Speak spanish to avoid a scam

I spent months saving for a six weeks holiday in Mexico with my husband. We even treated ourselves to a whole month car rental in my hometown so we wouldn’t have to rely on local taxis - who often try to charge more as soon as they seen a white person next to me (as bad as this sounds).  

We ordered through Booking.com as we thought it would be extra security for us. When we got to the company counter at the airport, we found that the staff could *somewhat* speak english… which was great! Everything was going smoothly so far. Then they tried to charge an extra massive insurance fee to release the car and I realised that almost all communication is only between the staff and my husband. Now, my husband is the male equivalent of *cough cough* a Karen and I knew that he wouldn’t give up and wouldn’t let get played. The staff was pretty confident he could keep our money until his face changed when he learned that I’m actually Mexican and we could defend ourselves by taking it up with the local Authorities. 

We eventually got our hard earned money back but if it wasn’t for the language, we don’t know how else this company - or any other - would have tried to fool a regular tourist. I get it, we want to travel and visit as many places as possible in our lifetime, but this time knowing the language saved us from being taken for a ride (excuse the pun). Mexico is a beautiful country but local sellers almost always think a white person has money and therefore they feel like they have to hustle in order to squeeze some more dollars/pounds out of foreigners’ pockets. 

If you plan to travel to any Spanish speaking country soon, it’s always helpful to learn something else than “una cerveza por favor”! 

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