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Not necessary to notify your CC company if in Mexico.
I used my AMX card for a $400 purchase at a large chain store in Rosarito...was approved in about 30 secs....then again I have a NO limit on the card.
That is because you use your card regulary in Mexico, and your CC company expects you to. But if you live in Akron Ohio and use your card only for gas and groceries, and your CC company suddenly gets a cash-limit withdrawal from an ATM in Guadalajara, there is a very high likelihood that your card will be suspended until you call them and verify that you are traveling abroad.
Nobody is saying it absolutely will be, but it is certainly prudent to tip them off before departure, because phoning them from Mexico when your card is disabled is a serious PITA.
The situation is debatable in reference to using a Debit card (pin # needed) for a cash withdraw or using a CC for a cash withdraw or using a CC with proper ID when doing a purchase.
Stands to reason that a purchase will go thru considering a valid ID was presented when using a CC during a purchase
I have been to Mexico City, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas many times with never an issue.
Am currently fortunate that just showing a Mexican ID that I own property here when using my MC is sufficient.
(That is a courtesy given to Senior Citizens over a certain age.... 50% discount on property tax also).
The situation is debatable in reference to using a Debit card (pin # needed) for a cash withdraw or using a CC for a cash withdraw or using a CC with proper ID when doing a purchase.
Stands to reason that a purchase will go thru considering a valid ID was presented when using a CC during a purchase
I have been to Mexico City, Acapulco, Cabo San Lucas many times with never an issue.
Am currently fortunate that just showing a Mexican ID that I own property here when using my MC is sufficient.
(That is a courtesy given to Senior Citizens over a certain age.... 50% discount on property tax also).
Has nothing to do with showing an ID. The banks have very complex equations which comes up with a number. Above a certain number and they get suspicious and look into it. An even higher number and your card gets blocked. Put it this way, if you didn't tell your bank you were going to China and tried to charge something in Shanghai it's very likely your card would be blocked. If you tried to put a charge in Buffalo and you never had been there before and you didn't buy airline tickets recently with that card it might be blocked or at least flagged. The equations have a lot of secret factors in them and they usually work quite well.
Read my first sentence VERY VERY carefully.....it covers three different situations re a Debit or CC Card usage. I have used my CC only a couple times and they asked for my ID (name was the same as on the card)....paid mostly with Cash. They love the US dollars anywhere in Mexico I have been too.
Ill be going to Tijuana Mexico this coming weekend for the first time and i want to convert the US dollar to the Mexican Peso. Ill be going for 2 nights and have a budget of $275 dollars. Would anyone know whats the best place to convert currency? And is it worth it? What is the Dollar to Peso Ratio? Thanks!
Just withdraw money from an ATM. If you are planning to do it more than once then notify your bank as they may suspend your card.
While the US$20 banknote is standard for almost all ATM's in the USA, there is wide disparity in Mexico. Some machines will dispense more than one denomination. A MXN$50 banknote is worth US$3.75. A MXN$200 is worth US$15.00 .
The MXN$20 banknote is worth US$1.50 but there is also a coin of the same value. A MXN$10=US$0.75 is a coin.
Yes it is worth getting pesos, as prices are easier to negotiate. Everyone in Tijuana will accept American money (usually not coins), but they often use the exchange rate to jack up prices.
A MXN$500 bill exists but is difficult to spend outside of well established businesses. There actually is a new MXN$1000 banknote, but they are extremely rare outside of Mexico city. If you see one then it is much more likely someone is trying to rip you off. The old pesos was exchanged for new pesos at the ratio of 1000 to 1. An old 1000 peso note is a collectors item, but has no monetary value.
Keep in mind that there is much less currency circulating in Mexico than in the USA. Many people or businesses do not have change. I have walked into a bakery early in the morning and tried to pay for a snack with a MXN$20=US$1.50 banknote, and the clerk couldn't make change. The snack only cost a few pesos, so I could have just overpaid, but it shows you the standards that you are used to are very different. Try to hoard your small bills. If you get large bills from an ATM use each one at a well established business so you get smaller bills. Don't hold your money so that the clerk can see it, because if they see that you have small bills, they will refuse to accept the larger bill.
In the USA the federal reserve is circulating roughly 25 twenty dollar banknotes per person (total 25*$20=$500). There is an additional $100 in ones, fives, and tens per person. That quantity assures you that businesses have plenty of banknotes for small cash transactions.
In comparison the circulation statistics for Mexico are roughly 3.5 MXN$50 banknotes, 4.5 MXN$100 bankotes, and 6 MXN$200 banknotes per person. There is about US$145 per person in banknotes smaller than a 500 pesos note. So there is not a lot of money, and people run out all the time. Many poor people deal exclusively in coins.
Last edited by PacoMartin; 08-30-2013 at 03:16 PM..
Maybe that's true for you Steve but it wasn't for me. Various cards got rejected, cut off. I definitely suggest anyone who wants to use their CC advise the bank before traveling.
My experience is that they rarely cut off the first transaction if it is reasonable. But repeated use without some kind of notice will almost always result in it being cut off.
If you contact them, they say that they tried to call your US phone, but nobody responded.
Read my first sentence VERY VERY carefully.....it covers three different situations re a Debit or CC Card usage. I have used my CC only a couple times and they asked for my ID (name was the same as on the card)....paid mostly with Cash. They love the US dollars anywhere in Mexico I have been too.
You must be visiting the tourist areas, Steve. In Guadalajara, they won't take your US dollars. Even in the biggest ex-pat community in Mexico (Lake Chapala/Ajijic) the businesses don't take US dollars. Most don't take credit cards, either (though a few high end restaurants, the Walmart and ex-pat oriented grocery store does). It's peso's only.
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