www.CostaRicaTicas.com

I know it varies slightly but if youre down there what kind of exchange are you getting right now?
Thanks,
Jac

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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

Thanks Irish, does anyone know which bank is upstairs in the airport? How about hotels? SL, Amistad? Are they just rounding it up to 500 to make the exchange easier? Appreciate the info.

Jac

at the tables you buy in for $200 you get 198 .......

The bank at the airport is BAC-San Jose. If you want to see just how big a rip off the money exchange booth at the airport is check the rate for Casas de Cambio Global Exchange they are the operator of the airport money exchange booth.

The rate this morning at BAC-San Jose for buying dollars is 499.00 while at Casa de Cambio Global Exchange it is 441.84.

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

Ya, even the currency exchange places here in Canada screw you on the rates. I just called today and the ICE booths at the major Canadian airports only give you 461 colones on the dollar, plus there's a 1% surcharge which makes it about 458.

Does the BAC-San Jose booth at the airport do direct Canadian $$ to Colones exchanges? I never tried that yet. Normally I convert my Canadian dollars to US at my bank and then convert the US to Colones when I get in country. But the best rate I get doing that is about 485.

I do not know about BAC but I have bought and sold Canadian $ at Scotia Bank. However that was for USD both ways not colones.

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

On Sunday July 17 I received 498-1 @ the bank upstairs @ the airport; my wingman, who arrived the next day received 500-1 @ the same place.

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"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

Here are the ways I exchange $ for Colonies in Costa Rica from best to worst.

Bank in town (Casa de Cambio or ATH) There are only about a hundred of them... Either Bank of CR or SJ... Bank National.
Casino
Hotel





Asking a beger out on the street *** NOT Recommended ***







Bank at airport. *** Would be the last place only after an earthquake and I was hightailing it out of there. ***

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Now, I am back in the game!

I just exchanged at a Bank of Costa Rica today in downtown San Jose and I got 499 colones per dollar.

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Man I'm living life like a great white shark swimming with minnows! It's all about panocha, great scotch, fine cigars, loud-ass rock music and speed, speed, speed - plus spending as much time as possible in paradise on earth, Costa Rica!

Let me get this right... you are upset over less than a penny?

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Now, I am back in the game!

Nowhere did I say I was upset at all. The poster wanted to know current rates so I quoted them for my transaction & my wingman's. Nothing more, nothing less!

_________________
"cuz I'm a back-door man" Jim Morrison-1969

Better exchange what you can now. The dollar is going to take a serious dive come next Tuesday. You'll be begging the chicas to take dollars instead of colones.

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I can't deny it, with that smile on her face. It's not the kill, it's the thrill of the chase!

thanks guys, I got 499-1 yesterday at the bank upstairs in the airport. No worries.
Jac

The last couple of years with our Canadian dollar being very close to the US buck (actually been higher for a while now) has made it so much easier to budget for travel, lol. It really sucked years ago when we had a very poor exchange rate.

I think I will arrive with US bucks when I come down next week and exchange some at the airport and some at the Scotiabank once I'm settled in. The Scotiabank CR website is saying that they are buying US today for 510c per. And I get a very good rate on US dollars at my local bank branch. They always have a few grand of US behind the counter and since it's my home branch, there's no service charges. If I need any top ups later on, I'll just use my debit card at the bank ATM's. Did that a couple of times last trip and the exchange was reasonable.