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No More Paying With Dollars in Mexican Tourist Areas

julesbeara

By julesbeara,
in Royal Caribbean International

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bus man

bus man

Posted
Posted

I've actually been pleasantly surprised by the willingness of Canadian and Mexican businesses to accept American dollars; I thought it was very accomodating of them, and it does make it much easier for us tourists. My take is, when we go to Mexico, we are in someone else's country, and we need to abide by their way of doing things. If they wanted to accept only pesos, that's their right; I can either like it or lump it. It's no different than when a foreigner comes to the U.S.; we expect them to pay in our own local currency.

 

Personally, I don't expect to buy over $100 of anything at any one place; so this change won't affect me. And if I do . . . well, then, it won't kill me to go get some pesos.

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cruisecrasy

cruisecrasy

Posted
Posted
Seriously? Come on', nothing wrong with using your credit card in Mexico as long as it is in shops and restaurants in tourist areas. Most (if not all credit card) companies will be flagged if there is suspicious activity on a card and anything that could potentially be charged by anyone other than the rightful card owner would be contested. You wouldn't be liable for those fraudulent purchases.

 

Now, back to the issue at hand. While it is very convenient to go to Mexico and use our U.S dollars, we are in a foreign country and should by all means use their currency! No other country in the world accepts U.S dollars so why should Mexico? We can't just assume that they want U.S dollars and that it is superior.

 

It's called Canada ...:D

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cruisinfanatic

cruisinfanatic

Posted
Posted

 

Now, back to the issue at hand. While it is very convenient to go to Mexico and use our U.S dollars, we are in a foreign country and should by all means use their currency! No other country in the world accepts U.S dollars so why should Mexico? We can't just assume that they want U.S dollars and that it is superior.

Seriously?

I've been to numerous countries in the Caribbean and have never been asked or required to exchange to their currency.

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buckanear

buckanear

Posted
Posted
Seriously?

I've been to numerous countries in the Caribbean and have never been asked or required to exchange to their currency.

 

Do those countries have drug cartels that toss grenades into houses just a few feet from US tourist hot spots?

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denamo

denamo

Posted
Posted

Living along the border of TX and Mexico is very interesting these days to say the least. The use of pesos is an effort on the part of the government to stop money laundering of the drug cartels. Have heard cruiseports are not enforcing this so much. Guess we'll find out when we cruise in Mexico over Christmas.

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Kellie Poodle

Kellie Poodle

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Living along the border of TX and Mexico is very interesting these days to say the least. The use of pesos is an effort on the part of the government to stop money laundering of the drug cartels. Have heard cruiseports are not enforcing this so much. Guess we'll find out when we cruise in Mexico over Christmas.

 

 

Another Harlingen area resident chiming in.

 

We have a little shopping town, Nuevo Progreso, on the other side of The Rio Grande that's pretty well patrolled and safe for Americans. I have not had any problems using US dollars there since the new Mexican government requirements went in to effect.

 

This town caters to Winter Texans (we DO NOT have "snowbirds" , we have Winter Texans) and summer visitors to South Padre Island as well as plenty of locals who enjoy buying duty-free liquor, legal pharmaceuticals, and Mexican goodies as well as dining in some pretty good restaurants . The economy of this town is based on shoppers from north of the border and they'd quickly go broke if they required all transactions to be in pesos.

 

My dentist is there and his office would fall over in a faint if I attempted to pay him in pesos.

 

I think that Cozumel would have the same kind of economy that depends on US dollars and I don't believe that the merchants would insist on pesos.

 

Let's face it folks, the Mexican government has its hands full with other matters and probably doesn't have the resources to completely enforce this new regulation.

 

I'd say I'll find out in January, but I probably won't get off the boat. BTDT, etc.

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Kellie Poodle

Kellie Poodle

Posted
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I used a credit card to purchase a bracelet in Cozumel a couple of years ago. I took it to my jeweler at home to have a link removed so it would fit better and I learned that I had been ripped off- major!

 

The credit card company helped me to get most of y money back. I got the bracelet appraised and sent the appraisal to the credit card company. They only charged me the $20 that the appraisal said it was worth, not the $120 I paid.

 

I have used credit cards all over the world without a problem.

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JLC@SD

JLC@SD

Posted
Posted
You might not want to hear the answer that many, many people would give you to that question...

 

What I, and I suspect most people want, is for the Mexican government to step up and stop the problem. That means dealing with the criminals, not the law-abiding citizens.

 

Theron

 

......the government are the criminals.....

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wadethegringo

wadethegringo

Posted
Posted
Seriously?

I've been to numerous countries in the Caribbean and have never been asked or required to exchange to their currency.

 

I live in Belize. Yes Belize has its own money, but try to exchange the Belize dollar with our neighbors, Mexico or Guatemala. It wont hapen.. Or a trip to the US, You will pay 10% at a bank. The US $$$$ is accepted and sought after here in Belize. If Mexico wont take green backs, bring em to Belize

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rubrrick

rubrrick

Posted
Posted

I thought I put my 2 cents in on this thread.......but I guess not.

 

We have over a months worth of timeshares in Cancun, so always have Pesos.

 

Lately, the Mexican Government, has issued orders to their banks, that if Americans want to exchange U.S. $ for Pesos.....you had better bring your passport. Banks will not exchange any US dollar for a Peso, without it. It they are caught violating this rule.....they will be fined.

 

Anything less than $100.00 can be purchased with US dollars.

 

Larger purchases, need to be paid for with either.......Pesos, or a credit card.

 

We have experienced this twice since traveling on the Mariner of the Seas of the last two voyages. Both times where we wanted to exchange money happened in Cabo.

 

That is a tourist city. They are following the new laws, and it's easy to just bring a passport to exchange money.

 

What we love about Pesos......is that the exchange rate is over 12 to 1, and with the US dollar, in many places.........it's just 10 to 1.

 

So, for those of us that travel to Mexico frequently and have Pesos, it's cheaper to deal in Pesos, than US dollars.

 

Rick

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scottbee

scottbee

Posted
Posted
...What we love about Pesos......is that the exchange rate is over 12 to 1, and with the US dollar, in many places.........it's just 10 to 1.

....

 

 

Shhh. Don't tell every one. That keeps the peso price low, and those of us smart enough to bring local currency get a deal.

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vettecruiser1

vettecruiser1

Posted
Posted

The iberostar in Coz. would not take US money only Pesos. All the shopping in town did take US money and so did the excursions we took. Since we were staying at the iberostar we just we used the ATM to buy Pesos which was 12 to 1. When using US money to shop most vendors were using 10-1 to convert. So we opted at using Pesos for the rest of the week.

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shipshape sam Great Review Rare

shipshape sam

Posted
Posted

What could cost more than $10 let alone $100 in Mexico? :) I will bring $$$ and if they won't take, I won't be buying.

 

Heck, isn't Mexico the 51st state? No, wait, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico are becoming Mexican states. Soon to be accepting peso's. :rolleyes:

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lady_cruiser

lady_cruiser

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Are you kidding me? I would never use a credit card in Mexico!

:(

Would you use it in Canada, France, Spain or Italy? You just called every Mexican citizen a crook. And NO, I am not Hispanic, I'm an American born citizen with Italian and French heritage. :p

 

And FYI - my credit card number was compromised by a young American college student looking at a restaurant here in the states. So should I stop using my credit card here in the United States?

 

We use our credit cards all the time when cruising around Mexico and the only problem we have with credit card usage in Mexico is that "our" American credit card companies are charging us a percentage fee on the total amount we charged for using it out of the country.

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lady_cruiser

lady_cruiser

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What could cost more than $10 let alone $100 in Mexico? :) I will bring $$$ and if they won't take, I won't be buying.

 

Heck, isn't Mexico the 51st state? No, wait, Texas, Arizona, New Mexico are becoming Mexican states. Soon to be accepting peso's. :rolleyes:

 

Don't forget Louisiana. We have just as many visitors working here from Mexico has Texas, Arizona and New Mexico.

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