- Thread starter kirsty
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which currency
US$. Do not bring Euros or Canadian, and never buy ANY pesos at the airport where you live, BEFORE you go, wait until you arrive (the airport cambios in the DR are quite fair). A few $ in smaller bills , $1 and $5 are helpful in the event you need to pay a taxi in US until you get to your destination.
Canadian is fine but debit and visa is what I use
You get a very good exchange for Canadian at all Western Unions, banks, or cambios. Never ezchange your money at a hotel. The hotels give very low exchange rates. I use my debit card and that eliminates walking around with foreign cash. There are ATM's everywhere on the north coast. Visa is taken every where also. I use it at the supermarket for food and booze.
You get a very good exchange for Canadian at all Western Unions, banks, or cambios. Never ezchange your money at a hotel. The hotels give very low exchange rates. I use my debit card and that eliminates walking around with foreign cash. There are ATM's everywhere on the north coast. Visa is taken every where also. I use it at the supermarket for food and booze.
It also makes a difference where you are staying, or what you are going to do. In the resort areas, you will not need any or much cash, most places you visit will take US. Like Rick said, bring US cash, you can exchange a little at a time as you go, and won't have the hassel of changing it back when you return home. If you can at all avoid it, DO NOT use your debit card unless it's an emergency.kirsty said:Im going to DR next monthfor the first time. Im just wondering what currency is best to take?
It depends on where you are from. If you are from Europe and change first to $US you will lose twice on the exchange. I would assume the same is if you change $CAN. You can exchange Euros near tourist locations without a problem. If the tourist card isn't included in your flight, you will need $US 10 for that.
Best exchange rates are from the ATM no matter what your base currency is, assuming you take an amount where the ATM fee (ie: EUR 2,50 at Citibank Germany) is less than the difference between the buy rate and the middle rate for the currency your account is with.
Best exchange rates are from the ATM no matter what your base currency is, assuming you take an amount where the ATM fee (ie: EUR 2,50 at Citibank Germany) is less than the difference between the buy rate and the middle rate for the currency your account is with.
duck said:It depends on where you are from. If you are from Europe and change first to $US you will lose twice on the exchange. I would assume the same is if you change $CAN. You can exchange Euros near tourist locations without a problem. If the tourist card isn't included in your flight, you will need $US 10 for that.
Best exchange rates are from the ATM no matter what your base currency is, assuming you take an amount where the ATM fee (ie: EUR 2,50 at Citibank Germany) is less than the difference between the buy rate and the middle rate for the currency your account is with.
You must be kidding. ATMs give you the lowest possible rate, as the banks always give a lower exchange rate in comparence to the exchangeoffices
around like RUSA and many others.
Its a difference of 2-5 pesos to the dollar.
Wow! If that's true, that's a difference of about 7% to 20%. Plus there's that risk of ATM fraud that everyone keeps bringing up.carina said:Its a difference of 2-5 pesos to the dollar.
rellosk said:Wow! If that's true, that's a difference of about 7% to 20%. Plus there's that risk of ATM fraud that everyone keeps bringing up.
Also there might be charges from the foreign bank, as well as the local for exchanging the money..
I have not noticed that the banks here take charges the few times I have used my Swedish ATM, only Leon. They charged me something around 150 pesos about a year ago, and their mashine informed about it before clicking OK..
carina said:You must be kidding. ATMs give you the lowest possible rate, as the banks always give a lower exchange rate in comparence to the exchangeoffices
around like RUSA and many others.
Its a difference of 2-5 pesos to the dollar.
I draw money frequently from my ATM card with Citibank in Germany, and less frequently with the US and Philippine one. Middle rate + EUR 2,50 for the German one, and similar with the other two. I checked the amount deducted from my account online the same day, compared to what they were selling in Sosua for, and I was saving EUR 70+ per transaction of RDP 20,000. The rate is not given by the dominican bank, but rather the foreign bank. I've done a lot of homework and experimenting with this for the last 8 years, and at least for my cards this is by far the best rate - regardsless of the currency.
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On my last trip to Sosua I was also told that the banks gave the lowest rate,so I decided to test that theory.At two of the exchange offices on same day the exchange was 27 pesos to 1 us dollar,and one bank gave the same rate.But at the Scotia bank I received 27.5 pesos to 1 us dollar.
I exchanged money at least 10 other times in 2 weeks and almost every time the bank gave me a better rate.
Now I know some of you who live there full time will not agree with this,but that was my experience.
Whether or not this still rings true today remains to be seen.
I exchanged money at least 10 other times in 2 weeks and almost every time the bank gave me a better rate.
Now I know some of you who live there full time will not agree with this,but that was my experience.
Whether or not this still rings true today remains to be seen.
If you change your money at the airport (SDQ) make sure you hold on to that yellow receipt just in case you want to dump some pesos upon leaving.kirsty said:Im going to DR next monthfor the first time. Im just wondering what currency is best to take?
Checked the rate from July
So, I just decided to look at my account statement from July. On July 5th I drew RDP 20,000 and that was equal to EUR 581.11 plus a fee of EUR 5.81.
20,000 / (581.11 + 5.81) = RDP 34.08 / 1 EUR. I don't remember the exact rate Mapello was giving that day in Sosua, but if it wasn't less than 34, it was certainly less than 36 -so I don't know where 2-5 pesos figures in.
BTW last December a machine disn't spit out 20k I withdrew. Citibank immediately credited it to my account and cleared it up with Banreservas - no problems.
Again, the rate you get from the ATM has nothing to do with the bank in the DR, but with the one your account is with. Fees may come from both, but one should ask their home bank and ATM's will indicate if they charge an additional fee.
So, I just decided to look at my account statement from July. On July 5th I drew RDP 20,000 and that was equal to EUR 581.11 plus a fee of EUR 5.81.
20,000 / (581.11 + 5.81) = RDP 34.08 / 1 EUR. I don't remember the exact rate Mapello was giving that day in Sosua, but if it wasn't less than 34, it was certainly less than 36 -so I don't know where 2-5 pesos figures in.
BTW last December a machine disn't spit out 20k I withdrew. Citibank immediately credited it to my account and cleared it up with Banreservas - no problems.
Again, the rate you get from the ATM has nothing to do with the bank in the DR, but with the one your account is with. Fees may come from both, but one should ask their home bank and ATM's will indicate if they charge an additional fee.
I have always used an ATM in Cortecitoduck said:I draw money frequently from my ATM card with Citibank in Germany, and less frequently with the US and Philippine one. Middle rate + EUR 2,50 for the German one, and similar with the other two. I checked the amount deducted from my account online the same day, compared to what they were selling in Sosua for, and I was saving EUR 70+ per transaction of RDP 20,000. The rate is not given by the dominican bank, but rather the foreign bank. I've done a lot of homework and experimenting with this for the last 8 years, and at least for my cards this is by far the best rate - regardsless of the currency.
and found the rate as good as anywhere. The rate they advertise is the rate you pay.... no surprises.....unlike the debit card, the rate they deduct from your account is the rate of exchange at the banks processing time in the states, not the time of the transaction in the DR. This can amount to quite a bit of money, depending on which way the peso goes,and how long your stay is.
Charlielyn said:You get a very good exchange for Canadian at all Western Unions, banks, or cambios. Never ezchange your money at a hotel. The hotels give very low exchange rates. I use my debit card and that eliminates walking around with foreign cash. There are ATM's everywhere on the north coast. Visa is taken every where also. I use it at the supermarket for food and booze.
I have found mixed acceptance with CDN$ (either no thanks, or terrible exchange rates) and don't forget there may be hefty fees levied by your bank per use of an ATM card than may be in effect the loss of 5% of your rate. US$ Cash and or traveler's cheques are the best bet. Visa levies at least 1 1/2% but uses the interbank rate - at times it's OK, other times the rate seems unjustly high.