Going to Mexico - How much to bring?

[artieg30]

Hey guys,

I'll be headed down to Playa del Carmen for a week for a friend's wedding. I don't plan on staying at a resort, instead i'll be staying at a smaller boutique type hotel for my trip. Question for you guys:

1. Is it wise to use credit cards there? From my initial googling it's telling me no, apparently there are a lot of cases of fraud or retailers selling out CC info to criminals

2. If I'm not using CC, how much cash should I bring with me? I was thinking around $700 USD for a week, should that do it?

3. Lastly I heard that it'll be hard to break bigger US bills in mexico so I was told to bring a lot of small denomination bills i.e $1's, $5's etc. I bank with CIBC, is there a branch here where I could get $200 in $1 denominations and not look sketch?

Thanks guys!

[lasimmon]

If you take American you will be converting twice.

CAD -> USD -> Pesos

You can get pesos before you go. Or just take Canadian.

As for how much I don't know.

[A790]

Originally posted by lasimmon
If you take American you will be converting twice.

CAD -> USD -> Pesos

You can get pesos before you go. Or just take Canadian.

As for how much I don't know.

I use USD as much as I use pesos when I'm down there.

Get both.

[AzNxHyDrA]

I went there for a week to see Armin van Buuren for NYE 2014.

For my trip, I brought about $1,000 CAD worth in Pesos. I can't remember the exact amount but I went into a TD bank and asked to exchange $1,000 dollars into Pesos.

If you're a client at a different bank, I would call your bank and ask them to order in the money. I'm an RBC client and they don't carry it in branch so I ended up going into a TD because most of their locations do carry pesos.

I did use my credit card there but only at the resort, restaurants, and department stores. If you're not swiping your card at sketchy places I think you'll be fine.

In regards to how much to bring, it really depends on how much you want to do there. Excursions can be pretty pricey and that's where most of my money went.

Since you're staying at a boutique type hotel, I don't believe they offer all-inclusive so you may need to bring more to cover your meals. I only ate at the nicer restaurants which are priced similar to restaurants here.

[GQBalla]

700 will be just fine. I brought a little more and ended up spending the majority of it at the duty free buying liqour/cigarettes/make up stuff for the girl

who the f cares if you get 200 x $1 bills (makes you look like a baller, how long have you been on beyond?)

just go to any bank

[tch7]

Use your credit card whenever possible. Offers way more protection than carrying around a wad of cash. If fraud does occur, it's the CC/bank's problem, not yours (besides a minor inconvenience). My CC also offers a whole bunch of travel-related benefits/insurances for using it.

I never carry around more than $200. If I run low, I find a bank and use its ATM (don't use sketchy independent ones). If you have cash, it's easy pickings for pick-pockets, maids helping themselves to extra tips, muggings, and so on and you'll never see that money again. The best case scenario of getting a whole lot of cash here is that you get a slightly better exchange rate and save a few ATM fees, which is nothing relative to the overall vacation budget. Worst case is that you lose hundreds of dollars.

Worst case for a stolen credit card is that you're inconvenienced for a few days while you wait to receive a new one.

[Squishy]

I was just there the 5-12 and I like souvenir type things so I spent a lot on stuff like that but it also depends on if you plan on doing excursions or things like coco bongo because they they tend to be pricey. I had $330 US but because I bought expensive souvenirs my boyfriend let me put that on his MasterCard. We were also at an all inclusive so food wasn't taken into account. Banks also only have a limited about of dollar bills a day and you should just let them know you will be going to Mexico so they don't have any red flags.

[Darell_n]

I just came back from 2 weeks in Tulum and only brought $200 CDN for my transfer to and from the airport. The rest I used a Scotiabank ATM to withdraw $3000 Pesos when needed. (that was the maximum) I didn't stop in the US and didn't use any US currency, best holiday ever. Getting pesos directly from a bank in Mexico will give you the best exchange rate and believe it or not, Mexicans like their own currency best. Credit cards have terrible exchange rates.

On a side note, if you log into Beyond.ca while down there all the ads are replaced with a beautiful beach sunset photo.

[BigShow]

I use my credit card all the time when I'm down there, works well. Also bring a stack of ones for tipping.

[bignerd]

Most people keep their cash and valuables locked in the room safe (you make your own combination) so not sure how the maids were helping themselves?


If you leave ten bucks or something out on the counter then yes, they will think it is a tip.