Money

[patbro]

What is the currency situation in DR - specifically Puerto Plata, Cabarete and Sousa? Can US Dollars be used or should I change most of my money? What about credit cards and ATMs. I will be in these 3 towns exclusively. Thank you.

[Ken]

Best to change your money in town where you get a good rate (not the hotel reception desk). The exchange banks (bancos de cambio) all have signs in front indicating what they are paying for various currencies. It often pays to check several before picking one since rates can vary.

You can use credit card to pay hotel bill, but be sure to check bill carefully.

ATM are not hard to find. Every bank has one and there are others scattered around.

[ricktoronto]

Originally posted by patbro
What is the currency situation in DR - specifically Puerto Plata, Cabarete and Sousa? Can US Dollars be used or should I change most of my money? What about credit cards and ATMs. I will be in these 3 towns exclusively. Thank you.

US $ are not normally used to pay for items directly in stores and restaurants - in fact I avoid any restaurant that tries to price in US$. So you sell US$ at a cambio to buy pesos. Buy as little as you need for a day as the rate is really volatile and there is no sense buying a week's worth at 29 and then finding out the price later is 34.

ATM's are quite accessible - keep in mind they may levy a fee and your bank will certainly do that as well - for smaller transactions this could add 10% to the cost of the withdrawal. Some international ATM fees are $5 per transaction. Some people have complained about losing cards or non compliant machines. I go a lot and have never used an ATM nor do I plan to.

As for C/C's the advice to watch the bill is 2-fold;

1. Make sure, if you are paying a US$ priced location, ( like a hotel) that the rate they convert the US$ bill into pesos is that day's rate. The higher the rate they use the more pesos you are going to pay.

2. Make sure the printout from the credit card machine says RD$XXXX and not just $XXXX so you are not being billed in US$ and thus at 33X the actual price.

If it is a paper credit card slip used with the old imprinters add RD$ before the amount yourself if you have to before signing.

If you want to take traveler's checks you will likley need to show your passport - if so don't carry it all day, take it back to the hotel and put in back into the safe. I just carry a copy (color photocopy) and also I tend to use the same cambio so they don't usually ask.

But if you are shopping around you may need ID.

[JanH]

1. Make sure, if you are paying a US$ priced location, ( like a hotel) that the rate they convert the US$ bill into pesos is that day's rate. The higher the rate they use the more pesos you are going to pay.

Adding to this, the "daily rate" is NOT what the banks or other institutions are posting in the DR. The rate your credit card company will charge you is the "international monetary rate". Mastercard suggests you call their 800 number on the back of the card to find out what the REAL rate is. We learned this the hard way; when we got our bill back home, the credit card purchase was $110US more than what the merchandise cost because Mastercard used THEIR rate.

In addition, credit card companies charge you a stiff fee for exchanging foreign currency back to dollars. Ours was 10%.

I highly suggest to bring half traveler's checks half cash and plenty of it if you plan on buying alot - rather than using credit card.

Also, not all ATM cards will work in DR - depending on the ATM network your bank uses.

[Ken]

Originally posted by JanH
Adding to this, the "daily rate" is NOT what the banks or other institutions are posting in the DR. The rate your credit card company will charge you is the "international monetary rate". Mastercard suggests you call their 800 number on the back of the card to find out what the REAL rate is. We learned this the hard way; when we got our bill back home, the credit card purchase was $110US more than what the merchandise cost because Mastercard used THEIR rate.

That's good information JanH. Something concrete to pass on to others when they ask about credit card use. I suppose if the peso/dollar rate had been stable for a long period it would have worked out better for you, but obviously at present time it is much better to avoid the credit card if you can.

Geez, for $110 you could have taken us all out to dinner.

[Criss Colon]

I do not recommend using an ATM! You will be "Un-Pleasantly" surprised when you divide the pesos that they give you,by the dollars they charge you!!! Cris colon

[JanH]

Ken - another plug for Dean Brown, our realtor of Century21. That Mastercard overcharge was from his office. When I casually mentioned it to him, Century21 reimbursed me. They did NOT have to do that, since I should have known to call Mastercard first. That Century21 office in Sosua is very customer-oriented.

[JanH]

Chris - Yeah, I don't really trust the ATMs either. In fact, I've never gotten one to work when we've been running low on the cash we brought with us.

The safest way to get ATM money and to assure you're getting proper exchange - to me - is to get a bank to run the card thru their machine. We've always been satisfied this way.

[ricktoronto]

Originally posted by JanH
Adding to this, the "daily rate" is NOT what the banks or other institutions are posting in the DR. The rate your credit card company will charge you is the "international monetary rate".

The rate the card company uses is an issue at the time they convert the peso charge to US$ or CDN$ as the case may be (e.g.: depending on where you live).

At the time of purchase for a US$ transaction (since the card must be billed in pesos but the hotel wants US$) the proprietor has to charge you some amount of pesos.

For example the hotel is $100 US with taxes. You don't want to pay $100 US Cash, so you pay with a credit card. If the owner doesn't want pesos he might try to charge you 39:1 or $3,900 RD$ on the credit card slip. You , OTOH, would want the peso selling rate, e.g. 33:1 so the charge should be for RD$3,300. My hotel uses the daily cash rate if you desire a credit card bill in pesos. That was the advice - know the peso/US$ rate the business is going to use.

I agree: At some point Visa or MC will buy pesos to settle with the DR bank and charge you $. At that time you pay the prevailing RD$/US$ rate plus their currency change fee (as much as 2 1/2%) and then you get billed in your own currency. This is pretty much out of your control so calling them today to ask may not be anywhere near the charge at the time they clear the pesos to the credit card. If the peso devalues more you may wind up paying even less.

[johnsr]

After being BURNT using my credit card to pay my hotel bill I learned a valueable lesson. Many things (as previously mentioned) can happen when using a C/C and just about all of them are NOT TO YOUR BENEFIT !!!! Use cash or traveler's checks.
John