Anyone have any current Info on tipping in Mexico. I had heard the country is suggesting staff not take foreign currency. Is there any truth to this?

American bills are good, but dont tip with coins, they are harder for them to exchange.

Angela different situation but oh man. I was down in Cuba awhile back. When one of the guys heard we were from Canada he took me into their back office to see if he could exchange some cdn coins. They had close to $100 in coins and that was just cdn coins, they had lots of other countries all sorted out but he said banks wouldn’t take them so unless they could find someone to exchange they were useless.

Angela why do you feel American bills are good?

Barb we have traveled there many times, exchanging American money seems to be easier than pesos for us and it's easier to know how much you are tipping (simpler conversion) American money is also widely accepted in Mexico, unless something has changed, thats our go to.

Angela your not American ( well guessing only because this is a YYC page) and your in Mexico you should use their currency. Besides tipping isn’t hard to figure out. You tip your percentage based on your bill in pesos. Ie tip average of 20%.
500 peso bill would see 100p tip. We actually Learned this from a local
USD isn’t “widely accepted” it’s “widely tolerated” but it’s a huge PITA for Mexicans to exchange it. They won’t turn it down because every penny counts. But they only take it because most Americans are arrogant and think their money is better than using the currency of the country they are visiting.
.

Angela maybe in Cancun or Puerto Vallarta but most of the country would not want American bills.

Cheryl I just got home from 9 days in PV. And no they prefer pesos almost everywhere. And 85% only take cash. Only your bigger “chain style” restaurants will take CC. Mexico only takes USD to keep the neighbors happy. But in the end rule of travel
Is “take the currency of the country your going to NOT the country you are from”

Taunia isn’t that what I said? I live in Mexico.

Cheryl sorry you said maybe Cancun or PV. I was just pointing out that in PV most prefer pesos. It wasn’t really directed at you sorry
. Oh I am jelly we can’t wait to make the move permanently.

I also tip in the currency of the country I’m visiting. They lose money at the bank if you use US. Take pesos.

I always tip in local currency no matter where I travel. It’s such a hassle for staff to have to go to the bank because we didn’t. Plus, a lot of the time banks don’t believe the resort workers, confiscate the money saying it’s “fake”, and exchange and keep it for themselves.

Tip in local currency

Sorry to piggyback on your post, but we're also going to Mexico next year and haven't been to an all-inclusive in over a decade. What are tipping protocols? We're also going to a fancy restaurant we pay an extra fee for, what do you tip there? So lost

Skylar tip what you can. When we go we tend to tip for our drinks , all meals ($5 for breakfast and lunch, $20 for dinner ) $50 -$100 for housekeeping . No set protocol.

Teri thank you!

Teri what currency do you tip in?

Skylar peso

Skylar I go to currency exchange here before I go

Skylar tip on the bill
In pesos. Example. $500 peso dinner bill @ 20% would be $100 peso tip.

American bills but no coins

Feryal your not in the USA your in Mexico. Use pesos! You wouldn’t tip pesos in Russia would you?

Taunia we are carrying both currencies here in Cancun resort… and interesting thing is the staff is so happy when we are giving them US dollars instead of pesos
…even we asked them which currency they will prefer they said US dollars

Feryal well Cancun is a bit different it’s VERY Americanized but again 99% don’t want it. We stayed at a resort there and some of the staff liked it so they had $ to visit family in the USA. But I talked to alot of staff at the resort we did stay at and most preferred pesos. And we only used pesos but a lot of American’s and Brit’s used usd
But again regardless you wouldn’t tip your waiter in the USA with pesos or in Canada so why do it there? Never understood it.

Taunia right

ALWAYS tip in local currency, otherwise the person you tipped has to hassle with getting it exchanged. If you give them a different currency, it's like making them work a little harder for it, because they then have to go exchange it.

We always tip with US $

Carol
. They are always so thankful for it

Edward L'Ecluse
Carol they would be more thankful if they didn't have to lose some of it to conversion and didn't have to spend family time going to get it converted. But yes, it's much better than not tipping.

Taunia
Carol they are thankful because you gave them $. You would probably change your mind if you realized what a pain in the a$$ all those American $ are for them. And frankly it’s inconsiderate . Peso is their currency you should use it!

I started tipping in their own currency (pesos) to make it easier of the hotel staff. It’s actually easier for you as well as it is getting more difficult to exchange larger American bills to pesos in Mexico. You need to bring your passport to the bank. (I heard it’s because of the drug cartel there and the Mexican government trying to manage) Don’t know if that’s true or not… We were in PV a couple weeks ago and had no issues tipping in pesos.

For those commenting that American bills are good for tips, what process do you think the receiver of the tip has to go through in order to actually use that money? Please consider using the local currency. American or Canadian dollars is not the answer for tipping.

Barb
media1.tenor.co

The key thing to remember is that money loses roughly 3% of its value to the universe (ok, banks & private exchanges) any time it is converted from one currency to another.
[Scenario 1]
- you convert from your home currency to U.S. dollars (you lose 3% during the exchange)
- you pay someone in Mexico with those U.S. dollars (they lose 3% converting it back to their home currency)
A total of 6% of the original money is lost to the universe.
*
*
[Scenario 2]
- you pay someone in Mexico with Canadian dollars (they lose 3% converting it back to their home currency)
A total of 3% of the original money is lost to the universe.
*
*
[Scenario 3]
- you withdraw pesos from the ATM while in Mexico (you lose 3% during the withdrawal)
- you pay someone in the Mexico with those pesos (they lose nothing, already in their home currency)
A total of 3% of the original money is lost to the universe.
*
*
Scenario 1: you and the person in Mexico each lose 3% of the original money
Scenario 2: you lose nothing, they lose 3% and have the time/hassle expense of converting it back to their home currency
Scenario 3: you lose 3% (but likely need to convert some currency at some point anyways, so the loss is inevitable). They lose nothing and don't have the time/hassle expense of converting it back to their home currency.

I would recommend pesos as first choice! Do not tip in Canadian cash. It is a bigger pain for them to use, as they will have to go to a bank or an exchange business. And they will get ripped off on the exchange. You can tip in USD, but never give a larger bill than a $20, or it could cause them problems. We have had a house in Mexico for 17 years and have travelled for many more, so I am commenting on experience, not just what I have been told! Many locals use their USD tips to pay for their groceries at the larger stores without issue and the large stores do give a fair exchange on the USD but wont accept Canadian!
We live on the east coast!

We use pesos for everything including meals, drinks , souvenirs and tipping.

We were told 30-50 pesos on the pillow daily for housekeeping…and 100-150 for the all-inclusive “meals.” For drink service 20-50 pesos. If 20, that’s more of a one off, 50 is for two rounds. Have fun

Always tip in local money period. Mexico like local currency because there is sooooo much counterfeit American $ the workers get ripped off. The only time we’ve tipped Canadian was when our $ was worth more than American and the staff asked us for it. We also tip good and get great service. Just because it’s all inclusive doesn’t mean you don’t have to tip. These people serve you 16-17 hr days and deserve to be paid more than $5/day, housekeeping is worst. Depends on how you want service but if your tipping you’ll pretty much have personal butler service all over the resort.

MEXICO is a large country so it’s important to know where you are going. Smaller towns and resorts may not be able to change USD easily. Large areas and resorts may. But as everyone else has said it takes time and effort on the part of the receiver to change currency. In some small towns we have even had a hard time changing larger pesos for smaller ones. Local currency is always best.

Most countries don’t tip

DexandNikki

They will take us currency.

We use peso's and american

Always tip in MXN !!!!! If you have to pay for something and want to USD they don’t mind that but if your tipping a person for their services then give them MXN pesos.

OMG this is one of my biggest pet peeve questions. You are going to a Mexico, their currency is the Mexican Peso. Why would you use anything else? Traveling tip… ALWAYS use the currency of the country you are visiting NOT the country you are coming from.
IMO it is disrespectful to even consider using another countries currency.
Your service staff in Mexico usually work a 6 day work week. They live outside tourist areas ( typically) they buy their food at local stands and shops, almost all only take pesos. They usually ride the bus, only takes pesos. When you tip in a foreign currency they have to go to the bank and exchange that $. Line ups are usually very long, so they spend their one day off trying to get exchange your tips. Also the banks in Mexico will not accept any ripped or marked foreign currency so this causes even more grief for your service staff. YES they will accept the USD because they will not say no to cash, but remember what they have to go through to cash it. So please please use pesos. It’s the respectful thing to do. And one day hopefully this will not need to be a question asked
I have friends and family that live in Mexico, I just got back Sunday. Anyone we spoke to all say the same, pesos preferred 99% of the time. But they will not turn down a tip in USD.

Taunia Thanks so much for explaining this in detail. Using foreign currency is just so inconsiderate.

Millie your welcome. We just got back from another wonderful
Trip on Sunday. We don’t stay on resorts. And I agree. I just don’t even understand why anyone would think it’s right.

Honestly ask yourself WHY you are not planning to tip people in their local currency? Are you just to lazy to go to the bank? Do you believe some 60 yr old information about greenbacks? Are you just a self centered jerk who wants to pretend you haven't left your own country? Whatever it is, the answer is always the same. In Mexico tip in Pesos!!!

If u can, tip in local currency. If not, only use paper money. Coins r useless for them, esp Canadian.

We used the ATM at the resort to get pesos. Seemed more convenient than trying to go to a bank or currency exchange, and the fees were probably the same!

I find Mexicans prefer US currency

I was just in Mexico and most of the places we bought things asked for USD
Even the hair braiding lady on the beach wanted USD

Any Canadian can order Mexican pesos from their bank. We always take a bunch of small denominations bills for tips and purchases. Try to calculate approx how much you will need each day for tips. Get that amount, plus a bit more for incidental purchases. If you take too much you will lose on the conversion back to Cdn

US dollars were always king in Mexico. I don't know what has changed. I feel like I'm in an echo chamber right now.

Anyone would prefer something to nothing. It's just that the equivalent amount in pesos is better for the person in Mexico than $USD, and really, for the Canadian as well.
I think it's also very possible tourists paying in $USD often aren't doing the math, and often end up paying more to the person making a living than they would have if they paid in pesos. Enough so that they actually compensate for the lost 3% and then some.

Chris No argument here. I'm simply relating what I've been told by serving staff in Mexico. I also read that they are having problems with counterfeit US currency now, so the Peso is likely what they want now regardless. Times change...

When I went south I met a couple on the beach and they wanted US dollars as tips.....a lot of them cross the border to the US to shop....Have you ever tried crossing some of those borders? for example at Brownsville.......