www.CostaRicaTicas.com

This topic has probably been addressed somewhere on these boards before, but I'm a newbie making his first trip (in more than 20 years) to San Jose soon. At the MPs and with the girls from SL, HDR, and elsewhere, must you pay in Colones, or do some accept U.S. Dollars?
Should I even ask if they have a preference, or should I just plan on buying a sh*tload of Colone notes when I hit town?
Any advice would be appreciated.
Gracias.

They will accept both, but I always use colones everywhere I go.

Berk.....

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FRUITCAKE... and you thought it was something you eat! Not on CRT!

I use colones too. If you do pay in dollars you are going to get colones back so you might as well just use colones.

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It was discussed with the same Subject line, "colones vs dollars" 11 days ago
https://costaricaticas.com/phpBB2/vi ... highlight=
You must have colones . On one of my first trips I went to 4 or 5 stores in San Jose trying to buy a bottle of water with a us 10 dollar bill. They all looked at me like I was trying to hand them Monopoly money. Most resturants will accept US dollars but it complicates the payment process. All the locals use colones. Another reason not to use dollars is that it shows you are fresh off the boat (ok, Plane) and makes you a target for overcharging , etc. The exchange rate is about 517 to a dollar right now so one hundred dollars is 51,793 colones. I get my colons from an atm machine in front of a bank. That way if the machine keeps my card , I can go inside the bank and ask for it back. Many machines only let you get 100,000 colones at at time. I like the BCR "Bank of Costa Rica" machines because they let you get out 300,000 (approx 600 dollars) colones at at time. Since there are atm fees with each transaction, I try to limit the number of transactions by using an machine that gives me the most cash per transaction.
It is very important to use the machines in the early part of the day. Using outside machines in the evening is dangerous just as it would be in some areas of big cities in the USA. I used to exchange a lot of money at the casino cashier at the Del Rey. You give them a hundred dollar bill and they give you about 51,000 colones or a little less depending on what exchange rate they are deciding to use that day. So for a hundred dollar bill , you will get 5 10,000 colone bills and some change . Each 10,000 colone bill is like 20 dollars. Whenever I go to a new country, I keep a little cheat sheet in my wallet . One dollar equals a 500 colone coin. A 1000 colones note is about 2 dollars. A 5000 colone note is 10 dollars. etc. If your ever in doubt , most places accept visa and even amex I have found. I have used my amex many , many times in two years without any problem. Although I think amex has a percent they charge for each transaction.

Places that cater to gringos in the gulch, hotels, restaurants, bars, chicas, casinos, etc. will accept either. Many places outside the gulch like mercado central, larger restaurants will also accept dollars. Most will give you back your change in colones at an exchange rate that is favorable to them not you. Outside of the tourists areas most places will only deal in colones.

Bottom line....? use colones

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Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

This is a little off the subject. But why did the ATM in the Del Rey switch to dollars only about a year ago?

It was sooooo convenient when it spit out colones.

Do not use the ATM at the HDR so was unaware you got dollars.

I do not know why the switch but can hazardous a guess. They give one of the worst exchange rates in the gulch when you convert dollars to colones at the casino cashier. By giving you dollars they get you to exchange them at their lousy rate if you need colones. More PROFIT for them.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine

Thanks for the reply. That does make sense. But when I was in a hurry for some cash it was nice. I bring dollars I need colones so they lost a customer with the switch.

I always exchange my dollars for colones at the Colonial Casino. they give you the bank rate for the most part. If you exchange $200 or less at a time they never give you a hassle even if you aren't gambling there. The DR cage is the worst place to change money. They allow the chicas to exchange their dollars there and extract a heavy fee. If you watch the cage for any period of time,you will see chica after chica there with their session money being changed to colones.

Thanks for the tip! Best info I have gotten here is a while LOL

I now use pretty much only colones. I just bring about $100 or so with me when I arrive in town, use some for the taxi, exchange some more to colones, and save the rest for the departure tax and the trip home. I then use ATMs to get colones the rest of the trip. I use the one in the DR a lot, but when staying at the Prez, there are closer ATMs loacated in that mini-mall to the right and across the street, opposite from Chelles. There's four of them in a secure room, usually has a guard there as well.

You can't go wrong with colones, but I disagree that using Dollars marks you as fresh off the plane.

Even Tico's prefer Dollars for the most part, because the ever declining (for them) exchange rate means dollars hold their value longer if you aren't going to spend it right away. Most Tico's who work for americans prefer to be paid in dollars because of this.

The only real issue with dollars (especially 100's) is that they eye them suspiciously because of the heavy amount of counterfeiting that goes on here. Many places in the malls won't eve accept 100's (even if your purchase is close to, or more than 100) because of this. If you plan to buy stuff at stores and malls, make sure you have 20's. Even 50's can cause problems. Most banks will exchange 100's for 20's without a fee.

I agree, however, that you should always have colones around for small stuff like paying cab drivers (they usually feign not having change in the hope you'll just tell them to keep it).

However, if you are going to Zona Blue. You are better off paying in dollars than colones. 42USD vs 22K Colones. You save $2 off the bat.

When was the last time you checked the "ever declining (for them) exchange rate " The colon has held the same rate against the dollar for the past year.

_________________
Pura Vida
Only Irish coffee provides in a single glass all four
essential food groups:
alcohol, caffeine, sugar and fat.
Alex Levine