Methods of payments accepted

miriam888 said:

Thanks to all of you who have been so helpful with information as we get prepared to leave on Saturday. One last question for you is is Visa/MC readily accepted at most establishments? We want to make sure we are prepared and value any last advice/tips form anyone before Sat. We are looking forward to our stay in your country.
Thanks to you all!!!

Click to expand...

while visa/mc are accepted in most restaurants and shops, there are those smaller establishments that don't accept credit cards. when you are on the beach you will want to have dominican currency as well as in the city for quick breaks and for tips. as you know, most places that take credit cards don't normally give the full tips (paid with CC) to their employees for one reason or another so it's always nice to tip in cash even if you pay with a credit card. dominican salaries are low so the least you can do is tip them with money they can use to feed their families - my opinion.

enjoy your trip!!!

Agree with skyblue's opinion. An ATM card is probably more useful than a credit card but take them all.

visa/mc are accepted in most restaurants and shops . . .
Since this is a North-East shore thread, perhaps many rather than most?

I would say that MOST places do not take credit cards. Those that do seem to prefer Visa. Restaurants often require a minimum purchase amount to use the credit card, which can be difficult for someone travelling solo. The safest way is to convert cash into Dominocan Pesos because US dollars are NOT accepted at most establishments that I came across (but some did and actually preferred US Dollars to credits cards because no tax needed to be reported).

Don't forget one important thing, DR is apparantly notorious for CC fraud (how much of it is true no one knows, but banks and CC companies have their statistics and stick to it !). So you MUST notify your bank about your trip to CC before you go, otherwise your CC get blocked/cancelled after the first use.

Have a good time....

skyblue said:

...as you know, most places that take credit cards don't normally give the full tips (paid with CC) to their employees for one reason or another so it's always nice to tip in cash even if you pay with a credit card. dominican salaries are low so the least you can do is tip them with money they can use to feed their families - my opinion.

Click to expand...

I agree with you.