Money change

USD$155 (Duales fee) + USD$22 (global overnight postage) is your $177., Pelo. Admittedly, if you e-tranferred the funds (which you have said you DONT), then that $22 postage wouldnt appear. Cannot forget to add up ALL transaction costs.

THIS was a very engaging exercise: I've always wondered where a US-resident American could get a Euro-denominated bank account. I am stunned to learn that offshore accounts can be opened with no- or very low-minimums, at real banks. I also think this is a fraction of the Debit Card alternatives discussed for Americans & other blocked card-holders.

'Offshore' ain't just for millionaires, any more!

Well #20, the resident Duales pimp is not going to like that information. :-)

The Thorn Tree makes strange bedfellows, LOL, and I wonder if I will respect myself in the morning....

I find myself agreeing with Pelo. Americans simply do not have any other relatively easy choices – at least none that have been reported on this branch. IF they want to have some sort of financial “insurance” plan, Duales is, as far as we know, the only option that works, with not terribly absurd fees.

We have had the discussion here before many times about the PREPAID Visa and Mastercards cards. Apparently, they do not work in Cuba. At least for the ones issued in the US and Canada, because someone phone and enquired. I do not know about those issued in Europe. However, just given the Visa and MasterCard corporate structure, etc., I for one wouldn’t put any trust in them. Any non-Americans are better off taking a preloaded regular Visa or Mastercard.

It may surprise you to learn, E_A that some people who live outside the United State are actually fairly intelligent and they know or can find out if their banks or credit unions are US-affiliated. Instead of finding something that again, no one here has any experience using, why not just use their credit cards as we Canadians have been doing for eons. Bringing in the Lloyd’s Travel Card and the ANZ Travel Card is the same as pimping Dulaes, no? AND UNLESS YOU HAVE ACTUALLY USED THESE CARDS IN CUBA AND KNOW THAT THEY WORK THERE, YOU SHOULD NOT BE TELLING THORNTREE READERS THAT THEY WILL WORK. Of all the things to muse about, no one here should be speculating about someone else’s financial options in Cuba.

Just glanced briefly at your linked post #20, E_A and you cannot possibly think that there are no fees associated with these accounts! And if opening a Duales Account is a bit of trouble, what do you think these offshore account are going to be? Duales is looking better and better – for the type of person who needs this kind of card and/or the financial security it offers.

There are other fees and costs attendant with ANY form of converting USD to CUC, E_A. Should we factor in the cost of gas and parking to drive to two banks in two different countries as well, for those choosing to exchange their USD for CAD and then their CAD for USD yet againafter arriving in Cuba?

I send an international money order ($3.40) via first-class mail for $.90 (4-5 days) and that's my total cost. Certainly FAR less than gas and parking at two separate banks in two separate countries.

What's in it for you, E_A, to continue to lie about and exaggerate this whole Duales issue? We can forgive cubafish because we can all clearly see he is incapable of grasping the numbers and math involved, but why are YOU continuing to proffer up such inane sets of circumstances? Why would you assume someone would feel the need to spend $22 to send a money order via global overnight when they probably won't be accessing the funds for a few weeks or more?

Why do you need to so distort the facts, E_A? Is being RIGHT so important to you that you would knowingly manufacture some absurd need to use a $22 delivery system when a $.90 stamp will more than adequately accomplish everything you need?

And, Walter, you remain the most clue-free human being I have encountered on this forum. I am submitting your name to the cubaking hall of shame. I have it on good authority that your picture and home phone number is already posted in the steam room on Fantasia Ferries.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>Should we factor in the cost of gas and parking to drive to two banks in two different countries as well<hr></blockquote> Absolutely! Who pays the FEDEX, when you buy tickets? Why count the Tourist Card either, if its just $20? ANY significant cost of a transaction should be added.

Never sent a timely USD$1,000. money order ABROAD, without insurance or with Express Mail: there's the USPS cost, USD$25. Fedex is about the same. (For someone so paranoid about theft or losing money, you are exceptionally cavalier with your documents.)

Dear Patty - yes you will regret it in the morning. It may be painful, but just repeat after me, "The Earth is not flat." LOL

1) I think that ANY US VISA/Maestro/Mastercards are unlikely to work, regardless whether "prepaid debit" or "normal credit" cards. (Its the 'drawn on a US bank' thing that's the problem.)

2) The offshore accounts linked in #20 offer cards like the Visa Electron that are recommended here, here, and here. (You will notice those are ALL Cuban websites, no?)

3) Everyone SHOULD check to see that their credit cards will work in Cuba. We've heard from a number of Brits, Irish & other Euros over the years who discovered too late that they held BLOCKED cards. I would only suggest US travelers investigate alternatives, NOT jump to the conclusion that Duales is 'reasonable' or 'the only option that works.'

4) The Duales shill has never hesitated to step forth, offering what is one of the most expensive REMITTANCE cards available and pretending its a GOOD PRICED "debit card." ROTFLMAO! A 2002 report commissioned by the Inter-American Bank compared Latin American remittance costs (including Cuba) : to send USD$200., the range was from $7.-26. And even as costs have everywhere dropped ... in 2007, Duales charges $36. to send $200. to Cuba!!!

FACT: 18% is off-the-charts for remittance cost in 2007. It might be the only game in town for remitters, but its not for those needing a DEBIT card.

5) Do Americans have alternatives? Isnt it worth looking, knowing Duales is such a ripoff? Or does 'flat-earth thinking' prevent us from considering any other possibility?

Yes, there ain't no such thing as a free lunch, patty, but you dont need to settle for stale Saltines either.

I can't keep responding to your responses if they are so completely without merit and so and utterly off the point. I think Patty was right. Nobody's listening, E_A.

My only purpose here is to keep you from dissuading those Americans for whom the level of security that a Duales card affords are not dissuaded from getting one because of your inane babblings. Just as an example, in 2002 the USD was the currency in use in Cuba. there were no additional fees. Your figures make no sense at all. You further call Duales the most expensive REMITTANCE card without noting that it's the only one. Everything's relative, niño, and the costs involved in converting USD to CUC are a function of the Cuban goevernmen. You can't lay it at the feet of Duales or any other financial institution that is forced to live by the rules if they want to continue in business.

I believe you when you assure us that the world is not flat. I'm just concerned that you seem to think its a rhomboid shape.

I'm still waiting for your better alternatives, E_A, but I'm not holding my breath.

<blockquote>Quote
<hr>You further call Duales the most expensive REMITTANCE card without noting that it's the only one.<hr></blockquote>

Another of your lies, pelo? I notice your strategy is normally 'omission' or 'spin,' I wrote very clearly "one of the most." There ARE other remittance cards.

Do you really want to insist that Duales is the 'only remittance card for Cuba'?

SerCuba has a card, with similar prices. (Same card, this Third Party Vendor offers remittance from Switzerland.)

Caribbean Transfers is another option, with steeper fees.

Status of TransCard? Any others?

Has anyone here ever investigated the South American regional Cabal Card? Its discussed on some Cuban websites, although I'm not sure the debito "Cabal 24" works...

BTW, Transcard has devolved into a horribly expensive and flawed card called the "Amigo" Card. Unless they have radically changed their website recently, I defy anyone to tell me what their ACTUAL rates are.

I am fortunate in that I have an "old-style" Transcard I got almost a decade ago and which they still accept. They are only issued to Cubans now. Those were great cards "back in the day" but they are not available now. I haven't gotten a personal Duales card because the old-style Transcard serves exactly the same purpose for me. I intend to get a Duales card next trip, however. Just to backup my backup.

I would also take note of the "SPIN" you have put on this thread. We were originally talking about Debit Cards American tourists could use in Cuba, for which Duales remains the best, and only as far as I know, choice for an American, but you have tried to turn it into a dialogue about "remittances" to Cuba, for which Duales also remains the best choice for an American.

Couldn't you find any other option for a Debit Card for an American in Cuba? Remember the original question?

I am still waiting for you to come up with SOMETHING to justify your tirade here. All you have done thus far is to commit the very acts of dishonesty that you continue to wrongfully accuse me of. What's your problem, E_A. It has a lot of the earmarks of methamphetamine.

That is what you do when caught lying. Spin, spin, spin.

Yes, I will admit that you have successfully derailed another thread, Pelo. This thread has been a useless debate with a dishonest SHILL for a least page of replies. My apologies to the OP, although my Reply #18 was informative, useful and provided an alternative to cash & travelers' checks when on holiday.

>>UK residents (and others) should check to see that their bank cards will work in Cuba; some US subsidiary/affiliates are blocked too. OTOH, you can purchase a Lloyds TSB Travel Money Card for £7.50, pre-loaded with between £150 - £3000 in euros. (With all conversion fees, transaction costs are about 3.5% on a £1000.) <<

Goodnight!

That is what you do when caught lying. Spin, spin, spin.

And I lied about what?

And I put a spin on what?

Just saying I did those things doesn't make it so, niño. This ain't Karl Rove's White House.