Do we fly into San Fran and the driver picks us up from there? I sure hope so that would save me a ton on my flight. All you Aceves patients please let me know

I flew to San Diego and the driver picked us up there.....

Thank you for your reply that cuts about 900 off my estimated bill. How much money for other things like meds/food/hotel/tips did you take?

I only brought $60 with me for food, tips, etc. The cost of the hotel is included. You will only have one meal, we went all out (appetizer, entree, one drink, and dessert), and I think it cost us each about $25 at this Mexican restaurant that Ernesto recommended. I wasn't buying medications there, though, as I have a drug plan here. Plus after I bought them here, the price difference was not very significant (on the order of 15% or so). So unless you plan to buy meds, there's no reason for you to bring more than $100.

I bought two meals: lunch and dinner. They told us to enjoy our "last meal" and not worry about we ate, so I did exactly that! But I used my debit card for the meals and tips. It was handy to have a lot of dollar bills for bellboys, waiters, and such... Then at the airport, I bought fluids with cash. I was lucky to have someone pick me up at the airport, so I didn't have to worry about parking or getting gas. Does that help?

I just got back home from surgery last night. We flew into San Diego and the driver picked us up there and brought us back there when it was time to fly back out. We did need spending money for our last meal which is about $25-$30 a person depending on what you eat and I also bought my meds there because I wasn't sure if I could get the specific medication here in the states that I needed and for 5 boxes of Nexium Mumps and 2 boxes of Supra doll pain meds it was about $150.00. Other than tiping dirver and buying a drink at the airport for traveling home thats all that I needed other than meds. Now if someone comes along with you they will have to buy their meals. My husband ate his meals at the hospital cafeteria and loved the food, plus it was very affordable. Nothing he ate was over $10 bucks and they were very large portions as well. He made 2 meals out of some of the meals. So it all depends on how much you want to take. They do take credit cards so that is helpful too. I hope this helps.

I was just there as well....you do have transportation to and from the airport and hotel to hospital.

I brought about $300, but I also brought my husband who needed to eat and went out for beers one night with another sleever's mom who went with her. He also went to the "mall" there and bought some things.

I was glad I brought that much because some places had trouble running the card, but they may not have been doing it correctly. If you aren't bringing anyone and aren't buying meds, then $100 should do you. It was WAAAY too hot to venture out from the hotel and find a place to eat, so we ate at the hotel which was a bit more expensive then if we would have left the hotel; however it is still a bit better then American prices (we paid $17.95 for a rib-eye steak meal there).

The only thing that I would have done differently is have the places we did use the card at put things through in pesos. I didn't realize it until the last day when I went to the pharmacy. They were telling me all my meds were like $140 when they converted it; however my iphone app was saying the conversion was $127. If they converted it themselves other places and put it through as dollars, then I could have paid too much (they do this at the cafeteria at the hospital). The pharmacy put it through as pesos and my bank deducted $127 like my app said it would be. The bank will convert it more accurately then the vendor will, so make sure you don't let anyone tell you how much it is in dollars.

If you have a iphone or something similar...definately get an app to help you out!! Not only with the currency, but everything there is done in metric measurements as well so it came in handy a lot.

I have a few questions for the Aceves Pts who've been there, done that! :-D

How much did you tip the driver? Did you tip him each time, or did you just wait until the final drop-off?

How much did you tip the wait staff and bell hops?

Thanks so much! I don't want to tip too little, and certainly don't want to tip too much either.

I have a few questions for the Aceves Pts who've been there, done that! :-D

How much did you tip the driver? Did you tip him each time, or did you just wait until the final drop-off?

How much did you tip the wait staff and bell hops?

Thanks so much! I don't want to tip too little, and certainly don't want to tip too much either.

Miss Diva,

I had 2 different drivers because the main driver was on vacation when we arrived. My husband tipped both of them...I think $10 - Frederico after he dropped us at the hotel and Ernesto after he dropped us at the airport.

There were no bell hops at the hotel to tip, so I didn't tip anyone there except for the waiter at the place we ate (inside hotel) and the service was AMAZING - I really think the US could learn a lesson in customer service from MX! I tipped them 20%, same as I would here in the US when the service was good.

Miss Diva,

I had 2 different drivers because the main driver was on vacation when we arrived. My husband tipped both of them...I think $10 - Frederico after he dropped us at the hotel and Ernesto after he dropped us at the airport.

There were no bell hops at the hotel to tip, so I didn't tip anyone there except for the waiter at the place we ate (inside hotel) and the service was AMAZING - I really think the US could learn a lesson in customer service from MX! I tipped them 20%, same as I would here in the US when the service was good.

Perfect! I was wondering if the gratuities would be similar to the US. That sounds more than fair.

Thanks so much! :001_smile:

i was also picked up in San Diego, i tipped the driver until the end. I gave him 10dlls.

lilmissdiva: I didn't tip Frederico because he forgot to pick my friend and I up at AA Parking in Calexico (we drove into Calexico) like he was supposed to. But I tipped Ernesto $5 when he took me across the border and dropped me at the same parking lot. If my friend had been with me for that ride (she left the day after my surgery, spent 2 days in San Diego, and met me back at the parking lot to drive home) it would have been $10 because I'd read $5 per person tip is appropriate for the driver.

lilmissdiva: I didn't tip Frederico because he forgot to pick my friend and I up at AA Parking in Calexico (we drove into Calexico) like he was supposed to. But I tipped Ernesto $5 when he took me across the border and dropped me at the same parking lot. If my friend had been with me for that ride (she left the day after my surgery, spent 2 days in San Diego, and met me back at the parking lot to drive home) it would have been $10 because I'd read $5 per person tip is appropriate for the driver.

Thanks for this info Shrinking! I'll probably do 20, so that would be 5 to and from for each myself and my Mom.

Also we are going to meet him in Calexico as well. I was wondering if we could get picked up somewhere other than imperial airport. AA parking would be better for everyone. It's right next to the border. We are driving as well.

Thanks again!

no prob. Be sure if you do go to AA parking that you ask for a valid phone# in case the driver is MIA like he was for us. If i could have gotten thru to anyone and been told what was going on, I would not have had the whole taxi nightmare. the 888# on Nina's emails is the one I tried, and all I got was a menu loop where the line rang and rang and then robot picked up and said "thank you. to return to the main menu, press 1." and when I'd press 1 the whole thing started again. GRRRRR! but maybe it was because it was Sunday? Maybe the phones aren't manned on Sunday?????

Check on it. You'll be glad you did.

Most people do get picked up at the AAA parking lot if they choose to drive.