USD to CUC 10% currency conversion penalty


jerrybrowne

Recommended Posts

Not sure about a currency penalty, but what I do know is it depends on where you are and what they want to "tax" as they put it.
At a LCDH shop in Cayo Coco if you didn't pay cash in CUC, they would add 2-3 percent, basically a conversion to USD when charging your credit card.
Now at the airport it was an absolute mess. The duty free shop at Cayo Coco airport added 13 percent "tax" or conversion as they put it. In other words, they value the CUC more than USD. When for years when I would visit Cuba USD to CUC was basically at par.
Now this was in February this year. So when I bought a box of Marquis SLR they are 117CUC a box. They charged my card 132 USD (13 percent).



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sorry I was referring to getting money changed at the currency exchanges.  Although it sounds like you have successfully used a US credit card at LCDH and other shops?  Is this using standard Amex/Mastercard/ Visa issued by a major US bank?


TIA

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No it was a Canadian card. That was an issue at one point. Not sure about it now. I always used my visa from a Canadian bank. Information from my travel agent said they do not accept Us cards. It may have recently changed? Not sure.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Mind you I had an MBNA card that years ago I couldn't use. But when I called the card before I left they said it could be used, now that TD bank took over Mbna. Now, I am in Canada so it is a Canadian issued card in Canadian currency. So I cant speak about cards in USD.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As of March 2017 and likely still the same you can't us US credit cards. Adding 3% to any credit card purchase is a standard fee. The 10% charge still applies when changing US currency.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think that it depends on the exchange rate that you get when you convert from USD to Euros and whether or not you can find someone in Cuba who will exchange USD with you.   When I exchanged at my bank the USD to EURO was $1.00/$1.10, but, the bank charged me $1.18--I should have shopped around. When I converted in Cuba (at the front desk of most hotels) I was getting $1.05-6 CUC for $1 Euro. When my friends exchanged USD to CUC at the same hotels I believe that they were getting $0.87 CUC for every $1.00 USD (I'll double check on this). One interesting side note, when I went to change my Euros in at the airport they would only convert a maximum of $200 euros. After a day or two we found out that our airbnb host would happily exchange USD to CUC for us. We ended up exchanging at a rate of $0.94 CUC for every $1.00 USD. If you're staying at a place that will exchange for you then you're probably better off just taking USD.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just a quick update.  There is still the 10% penalty in place at the major exchanges, so it's $0.87 CUC per $1 USD.  For my visit, it was still a better deal than doing the USD- EUR- CUC.  Thanks for all the advice!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...
On 5/31/2017 at 2:05 AM, jerrybrowne said:

Just a quick update.  There is still the 10% penalty in place at the major exchanges, so it's $0.87 CUC per $1 USD.  For my visit, it was still a better deal than doing the USD- EUR- CUC.  Thanks for all the advice!

Agree with this. I tried the Euro exchange my first time and felt I took at least a 5% hit on each exchange. Was a hassle and saved little to nothing. The other problem was any unspent/unconverted Euros aren't useful once you return and you never want to be in the position in Cuba where you run out of money.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

yes, penalty is still in place, as I was  (in Havana), there, this past weekend. 10%, with the added 3% conversion charge.

I usually find the casa particular hostess's friend or someone to do it....anywhere from .90 to .95 per dollar.

Not all, but some lcdh's will accept USD but as stated above, they add 10 - 13%.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Never bring USD to Cuba unless you know someone privately who needs the dollars. Always purchase Canadian dollars or Euro at an exchange with good rates not a bank.

There is one credit card Americans can get for Cuba now and it works reasonably well in Havana. Contact Stonegate Bank for info.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Banks really overcharge on currency conversion. You can find exchange firms that charge about 2.5% vs. Most banks charge 4-6%. If you do the exchange right you should get about 0.94 cuc per $1. That's much better than the 0.87 cuc per $1 that you get at a CADECA in Cuba. For each $1,000 that's about $70. The price of a bundle of coronas. ( I always relate my costs in bundles of cigars)

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 months later...

Before leaving for Cuba I exchanged USD currency for euro currency through my bank and when arriving in Cuba exchange euro to Cuban. Then I had also taken USD currency and exchanged to Cuban. To be honest I paid to exchange euro to Cuban .786 to the dollar and exchanged USD to Cuban currency .873 after the 10% penalty and 3% exchange rate I still received a higher $ exchange while enduring the penalty. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you can get the Euros (or CAD, Pounds, etc.) without a fee, say from a friend, do it.  Otherwise it's not worth the hassle and you may not even make out ahead.

 

Best idea is to talk to your casa host or someone you know before you visit to see if they can change at a better rate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its probably best to get casa owners to change. Most will do it. But they wont respond to that question by facebook or email. They're afraid of getting busted. So it's a bit of a gamble to go there with USD. My last black market exchange this week was 95 cuc to 100USD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.

Community Software by Invision Power Services, Inc.