Guatemalan Quetzales
Get ready for your trip to Guatemala. Order your Guatemalan Quetzales at Manor FX today. Our great exchange rates mean you'll have more GTQ cash to spend. Have your Guatemalan Quetzal banknotes delivered securely to your home or office, or pick them up from the Manor FX bureau near Heathrow.
Manor FX offers fast delivery times and a fuss-free online ordering process for your Guatemalan quetzal travel money.
Travel advise: payments in Guatemala
Jet off well-informed to Guatemala. Here are some handy facts about cash and card payments in Guatemala.
Paying by card in Guatemala is dependent upon phone verifications by the vendor. Whereas card payments are widely accepted in Guatemala'a cities, such as Guatemala City and Mixco, paying by card in smaller towns and remote areas in Guatemala is less straightforward, and vendors in these areas will often only accept cash, either in Quetzales or US dollars.
Check before paying by card if the vendor adds card fees to the bill. These can be as high as 5% to 10% on top of the purchase price. In addition your bank may charge 'transaction charges'.
Card payments in Guatemala are with 'swipe and sign', rather than 'chip and pin'. You need to have 'swipe and sign' enabled on your card in order for your card payments to go through. Many British cards, including Revolut cards, don't have swipe and sign payments enabled by default.
If you are going to pay by card in Guatemala: Be aware of bank card fees and currency conversion fees for card payments. ATM withdrawals in Guatemala will incur costs including currency conversion fees. Your bank's GTQ to GBP exchange rate may be quite bad. This is how banks make money.
Before using your bank card for payments in Central America it's certainly a good idea to contact your bank. This will avoid your card becoming blocked due to international transactions that your bank may find suspicious.
We recommend that you take cash with you on your trip to Guatemala. Especially if you plan to visit areas outside the main cities or travel around the country.
Cash is the preferred payment method by most vendors in Guatemala and it's a useful fallback option when card payments aren't available or card fees are too high.
Most vendors will accept payments in US Dollar banknotes. The US dollar notes need to be crips and clean banknotes of $50 and $100 USD. You can certainly take US dollars with you on your trip to Guatemala. Once in Guatemala it's recommended to exchange some of the USD into Quetzales, especially smaller bills. These are useful for tipping, paying for taxi rides and public transportation.
The overall cost of living in Guatemala is 35% lower than the cost of living in Great Britain. That means that generally prices in Guatemala are around a third cheaper than prices at home.
For a coffee in a cafe in Guatemala City you can expect to pay around 15 Quetzales. A three-course meal will set you back around 120 Quetzales per person.
There is no formal tipping culture in Guatemala, and it's up to you whether you want to leave a tip or not. When eating and drinking out in Guatemala a tip of around 10% is appropriate if you are happy with the service.
Leave your tip in cash. The 1 quetzal coins and banknotes and 5 quetzals notes are great for tipping.
Banknotes in Guatemala
The banknotes in use in Guatemala are 1 GTQ, 5 GTQ, 10 GTQ, 20 GTQ, 50 GTQ, 100 GTQ and 200 GTQ. The newest banknotes are made of polymer plastic and circulate alongside older series paper banknotes. Both types of Quetzal banknotes are valid.
Coins in Guatemala
Guatemalan coins range from 5 centavos (0.05 GTQ) to 1 GTQ. The 1 quetzal exists both as a coin and a banknote, and both types are in circulation alongside each other. The subunit of the Quetzal is the centavo: There are 100 centavos in 1 Quetzal.
Guatemala's currency import and export regulations
It's prohibited to bring Guatemalan Quetzales into Guatemala. There is no restriction on the amount of foreign currency you can take into and out of Guatemala. No declarations are required.
Ordering Guatemalan Quetzales online
Order Guatemalan Quetzales online and have them delivered fast and securely to your home or office, with Royal Mail Special Delivery Guaranteed®. Or pick them up from our travel money shop near Heathrow. Click here to buy Guatemalan Quetzales online.
Selling back Guatemalan Quetzales
If you have Guatemalan Quetzales to sell, follow this link to exchange Guatemalan Quetzales to Pounds, click on 'sell currency' and select 'GTQ Guatemalan Quetzal'. We'll pay good rates for your leftover Guatemalan Quetzales.
