BajaNomad

Credit Card at Pemex?

Doug/Vamonos - 8-19-2013 at 08:42 AM

Hi. I remember seeing this topic in the past but could not find any of the posts by searching. Does anyone use their credit card when buying gas at Pemex? Do you believe it is secure? Are they giving the bank exchange rate? Thanks? And which Pemexs on the way to LA Bay use a CC?

Bwana_John - 8-19-2013 at 09:03 AM

Quote:

Does anyone use their credit card when buying gas at Pemex? Do you believe it is secure? Are they giving the bank exchange rate?


No, No, and No. :no:

bajaguy - 8-19-2013 at 09:10 AM

I have used a credit card and an ATM card at two PEMEX stations in Ensenada (the one in Chapultepec by the Dos Hermanos carnitas place and the new 7-11/PEMEX station between Ensenada and Manedearo) and at the Baja Cactus PEMEX station in El Rosario............no problems

Credit Card

J.P. - 8-19-2013 at 09:24 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by bajaguy
I have used a credit card and an ATM card at two PEMEX stations in Ensenada (the one in Chapultepec by the Dos Hermanos carnitas place and the new 7-11/PEMEX station between Ensenada and Manedearo) and at the Baja Cactus PEMEX station in El Rosario............no problems















I am neither a fan nor a detractor of the Baja cactus. but for as long as I have been traveling that road they have always advertised they take Credit Cards . We used them once and if memory serves me they charged a 5% surcharge which I thought was high, But it was one of those GOTCHA moments when I was out of Gas and out of Money. :lol::lol:

DavidE - 8-19-2013 at 10:13 AM

Too much online bad juju about ID theft overcharging, ad nauseum for me. Dead Mexican heros on my "credit cards"

Bobvaso - 8-19-2013 at 11:09 AM

Just to be on the safe side. Get pesos with credit card at bba comer, or other bank atm. then pay for fuel with pesos. this weekend the guy at pemex in maneanero did not want the3e hassle of converting my usd 20.00.

durrelllrobert - 8-19-2013 at 11:47 AM

The PEMEX on the road to La Buffadora accepts US credit cards and it goes on the card in pesos with no commission. Your US card issuer may charge an international conversion fee. In fact Citi Bank charges 3%.

David K - 8-19-2013 at 11:49 AM

Baja Cactus only adds what his bank charges him for credit cards. Mexico is still a cash country, so bring cash!

LaTijereta - 8-19-2013 at 12:25 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by durrelllrobert
The PEMEX on the road to La Buffadora accepts US credit cards and it goes on the card in pesos with no commission. Your US card issuer may charge an international conversion fee. In fact Citi Bank charges 3%.


Been using a BofA "travel rewards" card (no annual fees) and there is no international transaction fees..So I am getting the current exchange rate and not burning up my ATM pesos which come at a "commision cost":cool:

greengoes - 8-19-2013 at 12:38 PM

No problemas with Bancomer Debit Cards.

Alm - 8-19-2013 at 01:17 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by David K
Baja Cactus only adds what his bank charges him for credit cards. Mexico is still a cash country, so bring cash!

Agreed with cash.

Gas station adds what their bank charges for credit card use, and you are also charged a conversion fee by your US bank - around 2%-3%.
Not to mention poor exchange rates of most credit card companies. Since when credit cards have a "fair exchange rate", what a ridiculous question....

dasubergeek - 8-19-2013 at 01:27 PM

I've done it when I've pulled in and realized I needed more gas than I had cash, but only once or twice. I did it at the brand new one in San Antonio de las Minas and the dufus disappears with my card. Not good.

I agree—pay cash. Your bank will charge less for a 'foreign' withdrawal if it's a US bank than you'll pay between international transaction fees and currency conversion fees.

bajaguy - 8-19-2013 at 04:40 PM

If you use a Southwest Airlines/Chase Bank VISA card there are no foreign transaction fees.........whats in your wallet???
Quote:
Originally posted by durrelllrobert
The PEMEX on the road to La Buffadora accepts US credit cards and it goes on the card in pesos with no commission. Your US card issuer may charge an international conversion fee. In fact Citi Bank charges 3%.

Alm - 8-19-2013 at 05:31 PM

Credit card: foreign transaction fee, proprietary exchange rate (almost always worse than a bank rate), gas station mark-up for use of credit card (likely), safety issues (likely).

Cash from US bank: ATM fee, reasonable exchange rate, no gas station mark-up, no safety issues.

bajadock - 8-19-2013 at 06:54 PM

If I'm late for happy hour north or south of the border, short on cash AND gas and don't want to make another stop, credit card option helps.

Here are the credit card PEMEX stations that I have experienced since 2011, north to south, from TJ through 'Nada town...



1. Just after the downhill of Av Internacional/TJ, instead of heading on exit west to TJ Playas, continue south 1/4 mile, PEMEX is on right side. After filling, use northernmost exit of station that will allow you to merge southbound, then U turn to get back to TJ Playas exit. Just visited here Aug 15, paid cash, but, prefer this stop vs. stopping TJ Playas.
(NOTE...There is PEMEX just EAST of here on Calle SEGUNDA, leading to SY Border Crossing. Have used this one a lot, but can't confirm credit card or no, see map above) ??
2. Rosarito 7/11 PEMEX, just north of Rosarito toll booth, west side of hwy 1.
3. PEMEX Just south of Ensenada toll booth, east side. Slow pumps and their tanks were flooded with water recently.
4. PEMEX At Hotel Sausalito, .1 miles south of the 16 story "Entremar" condos, 1/4 mile south of Trailero Tacos, east side.
5. PEMEX at Reforma and Estancia. This station is 1/2 mile east of Costero and the municipal beach. "Casa Country" is the landmark that leads you from the beach 1/2 mile east to Reforma. Station is on southwest corner, just north of the Tecate agency.
6. As Bob said above, for us Punta Banditos, the OXXO PEMEX about halfway between Maneadero and La Buf will take your card.

Ensenada Interactive Map


[Edited on 8-20-2013 by bajadock]

xolotl_tj - 8-25-2013 at 01:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Doug/Vamonos, index numbers added
(1) Does anyone use their credit card when buying gas at Pemex? (2) Do you believe it is secure? (3) Are they giving the bank exchange rate? (4) And which Pemexs on the way to LA Bay use a CC?

(1) Yes, many of us do.

(2) We wouldn't do so if we didn't think so. Why would you think otherwise?

(3) Pemex is not involved in the retail transaction. When it comes to foreign bank cards, you get the interbank exchange rate less whatever bite your card issuer wants to take. When it comes to cash dollars, it's whatever rate the owner of the particular gas station wants to offer -- sometimes that's as generous as the supermarkets, sometimes it's as stingy as the tourist-traps.

(4) While DavidK is right to say that Mexico is still a cash country, bank cards took the country by storm as soon as Salinas de Gortari privatized Banamex and gasoline retailers were among the earliest adopters. I am curious to know if there are any gas stations in Baja that do not accept cards.
Quote:
according to Alm
Credit card: foreign transaction fee, proprietary exchange rate (almost always worse than a bank rate), gas station mark-up for use of credit card (likely), safety issues (likely).
Cash from US bank: ATM fee, reasonable exchange rate, no gas station mark-up, no safety issues.

Here's my litmus-test for racism:

If "yes" to both, congratulations!

Alm would have us believe unfounded assertions as facts, which is fallacious. Here on the border, I can take dollars out of ATMs in San Ysidro and change them into pesos and I can take pesos out of ATMs in Tijuana. The ATMs in San Ysidro charge, on average, about double what the ATMs in Tijuana do; changing those dollars into pesos on the street nets me fewer pesos than I'd get from the Tijuana ATMs directly.

Bank cards do not have proprietary exchange rates. They were subjected to a couple of class-actions suits fifteen years ago to abolish that practice.

I know of no gas station that charges a "mark-up" for using cards. The practice of passing the merchant fee on to the buyer is discouraged; the only place I know of that still does it is Smart & Final.

Safety issues? Now that's the ad-hominem attack called "poisoning the well", plain and simple. Be afraid! Be very afraid! About what we can't say, but be very afraid anyway!

The greatest good that gringo boards such as this one can achieve is in helping foreigners avoid culture shock -- otherwise visitors and ex-pats are not going to enjoy their time in Baja. To create distrust where none is warranted not only perverts the board's purpose, it offends the host culture. It is a form of bullying and we need to stand up to it.