[QUOTE=KCQuestor;2541023]In the zona, it's generally just fine to use dollars. Hotels and bars set their prices based on dollars, so the cost of your room or for drinks is pretty much the same either way. If they are using 19:1 to set prices and you can get 20:1 at the exchange, you will save a tiny amount (about 5%) by using pesos. But it's not worth the hassle for a lot of guys. How good are you at math? Can you divide and multiply by the exchange rate fairly quickly? It's pretty easy right now at about 20:1, but still a bit of mental math. Also, it's a lot easier for the meseros to cheat you a bit if you use pesos. Say a drink is 78 pesos. You give him a 200 peso bill and he returns with a 50 peso bill and a handful of change. Are you familiar enough with pesos to fish out a 10p or 20p coin? Or do you just tip him a 50p note ($2.50)? However, if you give him a US $20 bill he'll bring back the change in dollars and you can just hand him $1.
As far as the bar girls, they are used to taking dollars and will quote those prices. Some girls may be willing to negotiate in pesos, but some won't. I've had a girl ask for $80 and when I asked for her peso rate she pulled up a calculator and said "1580 pesos". Some girls will ask for more in pesos than in dollars, because dollars are going up in value. Others will take less in pesos because they can spend them in more places. It's a crapshoot as to whether pesos will save you money or not with bar girls.
Now with street girls, pesos are the way to go. They think in pesos and often use a 10:1 conversion rate for convenience. So they will ask for $30 or 300 pesos ($15) for basic service. Pesos are the way to go with street girls.
Escort agencies will vary. Some only post a dollar rate and you have to call to ask their peso rate, which changes based on the value of the dollar. In those places, dollars are your best bet. Some agencies post a peso and a dollar rate, so look at the rates and decide. Musas, for example, charges roughly $10 more if you pay with dollars (1600 vs $90/1900 vs $105).
In general, you won't lose much money paying with dollars (except for the street girls). And besides the actual exchange rate there is the added hassle of exchanging dollars for pesos. You have to stop at a cambio, maybe stand in line, and exchange your dollars for pesos. If you don't spend all the pesos, you have to then stop and change them back (and you lose money when you do that). For a lot of guys who just want a quick, casual trip to the zona it's just a whole lot easier to stick with dollars.[/QUOTE]I am an amatuer at the peso still thanks for the knowledge. It is a small club thing but sometimes I do go to a smaller club just to check out what they got going on. Saw a really cute freak there once who I was dying to take to the room. They keep quoting really high prices that did not make sense in dollor or peso. I was extremely new to peso then. Someone pointed out to me they probaly were screwing up the conversion and I probably would have been better paying in peso. I think you kind of touched on this but wanted to share my example that taught me. It is definately good to have both and know the value of both. Not needed but helpful.
