Peso Exchange Rates and the Taxi Mafia

[Skittl1321]

Can't blame them for addressing their audience, can you?

Of course not. But the fact that the sign is in dollars, and not pesos (which you can easily divide by 10 to give you the dollar amount) tells you they either want, or at least are perfectly happy with dollars.

We have pesos, and would prefer to use them; but if the posted dollar rates are just back exchanged to pesos, it doesn't really save anything the way using pesos in a taxi when going from a non-cruise location would. Which is why I'd actually like to know if there are peso rates from the cruise pier, or ONLY the posted dollar ones.

Mr. Sanchos menu has prices in pesos and dollars- easy to determine the price both ways. Pesos will be better for us.

I think we are also going to withdraw some more pesos while we are down there for the cruise. It's a gamble; but the rate seems really good to pass on. By the time we go again, it might be less favorable. (We keep a travel checking account that we use for ATM withdraws. It isn't linked to our main account, so if it gets drained, the majority of our money is okay; plus the ATM card is 100% fraud protected, so with a bit of paperwork, we get the money back. We've never had problems with our ATM card or credit cards in Mexico though. The credit cards have been stolen numerous times in the USA however.)

---------- Post added August 2nd, 2015 at 03:01 PM ----------

Tried using Pesos this afternoon for lunch at the Qdoba restaurant in the DFW airport, for some reason they would only take dollar's

A few years back there was a pizza place in Dallas that took pesos. It caused a HUGE uproar.
The owner's stance was "money is money- I'll take what the customers have". The conservative stance was "This is AMERICA! dammit. Speak English and use dollars."

I don't know if they are still taking them or not.

 

[DjDiverDan]

That Pizza place in Dallas was Pizza Patron. And there are still some places in Dallas, like the Mercado on Buckner Boulevard near I-30, where some of the sellers will take Pesos,or where you can get a few hundred Pesos for very close to the official exchange rate. It comes in handy if I have too many Peso left over after a trip to Cozumel, or if I want to get a few hundred Pesos before a trip to Cozumel.

 

[mmmbelows]

The bizarre part to me, is that people need to be informed of that. It should be a given. When prices are quoted in dollars, I ask "How many Pesos"? Not too hard.

If you want to pay in pesos then ask away, however I think you're missing the point that US dollars or Mexican Pesos are equally welcomed for legal tender in tourist Mexico. The Mexican economy is highly dollarized. Dollarization is a real term, by the way, not something I'm making up. Mexico isn't officially or fully dollarized, but Mexico picks and chooses what and how it likes to be dollarized.

The gray market is the term for what Mexican businesses do to make more money off their countries unofficial dollarization.

Mexicans love the whole US dollar / Peso deal... it gives them the opportunity to make a lot of money jumping back and forth between the two currencies with tourists. Like selling you a service (whale shark tour for instance) that they advertise for $150 US, and then charging your credit card in Pesos and wacking the crap out of you on the exchange rate, you just paid $180 for that $150 tour. They made $30 extra bucks off you in 30 seconds playing the currency rip off game.

In Mexico I typically bring US dollars with me and pull out Pesos at the ATM and whatever I'm buying I will pay in the currency that gives me the best price or eliminates the games, which is the example that brings us back full circle to the original question of this thread, when they quote you 100 pesos for the taxi ride or $10 US, I pay them in Pesos and avoid the whole rip off, or like ggun said, if they quote you in dollars and you want to pay in pesos I do the math in my head and give them the correct exchange rate amount in pesos and typically that is the end of it.

 

[DandyDon]

That Pizza place in Dallas was Pizza Patron. And there are still some places in Dallas, like the Mercado on Buckner Boulevard near I-30, where some of the sellers will take Pesos,or where you can get a few hundred Pesos for very close to the official exchange rate. It comes in handy if I have too many Peso left over after a trip to Cozumel, or if I want to get a few hundred Pesos before a trip to Cozumel.

We have a Mexican themed grocery in Lubbock with all Spanish signs, and unlike Mexico - English translations! I should check with them before traveling down. Eh, the Wells Fargo in Lubbock will get me Pesos but with their exchange rates - I skipped that.

If you want to pay in pesos then ask away, however I think you're missing the point that US dollars or Mexican Pesos are equally welcomed for legal tender in tourist Mexico. The Mexican economy is highly dollarized. Dollarization is a real term, by the way, not something I'm making up. Mexico isn't officially or fully dollarized, but Mexico picks and chooses what and how it likes to be dollarized.

The gray market is the term for what Mexican businesses do to make more money off their countries unofficial dollarization.

Yep, in the early 1960s Cozumel had less than 3,000 inhabitants, with the state of Quintana Roo having about 50,000 when President Mateos started his campaign to colonize and develop the peninsula. In 1970, Isla Cancún had only three residents, caretakers of the coconut plantation. Then the Bank of Mexico/federal government borrowed from the World Bank to develop - hoping to attract Americans and Dollars.

Mexicans love the whole US dollar / Peso deal... it gives them the opportunity to make a lot of money jumping back and forth between the two currencies with tourists. Like selling you a service (whale shark tour for instance) that they advertise for $150 US, and then charging your credit card in Pesos and wacking the crap out of you on the exchange rate, you just paid $180 for that $150 tour. They made $30 extra bucks off you in 30 seconds playing the currency rip off game.

Whoa! I need to check that. Most of my expenses are booked in dollars, but some go thru my card in Peso. I need to see if I was zinged...?!

Anyone know where the state got its name? Andrés Eligio Quintana Roo (Mérida, Yucatán, November 30, 1787 – Mexico City, April 15, 1851) was a Mexican liberal politician, lawyer and author, and the husband of Leona Vicario. Quintana Roo was one of the most influential men in the Mexican War of Independence and served as a member of the Congress of Chilpancingo.

 

[Zeagle Eagle]

I just got back from COZ. I always ask how much to town. When they say 80 pesos I hand them $6 ($5 for the ride and a $1 tip) at the end of the ride. If they bitch I tell them to call the police and let them sort it out. I will not let them rip me off.

---------- Post added August 2nd, 2015 at 07:11 PM ----------

I just got back from COZ. I always ask how much to town. When they say 80 pesos I hand them $6 ($5 for the ride and a $1 tip) at the end of the ride. If they bitch I tell them to call the police and let them sort it out. I will not let them rip me off.

Who ever suggested paying is pesos...That's the best way to do it.

---------- Post added August 2nd, 2015 at 07:11 PM ----------

Is the airport still the best place to exchange $ for peso?

 

[ggunn]

Who ever suggested paying is pesos...That's the best way to do it.


Is the airport still the best place to exchange $ for peso?

I said it but so did many others. You can get pesos in the airport but there are plenty of other places just as good. Use a bank owned ATM. Don't use the ones out on the sidewalks.

 

[DjDiverDan]

Actually, the airport is one of the worst places to get Pesos. The Cozumel airport Cambio offers better rates than the Exchange Booths at U.S. Airports (which have absolutely TERRIBLE exchange rates), but are still much worse than the rates you'll get using a Bank ATM (best rates), exchanging at a Cozumel Bank (pretty good rates) or at a Cambio in town (not as good a rates as the Banks, but less hassle). The only reason you need Pesos at the airport is to buy the Shuttle ticket - I think for me that was 96 Pesos to get to Casa Del Mar last December, when exchange rates were pretty close to 15-1. I still had about 300 Pesos left over from an earlier trip, so I paid in Pesos. But if you have no Pesos, the airport Shuttle company will gladly take dollars, and the exchange rate offered by the Shuttle booth for a 96 Peso Ticket will only cost you about 3 or 4 Pesos more than exchanging $10 at the airport - at about $0.06 per Peso, it's just not worth the extra effort to exchange the money first before buying a Shuttle Ticket.

---------- Post added August 2nd, 2015 at 07:45 PM ----------

OR, if you live pretty much anywhere in Texas with a large Mexican population, or in Southern California or New Mexico for that matter, look for a local Mexican Grocery or Mercado - one of those flea market like open air markets where lots of individual vendors have booths - and ask around to see if anyone wants to sell some Pesos, and buy $20-$30 worth before you leave for Mexico - that'll give you enough for the Airport Shuttle and a taxi into town (if you're not staying downtown) for a trip to a Bank or Cambio.

 

[cvchief]

By way of random thoughts:

I was surprised to see that the cambio on the ferry pier was offering a pretty decent rates even compared to what I saw posted in town.

I noticed that a couple restaurants were charging in dollars on my credit card and stated asking to make sure they run them in pesos instead.

I asked the girl at the duty free yesterday if they could run my card in pesos and they said they could. They were converting at 15.5. (Of course I asked her AFTER I ran the card....)

My RR card should post a statement tomorrow so I can see what rate they were handing out.

 

[tom_n_tacoma]

I just use pesos for everything when I'm there. You want a cab, ask for the price to go somewhere in pesos. Even better if you can ask in Spanish

 

[ggunn]

I just use pesos for everything when I'm there. You want a cab, ask for the price to go somewhere in pesos. Even better if you can ask in Spanish

Yo tambien.