Buying gasoline in DR question

[judypdr]

Worrying about getting ripped off at a gas station should be the least of your worries if you are renting a car and driving in this country if you have never done it before. Fill up when your tank gets below a half and ask for uno mil regular. He will tell you to check the pump is set at zero. For this amount you should get between four and five gallons of gas, enough to go about 100 miles or so. They will also check your water and oil and wash your window. There is no need to get out of your car. When you pull into the station, an attendant will direct you to the appropriate pump. The people here are generally honest and courteous.

You do need to be aware of some typical roadside scams...a car may flag you down or pull up next to you and tell you something is wrong. They might offer to fix it or just rob you. Only stop if you have blow out or flat and be cautious.

Driving here is really the challenge and if you've never driven outside Canada, I wouldn't actually recommend it. The drivers are not predictable. They do not follow passing rules, lines or logic. They tend to be bullies and are always in a hurry. You need to be aggressive enough to survive but allow lots and lots of stopping and maneuvering room. You cannot tell when someone or something will cut in front of you to turn left from a right hand lane or stop for no reason. Also, you'll find that passing on the right or left is normal, especially for motorcycles. And Dominicans tend to drive in the left lane except on major four-lane divided highways because local traffic often stops in the right lane to pickup or discharge passengers.

It might be cheaper and easier to hire a driver to escort you from location to location, especially if you are not fluent in Spanish. The driver will know where to take you to eat and shop and where is safe. Please consider it!

Best of luck on your trip!

 

[SKY]

It's all electronic now Steve....
they hand you the terminal... you input your PIN and get a receipt.

Can't use any info from that receipt... no card details on it.

The old days were different.... everywhere

What about in a restaurant that just takes the card with the check and goes away? Most places do not have machines that they bring to your table. I agree that if there is a machine that you use yourself there should be no problem, but if not I would never give my card to anyone.

 

[Cdn_Gringo]

Hand held card skimmers are used here just like they are elsewhere. The real money is made not by jacking up an individual charge from a gas station or restaurant but by cloning the card or using the info online to make approved purchases until the CC company catches on and freezes the card.

If your card is out of sight, you have no idea what someone may be doing with it.

 

[william webster]

What about in a restaurant that just takes the card with the check and goes away? Most places do not have machines that they bring to your table. I agree that if there is a machine that you use yourself there should be no problem, but if not I would never give my card to anyone.

True enough --
never lose sight of the card

and that applies to every country in the world

 

[keepcoming]

Have used CC in and around the Capital for gas and no problem. Does it happen(CC fraud), yes, but so do a lot of other things. Just watch the exchange rate as it does change. Make sure your card does not charge a foreign fee exchange also...happy travels.

 

[Bob K]

IF you are using your CC at a restaurant and they do not have a hand held scanner then get up and follow your card to the register and watch them run it through. I agree NEVER lose sight of our card.

Bob K

 

[Juan Bosch]

The op may want to rent a helicopter after all the doomsday predictions....

 

[bigbird]

Get a CC with a low limit on it, maybe $1000.00 Cdn, that is not tied to your ATM card or any of your bank accounts. Use it only when travelling or when ordering online. If there are any issues, card is cancelled and reissued with new numbers. No pain, no aggravation. Just make sure the first couple of uses are in Canada so it is not flagged when in RD.

Totally agree with you on this one mobrouser.............

We are Canadian, using a CND credit card and we have notifications set up as well. We get a text within minutes of the charge. Very handy in preventing fraud.

Works great, any problem you can message the bank immediately...........

IF you are using your CC at a restaurant and they do not have a hand held scanner then get up and follow your card to the register and watch them run it through. I agree NEVER lose sight of our card.

Bob K

No way am i going to go running after the waiter to the register. Finishing my glass of wine is more important to me. This is ridiculous............

The op may want to rent a helicopter after all the doomsday predictions....

Maybe you can post the rates because looks like quite a few people would be interested............ SMH

 

[LTSteve]

Nice tip!..... don't you know that regular gasoline is leaded gasoline?

What???????????????????????????????????????? I believe he meant regular octane vs premium which is obviously going to be higher in price. You won't find leaded gas at a gas station.

 

[JD Jones]

Have used CC in and around the Capital for gas and no problem. Does it happen(CC fraud), yes, but so do a lot of other things. Just watch the exchange rate as it does change. Make sure your card does not charge a foreign fee exchange also...happy travels.

I have a airline miles card I use multiple times daily for all of my purchases. Every day I go to the website of the bank and pay the previous days charges.

Benefits?
I know almost immediately if my card number has been compromised (it hasn't).
I have a record of all of my expenditures and the bank breaks them down for me by type in a report.
I accumulate frequent flyer miles. (170k plus so far)
I do not pay interest charges, only a yearly fee of 99 bucks.
I do not pay foreign charge fees.
I get notifications of charges on my card.


Pretty good reasons to use a card.

 

[JD Jones]

What???????????????????????????????????????? I believe he meant regular octane vs premium which is obviously going to be higher in price. You won't find leaded gas at a gas station.

He was obviously joking. Weren't you, Jimbobo?

 

[rubio_higuey]

What about in a restaurant that just takes the card with the check and goes away? Most places do not have machines that they bring to your table. I agree that if there is a machine that you use yourself there should be no problem, but if not I would never give my card to anyone.

In such places I follow the waiter and the card... However stupid it might look.

 

[bigbird]

In such places I follow the waiter and the card... However stupid it might look.

As they say, to each his own...........

Six, maybe seven years ago for three consecutive years i had my card compromised on the average twice a year in la rep dom. Guess what, I only used the card at the car rental at SDQ and the card was never more than one meter away from me. In plain sight the entire time yet still compromised.

Now I just use a special card with low credit limit. If it gets compromised no loss on my part other than a phone call and wait for a replacement card to be issued. Never lost a dime out of all the time my card(s) have be compromised.

 

[JD Jones]

As they say, to each his own...........

Six, maybe seven years ago for three consecutive years i had my card compromised on the average twice a year in la rep dom. Guess what, I only used the card at the car rental at SDQ and the card was never more than one meter away from me. In plain sight the entire time yet still compromised.

Now I just use a special card with low credit limit. If it gets compromised no loss on my part other than a phone call and wait for a replacement card to be issued. Never lost a dime out of all the time my card(s) have be compromised.

That's because it was happening at the card processing center. It doesn't matter how much you follow your card around, if there is somebody in the card processing center who is doing it, it will happen.

That's why it's important to follow your charges every day online. It only takes a minute, and if something isn't right, I'll know in less than 24 hours.

 

[bigbird]

That's because it was happening at the card processing center. It doesn't matter how much you follow your card around, if there is somebody in the card processing center who is doing it, it will happen.

That's why it's important to follow your charges every day online. It only takes a minute, and if something isn't right, I'll know in less than 24 hours.

Exactly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

plus as was previously mentioned most credit cards now have the option to sign up for email notifications each and every time your card is used for a transaction.

I will continue to sit at the table finishing my after dinner wine as i watch the guy from the next table run all over the restaurant following the waiter with his CC. Nothing better than a good laugh.............

 

[SKY]

Exactly,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

plus as was previously mentioned most credit cards now have the option to sign up for email notifications each and every time your card is used for a transaction.

I will continue to sit at the table finishing my after dinner wine as i watch the guy from the next table run all over the restaurant following the waiter with his CC. Nothing better than a good laugh.............

And for me I will put down the cash and also sip my wine and Zambuca without waiting for Emails and checking on the internet.

 

[bigbird]

And for me I will put down the cash and also sip my wine and Zambuca without waiting for Emails and checking on the internet.

I can go along with that also,,,,,,,,, especially the Zambuca (do you put a match to it first?)

 

[SKY]

I can go along with that also,,,,,,,,, especially the Zambuca (do you put a match to it first?)

No, I use a lighter.

 

[bigbird]

No, I use a lighter.

LOL, you too sophisticated for me ............

 

[Dolores1]

When traveling off the major tourism destinations or urban areas you will need cash/pesos for many purchases, including buying arts and crafts from small vendors or fruit from fruit stalls. Go for a fresh coconut water out of the coconut on the road!. For all else... credit cards are best so you travel with less cash. If you need an ATM, use one of these at major shopping malls or stores or the banks themselves.

Better to fill up in a major tourism destination or city and not in a rural area gas station.

As advice has been given... take the local car insurance coverage, despite having coverage on your credit card.

Use Waze for driving here. Google Maps as a back up. Dominicans use Waze domestically a lot and it works well with few exceptions.

Leave very early for all your travels to take advantage of the full day.

If you will be on the road, suggest you buy a pre-paid Internet plan available from Claro or Altice. You want to be connected when on the road.