Money question for Canadians

[Reidkon]

The Canuck buck is in the toilet and what was supposed to be a more affordable dive trip to Cozumel rather than Bonaire is turning into a money pit, especially since I just found out about the 16% tax to top it all off. Just wondering if it is better to buy pesos in Canada and pay everything in pesos or use plastic? We booked with Aldora and apparently they also accept payment in pesos.

 

[MMM]

I feel your pain! I don't buy any pesos in Canada...just withdraw from a bank ATM here. Probably doesn't make much difference for your diving if you use plastic or pesos since a lot of dive ops want to be paid in US dollars. Converting to pesos won't save you anything there I don't think. Where it is helpful is paying for local stuff in pesos like meals, tips, taxis etc. At least I think so. My husband is the economic whiz, not me. But that is what we do.

if it makes you feel any better, Bonaire would have been a money pit also, however, I suppose you could shore dive and skip all the dive op costs...

 

[FT]

I like to buy a few hundred pesos cash (or keep some from the last trip) as a buffer until we can find a bank-owned ATM that has cash (sometimes a problem on a busy winter Saturday at the airport). After that, definitely ATM and paying in pesos all the way. If you are paying by credit card, normally the charge is recorded in pesos not USD. Ask for a clear explanation of what the charge will be, e.g. are they adding a credit card surcharge and if they are converting from a posted USD price to pesos, what is their exchange rate... then make your decision on the spot as between credit card, running back to an ATM, or whipping out your USD credit card, should you have one.

As for the Canadian dollar, welp. Unless we're going to learn to love drysuits with icicles hanging off them, what are our choices?

 

[cicopo]

Diving is billed in US Dollars & I pay cash which is planned for & put away well in advance of each trip. I will tip in either US $ or pesos depending on which I have in the right denomination, because I usually bring big US bills. I order anywhere from $300-400 Cdn worth of pesos for restaurants & trips to the store or taxis. Taxis are terrible at saying they have no change so I try to have a fair amount of pesos in small denominations should I take a cab, which is rare. We stay at an AI so we eat out some nights but not for every meal & have a pretty good idea of how much we need in pesos & our bank won't buy them back (worth asking at yours) but I go every year so no biggie. The only time I use my credit card is to pay the hotel & I rarely ever use an ATM. Around the hotel I tip in pesos & bring down a load of Maple syrup for several of the staff as thanks for the great service we always receive. Although rare I have run out of US & Pesos & tipped in Cdn. The locals know where to exchange it at a fair rate.

 

[Hawkwood]

Having to use the USD as the "go between" is what sucks. The actually CDN vs. Mexican Peso exchange rate hasn't really changed much over the last few years.

Bank of Canada exchange rate - CDN$ vs Mexican Peso:

 

[mikeycanuk]

Far too many expenses in this sport are billed in USD.


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[JohnN]

Having to use the USD as the "go between" is what sucks. The actually CDN vs. Mexican Peso exchange rate hasn't really changed much over the last few years.

Bank of Canada exchange rate - CDN$ vs Mexican Peso:

View attachment 221127

Huh?

If that were the case, then you could do exchange rate arbitrage and live a comfortable life without doing any useful work. . . unless you're complaining about paying two exchange commissions or are doing the currency exchange from storefront vendors.
For example (using xe.com for the current exchange rate) $100 CDN --> $72.87 USD --> 1,264.21 MX Pesos
and converting directly $100 CND -->1,263.84 MX Pesos. So you actually appear to get slightly more by converting to USD, but exchange fees would more than consume the difference (a whopping 0.37 Pesos)

 

[Hawkwood]

...(using xe.com for the current exchange rate) $100 CDN --> $72.87 USD...

Try getting the "official exchange" rate at any bank. I paid over $0.38 in exchange the other day.

My point is, the CDN dollar low against the USD, not all other currencies. The BofC exchange rate with the Peso had been reasonably steady since 2009.

Thanks for your concern though. I travel enough to understand how to get the most out of my dollars.

 

[JohnN]

Try getting the "official exchange" rate at any bank. I paid over $0.38 in exchange the other day.

My point is, the CDN dollar low against the USD, not all other currencies. The BofC exchange rate with the Peso had been reasonably steady since 2009.

Thanks for your concern though. I travel enough to understand how to get the most out of my dollars.

No problem. The CDN dollar and the MXN peso (and the Euro) are both in the dumper against the US$. If the operator wants to denominate in US$, (irregardless of if they let you pay in pesos) you're at a disadvantage. It as nothing to do with using the USD as a go-between.

 

[cicopo]

Diving & several other things in Coz are based on the US $. Where we can save by converting Cdn to the Peso is at small stores & restaurants that like very simple math & convert at a 10 to one ratio so a bill for 100 Pesos becomes a bill for $10 US.