Aldervale
Junior Nomad
Posts: 95
Registered: 12-22-2013
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Plastic to Pesos ?
Greetings
Can we purchase PESOs with a USA based credit card?
How and Where ?
Banco mex at the crossing on Thursday morning ?
Many thanks
Aldervale
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woody with a view
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Location: Looking at the Coronado Islands
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use your debit card at an ATM and remove the daily max your bank allows. call them to let them know prior to crossing.
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Gulliver
Senior Nomad
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Registered: 11-18-2013
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I use my VISA debit card at the Mulege machine. 6000p per day max.
I have found that it is necessary to have my credit union "suspend my fraud protection" until I tell them to reactivate it when I return to the states
in May. Otherwise they freak out as if I was getting cash in Nigeria. Total dolts.
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bajabuddha
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All great advice. #1, be sure to notify your local branch you are travelling abroad; otherwise they'll shut you down like a young heifer in a Cowboy
Bunny-Hop Bar and you'll be stranded with a useless guitar pick if'n you don't.
#2, you get charged a usage fee (chump change) regardless of the amount you draw out..... ergo, draw out the maximum amount daily allowed; simple
math. One charge regardless... the more you take out, the less you pay in percentage. $500 U.S. vs. a $4.50 charge is less than 1%. They all
charge about the same per bank, stick to the main Mexican bank ATMs.
#3, the more you pay in Pesos, the less likely you are to being conned by those (very few) vendors or people who would DARE to unscrupulously take
advantage of a tourist without a calculator and a brain..... I've been in the latter category...... once...... Happy trails.
I don't have a BUCKET LIST, but I do have a F***- IT LIST a mile long!
86 - 45*
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MulegeAL
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If you need pesos before you cross over stop the corner of West San Ysidro and Via de San Ysidro, yellow/red casa de cambio. You'll need pesos anyway
for tourist visa.
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Alm
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The ATM charge notably varies from bank to bank. One of lower priced ATM was Scotia Bank, while another Canadian-based HSBC ATM didn't accept my
(also Canadian) credit card at all. Or it was HSBC that did, and Scotia that didn't, don't remember. Both red colored, sitting across from one another
on the plaza. I prefer buying small amount of pesos before going in, to avoid waste of time and ATM extra charges.
[Edited on 1-10-2016 by Alm]
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willardguy
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if you carry the right card there will be no extra charges, whats in your wallet?
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Hook
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Be very careful using an actual credit card (not a debit card) for getting cash from an ATM. Many banks consider this a "cash advance" which means a
2% fee (plus the intl exchange fee, if your bank charges it) and sometimes the bank will immediately start charging you interest on the cash until you
pay it back. In other words, you are borrowing the money from them. Muy carro!
Stick to a debit card. Or, you might be able to use a credit card as a purchase of pesos at a casa de cambio or some other foreign exchange outlet.
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Alm
Ultra Nomad
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Finding a bank that is "right" for your particular card may take extra time. Heck, finding any ATM may take time in Baja.
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Alm
Ultra Nomad
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Quote: Originally posted by Hook  | | sometimes the bank will immediately start charging you interest on the cash until you pay it back. |
With credit cards (not debit) - I think they all work this way. Interest on cash advance immediately.
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