Money change

Hi everyone,

Can anyone tell me what the best type of traveller cheque is to take to Cuba? Pound Sterling or US Dollar (issued in the UK) and what is the best type of cash (again - $ or £)?

Best places/banks to change?

Many thanks in advance.

Gav

From the FAQ: "...... To exchange US dollars into the CUC there is a 10% surcharge"

From current reports the currency of TC's doesn't matter and as you can see from the above FAQ quote the last thing you want to bring is $ US

Take pounds in cash. No travelers checks. If you have a UK ATM you should be able to use that. You can exchange money a the airport.

This is Cuba so there's not banks to chose from...there's the bank and that's it.

OP, at the airport you will exchange your money at the CADECA (Casa de Cambio aka Money Exchange House), in towns you will exchange at CADECAs and Banks.

For Cadeca and Bank locations see: guiadecuba

#1 is inaccurate, at least from those who have reported their personal experiences here.

All reports from people who brought US Traveler's Checks indicate that there is NO 10% additional charge for them as is the case for USD Cash.

Bring the travelers checks that are easiest for you to buy. If in the US then bring those. If in the UK then bring those.

Two caveats:

1. Bring the receipts for your purchase of them or you may not be able to cash them in Cuba.

2. If you lose the TCs you should not expect to be reimbursed for them while in Cuba. You will have to wait until you return to your country of origin for that.

IMO, you would be well-served to have some alternative means for accessing CUCs while in Cuba. A front-loaded credit card and Cash in Pounds Sterling would seem to make the most sense if you are from England. CAD or Euros and a Duales card would make the most sense if you are an American.

Promoting the costly services of Duales to Brits now, are we? LOL The OP is obviously from the UK. That's ok, CheersTerry was just instructing another to go buy "good old British Pounds" at her UK bank. Wacky information abounds, here.

DUALES DOES NOT MAKE SENSE for British vacationers, period. But there's also no stopping a hard-headed fool...

#4 is inaccurate as there is a 10% surcharge for cashing US TC's.

And #5 is correct about #4 promoting Duales - Duales has it's place for frequent travelers who are supporting girlfriends, families, or others in Cuba, but Duales is not a good service for the occasional tourist.

I have always found that cash is king for Cuban travels. So bring cash and exchange it for Cuban money in Cuba. USA dollars not such a good idea as there is a surcharge on changing dollars. For photos of Cuba see my website wolfcalls.com

What about my very clear statement did you not understand, E_A?

IMO, you would be well-served to have some alternative means for accessing CUCs while in Cuba. A front-loaded credit card and Cash in Pounds Sterling would seem to make the most sense if you are from England. CAD or Euros and a Duales card would make the most sense if you are an American.

At some point one would think you might engage your brain before putting your mouth in gear, E_A. I never recommended Duales to Brits. You really need to find a way to keep that jerky knee of yours from responding until at least you have had a chance to READ what is said, niño.

And cubafish, (WHY do I keep trying?) have you personally EVER cashed a US Travelers Check in Cuba? Three different people from this forum have, and they ALL said they DID NOT pay the extra 10% fee. Are you once more without ANY experience on a subject better equipped to answer questions about it than those who HAVE had experience with it? I would offer you the same admonition that I suggested to E_A, but that would require that you had a brain to be engaged.

Everyone should know that the resident 'Duales Shill' will never fail to mention that costly little card, even when someone - like the OP - would be ill-served & WASTING money buying it! <blockquote>Quote
<hr>Duales card would make the most sense if you are an American.<hr></blockquote> Off-topic. Irrelevant. Bad advice. All of the above!

I have met dozens of Americans who have visited Cuba without the Duales Card. They never needed that costly service. Wasting money on that was completely unnecessary. Duales does not make "the most sense if you are an American"; it doesnt even make sense for most Americans visiting Cuba once for a short trip.

The OP has no use for Duales: so why does Pelodorado insist on advertising that Canadian remittance agency here?

And you knew that the OP was from England or the US HOW, E_A? There is NOTHING in his post that tells one that. He DOES, however, ask if USD or Pounds Sterling is the best way to go. Therefore I responded to both scenarios, i.e. as if he were English OR American.

I'm NOT a rocket scientist, but I can read. <blockquote>Quote
<hr>Can anyone tell me what the best type of traveller cheque is to take to Cuba? Pound Sterling or US Dollar (issued in the UK) and what is the best type of cash (again - $ or £)?<hr></blockquote>

There are four SEPARATE elements in that ONE sentence that you can see as clearly as I. One is obvious. There are lots of Brits here in Boston, Pelo, but they dont look & sound like Bostonians unless they try hard; they dont compose the same way, either.

"Where's that frikken 'Pound Sign' on MY keyboard?" LOL

I have come to learn that there is NOTHING anyone can say that will move you from any position you have chosen to champion, E_A.

Once you have made up your mind, you cannot be confused with facts. George Bush would be proud of you.

btw, ARE there still 2 weekly Virgin flights to Cuba? Are they still 747s? Or, it that "747s full of Americans" ?

I know you're an American, Pelo. So am I. But let's NOT presume that anyone in the UK or writing in English is an American, fer chissakes: check your presumptions, and spare us the Duales twaddle next time, PLEASE.

And you know, for someone who gets so snotty & churlish when Canadians post on Yank money threads, you're an awfully presumptuous, boorish, arrogant American on this one.

Why not start trolling for Duales, Pelo? (Or have you already? Jejeje) Something like:

"Hi, my name is Julie! This is my first trip to Cuba from London, um, ENGLAND, that's right. I'm soooo very worried about getting robbed, and I have this American credit card thingy, should I get Duales? You know, DUALES that wonderful low cost debit card for Americ-- I mean BRITS, like ME! I've heard its the bestest way to make sure I wont get ROBBED and be forced to eat cats like I read on Thorntree! Thanks, gotta run. Toodles!"

---Cue to pelodorado---
"Why, thanks Julie! As a matter of fact..." Then you offer your non-shill, non-commercial boilerplate spiel, like always. LOL

Please tell us all, E_A, what are the OTHER debit card options available to Americans in Cuba?

Please tell all the Americans here what other options they have if they run out of money in Cuba?

We are waiting for your response, even though it's a rhetorical question, niño.

Ahem. You're the reprobate here, bud. And one again, you've hijacked yet another thread: the OP (and anyone changing GBP>CUC) doesnt care about your Duales ripoff...

Why dont YOU keyword search ("prepaid Visa debit card" AND offshore) for yourself? Just like you "discovered" a currency exchange website 6 months ago, you can "discover" that offshore debit cards (for US & non-US customers) EXIST! And then loudly announce it to everyone, daily. Duales isnt the first, but probably is one of the most expensive.

"How many offshore debit cards are there, dozens?" is the rhetorical retort. Here's ONE option. These cards can be denominated in USD, GBP, Euros etc. and are NOT limited to use in Cuba. Unlike that sucky & expensive Duales card.

Pelodorado, as I've said before you've been LYING on this forum for years, telling everyone that Duales is the ONLY debit card available for Americans' use in Cuba. It is NOT. Your scaremongering is obvious; your advice is perpetually misleading, deceitful. And should be debunked. Other (probably much better!) options are available: anyone really needing a debit card should ignore your counsel & promptly look elsewhere.

Its not my job to spam credit/debit card alternatives here. Unlike you, I am NOT a corporate shill & advertiser on Thorntree. I do believe you should be banned (yet again!) for unceasingly posting COMMERCIAL promos, as you have here for years. Goodnight, tonto.

For the OP:

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 or US dollars. (With all conversion fees, transaction costs are about 3.5% on a £1000.)

An even cheaper deal for those in Oz, the ANZ Travel Card must be purchased IN Australia but can be reloaded by Internet, and doesnt indicate nationality/residency restrictions. (With no POS conversion fees, less than 2% on AUS$ 1,000.?!) Actually, a number of countries have forex E-Money cards for their residents who travel; unfortunately (deliberately?), the USA does NOT.

See how ridiculously EXPENSIVE Duales is, compared to that : 18%! (USD$177. to send $1,000.)

And you were doing so well, E_A.

With Duales, $1155 USD nets you $1000 CUC. That's 13.5%

While your kind assistance to the english and Aussies who already have multiple other options, I'm still awaiting your announcement of an alternative for Americans that's better than Duales in any way.

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.

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

You know there are other remittance cards, you even admit to OWN a Transcard yourself, and yet you will say Duales is "the only one." You repeat that line, all over this branch "the only option" blah blah blah. I call that a deliberately misinformative & deceitful lie.

You're exactly like a slimy used car salesman, LOL. Or a SHILL.

CASE CLOSED.

E_A

I have only one question and the only one that is relevant amongst all this bickering.

When Mr. John Taylor from London England walks into the Banco Metropolitano in Havana and hands them his Lloyds TSB card to get 1000 CUC's because YOU told him to take it and so that is what he is depending on for his time in Cuba,

E_A -- can you assure him 100% that they will give him the money? DO you know this from first hand experience? In the end, that is all that mattters.

Patty: I offer no guarantees. No need to: no one has ever guaranteed me anything, nor should anyone expect that.

I suggested that he check if/that his bank cards (credit or debit) will work. Then I offered another alternative. Certainly better than your faulty logic: you seem to think all debit cards DO NOT work, because Canadian 'bank debit' cards do not. ERROR! European Visa (debit) cards with no US affiliation are accepted in Cuba, in most cases.

Read more here and here. I take those cardholder claims at face value, but every traveler should check the cards s/he will reply on, no?

Patty, this link may help you. Debit cards: wiki definition We have different kinds of "bank debit cards" from the Euros' 'Visa debit' cards. There is a variety that might surprise you. I am now investigating the Cabal card - an alternative to VISA or Mastercard - which may or may not be available to me. (It works in Cuba, btw.)

If an offshore bank allows a Euro-denominated acct. with a VISA debit card at reasonable minimums/balances, that's sweet. Some even offer 2nd cards, for your granny, novio/a, student-abroad, etc. Of course there are fees; gotta look at those, closely. But this is so much more than JUST a 'debit card for Yanks,' for example: Parex online banking demo