while things run kinda price high till january...i highly doubt things are "sold out" If anything the NY Times ran an article how they are giving deals in the carib and the D.R. because to the tight global economy.
in regards to exchanging your dollars for pesos. I normaly exchange a couple of hundred dollars here in the US first. It is not a lot of money...but at least i dont have to run to a cambio right away. just walk around and you will see who has the best rates for exchange.
whatever you do...do NOT exchange your dollars for pesos at the airport. I also find that it is not good to exchange at your hotel. They tend to add a fee that is additional to your ordinary cambio.
Re: ATMS. i have never had a problem...(although i have heard some horror stories). Bring what you think you need in cash and avoid ATMS. #1 you get socked with a high international fee. If you DO go to an ATM...go during the day and at a place with security guards....and get your butt back to where you are staying!
I've never had a problem in the D.R. I dont travel in fear...but i DO travel wisely.
right, like that you never need to carry a larger amount of cash(dollars or pesos doesn't matter) around.
i use my master card several times a month at different ATM's here in the PC area since many years, never had a problem.
the bank fees on such depend on your cardprovider/bank, what deal you have with them. in my case it is a simple 28 years old mastercard connected to a german bank account, i pay 1.85% for taking cash out of a machine plus 1% for the use in a non european country, plus 3 euros per transaction. so when i use it i always take the max amount per transaction, that keeps the total fee very low, much lower than a transfer with vimenca or paying exchange fees at the cambios/banks and you still do not need to carry much cash around. never take your credit card to it's monthly limit, always leave some emergency value left on it just in case i.e. of an accident or such, when you are travelling around and you need med assistance a credit card is the best insurance to get the right treatment, most insurances for foreign countries require that you prepay the bills and get reimbursed afterwards when back home.
there are worldwide many horrorstories out there about frauds with credit cards, that isn't new, i've been til today here in the country lucky/save since 14 years now, got once scammed in Colorado/US and that been 17 years or such ago, my credit card provider reimbursed me the money hassle free on that case anyways. for my own security i check my creditcard statement everyday online, so just in case some fraud occurs i could complain right away and not weeks later when i receive the written monthly card statement.
happy travel
Mike
