koshiboy

For those contemplating a trip NOB for vaccination: I am in the States at this time, and was vaccinated at a local CVS pharmacy last Wednesday, May 12th, 2021. I had a 3 o'clock appointment for the Janssen/Johnson & Johnson single-shot vaccine, but there were no other patients. The man who administered my shot told me that that day was the last day they would be giving the J&J vaccine. He speculated it was because the two-shot vaccines had been approved for teenagers. I didn't see any disclaimer on the CVS website when I made the appointment that they would be switching vaccines, so perhaps it would be wise to confirm which one you'll get as close as possible to your departure.

How and why is it not true? And what part of it is not true? Please provide a real-world example.

Yes. As the banks raise their fees, the amount you can withdraw and come out ahead v. using another card goes up, and it looks like you withdrew about 5,000 pesos. If debited to your US dollar account at the rate of 1 dollar to 19.53 pesos, you would pay $256.02. Using another card, I think the rate would only be discounted about 1% from the spot market rate. Both factors fluctuate during the day, but yesterday I think the discounted dollar value would have been about 19.74 pesos. If so, you'd have paid $253.29. So, you would be better off paying the ATM fee up to a fee of $2.73 (about 54 pesos? At what rate do they rebate the fee?). However, in my research, which may not reflect the current state of affairs, the gap between the Schwab card and my Capital One card was 2.7%, and you are reporting a smaller difference (about 2%?). Now that the banks are all raising their fees--no more 17.40 pesos at CIBanco 😢--it may be worthwhile giving Schwab another chance.

The cost (and more) of providing cash through an ATM will be recovered by the owner of the ATM as well as the other intermediaries. The ATM fee is one of those recovery methods. In those cases where a fee is absent, or (and I have verified this with my Schwab account) refunded by your bank, you will find the exchange rate to be discounted in the bank's favor by a small amount. In the case of Schwab, I found that the discounted exchange rate would hurt me more than the ATM fee using another card unless I was withdrawing a very small amount, like $20. https://transferwise.com/gb/blog/atms-in-mexico

CIBanco used to have the lowest ATM usage fee of any bank I've visited Lakeside (17.40 pesos), however, on December 14th, I was charged 29 pesos and at the end of this month it was up to 58 pesos. That's still competitive with other banks I've used, especially because I have hit withdrawal limits at ATMs at other banks. The only other bank I've used since mid-summer is Multiva, which charged me 96.28 pesos--the highest fee I've encountered here. Curious if anyone has updates on other locations.

Loud music intolerable most nights in Colonia Guadalupe in Chapala, often into the wee hours; calls to police rebuffed--said they can't do squat.

Any news on the AMLO-UCD agreement?

Lots of information there, but what shocked me most is this: The article also references another "viral video" which can be found here: https://america.cgtn.com/2019/01/27/robberies-on-the-rise-in-lake-chapala-a-community-in-mexico-popular-with-expats

The Chapala American Legion website is not responding as I write this, so I can't confirm that the menu there has been updated or not, but the menu that I saw there before is the basis for my previous post stating a price rise. When I went there in summer, 2018, prices where as on the menu. For example: The Tuesday filet mignon special was 130 pesos. Then, when I went again in November, 2018, the menus were the same ones, but they had nearly all prices taped over with new prices written in. The filet mignon special was 150 pesos. I am seeing similar price rises all over the lakeside area.

Prices have been raised about 15% recently.