www.CostaRicaTicas.com

Bringing Money

Having checked the internet before leaving (I use http://www.xe.com/ucc/) I knew that the exchange rate was something like 475 Calones to the Dollar.

The booth in the Miami airport offered me 409 Calones to the Dollar.

The booth in the San Jose airport offered me 427 Calones to the Dollar.

Just one block west of the Presidente, on Calle 3 and facing the Plaza de la Cultura, you will find the Banco Interfin. It’s a grey stone building, notable for the guard with the shotgun standing at the door. They gave me 475 Calones to the dollar, with no fee. It’s totally secure and professional, and there is no wait and no limit.

They would not, however, take one c-note that I brought, because the serial number began with an “AB,” and apparently there had been some counterfeit “AB” c-notes going around.

Later, I tried to give the c-note to a Del Rey chica (yes, I paid cien, but it was for longer than an hour), and SHE also refused the currency because she was on top of the counterfeit situation as well. Damn, I was impressed.

As other veterans have said over the years, take twenty dollar bills, as crisp and new as possible.

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Why own when you can rent?

First, it was the "CB" C notes we had to worry about bringing, and now it apparently is also the "AB" C notes. When I go to Costa Rica in July, I think I'll play it safe and bring fifties instead. Has anybody had any problem with fifties?

Zebra

nothing notable about that....hell....the super market I shop at (in Escazu an upscale neighborhood) has 2 guys with shotguns at the door

Welcome to Costa Rica

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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

From what I gather reading through the posts, one hundred dollar bills (+/- from 2001) beginning with serial numbers/letters "CB", '"BZ", and "AB" are currently regarded as suspect.

Hope this helps...

CCP

it kind of freaked me out when i saw guards with shotguns in small local mom and pop stores. i am from NYC and have seen a lot but that caught me off guard.

about the money... in some places they have a photocopy up by the bar of the bills they are supposed to watch out for. i think they are just $100. we came across some places (i.e. Pizza Hut) that wouldn't even accept $50 or $100 bills at all.

changing money... banks are your best bet, but the hours are 9-4, i believe. after hours, the casinos usually give a pretty good rate, 470 col/$. this is at the time when banks gave 475, so you're losing 5 col per dollar, no big deal. del rey (restaurant & hotel-NOT CASINO) gave my buddy 440. that's a rip off. you're losing over 7 cents per dollar (7%), which adds up.

My most interesting experience with the armed guards was while I was in the Pizza Hut on Central Avenida late one evening. An armored car pulled up in the front of the restaurant and two guards came into the restaurant to collect the day's receipts. Both were carrying what appeared to be Uzis
or MAC 10s.

Zebra

Why not use an ATM card, it's much easier.

I brought a fair amount of USD down my first trip, but decided to try the ATM's as the hotel was out of loose colones. It was quite easy, and problem free. I would highly recommend using large bank ATM's for your money. Maybe take out two days worth of money at a time. Certainly carry SOME USD with you as backup, but the ATM's were...well...ATM's.

I agree with ATM use, save for one thing. I also like to bring a fair amount of American Express travelers checks as back up. The advantage is, if you are unfortuntate enough to lose everything, you can get those replaced very quickly, and your trip will not be hugly impacted. Also, they are useful when ATMs are down (which happens everywhere, from time to time). Since my bank gives them to me for free, should I not need them, I can just deposit them when I get back home, and I lose nothing. Yes, the exchange rates are poor and they less than easy to cash at times, but they can prevent a major hassle.

Psychman

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I said hey baby, take a walk on the wild side.
Lou Reed

Yes, I would agree AMX travelers cheques are a royal pain to cash and the vig sucks! However, you can cash them at the gaming tables @ the DR dollar for dollar, no vig!

I do not travel to CR with them anymore!

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GG
"Last time I said no......I misunderstood the question!"

My last two trips down I carried cash. Change my money at the Hotel from time to time with no problems. But I always have a credit card as a back up. I Never had a problem, but this time maybe I will bring all $20 bills.