We are going on 16th september and not had a letter, we still have dollars left from january when we were last there.

?? Can't imagine that is correct. The US $ is accepted everywhere.
http://cancun.travel/en/
Try contacting the official travel bureau to find out.

Maybe this is what they are thinking of -
http://www.travelyucatan.com/first-8.htm
new banking restrictions.

Yes I agree that maybe what they are thinking about and that someone has their wires crossed.

However there is a copy of this letter from First Choice on the thread on Trip Advisor. It clearly states that the $ is not being accepted in shops, bars etc etc. Also they (First Choice and Thomson) are not accepting the $ in payment for trips and for the departure tax.

I am travelling with Thomas Cook this coming Friday and have not recieved a letter.

I'm baffled. Can you provide a link to the forum?

There is a post in the Cancun forum of TA titled 'Do not listen to your Travel Agent. US money restrictions' it basically states the information re the dollar is from a bad chain letter which seems to be affecting mainly the UK Travel Agents. It seemingly stems from the fact that Mexican banks will be limiting USD transactions to prevent money laundering concerns.

I have read that post Judith, but the person that wrote it is not from the UK, so how could he possibly know?

I think a lot of it has come from a new law that Mexico have implemented stating that large amount of money can't be exchanged - money laundering - and that Thomsons have jumped on the band wagon, panicked and sent out these letters (Thomas Cook know nothing about it)

It doesn't alter the fact that the departure tax cannot now be paid in $. Sterling pesos or Euros only now.
I had exchanged £ to $ simply to pay the departure tax!

I was in Mexico last week and they took our $ and credit cards everywhere...

Hi Emdia43
The restrictions come into force on September 9th - apparently.

It has now been confirmed by Thomas Cook that the departure tax and all trips must be paid in Euro's, Sterling or Pesos. That includes drinks/duty free etc onboard the plane.
No UK airlines will now accept the USA$ as a form of payment.

As the forum's a bit quiet...

Had an interesting letter from Thomas Cook today, regarding our trip to Mexico at Christmas.

Basically the Mexican Inland Revenue are limiting US Dollar transactions from September 13th and the currency will no longer be accepted in hotels/resorts for goods and services or for purchasing excursions or paying departure tax. Small denominations of USD can still be changed (so I guess it'll still be OK for tips), but generally Pesos are what they want from now on.

It's going to be particularly strange for the American tourists, who kind of regard Cancun/Playa del Carmen as the 51st state.

Ooops, just noticed Denny.53's earlier post on the subject.
Merge me someone !

Hey,
A friend of mine going to Mexico has just been told they are no longer accepting the USD?

I was wondering if this is true, we are going out at christmas and not been informed?

Thanks
Z.J.C

I think the holiday firms really need to get their act together with this one and confirm the correct information as soon as possible. We are due to fly out to Cancun on 1st October and the first I heard about this was on this forum from the comment from Denny53. My mother and father in law were flying out to Cancun on 3rd September, and they received a letter from First Choice on the 2nd of September stating that they could no longer use US $ in Mexico and that exit tax etc had to be paid in Pesos or Sterling. Luckily it wasnt too bad for them as they had exchanged Sterling for Pesos before they went (and not US $ or that could have been a nightmare).

Following that, I waited to see if I would receive a letter from First Choice confirming the details. Still nothing yet and we leave for Mexico in 2 weeks time. We went into the travel agents on Saturday and asked the question and asked why we hadnt yet received any formal notification (after all - we are just about to order our currency for going on holiday!!) we were told... oh you are on the list, the letters go out 3 weeks prior to your departure date. I still havent had anything from them yet!

Surely they should be sending out a mass of letters to ANYONE travelling to Mexico. Not everyone leaves it to the last minute to buy their currency for going on holiday.

Just a thought on this one though, why would you want to take US$ when the local currency is pesos ? We only took pesos with us and the exchange rate at the time from £ to peso was better than £ to dollar

hi we are going to mexico on the 29th sept .we recieved a letter from thomsons yesterday telling us not to take dollers.if you have already got dollers from the thomsons shop you can exchange them for pesos happy days

Here is what the Mexican Government's policy is on this. TA's have made lots of errors in their letters.
It does not appear to affect tourist areas.
http://thenews.com.mx/articulo/treasury-restricts-dollar-transactions-10616

I got back from Riviera Maya on Monday. Since 13th September 2010, Mexico no longer officially accept the US Dollar. However, given the US Dollar is the major tourist currency entering the country, hotels have special dispensation to accept them for exchange for Pesos. Tourist areas are also still accepting the US Dollar (12 pesos to $1). It's advisable to take pesos rather than the US Dollar due to this and the reduced exchange rates. You'll get 17-19 pesos to £1 locally, about the same or slightly less if you exchange them before you travel.

Darren

Dazbo HT Mod wrote:

I got back from Riviera Maya on Monday. Since 13th September 2010, Mexico no longer officially accept the US Dollar.

Darren

Hi there new here, apparently this is no longer and they are back to accepting USdollars. Which was also confirmed when I visited both American Express and Thomson currency exchanges today.

All very confusing, as although it seems like it's US Dollar business as usual in the resorts, it was made clear in the Thomas Cook letter that Departure Tax must be paid in Pesos. Yet the Cancun Airport website states the tax is around US$48 per person, with no mention of a necessity to pay in Pesos.

I don't tend to change money back on return and would rather take dollars, simply because I'm more likely to use them again on a future holiday.