Review ATM report

[nodakdive]

Got a question that may have to be answered with something of a wild guess, but so be it. For the things you do in Cozumel, whether paying for food, tips, diving, accommodation, everything you use pesos for now, if you were instead to just use U.S. dollars, how much more do you estimate you'd pay for your trip overall? Put another way, roughly how much money (in U.S. dollars) do you estimate you save by going the pesos route?

Trying to get a sense of the savings you get from figuring out and doing all this.

My guess is that the savings will be based on many factors, but probably not enormous if you're aware of the existence of an exchange rate and you have the ability to calculate it pretty quickly. For me, paying in pesos is more convenient and a matter of peace of mind.

Restaurants, taxis, wherever, it's Mexico and they use and generally price in pesos. Any time there needs to be a conversion, it opens up the chance of an honest mistake at the least. Also, there's no need to worry about a taxi fare or product that is "...95 pesos or 10 dollars US".

The rate right now is somewhat mathematically convenient. If the Seafood Platter for two is 841 pesos, it's easy to move the decimal to the left one place, halve the result and know that the rate is under 20 to 1, so it'll be a little more than 42 dollars US. If they tell me the price in USD is $43.00, I'm not going to sweat the 50 cents. If they tell me the price in USD is $64.00, I'm going to be concerned and will want to discuss the approximate exchange rate with the waiter. By paying in pesos, I avoid the possibility of having that conversation.

That's how I look at it anyway.

 

[NeilA.]

Got a question that may have to be answered with something of a wild guess, but so be it. For the things you do in Cozumel, whether paying for food, tips, diving, accommodation, everything you use pesos for now, if you were instead to just use U.S. dollars, how much more do you estimate you'd pay for your trip overall? Put another way, roughly how much money (in U.S. dollars) do you estimate you save by going the pesos route?

Trying to get a sense of the savings you get from figuring out and doing all this.

Last month I was in Cozumel. I carried us cash as well as pesos when in town. I did find that a couple of times when the restaurant bill was quoted in both usd and pesos the bill was noticeably cheaper paying with dollars (I used 20:1 for simplicity). I would never consider not having an evenings spending money (+/- $150 ) worth of pesos in my pocket going into town, so I don’t end up a victim of shady operators- taxis would be a potential problem.

I also like having enough variety of denominations that I don’t have to agonize over, or even worry about change, and having exact cab fare - especially after a couple of margaritas.

As a wild guess Rich, to answer your question, I would lose $10-$30 per day using only usd.

 

[DandyDon]

Also, there's no need to worry about a taxi fare or product that is "...95 pesos or 10 dollars US".

It's only been a couple of years since a cabbie quoted me 100 Pesos or 10 US. It happens.

But my point on this thread was only to illustrate how to obtain Pesos if so inclined. Bank deliveries to your home suck, and currency exchanges are going to cost more. If you want to spend USDs in another country, go for it.

 

[horn34]

Schwab and also Fidelity (I have been told) refund all ATM fees and in the case of Schwab they set an exchange rate just slightly below FOREX rates. I'll be going by an ATM Sunday or Monday and check the spread.
Currently the Oanda conversation rate is 19.976 MXN to 1 USD and the 'official' rate is 20.02 to 1

Schwab Bank doesn't "give" you an exchange rate. Any ATM debit card withdrawal where you decline local conversion will get the Visa exchange rate for that day. Most banks do the same. You can always check here. It's 19.92 today.

Currency Converter - Exchange Rate Calculator

Exchange Rates & Currency Conversion Calculator - Use the converter to get an indication of the rate you may receive when using your Visa card. Learn more.

usa.visa.com

 

[gopbroek]

I believe when I take $6000 MXN out of the Banamex ATM my bank, Schwab checking not VISA, is on the hook to replace that $6000 MXN to Banamex. Banamex also gets a service fee for their service. How much Schwab charges my account in $USD for the 6000 MXN is set by Schwab. I have compared what Schwab charges me with others (Wells Fargo comes to mind) and there are differences. I am not charging anything to VISA but withdrawing my money from my bank account.

 

[DandyDon]

Any ATM debit card withdrawal where you decline local conversion will get the Visa exchange rate for that day.

So why did I get two different outcomes?

 

[pauldw]

Are the ATMs at Chedraui bad?

 

[gopbroek]

Are the ATMs at Chedraui bad?

I have never had an issue with ATM's at either Chadraui or Mega. As a rule of thumb watch the locals, if they trust a machine and line up to use them, then they are probably safe.

 

[wnissen]

Got a question that may have to be answered with something of a wild guess, but so be it. For the things you do in Cozumel, whether paying for food, tips, diving, accommodation, everything you use pesos for now, if you were instead to just use U.S. dollars, how much more do you estimate you'd pay for your trip overall? Put another way, roughly how much money (in U.S. dollars) do you estimate you save by going the pesos route?

Trying to get a sense of the savings you get from figuring out and doing all this.

That depends wildly on the vendor. Some places at the airport are taking 14-15% (17 MXN per USD). Other places are giving 20:1, so basically no vig. Dive Paradise charges everything in pesos so there's no difference, but Aldora gives 10% off for efectivo. Palancar Beach Club takes 4%. I think that's pretty typical. So if you spend $500 on food and dives, maybe $20? Up to $50. Not a huge amount of money, but it does add up.

I use Bank of America, which charges a flat 3% (no per-transaction fee) on the interbank rate if you use the Global ATM Alliance ATMs, of which Scotiabank is one. I was able to get out MXN7000 this way, mostly in 500 peso notes. Unfortunately you have to decline both "insurance" (~MXN25) and the exchange rate conversion. I didn't check what the rate would have been, but I'm sure it would have been pretty bad.

 

[horn34]

Schwab Bank doesn't "give" you an exchange rate. Any ATM debit card withdrawal where you decline local conversion will get the Visa exchange rate for that day. Most banks do the same. You can always check here. It's 19.92 today.

Currency Converter - Exchange Rate Calculator

Exchange Rates & Currency Conversion Calculator - Use the converter to get an indication of the rate you may receive when using your Visa card. Learn more.

usa.visa.com

Who knows? Call Citi and ask what rate you got. The low Visa rate this week was 19.78, so there is something extra getting tacked on there.

Not sure why anyone uses HSBC; Bannorte charges 46 pesos, allows up to 20k peso withdrawal per day and they have ATMs everywhere.