Professional math tutor? jejeje, dont quit your day job! We all know why Johnny Cant Read, now its clear why he cannot figure his taxes either. Blame the teacher. Scary!
We all know that the CUC-USD peg does NOT equal "$1.=$1." But that doesnt stop Duales from stating this, out-dated but still their offer: "From November the 14th, 2005 and through May 31 st, 2006 all transfers to CUBA using any payment mode or delivery type service will be exchanged at 1 CUC for every 1 USD sent." We also know that XE.com is NOT offering a current conversion is 1 USD= .9259CUC., nor selling CUCs. Things are not as they appear. "Our fees include all pay in, pay out, discount or cash taxes, exchange rates, etc." it's clear all that is wrapped in the USD$155. That may be misleading to some; blame Duales, its their offer!
You send USD$1,000. to Mississauga, you get 840 kooks on your Dud Card. You send USD$4,000., you get CUC 3375. More importantly, if you have, say, 400.-800. kooks left on your card, you are STUCK: either withdraw all remaining kooks AND THEN re-convert back to USD. (another 10% hit, ouch!) or leave that card in the drawer, waiting ... for a trip to Cuba you may never take again? BIG LOSS, there. Leftover funds make Duales $40-80. even more expensive than the alternatives, but what's an extra 80 bucks when you've already $200 on Dud Card fees? (As apparent, the shill preys on travelers desperately afraid of theft, or those who cannot mange their finances efficiently: exactly like AMEX ads, "Dont leave home without it!")
I wouldnt say the offshore DEBIT CARDS are cheap either. However, you can use those funds elsewhere: and there's no double-hit as w/leftover Duales kooks. Offshore debit cards work in places your credit card might not - and protect your credit from scams & theft.
Even your insults don't make sense armand: "Professional math tutor? jejeje, dont quit your day job!" Being a professional tutor IS my day job genius, so you basically said, Don't quit being a tutor! Ok, I won't!
Your previous posts speak for themselves in their idiocy. Please stop posting misleading info, as it's really a disservice to newbies going to cuba.
BTW, has anyone clicked on armand's handle and seen what this guy looks like? Dear god, poor math skills are the least of his problems!
Were you aware, twodomes, that E_A has described himself as a "high-end" financial consultant? Now THERE's a scary thought, eh?
The Scotia Bank Visa credit card is what I used....front loaded.....the recipient in Cuba got what we wanted to give her which was $160 cuc.....cost to my card $227cad. That's over $1.40cad for each cuc....I wish I knew what date and the exchange rate for the canadian dollar on that day....bottom line is, though not great and not bad, its fast and easy.
Last year I recommended to an American friend of mine that he try Duales....partly to get myself off the hook for being his bank. What he did was apply for a Duales card for his long time trusted cuban friend and then arranged to send money orders directly to Duales once a month corresponding to his pension income. This guy lives paycheck to paycheck and doesn't even have a credit card. So far so good but here's a twist I never heard before....the money order had been received by Duales and the transfer had been made but some dude in the Havana office hadn't done his part so my friends couldn't get their money for about 5 days. During that time they made daily visits to the Duales office in Nueva Gerona and in their conversations with the employee there they discovered that Duales uses Transcard to get the money into Cuba.....lol
For regular visitors to Cuba from the US, and if you fear losing your money or getting robbed, why don't you consider opening a bank account in the city in Cuba where you normally stay, all that's required is that you maintain the account with $50, and when you arrive in Cuba with too much cash on hand, deposit it and then with a debit card that they will issue you if you apply for one, you can access your money , usually and often from an outdoor 24 hr ATM machine. This is just another option.
Posh,
Very interesting option you mention. Being unfamiliar with Cuba, is there one main banking chain that would have ATM's throughout the country? So one could deposit in the main branch upon arrival in habana, and then access the account around the country?
posh, it's important to understand that Duales does not charge a percentage of the amount you send but rather a fixed amount for a given range of amounts. To send $1-100 costs $19, sending $101-200 costs $36, etc. If you send $1 it costs $19 to send and the same $19 applies if you send $100. It should quickly become clear that you want to send the highest amount of money in any range in order to get the best "rate". When you sent $160 it cost you $36 to do so, but you could have sent $200 for the same $36.
Can you open a bank account in Cuba if you are not a Cuban citizen or there under one or another special visas? I know I can't even open a bank account in Canada unless I live there.
What I don't know is if an American can open an account in Cuba....trading with the enemy???
Pelo....I do understand that ....you're right and I didn't consider that on this latest transfer.....thanks.
What about the comment about the friendly relationship between Duales and Transcard???? Any truth in it?
Transcard is essentially non-existent anymore so the relationship between them and Duales is a moot point, really
I must admit that the possibility of opening a Cuban bank account never occurred to me because I assumed it was not do-able, especially for an American. I suppose that even if I could that I would be even further trespassing on that hallowed "trading with the enemy" dictum, but it would seem to make some sense, at least on the face of it. Getting money into it while one is not there would, I suspect, create the same sort of problems for which Duales has become the sole resource, but having my money in a bank once there rather than stuffed into some orifice or another in a strange house would be an infinitely preferable option to me. It might even allow transfers to ones Cuban friends accounts with some immediacy and at perhaps a lesser rate. I will have to take this up with Duales next week.
They used to always have an option that used to allow me to have the money "delivered" to an address, a bank or either a Transcard or Duales account. If the bank option is viable then it might be possible to send larger amounts less frequently at a lower rate and to subsequently transfer smaller amounts from those deposits into the accounts of friends.
You have made me put me thinking cap on, posh. Thanks for the idea.
Transcard's Amigo Card is in business, despite the resident shill's persistent & false claim the rival Dud Card is "the only option."
Dont believe the hype, folks!
Starting with USD$1,000., a Canadian international bank wire costs to a Cuban Bank Acct costs about Cdn $30. (TD Canada Trust), the Cuban bank charges about CUC $12. and applies the exchange rate (about 8%.), a final savings of a negligible CUC 15. over Dulles (CUC 840.)
Minus the bank wire, and making a bank deposit in person in Havana, the savings is about CUC 52. (Cash USD 1000. >Cdn>CUC 892.)
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