thanks all, that is really useful and that chart will be so much easier to use

Can anyone tell me how good the exchange rate is in the Dom Rep and if its quite cheap out there?

I am looking at going for 2 weeks AI with a friend as i have found a good deal, just interested to know roughly how much spending money I would need?

Ali.

Hi,

I will be traveling to Jamaica for the first time shortly and i am slightly confused on the currency issue.

I have booked through Thomsons and on the booking confirmation they sent me it states that i have to pay a arrival tax of $10us and a departure tax of J$1,000.

I am not sure why one tax is payable in Jamaican dollars and one in American dollars.

So i assume i have to take a mixture of currency.

Is this correct ?

Thanks.

have found great currancy converter here ..

http://www.cubamaniaks.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=15

Can anyone help? Going to Dom Rep shortly and wondering what is the bes currency to take, Trav Cheques, US Dollars, Sterling or what??

Hi All

I can see that this question has already been asked, but can not see a reply. What is the best currency to take to Dominican Republic, US Dollars, or Dominican Republic Pesos.

Thanks

Mishie

Hi,

Obviously taking travellers cheques is down to personal preference. I was talked into taking US dollers when getting my money exchanged which probably wasn't the best advice. Everywhere I went in the Dom Rep displayed prices in Pesos. Although many places accepted dollars, change was always in pesos. I think the locals think tourists are abit dumb so 9 times out of 10 try to give you less change than you should have. This is not a problem if paying with pesos in the first place. They are lovely though and as soon as you look like you think you are being ripped of they throw more money at you. Also its common to round up to the nearest dollar so you end up paying slightly more which is annoying when only buying an inexpensive item. However, the trips I booked through Thomson and items at the airport were all priced in dollars. Basically depending on what and where you will be spending your money should influence what currency to take. I would advice people to take both currencies and ask for small denominations to make paying for bits and bobs easier. Remember that pesos are not accepted on most flights. Hope this is of some help.

Hi Abbio

Thanks for the Info, money will be spend on trips and bits and bobs, to bring back home. What currency is taken for trips?

Thanks

Mishie

Dollars but I'm sure they would accept pesos. I actually paid on my card and got a much better exchange rate than what I got changing my money in this country.

Hi,
does anyone know of anywhere that sells currency and then buys it back that isnt a rip off. why d they sell it at one price and then buy back at another. is it cos of so called commision free deals. if so would we be better to pay comission?

Just because somewhere charges a different rate when selling currency to buying it back doesn't make it a rip-off. It's a service that has to paid for in some way - some Bureaux de Change do it by charging commission, others by having a bigger a differential between the 'buy' and 'sell' prices. Many Bureaux de Change are going to have a fair bit of capital tied up at any one time in currency sitting in the safe in order to meet demand - especially if they get a lot of 'walk-in' custom rather than people ordering their currency in advance.

If you want to avoid being 'ripped-off' in this way the answer is to only change enough currency to get by as you arrive at your destination, use ATMs as and when you need more local currency (though depending on who you bank with this can cost you even more sometimes) and never change so much that you end up with a lot left over at the end of your trip anyway.

Given that I take most of my holidays within the Euro Zone I'm looking forward to the time when we actually join the rest of europe in not having to worry about currency exchange anyway because we'll be able to use the same currency from the local corner shop right across to eastern Europe. Though there are those who would argue that this might save us on currency exchange but would cost us in other ways :-)

The fact remains that currency exchange is a service and as such will never be free - services have to be paid for - and it will always pay to shop around for the best value deals. And that means that the 'free' service is not necessarily the cheapest or best value one.

SM

Hi Sm, so are we better to ignore comm free deals and look for better buy back rates. dont want to use our credit/debit card abroad, bit funny about stuff like that. we are going to dom rep, do you know whter we would be better off taking sterling t/c to change into pesos or $t/c's?
cheers.

Hi Care Bear,

I can't help with your specific questions re the DR as I've never been. Generally the most cost effective way of securing foreign currency would appear to be to open and use a Nationwide account for withdrawing local currency from ATMs and just change enough money for initial purposes to take with you. Personally, if you're not going to do that then I think it's swings and roundabouts and not worth the effort of shopping around. My time is worth more to me than an endless search for the best deal that never amounts to that much actual saving on the amounts I take away with me. If I'm going somewhere where ATMs might be thin on the ground then I always take travellers cheques and regard any commission as the 'insurance premium' to be paid in return for the added security they offer.

SM

thanks SM sometimes you read conflicting things, think will just do waht we normally do, not taking that much money anyway as were AI so wont cost to much in comm anyway.
thank you.

Can anyone tell me which currency is best to take to mexico for use in cancun?

The post office say american dollars yet the national currency is the peso?! I dont understand this!

Please help if you can, im confused!!

Can anyone help please? I have been advised that dollar travellers cheques are best to take to puerto vallarta, but then others have said take english currency and some mexican peso's. Could anyone advise me on whats the best to take. I'm off to the Royal Decameron hotel in october.

hi, like the previous poster I am so confused over how to take our holiday spends!

we go to Mexico in October can anyone help with these questions??

Are there ATMS in Playacar?

Whats the best to take...dollars or mexican currency?

Thanks!!!!!

Can you please advise if I should take cash or travellers cheques when visiting Barbados at the beginning of October. Also should I take US or BB Dollars? How much will 2 adults need for 1 week food, drinks, trips - thanks in advance for the advice

Was able to use my natwest visa and mastercard in cuba, i found it odd that the currency was converted into usa dollars then into £'s but we got a better rate that way so it worked out better. we changed up 200cuc which converted back to £125 and we upgraded hotels and it worked out which was £617 and we again used our credit card and it was converted in $1007 which gave us 900cuc then came through on our card as £540 which was a much better saving than we anticipated. we also took £300 cash didnt get such a good rate at the hotels, banks were a bit better, £20 worked out to be 31cuc at hotels or 38cuc at banks. Hope that helps anyone. try to spend any leftover cuc as the airport banks give a really bad buy back rate!