www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Hi Gang,
I thought that I would save some cash, and the minor hassle of converting USD to colones.
So I went to my local BofA branch and asked the rate for 2K usd to colones.
I checked the board for a current exchange rate so I would know the aprox rate of exchange.
To my suprise this is what I found........
On the exchange rate site for banks in CR 568c or so,
and the scam rate at the cash exchange booth at the airport 516c
BofA 509c

WTF anyone else see this SH*T at their USA bank ?????
Tampa

If my math is right that is like a 12% +/- rate.
Comments , your experience.....

IIRC, 490 on 4/18 at the Miami Airport Currency Exchange booth. (No I didn't exchange, just asked what the current rate was).

Edited to add: My bad, I didn't quite understand you were referring to exchanging $ to C using your bank or credit card.

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mh

tampabayman, I just got back from CR yesterday. The airport is still and will always be a ripoff as far as exchange rates. I bank at suntrust here in Orlando and called them last wednesday about their rates, i forget the exact number but it wasnt much better if at all than the delrey 535 rate. Whilst, they mentioned that I would be charged 3% extra by visa using my debitcard in CR. I exchanged my cash at the delrey but probably should have went to a CR bank, huh??

WHAT???? Banks Ripping Consumers off???

I'm SHOCKED!!!!!!!

509? That's horrible. It shows that you should only exchange money in the host country. Trying to exchange to a foreign currency in the US is robbery.

The only time that I really worry about exchange rates while in town is if I'm exchanging a large sum (usually the day I arrive). If I'm exchanging $100-200, I won't waste 20-30 minutes going to a bank and waiting in some slow line ¢30-35 per dollar. Call that a convenience fee. If I'm exchanging $1000, then it makes sense to use a bank to get an extra ¢35,000 ($60).

I think the majority of guys who bring cash with them probably exchange a large sum at the beginning of a trip and then small sums later, if needed. As soon as you walk outside the airport, find a taxi or interbus guy and tell them that you want to go upstairs to exchange money.


Btw, BOA sent me a letter last week saying that they are making changes to my credit card agreement. The international transaction fee is going up to 4%. I think it starts June 1st.

Yep, even my bank hits me for International ATM surcharges. And these guys need a bailout? What a bunch of Monkeys running clip joints.

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Go Dolphins!!!

I'm not positive but I suspect that 568 rate you saw on-line was the ASKING rate, which is the rate you would have to pay if you were converting colones back to dollars. What you need to look at is the BIDDING price, which is typically a few colones cheaper. In general, the thing to really look for is not so much the rates themselves since rates can change so much from day to day and what seems like such a good rate compared to what we saw when we checked just a couple of weeks earlier might actually be not such a good rate today. The more revealing number is the RANGE between bid and asked. Reputable traders and the bigger and better banks typically have a much narrower range of maybe 20 colones or less between bid and asked. Rip-off outlets like the exchange booths at airports typically have ranges that are 2-3 or even 4 times that much.

From what I've seen, if the HDR rate is worse than the banks it is not by a huge amount and is sometimes worth it just for the convenience. I also suspect that 509 rate was, as Orange said, the rate you'd get going into your BoA in the states and not the INTERBANK rate that you'd get if you exchanged dollars for local currency in CR. I have always found that the exchange rate that has showed up on my bank statements from BoA and on my other CC statements has always been very reasonable and near market. Exchange rate FEES are another story and they can vary considerably between different companies.

I have also found that the bank FEES can be and often are as big a factor as the RATE differences which between most major banks in CR are rarely more than 5 or POSSIBLY 10 CRC/USD (ie <1%). Unfortunately, BOA has never been one of the better banks when it comes to foreign transaction fees on debit withdrawals and/or cash advance fees on their credit cards. OTOH, Capital One is the one major US credit card company with traditionally the lowest fees for foreign traveler (undortunately, I had other issues with those plundering marauders personally which led me to cancel my long-running account with them).

I think now, with so many stressed out banks having to raise capital whereever they can to pay for their boneheaded mistakes lending money to boneheaded home-buyers (or trading in mortage backed securities they did not really understand), even banks that may have USED to have reasonable rates are suddenly changing the terms on us and we ALL need to be extra careful what we THINK we're getting from ANY of the banks we use. Unfortunately, I use BoA for my domestic banking because of their wide network of ATM's in my area and because I don't normally use their debit or credit card services (My CC's are with other companies). I probably won't change anything for my much more day-to-day domestic banking (unless they've also changed their fees for that) but, based on this report, I plan to check with them well in advance of my next extended trip about their current fees related to that and will probably shop around to set up a different account to cover me while I travel (actually for trips of 2 weeks or less, I usually just bring a lot of cash and rarely if ever even have to use a card at all to get colones).

BTW, ask ID what he REALLY thinks of BoA (I know he has always despised them).

http://indicadoreseconomicos.bccr.fi.cr ... nilla.aspx is the web site to compare exchange rates for the US dollar against the Colone....this is the third time I've posted it and I scalped it off of the newspaper web site....I forget which one....AM Costa Rica; La Nacion....I dunno....forgot...

It's common practice for banks in the USA to RIP YOU OFF when you buy foreign currency. This practice is not new. Yes, it's nice to get it out of the way prior to leaving so you hit the beach with local currency....but you're going to pay for that perk. As well, many times, best you tell the bank how much you're gonna want because they gotta have it transferred in and that'll take a couple of days if you ain't in a big ass city...and even then it may take a couple of days to have it transferred from some "MAIN branch" to your branch.....

It ain't necessary.

However CRT seems to be full of high fallutin rich folk, so I'm sure they don't mind.....Me? I use InterBus at $9.50 to get from the airport to my hotel; I don't pay "CIEN"; I'll count out change on the bar to pay for whiskey (Ask the nut who lives at Hotel Castillo....Klaus?....who attempted to ridicule me one night when The Gardens was still being run....the restaurant attached to the hotel...); etc., etc., etc. I like to COUNT money....I don't like the spending aspect of it one bit......hahahahahaha

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"Actual happiness always looks pretty squalid in comparison with the over-compensations for misery. And, of course, stability isn't nearly so spectacular as instability. And being contented has none of the glamour of a good fight against misfortune, none of the picturesqueness of a struggle with temptation, or a fatal overthrow by passion or doubt. Happiness is never grand."
- Aldous Huxley, Brave New World, Ch. 16

Thanks for the information ya'll posted.
I think I have used all the posted methods to exchange my USD's to Colones. Except for the airport rip-off booths. I have traveled enough to not fall for that scam. I do, usually stop and look at what they charge, and just laugh.

This my third trip, and all I was trying doing was to cut out one easy step pre-trip. ( I did not do exact math but it was somewhere in the range of 12-14 %)

Thanks to Steve1 as that site is where I got my base line info.

Now I will just bop up to BOC upstairs and do it there !
Trampa
48 hours to touch down in SJO 2 hours(or less ) later and I will have a cold Imperial
at SL and select a hot chica to break in my room at LaA.

2 weeks ago I recieved 566.75 at the BAC bank upstairs at the airport and 566.40 at Colonial casino. Think the hotel (Pres.) was 552.

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Living well is the best revenge
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwUtj_YnNoY

pres was 553

BCR rate for dollars to colonies as of Sat. May 9th was 568.75

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

and today it is 570.25.

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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

And we are happy . Only problem is - everything else here keeps going up also

One other thing I noticed the other day: Amnet's (cable and internet) "tipo de cambio is 580.25 this month. And I have been paying my bill with colonies--better off to pay with dollars.

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Old and retired but still bang, and bang, and bang!!!

Only if you have a stash of dollars. The rate today for BCR to sell you dollars was 580.25.

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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