Michel Lafontaine
mars 205 Min
🚨⚠️ IMPORTANT-READ⚠️🚨
💲🇨🇦 —> 💲🇨🇺Cuban Peso🇨🇺💲<— 🇺🇸US💲
Peso - CUP - CUC - Canadian - US - Euro - MLC
*(I will try to keep the information up to date according to changes and relevant comments, do not hesitate to share with us your experiences with the cards that work or not!)
The agent, always the money…! 🙄
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🚨⚠️🚫🚧WARNING🚧🚫⚠️🚨
➡️…No one has the absolute truth!…⬅️
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Every day we receive requests for publications concerning money, either for restaurants, tips, excursions or souvenirs (Gift/Rum/Cigars)
Every day we have to refuse it because it's really redundant and most don't take the time to read on the page or do a little research with the magnifying glass 🔍
And when it becomes redundant, unfortunately we feel it in the responses and the way members respond, not to mention, of course, those who have “THE” truth or “THE” solution, but always according to their own experiences which do not does not necessarily correspond to the person asking the question…
Currently, on this day of 02/01/2024
The expected exchange directly with Cubans and not at the airport, hotels, exchange offices and banks looks like this.
For:
🇨🇦 $1 Canadian = 160/175 Cuban Pesos🇨🇺
🇺🇸 $1 US = 240/275 Cuban Pesos 🇨🇺
🇪🇺 $1 EURO = 250/285 Cuban Pesos 🇨🇺
💳 MLC = $230/240
🚨Also, be careful of counterfeit bills if you exchange money with a stranger on the road, it's better to have a few pesos for a month but real ones than a handful of fake pesos...🚨
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As for what to use for our expenses and the maximum way to pay, it depends on the situation.
At the restaurant:
First of all, check if they accept Cuban pesos, because, despite everything that some members on the page can say, it remains the most economical way to pay our bill!
Next, check the restaurant's posted exchange rate.
—>An example with simple and fictitious numbers.
Price of the meal:
19000 CUP🇨🇺 or
140 EUR🇪🇺 or
150 USD🇺🇸 or
200 CAD🇨🇦
****If you traded CAD to say
$1 🇨🇦for 150 🇨🇺
Your 19,000 CUP lunch will cost you $126.66 🇨🇦 for a great saving of $73.34 on a single bill!
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Tips:
You should know that Cuban pesos are mostly accepted everywhere even if sometimes they give the impression that they are not, because no matter what you think, they also use them in several places.
🇨🇺So if you changed money into peso you can tip some, with the conversion rate of course!
🇨🇦They will of course accept tips in Canadian, but you should know and understand that the currency $1 and $2 is not accepted in their banks, so for them it's a lot more manipulation, it's like money in transit or some kind of tokens, because as long as they have them (the time to exchange them) it gives them nothing!
If you want to use it you don't have to bring it to Cuba, they already have more than enough, they will be happy to exchange it for Canadian...
🇺🇸The easiest US (*in my opinion) for us and for them.
The US has great value for Cubans, they can use it almost everywhere!
So if you normally give $50, $75, $100 or more as a tip you can go to the bank before leaving, call a few days before to have it prepared and go change your money into $1 US (because they are on paper the $1 US) of course you don't have to give just 1 at a time 😅
For the rest, Canadian and pesos will do the trick very well…
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💳 Cards
***Everything you pay with a credit card will be charged at the US rate on your card, most government stores, rum, cigars only work this way now!***
Not all credit cards work in Cuba, no card issued by an American institution will work, for example MasterCard CapitalOne.
The majority of visas will work because Visa is divided into 3 companies, the visas we receive here come 99.99% from Canada so they work!
Not all and even very few Visa/Debit cards will work, because it is impossible for them to check if funds are available.
And prepaid cards don't work at all either.
MasterCard Canada Post and
PC Silver MasterCard yes!
⚠️Attention⚠️
Make sure you know your PIN
Since contactless payments, many tend to forget their PIN (like our contacts on our cell phones)
—-> In Varadero there is no contactless payment, so do a refresh before leaving!<—-
Wow this deserves to be clear thank you!
Also, several places in the Caribbean where credit cards with 5-digit PINs do not work but only those with 4 digits and the first digit of the PIN must not be a 0
🚨⚠️Also note, ATMs and banks in Cuba do not give Canadian or American money but only Cuban CUP pesos!
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OK
Of course there are some who don't change money for several reasons.
Either they stay at the hotel
Either they go to a restaurant only once
Either they find it too complicated or
Either they don't care...
But please if you are one of them, don't answer anything, take the time to read the question and if you have a relevant answer and not an experience or a personal choice and that is not what is asked , then refrain. 🤷🏻♂️
A request for information does not mean wanting to know about experience X from person Y in situation Z, and that applies to all publications. Read and understand the question before answering it, information or opinion is different, for example, with what money it is most advantageous to pay in a restaurant it is not the same as someone who gives 5 choices of hotels and asks for your opinion and personal experience at these hotels..!
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🔴Note:
The CUC (which was the equivalent to US dollars) the old tourist money no longer exists, there is now only the CUP!
Even though we have repeated it often, on the Internet, there is practically no site that has adjusted to the new exchange rate of the Cuban government (August 2022) which is (currently) around $1🇨🇦 for 92 Cuban pesos.
There are often people who persist in consulting these sites which still display the old rates.
The old rate (before August 2022) was around $1🇨🇦 for 21 CUP, the government was forced to adjust, because already the Cubans were giving double and triple in exchange, the government therefore decided to pull the rug out from under them by putting the rate at 94.54 (at the time) but the Cubans readjusted!
Also in 2022 the US was no longer depositable in the bank…
By exchanging with Cubans who need foreign money we obtain much more…
Look here for the official government rate (bank, hotel, airport, exchange office):
And this one which roughly reflects the street rate:
https://en.eltoque.com/tasas-de-cambio-de-moneda-en-cuba-hoy
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Also, we have noticed for some time that (new) members are very curt and rude in their responses, opinions and even judgment, you don't see it all the time but we expel them!
We do not tolerate this type of behavior, and if you experience it, do not hesitate to tell us…!
THANKS!