I am head to Cuba this weekend and have the following info from my travel company. Good Luck.Regarding money, the clip below is from an e-mail I received before we left which indicates the exchange rate from $US to Cuban CUC (pronounced Kooks) is $US 1 = ~ CUC 0.87, after 10% discount and 3% service fee. I didn’t find this to be the case. When I exchange both US $ and Euros at the terminal when we disembarked from the ship, the fee for exchanging both currencies was ~ 3.6%. The exchange information below may be the case if you do the exchange in a bank. I did not see any ATM’s and no merchants took credit card – only cash.
We were advised NOT to give money or gifts to anyone. The concern is creating an expectation that l tourists will give handouts, which is discouraged by the tour operators and apparently the government also.
Tipping was encouraged:
Tour guides: 8-10 CUC/person
Driver: 2-3 CUC/person
Wait staff: 3-5 CUC/person on prepaid meals or 10% of bill
Street performers/Characters: 1-2 CUC/person
Bathroom Attendents: 0.50 CUC/person
Hope we can talk tomorrow.
John
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Cuba is like most other foreign destinations, you bring a major foreign currency and exchange it into the local currency to make purchases while you’re there. Cuban currency is NOT traded internationally, so you can’t buy it in advance. You buy it when you arrive in Cuba.
1.) The major legal currency for Cuba is the Cuban Convertible Peso, CUC. It’s what you exchange your foreign currency for and make all your purchases with in Cuba. Most tourists will only ever deal with CUC. For international exchange purposes 1.00 Cuban Convertible Peso = $1.00 USD. Note that there is a 10% penalty charged when exchanging USA dollars cash, so, you will only receive 87 centavos CUC for one USA dollar when changing the money, allowing for the 10% penalty and a 3% currency exchange fee. This is discussed further below.
2.) The second legal currency in Cuba is the simple and lowly Cuban Peso, CUP, which is rarely used by the vast majority of tourists, but it’s still something you should know about as it is perfectly legal for tourists to use it. For example, you can pay the ride in old taxies anywhere in Cuba in CUP. They cost berween 10 CUP and 20 CUP per person depending on the distance and destination. However, you can pay for the service in CUC as well. Just be aware that there is no way to pay 10 CUP in CUC, so that will cost you 50 centavos CUC, which is 12 CUPs. You can also use CUP in local shops where Cubans buy their provisions.
Outside of a resort or hotel when you're travelling independently it’s always handy to have a few Cuban Pesos on you. You get about 24 of them for 1 Convertible Peso.
Street food like sandwiches and pizza, fresh fruit drinks and other small purchases are all incredibly cheap. Once you get a feel for Cuba – if you speak a little Spanish it will be even better – there are peso bars and restaurants that can be quite interesting. Movies are cheap too.
Both types of Pesos, CUC and CUP, are legal tender in Cuba and both are completely available to anyone – including foreigners – with no restrictions whatsoever . You can exchange your CUC for CUP at any bank and most non-resort and non-airport Cadecas.
As a first-time visitor to Cuba though or as a resort tourist venturing off the resort for the day you can easily handle ALL your transactions with Convertible Pesos, CUC.
Lastly, if you leave a tip, leave it in CUC.
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It's not uncommon in certain situations to be scammed by being charged in CUC but given your change in CUP. Therefore it's a good idea to know how to recognize the two different currencies:
Convertible Pesos, CUC:
http://www.cubacurrency.comCuban Convertible Pesos (CUC) | Cuba Currency & Money Guide
www.cubacurrency.comThere are a some scams and cheats in the streets based in the ignorance of the common traveller of the differences between the Convertible and Not Convertible pesos.
Cuban Pesos, CUP:
http://www.cubacurrency.comCuban Pesos (CUP) | Cuba Currency & Money Guide
www.cubacurrency.comThe rate of change of the Cuban Peso with the Convertible Peso is of 1/24 (December/2005). There are different emisions of the bills, but we will show only the latest ...
Note: The 3 CUP bill with the image of Che makes a nice inexpensive souvenir.
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Accurate Exchange Rates: All the internet currency exchange sites (like coinmill.com, xe.com, oanda.com, x-rates.com, etc.) are useless for real budgeting because they only give mid-market rates, ignoring the buy/sell costs that you'll be charged at the bank or Cadeca in Cuba.
At present here is the ONLY website that gives you the exact exchange rates that you will receive at the Bank in Cuba.