda rate :D
 
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gopbroek:
On Sunday in Mega the Banamex ATM was broke so I used the Santander ATM, I believe the fee around $25MXN, which my good friends at Schwab will refund, looks like Schawb gave me a rate of 17.5 to 1 which was only 0.05 pesos (0.28%) down from the Oanda rate :D
Click to expand...

Yes, got to love the Schwab account and card that refunds every transaction fee anywhere.
 
On the corner of 10av and 3rd street south, just a couple of block south the plaza or main square, are the offices of the Santander bank. They have a couple of 24-7 ATM machines at that location too.
I generally just use my regular check card, take out a few pesos and don't have to worry about anything else.
You can't beat that exchange rate. Mega is a favorite of many locals as they have a great exchange rate too. Either one, are good options.
Beware of cashiola machines.
Enjoy your trip.
 
Ricardo V.:
On the corner of 10av and 3rd street south, just a couple of block south the plaza or main square, are the offices of the Santander bank. They have a couple of 24-7 ATM machines at that location too.
I generally just use my regular check card, take out a few pesos and don't have to worry about anything else.
You can't beat that exchange rate. Mega is a favorite of many locals as they have a great exchange rate too. Either one, are good options.
Beware of cashiola machines.
Enjoy your trip.
Click to expand...

I just go to MEGA or Chedraui and get pesos and pay for everything with the pesos. To reiterate what Ricardo V said: beware of (stay away from) Cashola machines. There should be no reason to withdraw US cash and if you do, you will probably be paying foreign conversion fees twice. My bank is not as good as Santander but I have found that the fees are dependent upon how much I withdraw so I usually get smaller amounts ($3000 MX at a time). You should be able to tell if it's a REAL ATM machine by the bank name and such.

BTW, ATM in Spanish is: ATM (pronounced in English). Guess how I found out?

I like to leave Mexico with enough pesos for my girlfriend and I to take the bag drag from CUN (on the next trip) plus have enough to eat and take a taxi. Many or most things cost less if you pay with pesos rather than US money. Since we go to Mexico about every 3 months we so far have not come out behind on the exchange rate. So far we actually keep coming out ahead :)

BTW if you are new to Cozumel keep in mind that many prices go up when the cruise ships come in and go down when the ships leave. :)
 
I always use the Banco del Norte ATM in the Palacio Municipale (city hall?) on Melgar across the side street from Chedraui, and I have never had a problem except for the time I stupidly left my card in the machine. After it has given you your cash, it's about 10 seconds before it gives the card back - plenty of time for you to put the pesos in your wallet and walk away. After another few seconds it sucks the card back in but by that time I was long gone.

FYI, once you have done that there is no getting the card back. Cards left in the machine are shredded.

Dandy Don, are you sure that's not what happened to you? :D
 
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