Jonathan is correct. If you bargain (and you can do that even on marked prices in shops) you can ask for a discount (un descuento, por favor) and they will offer you a lower price and tell you that’s for “efectivo” or the cash price. You can bargain from there, of course, but you’re bargaining for the cash price. Beyond the large hotels and fancy restaurants and the mall/chain stores you’ll have a hard time using credit cards. So dust off those ATM cards. I think I said it elsewhere in this forum, but we use Capital One — they do not charge an ATM transaction fee. That said, when I have used my credit card in Ecuador or elsewhere I have never had a problem.
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